Morris tribune., 1914-07-24
TRIP TO LAKE OF THE WOODS

of agricultural land and the beauty of the Lake of the
Woods were the things revealed to the editors of
Minnesota their annual outing last week.
The outing officially began at International Falls, but
before reaching that point the party travelled for two
hundred miles beyond what is usually considered as
northern Minnesota thru great region of forests ard
swamps that is being rapidly denuded of its merchantane
timber will in due time become of the most mpor'
tant agricultural sections of Minnesota. Thousands OF
miles of great bitches being dug which will drain Oft
this land and open for settlement great region similar
to the Red River valley in soil and lay of the land
It apueared to the writer that the swamp lands of
northern Minnesota will become important agrculturally
before the cu-over mbered do. In the cu-over
section gradually clearing of acre after acre.
but the process is slow farmer who has twenty
acres cleared considered to have made good progress
and vet when considers that this twenty acres may re-
present ten years work and that there number
of pieces which have not been touched the hope
that the lands of northern Minnesota will be
cleared off sufficiently to be adapted farming in
this generation remote The good land Which has grown
the great forests cannot except expense
of $50 to $50 an person is determined to clear it
off all at once SO the most economical way to clear off
this land by following the present slow process taking
off FIRST the understandable timber. then clearing little at
ing that off and using the land for pasture preliminary to
the 6na clearing All this take time and the farm
inc must he done mostly with hand tools aggregate
production be small.
The swamp lands on the other hand only need to have
the water drained off and they ready for the pillow
the same as any prairie farm Where there is timber it
is mostly tamarack which does not present the serious
problem offered by the heavily timbered land. When
once the snaps drained and cleared they be farm
ed as prairie farm farmed with all manner of labor
saving machinery and there doubt but tha this is
the kind of farming preferred today.
This swamp land because it lays level like the
Red River valley with fall of only few feet to the
mile is underiaid with impervious clay which does not
hermit of underdanage and the outlets chOked with
the accumulatOns of ages.
At international Falls everyone has dreams that their
city is destined to metropolis of great import
ance There is vast water power here for the sawms
and paper mills and these industries the basis of the
city prosperity today but when the great
of country tributary International Falls is opened to
agriculture the future of the city will be assured At this
CITY the editors were given launch trip Rainy River
to Rainy Lake. The Rainy is important stream not
ony for the power which it furnishes but carrier
of the commerce the North The Rainy has carried
this commerce for 200 years, and traces still
the old posts established BY the HUDSON Bay Company
From International Falls, the editors crossed into
Canada and travelled on the Canadian Northern Spoon
ar and Baudette These less than quarter
Of mile apart and separated by conflicting ambitions
and the Baudette river The got together in fine shape
bcwever to entertain the editors and provided one of
the nest ppers served opened their homes when the
overcruwded and provided the boat trip
the Lake Of the Woods the next day. Spooner and
Bsudette are surrounded by rich country where
weed and united could make International Falls look
ia her Iaures as the metropolis of the north Something
Of the energy Of the people shown BY The way the
have been rebuilt being completely destroyed by
forest fire four years ago.
The most enjoyable part Of the outing the day
Anent on the Lake of the Woods the Keenora
owned by the Rainy River Navigation Co. The course
was from Raudee down the Rainy River the Lake of
the Woods then north where the ten Thousand islands
beer and thence thru the islands to the city of Kenora
Ontario. Distance of 125 miles, No where is therets
boat trip Of such surprising beauty the trip thru
ten thousand islands of the Lake of the Woods
The islands appear be solid rock With only enough
soil support growth of small timber 10 places
the PERCEPTIONS sides of the islands beautifully coIored
In size the islands vary from rock with perhaps
single tree TO the largest containing several square miles