Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-05-28

ed almost level so as to be irrigated.
This work costs a large amount be-
sides the original price of the land,
and then they would have to pay
so much per acre for irrigating. In
talking with these people there,
they admitted that their high priced
irrigated land would not grow as
big crops as our land in Wisconsin.
And still many of our people in
| Wisconsin think it is terrible when
they have to pay $50 or SIS per
acre for land from which they can
get returns of from $40 to 800 per
acre and without any expense for
either fertilizing or irrigation. An
other handicap which they have
there is the fact that it takes sew
eral years to get the fruit trees to
bear. And if the particular fruit
they have planted does not prove
profitable, they cannot change
their crops as we can, but they will
have to keep on with that particular
kind Of fruit for years until they
find it total loss Then per-
haps they will cut those trees out
and plant other trees and try some
other crops for a few years. While
in Wisconsin, if a farmer thinks that
some particular crop will not pay, he
can the following year put in a diff
ferent kind of crop.
Hundreds of well to do farmers in
the middle west have sold their
places and gone out there with per-
haps from $4,000 to $4,000 and in
vested it all in a few acres of fruit
land, only to find that they could
not sell the property Or make any
. thing in the fruit business. Com
pare this with Wisconsin farms, with
the same amount invested and see
what a difference there would be
| in the income. There is no chance
| for pasture for cattle, as land that
| is not irrigated, will not grow any
! thing, and land that is irrigated is
| too expensive to be used for pasture.
| When | suggested to the people that
| talked with that it was not ad-
visable to buy land there, as long as
| it did not bring any returns on the
investment, they would reply, that
| it was a fine climate to live in"
hardly think that the average farmer
can live on climate.
The western people seem to be
great boosters which is no doubt
the reason they catch so many easy
marks from the east and middle
west If California sends out a car
load of oranges, or some other fruit,
it is advertised broadcast in all their
papers, but the Chicago and Twin
Cities market probably handle more
cattle and produce in one day than
California sends out in two weeks.
But We are so used to it that it
is not even mentioned. We passed
through Oregon and Washington and
stopped at different places and we
found that the land was high in both
of these states but not quite so bad
as in California and it also had the
advantage of not needing irrigation.
Land there runs from $50 to $1,000
Or $4,000 per acre, all depending on
the location and soil and the condi-
ton of the land. However, in many
places at least, found that this soil
was only about four or five inches
deep, with gravel underneath and no
hardpan to retain the moisture and
fertility. They do not pillow the land
like we do, but merely scratch it on
top. However, this condition may
not be true of other places of those
states. But even in those states,
the land is too high for the average
man to buy and considering the
price, do not begin to bring in the
returns on the investment that the
Wisconsin lands do.
Comparing Wisconsin and the Pa
cific coast for market, can say that
they do not begin to have the mar
kets we have, except by shipping the
produce a long distance. Just as a
comparison, we found that Chicago
alone has more people than all of
California put together and when
the Wisconsin people figure all the
other towns including the Twin Cit |
les, Superior, Duluth, Milwaukee and |
the Iron Range, almost at their doors,
they can then begin to appreciate |
what a good market they have and |
which accounts for the fact that the |
Wisconsin farmer gets a cry much |
better price for anything they sell |
than the farmers on the coast.
We came back through Canada and |
stopped for a visit with my broth
er in North Dakota, and as I had |
passed through Dakota several
times, I was anxious to find out what