Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-10-15
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FARMING
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With the phenomenally rapid in
crease in the population Of the. coun-
try it has become apparent to even
the: most unobserving that it will be
but comparatively short time before
all available public land will. have
passed into the hands Of private own
.ers and there will be none left which
may be obtained except through pur-
chase. In fact there is very little re-
naming at the present time that is
valuable for agricultural purposes and
in consequence it behooyes those de-
:sirous Of securing farms in section
tof the country where crops do not fail
and it is possible to readily secure a
competence from the soil to get hold
of some of the rich land of Morrison
county and participate in the wonder
full prosperity being enjoyed by those
now following agricultural pursuits
here. 1t is an opportunity which should
not be overlooked and means unquali-
fed success to the ordinary man of in
telligence who is willing to conscien-
tiously apply himself to the work in
hand.
There are, in addition to improved
farms, many thousand acres of land in
Morrison county which is still virgin
:soil, never having been disturbed by
pow or other agricultural implement.
BY far the greater portion Of this is
equally fertile as that from which
ri,i harvests are garnered annually
:ani which return to their owners divi-
blends far beyond those Of other Sec
'tions where land values are much
higher. Considerable of the land has
ample timber to last for two OF three
generations for fuel purposes if pro-
perlv conserved, with by far the great
err part Of the tract under cultivation.
This is very important feature and
gives the Morrison county farmer
distinct advantage over those who are
forced to purchase all fuel required.
That agriculture is not only sue
rcess, but one Of the leading industries
of the county is shown bv the fact
that in ten years that the county has
had an exhibit at the state fair it has
captured three first prizes, one fourth
and one fifth prize in competition with
counties from all over the state, one
second prize in the northern section,
and three second prizes and one fourth
prize in the Central section, and each
time but few points from the high
score. In order to win these prizes it
is evident that practically everything
in the forage, cereal, root and fruit
line must be raised here. Crop failures
are practically unknown in this coun-
ty.
Within more recent years there has
been shown a disposition on the part
of the farmers here to go more into
diversified farming and as result
their prosperity has increased accord
ingly. They never have all their eggs
in one basket any more as was the
case when all depended upon the wheat
crop and the price of that commodity.
Now there are extensive dairies fur
nishing cream to the eighteen cream
cries operating in the county and put
ting good, hard cash into the pockets
of their owners each month. The farm
er of today in Morrison county who
does not have a bank account is the
exception and loans On farms and chat
tells Of every description have de-
creased in proportion to one in ten a
few years ago.
Large acreage on each farm in this
county are devoted to the potato
crop, which always brings good re-
turns. The soil is favorably adapted
to the raising of tubers. Thousands
of bushels of potatoes are shipped each
year and warehouses can be found in
every city, town and village in the
county. Timothy and clover are also
successful crops and command good
prices. Two crops Of the latter is al
ways raised each season here and its
value for feed purposes is almost un-
surpassed. It is also raised for the
seed and in this way nets the farmer
even more.
An element which has directly af-
fected the agricultural Development Of
the county is the disposition Of the
county commissioners to construct
trunk line roads from all sections Of
the, county to Little Falls and other
towns for the benefit Of the farmer in
order that he may the more readily
and economically haul his produce to
market. Pursuing carefully laid plans
in this direction the roads are being
brought to a high degree Of nerfection
and as the soil readily packs down
hard our roads are better than those
Of, sections where, rains make deep
mud, ruts and quagmi,es resulting
from their use in rainy weather. Here
the roads are uniformly good through
out the year.
Another advantage with which the
person who starts farming in Morri-
son county is favored, is that every
thing necessary to the construction Of
his buildings, ETC., can be obtained at
home. In Little Falls is the Pine Tree
Manufacturing company, with one of
the largest plants in the state, where
lumber Of all kinds and grades can be
secured at prices as low as anywhere
in the northwest, which locally and in
surrounding territory is sold through
the Morrison County Lumber COM
pany. The value Of good build.
ings in which to house the stock
is realized by the farmers here and in
the past few years scores of up-to-date
barns have been erected. The farm
homes are also substantial and many
of them have been constructed entirely
from the lumber taken from the farms
on which they stand. The use of &C.
ment in building construction is also