Semi-weekly herald., 1913-07-24


as the sole sustenances of mankind, l
may be pardoned for mentioning con-
ditions as l find them in circle Of
the western half of the continent, be-
sides our people can contrast their
conditions with those of other people.
When l say crop is good in GER
tain locality, it does not hold that the
production is the same as good crop
in some other locality, but good this
year for the place mentioned.
Good in Oklahoma and Kansas
means fifteen to twenty-five bushels
to the acre, while in Iowa more, Da-
kota the same.
Wheat is good crop from Ell Reno,
Okla, to Yankton, S. D., but from
there to Aberdeen 1t is burned up, ex-
cepting north central Oklahoma and
southern Kansas where the chinch bug
has destroyed some, and injured more.
Corn is good crop except in the dry
belt south of Kansas City, but in Kan
sas and eastern Oklahoma will be
ruined if the dry weather continues.
Oats are poor south of Nebraska but
good north. Orchards are loaded from
Lincoln to Sioux City, but little fur
ther south the pear blight of both the
pear and apples trees is found from
Kansas to Oklahoma. Peaches and
grapes are good in Kansas and Okla
homa and cherries are a fine crop in
these states and the Dakotas.
To our farmers | wish to say, you
| must raise stock to feed your alfalfa,
is the hand writing on the wall. This
great forager, until recently counted
western or southern product, is now
| plentiful on the bottom lands of Okla
homa and Kansas, also on the hills
and in the valleys of southwestern
| Nebraska. Many fine fields are noted
| in Iowa and some in the Dakotas.
Commercial conditions are below
normal everywhere l have been, but
bank deposits are above the average.
However, in no place as large, even
in town four times the size of Du-
| rango, as there.
Employment varies in the agricul-
tural states. Help is hard to get
just now, but the demand is not great.
In the oil towns everybody is busy,
| but most of the work is necessarily
skilled, and even there times are not
| good except in the development areas.
When field becomes a pumping prop
osition, relatively few operate it, and
while the demand for oil is good, the
price is not advancing. If it is to the
consumer, why?
| There is on hand in the tank lines
| 40,000,000 barrels. The disposition of
law makers is just now to tax the
products on hand, the policy that was
pursued with our smelters, thereby in
creasing fixed charges and cut down
profits and increase production cost ir
all lines of industry. Savy?
/ have thousand and one things
that interest me, on which l would like
to go into detail, but if l did The
Herald would have to publish a book
on them, so l will refrain as much
as possible.
After travelling part or all Of
every day for two weeks / dread
ed my long journey, but with the
splendid steel coaches and rock bal
asted roadbeds of the Milwaukee &
st. Paul, the journey is becoming 6
pleasure and not task.
The Dakotas are vast undulatine
plain, or today great boundless areas
of wheat and corn, with oats in minol
areas.
Nowhere in my travels have seer
piece of wood. Not tree is to be
found in this vast region, except those
reared artificially as wind breaks
around the farm buildings.
Lying in groups of two to twenty il
convenient shades along the railroad is
to be seen the signs of the times
men stretched out on the grass, osten
sibly harvest hands, following the sea
son into the far northwest.
Above YanSton little grain has beer
cut. This country has had some very
dry weather that has almost ruined
small grain where the soil is shallow
While the crop is good in most places
In riding over these vast stretches OF
grain, it would seem the plain country
could fill the worlds granary.
Fuel is an object almost a problem
in this cold country, with its long win
ters. Coal orders are placed with Chi
cago dealers, but where it is mined
must be far away indeed. The farmer
has many fires from the corn cobs.
Looking across these fertile plains
as far as the eye can reach the same
scene greets your gaze, the white farm
house protected by cottonwood groves
After you have travelled the hundreds
of miles from Texas to Minnesota
you look and the white farm house
with the same settings are to be seen
in all directions, only in Dakota the
towns are few and far apart compared
with the states in the south.
The statement that one may begin
in the harvest fields in Texas, harvest
| north until he runs into a snowstorm