The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-07-07
MONDAY, JULY 7, 1918.
NEW Err IN FARMING.

Except there be a cataclysm of ma
ture, North Dakota faces a certain
continuous and ever growing prosperi-
ty. AS long as the sun shall shine, the
rains fall and the winds blow, this
state will continue to increase in
wealth, in prosperity, in all the things
that go to make men happier and life
more worth the living. This is not a
prophecy, nor a prediction, it is simply
the statement of a self evident fact
that he who runs may read.
About thirty-fve or forty years ago
men first began to farm extensively in
this state. This first filling was crude,
and much Of it remains crude to this
day, even though the man who tills
may use, instead OF the OK and hand
plow, a giant tractor drawing the most
modern, complicated and marvellous
/ machinery. But in spite of crude and
wasteful methods, from the soil has
come a great influx of wealth, which
in turn has brought progress and
prosperity.
And yet the change that has come,
SIklCS ENOILil OdhOld WIGS uOlIlIIlS DuI
an empty, lonely, t~reeless plain. Jopu-
lated only by buffaloes and Indians.
will be small and insignificant. when
compared with the change from today
and the North Dakota of thirty-lve or
forty a hence. Could a resident
of the state be transported to the
! North Dakota Of 1850, without wit
Messing the gradual change that will
be wrought by the thirty-seven inter
vening years, he would consider the
change miraculous.
North Dakota has suffered, is suffer-
ing and will continue to suffer from
the man who is anxious to get rich
quick. The mar who sees a chance Of
grabbing a fortune in a few years and
then pulling his stakes has infested
North Dakota and he is still here-but
merely as a passing shadow over the
great prairies, which hold within their
far reaches wealth uncountable, pros
perity without limit, of which this lit
tle-minded grabber does not dream.
There has come to North Dakota
another type of man-zthe man who
sees a vision. This man sees down
the coming ear a great change being
wrought over the face Of the prairies.
He sees not merely far reaching fields
of billowing grain, reaching in golden
flood from horizon to horizon, but he
catches a glimpse of the true North
Dakota Of the future-a yeritable par
adise.
He sees a land of trees, Of we'll kept,
neatly clipped hedgerows, bordering
splendid modern highways; a land Of
magnificent country homes, equipped
with every modern convenience, sur
rounded by beautiful, lawns. He sees
a land Of growing and prosperous cit
les, connected by interurban lines, with
avery home in the state in direct touch
with every other home by telephone.
He sees that the little, lonely one-room
country school is gone and in it's stead
he sees we'll built, thoroughly equip
ped, consolidated schools. each sur
rounded by fields and groves, part of
the school equipment. He sees in
short the North Dakota of the future.
the homeland Of a happy, prosperous
people.
This picture is not overdrawn. AL
ready the transformation is beine
wrought. The whole state is catch
ing he vision and learning how to
make it a reality. For years the pos
sibilities of North Dakota have been
realized by a few men who have been
studying and planning and workine
to bring the vision to pass. And as
the years unfold the wisdom of theil
idea is being more and more impress.
ed upon the farmers of the state.
What is their idea? Simply inten-
sive and timely cultivation. 1t il
merely the application of business.
like ideas to the farming proposition
Brought down to the last analysis in
tensive cultivation, is the solution tc
almost every farm problem in NORTH
Dakota.
AS a result Of this idea silos are
springing up on every hand, the grea,
bonanza farms are being cut up int
smaller farms. Corn is being sue,
cessfully raised. Hogs are being rails,
ed to eat the corn. The whole system
of farming is being changed to pur
the idea into practice. For it has beer
proved that with intensive cultivation
corn can be MANFRED in this state. II
has been proved that this is a grea,
dairy state. 1t has been proved tina
trees, with the right kind of cultiva.
ton at the right time. will live ant
thrive anywhere within the Borders O
the state.
The agencies for spreading the ides
are being rapidly multiplied. Thi
boys and girls are catching it through
the corn contests, the potato contests
the hog raising and other contests
For years the agricultural college a
other agencies have been doing
mighty work to spread this gospel
The great meeting held annually i,
Fargo and known as the Tri-Stat
Grain Growers convention, has beel
big factor in bringing home tn
values of the idea. And perhaps til,
greatest single factor in bringing
about the reality of the vision il
the better farming movement,
And as the years pass, the spread .
the idea will gather impetus, and it |
because Of this that the statement cal