The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-02-09
A NEW INDUSTRY
Raising Peas for Seed Gets
Boom in This Vicinity
A GOOD PROPOSITION
Farmers Around Sank Centre Given
an Opportunity to Secure a
Little Easy Money


start in Sank Centre and vicinity.
The farmers in this locality now
have fine opportunity to pick up a
little easy money.
| Raising peas for seed is the thing
which is now attracting attention
hereabouts, and from what The Her.
aid has been able to ascertain. it's
going to be one of the best things
that ever struck this neck of the
woods.
Thos. Murray, a farmer living a
mile and half north of Sank Cen
tire, has been raising peas for seed for
a few years past. 1t was through
Mr.. Murrays instrumentality that
the agent of the firm for whom Mr..
Murray has been growing seed peas,
came to Sank Centre to start the in
dustry on large scale.
This agent is G.. w. La Pres and he
represents the Leonard Seed Company
of Chicago. This company furnishes
farmers the seed free of cost, buys
their crop of them, the farmers to re-
turn seed when crop is marketed.
Mr.. La Pres came to town Satur-
day, and by Tuesday night had signed
up contracts with farmers to deliver
| them 250 bushels Of seed He conf
| IDENTITY expects to have contracts call
ing for 1000 bushels before he leaves.
The company, by the terms of the
contract, agrees to Pay market
price Of sl.35 i'd h.at the railroad
letationq The AMOUNT of seed re-
quired is three and half bushels to
the acre. The seed is to be sown
with a disc drill, the crop will be cut
with a mower and stacked like hay,
threshed with an ordinary threshing
machine, marketed, delivered in bags
at the railroad station.
Mr.. La Pres states that the aver
age crop is twenty to thirty bushels
to the acre. In unusually good sea-
sons this yield often runs as high as
forty-fve bushels per acre. The crop
requires no more care than wheat, is
sown and harvested without the ex-
pense Of special machinery and is a
good money maker. There is no reas-
on, says Mr.. La Pres, why the farmer
who raises this crop should not easily
clear thirty dollars an acre on it. j
The vines, says Mr.. La Pres, are
excellent fodder. So it appears that
the seed pea raising industry is a
valuable aid to stock raising.
The soil in the vicinity of Sank
Centre is excellent for the raising OF
this crop. The company believes it
will be able to secure good foot
hold here, for they claim that after
the first crop has been grown and
marketed the farmers will be so well
pleased with the industry that they
will desire to pursue it as a regular
thing.
Mr.. La Pres is not making large
contracts. On the contrary, he be-
lieves the most satisfactory way te
handle the business the first year is
to secure reasonably large number
of farmers who will sow say ten tt
! fifteen acres to the crop. The more
people interested the better will thu
people be pleased, and there is prac
tically no risk assumed by the farmer
as he gets his seed free of charge, TIL,
crop furnishing the payment, as TIT
amount of seed is deducted from thu
crops.
Mr.. Murray, who raised peas TO
the Leonard Company for severa
years in Wisconsin, is an enthusiastic
supporter of the industry. He say
that the locality in Wisconsin refer
red to enjoyed great material pros