The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-12-12
REAL BACK TO
FARM MOVEMENT
Barnes County Organization
Bids Fair to Become Po-
tent Factor

Valley City. n. D.. Dec. IA real
pack to the farm movement" has set
IN In Barnes county, and as a result Of
plans made by the One Hundred DOL
lar an Acre club. bids fair to become
a tremendous factor in the rapid set
Element Of the county.
Z. j.. Lee. retired farmer. capitalist,
and for fifteen years intimately asso-
ciated With the growth Of Valley City,
is the originator Of the plan which, it
is believed, will double the population
of Barnes county in five years. Mr..
Lee Is the owner of several large
farms in the vicinity of Valley City,
and like other North Dakota farmers,
has found difficulty n securing farm
help upon which he could depend, not
only through the harvest season, but
through haying. and for the winter
work on his farms.
Free Homes for Toilcrs.
AS one of the leading opponents of
diversified farming in North Dakota,
ne has endeavored for years to secure
the right kind of help which would
enable him to handle grain crops in
summer and in the winter turn to
dairying and stock feeding. Finding
it impossible to do this without more
farm help. the idea occurred to him
Of Offering to city men with small
families an opportunity to secure a
house, free land enough to raise a gar
den crop to insure their living, free
use of a COW. and the promise of
steady work on his farms for the en-.
tire Year.
He found that for a comparatively
small investment it would be possible
to erect a house which would accom-
modate the average family, and, hav-
ing laid his plans, inserted a small
advertisement in a twin city newspa-
per. A flood of answers was received
In the course of a week. His needs for
several farms cared for. he faced the
problem of caring for the other aptli-
cants whom he could not use.
Bureau is Organized.
Many of the letters We're pathetic.
Wives With growing families and dis
sipated husbands wrote begging for
an opportunity to take their husbands
to some place where they could regain
their manhood. Men who had worked
in factories and city shops all their
lives pleaded for an opportunity to get
back to the soil, and the promises to
make good" if they were only given
a chance, We're unanimous.
He finally decided to refer the mat
ter to the One Hundred Dollar an Acre
club of Barnes county, the original
club of this name. and at a meeting
held here it was decided to begin an
active campaign to secure contracts
from farmers Of the county who need
help. and will make the same propo-
sition to settlers as has Mr.. Lee. 1t
has been decided to form an auxiliary
to the club, calling it the Free Farm
Home Bureau of the One Hundred
Dollar an Acre club. Mr.. Lee will at
once start a campaign to secure con-
tracts from farmers of the county to
agree to take a certain number of
families and provide homes for them.
Count on 400 Families.
1t is believed by E. S. Delaney,
president of the club. that at least 800
or 400 contracts can be secured before
spring, by putting an active solicitor
in the field, and that in this way the
population of the county can be rapid
" increased, and at the same time an
opportunity given to hundreds to make
a home and fortune in the west who
would otherwise be cooped up in city
flats and factories.