Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-02-21
I 4 LETTER FROM mlss,sslPP
Former kandlyohlai, Buys Old Cot
ton Fields Ii South and &
Settles Down.

Editor Willmar Tribune:
Before leaving Minnesota ! prom
ised you and several other friends to-
tell where / landed and how I would
like conditions in the South. I left
Willmar December LIST and travelled
directly to Lake Mary below San
ford, nearly in the center Of the state
Of Florida; thence to the east coast
and down to Sebastian River. They
call Florida the state Of sunshine and
that is true name. The sun shines
in the sky and its light is reflected
back in the sand on the surface of
the ground, which is as white as the
granulated sugar in the bowl on your
dinner table. A man who has been
there several years told me that in
going mile you have seen the whole
state and that came true, except that
one place would be dry and another
place more wet. In some places they
grow oranges, other places vege-
tables and everywhere there grows
pine timber. From the latter they tap
turpentine and cut much timber un-
st for lumber. The cut-over land
runs down by palmettos. - T..
I will remark that I have never in
my life heard people talk so much
Of being afraid Of frost, not even in
Norrland, Sweden, as in the state of
Florida. They bank up the orange
trees up to the branches to keep them
from freezing, and no wonder. In
1895 the orange trees froze, froze
down trees and all. / saw a good
many orchards yet uninhabited from
that time, the trees laying on the
ground beside the stump, couple Of
feet high. But in talking with land
agents one will always find that there
is no danger of frost because the
freezing line is always 20 or 80 miles
north of their holdings.
I turned back, made a stop at
Jacksonville, Florida. There l met
an old gentleman who, when he heard
that l came from California, but had
lived in Minnesota for SO years, told
me that Florida and the southeastern
states had nothing inviting in land
for Minnesotan, but suggested that
in Mississippi and Louisiana it was
better. Acting on his suggestion, I
purchased a ticket, for New Orleans,
Louisiana, and left the Florida Wild
erness, orange groves -alligat-
ors. From there I went to Summit,
Miss. 1t seemed to me there to be
too billy. Then / went to this place
where l found the soil more suitable,
and seeing the idle cotton fields that
had not been worked for a couple Of
years covered with two or three fee
Of tall old grass and the land gently
rolling, enough for the water to drain
off, ended my journey and purchas-
ed 1875 acres of land and here 1 am
to stay. The land here is partly un-
der cultivation and partly in timber,
grown up after the war, taking the
place Of cotton: Land in this part
of the state can be bought for from
1910 to $25 an acre, according to To-
cality and cultivation: We can raise
any crop here Of grain; vegetables,
fruit and hay, and mostly two crops
on the same ground. They used to
raise nothing but cotton here and
bought all food from the north, both
for man and beast, and when the boil
weevil came they were stunned, so
to speak, and do not blame them.
Cotton is easily raised. All the i'm
plements they have for that purpose
are niggers, cotton mules { a small
thing between an ordinary mule and
a jack rabbit) and a 6-inch pillow.
What could we do with such, rig
in Minnesota? They have larger
plows for breaking, of course. Now
they are beginning to become more
convinced that they are able to raise
something besides cotton. The school
boys have commenced to raise one
acre Of corn to win prizes and the
Government sent experts to earn
them heew: A boy fremql hl.iilple9ln county
Of this state, northeast of this e9un=
ty, raised 2l2 bushels 9n one acre
at q e9st Of 84a cents per bqshel.
One in Alabama raised *227 bushels
: on an acre: A coed many people
have ceme to this place during the
winter from the middle states and
purchased land and settled down:
Now | must close. Will come again
and tell abent our government, nig.
gers and prohibition. You knew this
is a prohibition state. Planting has
commenced here now. The coolest
we have had. here this winter was &c
degrees above zero one morning in
January. s:z i. "
Respectfully yours,
/ n, q, HIGHSTROM. !.
Il After the Strike. -. ( I.
i He tried the door with his key. but
the thing was locked on the inside