The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-07-01

seem so high.
Last year some Of the irrigation
farmers under the Williston project
cleared as high as $50 an acre on their
alfalfa after paying all expenses for
water, cultivation, marketing, etc. One
man raised potatoes at the rate of 962
bushels to the acre. Another raised
fiftyfi five bushels Of wheat to the acre
and considerably over 100 bushels of
cats to the acre has been raised
From tests made 1t has been found
that sugar beets can be as successfully
grown here as they are at Billings,
Mont. or other western points. Grow
ing sugar beets would mean intense
farming, but the net returns from
sugar beet land ought to be from $50
to $75 per acre. In many instances 1t
is much more. Williston is working
for a sugar beet factory now. The
factory would cost about 81 ,O00, 600 and
would furnish employment for about
800 or 400 men during the fall and
winter months and would pay to the
farmers for beets, alone, something like
half million dollars a year. The land
under the Williston, Buford- Trenton
and Yellowstone projects can now be
bought at from $40 to $50 per acre not
far from market. firmly believe that
If five years from now this land Is in
alfalfa It will be worth 500 an acre.
The members of my firm have sold
small tracts of irrigated land near the
city Of Williston for agricultural pur-
poses for as high as $3.50 an acre. This,
believe, is the highest price for agri-
cultural land in the state. 1t has paid
the buyers of this land. On some of
the land that we sold at $110 an acre
the purchaser raised about 5000 worth
of tomatoes on three fourths of an acre
and $1,000 worth of celery on about
half an acre. But IL should go on and
tell you all of the benefits of irrigation
would consume all my time. I want
you to understand, too, that irrigation
is not necessary for the successful rails
ing Of crops in our part Of the state.
We raised just as good crops Of wheat,
oats, rye. potatoes and other vegetables
without irrigation as you did in the
eastern part of the state, but with ir-
rigation we can double your yields in
your best years and multiply your
yields in the poor years.
Interest Rates.
One of the great problems for the
new homesteader in the west has been
to get money with which to develop
his land and make 1t earn a living for
himself and family. Most of the men
who came TO northwestern North Da-
kota came with little or no capital.
Many of them had not made a success
of their farming ventures in the east.
They were willing to work hard and as
has been proven the soil was capable
of earning for them a fine living If
properly cultivated. After they had
built small shack for themselves and
a stable for their horses their money
was usually exhausted AS they had
no title to their land, when they wanted
money with which to secure horses
and machinery to break, cultivate and
seed their land they were obliged to
borrow 1t from the banks, giving Sc
curity on their horses, machinery and
other chattels and usually a prelimin-
airy mortgage on their homestead pay
ing IL per cent interest and often
bonus on the money that they borrow
ed, until such time as they could make
proof on their land.
AS you may imagine, they were not
able to borrow very much money on
their chattels. so unless 'homesteader
was especially well-to-do he was oblig-
ed to make Communication proof. (pay-
ing 5000 to the government for his
quarter section) so that he might bor-
row some additional money on the land
with which to make improvements. He
usually had to pay IL per cent on his |
money.
The eastern investor and many of the |
capitalists from the eastern part of
this state would say: "your farmer can
not afford to pay IL percent interest |
so that your security is not good" But
stop and think minute and compare |
the farmer who borrows money on his |
land in the east and the homesteader |
who borrows money on his homestead |
in the west.
The eastern farmer or land buyer |
will buy his land at from $50 to 500 an |
acre and he pays say half cash and the |
Balance draws about 6 per cent inter- |
est On a quarter section Of land the |
interest on an $4,000 loan at per cent |
is $3.50 a year On $4,000 loan it is |
$240 a year. In the west the home |
steader borrows say $500. He paid IL I
per cent interest on it and had to pay |
out only $50 year interest. His wants
were few, he did not have an expensive
house to keep up and as has been prov
ed the lands in western North Dakota
have produced just as good crops as the
lands in the east or the eastern part of
this state. While the eastern man was
paying from four to eight times as
much interest in actual money as the
when the homesteader
came to pay the principal he had only
$500 to pay in a lump sum, while the
nan who borrowed $50 an acre on 500
an acre land would have to pay $4,000
and his interest for one year would
amount to within $40 as much as the
western mans principal
Security for Farm Loans.
How about the security? The land in
he western part Of the state has pro-
luced and will produce just as good
,rops as the land In Minnesota or in
he eastern part of this state. Your
oans around Fargo or in Minnesota
ire often more than $4,000 to $4,000 :
IN quarter section Of land. Our loans
,ut there now usually average about
800 and are never more than 81 600 or 4
II most $1,000 on a quarter section of
and, large portion of which is under
cultivation.
Personally the members OF the firm
With which I have been associated for
he past five or six years have loaned
good many hundred thousand dollars
IN real estate security in northwestern
North Dakota and we have never lost !
cent of principal or interest an a