Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-09-19
The Get Together
Spirit
(By John A. Monger.)

We are now in the aristocratic
soil section or North Dakota. Nelson
County. the surface of which is
slightly rolling prairie. deep black
loan, with sup-soil of clay A soil SO
rich in plant life to make 1t an ideal
fertilizer for replenishing the fertil-
ity of the worn-out farms of Iowa,
Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri. A
quality soil that has made all it's till
ers we'll to do and many wealthy.
Nelson county farmers, nevertheless
have had their lean as we'll as fat
years. owing to the one crop wheat.
with no crop rotation, If so, it was
oats, barley or rye. This kind of soil
cultivation has robbed it of its virgin
fertility. decreasing the crop yield
year by year, lessening its earning
capacity. This is why improved farms.
with splendid buildings are only pric-
ed at $50 to $50 per acre that should
be priced at S1o0 to $3.50 per acre. All
that is necessary is crop rotation, di-
versitied farming, taboo the one-crop
soil robbery, just as the agriculturists
have done in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska
and Missouri. The propaganda OF
Better Farming is doing wonders, as
a result larger acreage of corn, alfal-
IA and root crops is gradually reduc-
ing the wheat area. This spells corn
and hogs, alfalfa and silos. dairying
makers No. / Northern wheat will
always be a staple and profitable crop
in North Dakota. when rotated with
other crops. Wheat is a lazy mans
crop at best, it is like the hay crop
requires no cultivation, and if it es-
capes or withstands the hot July
torrid period and the passing hail
storms of this and other states and
the price of wheat ranges from $50
to $1.00 and upward bushel, 1t will
prove a money-maker. Still in the
wind-up. when the farm must be
cashed in. a wheat farming section is
a poor investment, as such lands only
bring $50 to $50 an acre, when if it
were cultivated to diversified farming
the farmsteads would be priced at
500 to $3.50 an acre. This is why the
North Dakota farmers are missing
their main chance. and why there Is
such statewide filling in of eastern
farm home-seekers. All of these agri-
culturists are diversified farmers
wheat. barley, oats, rye, corn. alfalfa,
clover, timothy, roots crops, small
fruits. dairying, beef cattle, hogs. and
poultry, the money-makers of the
top-notch of fertility.
Nelson county farmers are work
ing along these lines. especially the
sons Of the old pioneers, who took up
$50 acre homestead, a preemption
or tree claim, those who have taken
agricultural courses or been aducated
at the North Dakota Agricultural
College. 1t is this young blood. the
sons Of the early pioneers and the
practical farmers Of the eastern states
that is brining North Dakota into its
own as one of the greatest agricult-
ural states Of the Union, and one of
the choicest spots on the map of
North Dakota is Nelson county. The
great fertility of the soil and the wait
ing advantages of farm home seekers
have not been allowed to see the light
of publicity. owing to the rapacious
land spectators that have bent all
their energies to secure a title to the
lands tributary to Lakota, the county
seat of Nelson. Publicity to their
mind was not desirable, for this
would bring in new farm settlers, and
advance the price per acre and lose
them the chance of a lifetime OF be-
coming millionaire farmland owners.
This is why improved farms in Nelson
county are priced at $50 to $50 AN
acre. while those of the Red River
Valley range from $40 to $50 an acre.
Lands that are not in the same class
as to fertility of soil, markets, trad
ing centers, school or good roads. The
great up-build Of Nelson county com
menced in 1888, when the Great
Northern built into the territory and
when Nelson county was created in
. 1884. The country rapidly filled up
and prospered. as result, Lakota
grew to be- the trading metropolis of
this very rich farm land section, that
the United States census in 1910 gave
Nelson county 1o,14O population. In
searching for official data we find
that the assessed valuation of this
county in 1914 was s6.O53,365: while
the county tax rate was 80 and the