The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1915-12-09
County !: Y / Has Ia G Good ]
Farm I ands On
Reas'o I. o.nable 7 erms
NV Il a Gtemnrmrnel

;
- By ". Il. GemImunel.
General Manager, NJ. & !, Ry. Col
bSsEestG. 5ssstsIts i fStss ttgsffa& &fhf ,5f sE74
That portion Of Northern Mime
sofa traNersed. by the Minnesota ant
International Railway has been. lons
of the foremost sections on the United
States in the number Of Immigrant
settlers arriving in, the territory dur.
the past three years For many years
the natural advantages and agricul,
tural resources Of this part Of Min.
nesota were little. known and less
appreciated. The fact that the lum-
bering industry has been so pr0min-
ent in the past has obscured the
natural advantages of the country.
f Influx Of Settlers.
The records Of the immigration De-
partment of the Northern Pacific
Railway show an immense influx of
settlers into this territory, and it is
gratifying to observe what a goodly
percentage of these settlers are of
the type who mean business and
who are actually improving this lands
and making homes. Only a few
years ago it was common to hear of
this Northern Minnesota district
spoken of as timber preserve for
telephone poles, railroad ties and
cedar posts: Only a few years ago
the writer made the prediction that
it would become necessary for the
Minnesota and International Rail-
way to double it's traffic handling
rolling stock in the course Of five
years. if development could be ade-
quately pushed. Today there is such
an increase in the tonnage Of agri-
cultural products over that line, and
a corresponding tonnage Of commo-
dities hawled in to supply the people,
as to astonsh those who few years
ago were skeptical that any good
could ever come out of this country
except lumber.
No Better Soil.
Examinations of the soil trough
the counties traversed by the Mime
sofa and International made by Mr..
D. e. Willard, Development agent of
the Northern Pacific Railway Co.,
several years ago convinced him that
there was no better soil for general
agricultural uses than that in large
portions of this territory. The prac-
tical experience of farmers is demon
strating the truth of this prediction
So far from being worthless area
of sand and swamp, the splendid farm
developing around such towns as
Pequot, Backus, Pine River, Laporte
and Guthrie between Brainerd and
Bemidji, and at and north from
Bemidji around Tenstrike, Blackduck
Mizpah and Gemmel, show how false
i was the general impression and how
great are the possibilities Of agricul-
tural development Soil that was pro.
nounced by Eugene Grubb, one of the
nations noted potato specialists
as the finest soil in the world for
the growing Of potatoes, attests what
can be done in the production of this
important cash crop when at
tention is given to it and the
land properly cultivated. Corn
has pushed its way farther and
farther north until now it is grown
successfully even to and beyond the
International boundary. A few years
ago silo in this territory was a
thing unknown. Today there are
not only silos, but the silos are filled
with splendid silage from the corn
fields on the farms.
Natural Glover Crop.
Thousands who have seen this
country at first hand and have studied
its resources and conditions, bear
witness to- the abundance of the
natural growth of clover This county
might properly be called Cloverland
Where corn and clover can be sue
cessfully grown, and in fact wherever
corn and clover can be successfully
grown, and in fact wherever. corn
and clover have been grown for TWEEN
ty years or more, and dairy cows
have been kept, anywhere in the
United States, the lands are today
worth not less than one hundred dol.
lars per acre, and even cannot he