The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-06-13


Wheelock & Wheelock, Fargo:
One of the localities in the north.
west that abounds in opportunities II
farming and other lines and has wit
messed a most wonderful development
in the past ten years-though little
publicity has been given it's Casi
county, North Dakota, on the east
central border of the state, in one OF
the richest sections Of the Red river
valley.
The county was organized Jan. a.
| 1873, and named in honor of George
w. Cass, one of the early presidents OF
the Northern Pacific railway. 1t is one
of the largest counties in the eastern
half Of the state, having an area OF
| 1854 square miles. There are approx
mately 1,150,000 acres of land within
| its borders, of which all but 10 per cent
or less is today either wholly or partly
under cultivation.
Railroad Facilities Very Adequate.
Cass county occupies the same
strategic position with reference to the
Red river valley and North Dakota as
does the city of New York to the Unit
ed States-it is the gateway through
which passes the bulk of travel The
county is traversed by two transconti-
mental lines of railway, the Northern
Pacific and Great Northern, each hav-
ing number of important branch
lines and a portion Of it's eastern edge
is served by an important branch line
Of the St Paul road. This road is re-
ported as having under consideration
the construction of direct line from a
point near the twin city through Far
go, the county seat, to the Canadian
northwest, and the 500 line is also
known to have in view getting into the
county. In the matter of railroad and
shipping facilities Cass county lacks
nothing.
Early Settlement and Development.
The county was first settled about
1870, at which time small colonies Of
American, Scandinavian and Canadian
| farmers took up their residence in this
section of the Red river valley. Their
| first returns from their farming ope-
rations, careless as their methods were,
convinced them that the soil was par
| ticularly adapted to raising big crops
/ of wheat, and on the strength of their
success the farmers as a whole raised
wheat to the exclusion Of every other
crop. 1t was not long afterward that
the success of the pioneer farmers
in the county were given publicity in
! the east, and eastern farmers and
business men awake to the possibilities
for money making bought large tracts
| of Cass county land and turned their
holdings into vast wheat farms. 1t is
matter of history that these big
wheat farms were money makers,
though only a small portion Of the pro-
| fits remained in the county.
| The day of the large wheat farms is,
however, rapidly passing and the
movement started some few years ago
| looking toward the placing of a farm
er and his family on every quarter or
| half section of land in the county is
meeting with considerable success,
though much remains to be done to as
sure the realization of the desired goal.
| The Fargo Commercial club, at the
instigation of the Town Criers' club
Of the same city, now has under con-
sideration plans looking toward con-
certed movement for the further de-
4 VeiOpInenL OF the COuILy.
County Today Has 10000 People.
The progress made in the county's
development in the eleven years fol-
lowing 1870 was most wonderful, but
really nothing compared with the de-
velopment in the following ten years,
nor with the still greater strides in
the twenty years ending with 1910. The
| &c fc
40, 900 and careful estimate recently
made showed that more than one-half
is native born. AS already stated fully
1 80 per cent of the land in the county is
today under cultivation, at least one
third to one-half of which has been
brought to its present condition in the
ten years last past.
Comparative Land Values and Prices.
Coincident with its remarkable de-
velopment the county's lands have seen
la marked advance in value and conse-
quently prices have also gone UP. The
advance in values has been steady, due
to natural causes, and the prices today
are generally speaking, entirely rea-
sonable. 1t is no misstatemenet that
lands of about equal quality, as favor
ably located and with the same degree
of improvements in the middle vest
ern states are today selling at prices
! two and three times above those of
Cass county.
Ten years ago the county's lands
were selling from $25 to $35 an acre
and in few cases at a little higher
figure. Today lands partly under culti-
walton. but without buildings, are being
| offered at from $35 an acre up, while
fairly well improved farms are selling
at $45 and up an acre and those with
, improvements usually found on the
farm Of today at from $50 to SIS an
acre. Here and there one will And a
case where well improved farms are
selling at higher prices than the last
| figures quoted. Among some of the
leading factors bringing about the in
crease in values in the past ten years
are the more scientific methods of soil
| culture employed, the diversif1cation Of
crops and the marked increase in the
number Of new and modern farm build
ings.
Big Increase in Dairy and Stock Farms
The increase in the number Of farms
where dairying and stock raising is
more or less extensively carried on
should also be touched upon. Cass
county has made rapid advances in
both of these lines, and its farmers are
going more and more into these
branches of farming every year. It is
only a question Of a short time when
these two profitable occupations will
play much more important part in
the county's money-returning ends OF