The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-07-30

Bismarck Tribune: John @. Loerch
Of steele in Kidder county is an ex-
ample OF what an e~nterprising man
can do for himself. hts family n ms
country. The work that ne mas uons
- bia farm and home in Ktdder u
~ Mould be of interest to every farm
er and business ma on me hortn-
western prairies.
This article is not to be a biogra-
,tIv ~ Mf Loerch but he is mentioned
only to show what can pc done py
any ~persevering citizen OF ~ noLtn-
west What he has done otneFs
When Mr.. Loerch came to steele
and bought the place that Is now mis-
home it was a place OF raw prairie.
Five wears ago there was not q spIls
on fhe land and Mr.. Loerch gave MIN
self the task of raising trees on q
piece OF raw prairie where his nelgn-
bors told him that IT was useless 70
before and proved q failure in all
csaes unless n Irrigated, and trrfga-
tion would cost too much. The task
Sgav not ona for a man who was easily
dfzbeartened or one that would not
trJ new methods where the old ones
Ma failed. His tree planting was
considered a sort of joke n n Wen
neantng pAt AAuSMS
said:
asyyeI1, he can plant trees II ne
wants TO. He Is just doing 1t Decause
he is a land man n wants TO STOW
hts prospective customers that ne mas
pIauted trees. He can show them the
same thing every year. for no n mas
ever made trees live on these pralrles
without irrigation n no one eve
will. If the good Lord had have want
cd trees here He would have put them
here, If all those men who had lived
their lives in the state had round uee
ans frYIit culture q failure how could
ove avnact an office man from another
state to come and show them nov
10 do IT," The very logic OF the thing
was wrong. 1t was an mpossiplilty
n could not be done, but paradoxlcaL
&c N may seem it has been done.
The plan proved good. The pratrles
were made to blossom again n the
voice OF the false prophet ana the
ynTlrm,Irings of the skeptical were
stlenced. It has been proven beyond
q. shadow Of a doubt that trees ean De
raised on the Missouri slope n that
tl1ev can be raised without irrigation.
There are all sorts of trees that
one would expect to see in any north
ern CLINE and some that n would
not expect to see. Cottonwoods that
FIVE years ago were whips two and
one-half feet high are now twenty
feet and over. Laurel leaf willows
planted at the same time are as line
"a those to be seen anywhere. There
are noticeable among the forest trees
the black walnut, doing as well as
any walnut tree In the state OF Illinois
or Indiana, mountain ash, white
birch, cut leaf birch, American elm.
Manitoba maple or box elder, and
soft maple, all doing well.
OF the cone bearing trees there
were noted the Norway spruce, the
tamarack and the balsam fir, all doing
as well as they ever did on the plains
OF Russia or the slopes Of the Scan
dtnavian peninsula.
1T is not to be supposed that the
forest trees are the only ones that
received attention, for there were
plunas, apples, cherries and compass
cherrines all doing wen. In this case
the forest trees were used as a wind
break and as a protection for the fruit
trees and shrubs.
OF the apples there were identified
Northwestern Greentng, Wealthy,
Duchess Of Oldenburg and Pewaukee.
They were all doing we'll and as thrifty
as any ever seen,
There is one Early Richmond cher