Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-05-21

The Lake Superior route already car
ries more tonnage than any other in
land waterway in the world, and Du-
luth already rivals Liverpool and New
York in the number of vessels and the
tonnage of freight which put out Of
it's harbor.
The farm lands Of Minnesota pas
sess and are unsurpassed in fertility
bv any state or country in the world.
Analysis and tests, comparing soils
from nearly every state, place Mime
sofa in the first rank and show that it's
soils contain the highest percentage Of
plant foods.
in accounting for the high produc:
tivity of Minnesota farms, several ad-
ditional reasons may be mentioned.
These are, briefly, the favorable depth
and physical texture Of the surface
soils and subsoils; the adequate and
unfailing supply of rain and under
ground water; the abundant content
of decaying vegetable matter or hum
us; the satisfactory conditions of sun
shine, temperature, and air moisture;
the total absence Of injurious soil ele'
ments, such. as alkali salts; the COM
parative freedom from hail, drought,
or floods; and, lastly, but of the ut.
most Importance since good soils will
not of themselves produce the best
crops, the good farming methods now
in general use throughout the state.
Climate
Minnesota possesses a climate re-
markable for its dry and healthful at.
mosphere, invigorating winds, and
abundant and productive rains during
the growing season. The average an.
nual precipitation for the whole state
is about 900 inches, varying from 81
inches in the extreme northwestern
part to 33 inches in the southeastern
counties.
The differences in the altitude and
surface features throughout the state
are not sufficient to produce any con.
siderable effect On the climate; but its
10000 lakes, and especially the larger
lakes upon it's borders moderate the
temperature to very appreciable ex.
tent. This is particularly true of Lake
Superior whose shores remain cool and
delightful throughout the hottest sum.
mer months and attract thousands of
tourists from all parts of the Unite@
States.
Forests
At the time when the first settlers
came into the state, about fve-eighths
of Minnesota, chiefly in the northern
and northeastern part, was covered
with virgin forests. Although much
of the timber has been cut away, Min.
nesota still ranks among the great
lumber and wood-pulp producers OF
America. At present there remain
about 2S,000,00O acres which still bear
forests of some kind. The leading
varieties are white pine, Norway pine
red and jack pine, spruce, cedar, tam
arack, birch and poplar. Two large
tracts, the Superior National Forest
and the Minnesota National Forest
have been set aside by the Federal
government as forest reserves, and
eight smaller areas have been set aside
bv the state legislature as state parks
These are the Itasca, Burnside, Pills.
bury, Alexander Ramsey, Minneopa
and the Interstate Park at Taylors
Falls.
Game and Fish
Game and fish still furnish large
quantities of fur and food, and consti.
tute one of the States assets. With
the exception of the buffalo, which
formerly roamed in immense numbers
over the prairies, and the beaver
which has but few colonies left in
Itasca State Park and in the Superior
Game Preserve, all the animals orig
inally in Minnesota are still fairly
well represented, and deer, moose
bear, fox, lynx, skunk, raccoon, mink,
and musk rat abound. The wild pig.
con, which formerly existed in almost
countless numbers, is no longer seen in
the state and wild geese are getting
scarce; but partridge, prairie chicken,
quail, and duck are numerous. The
best varieties of Good fish abound in
the streams and lakes Of Minnesota,
and the value Of the annual catch ap-
proximates a million dollars. In re-
cent years, pearl fisheries have become
important on the upper Mississippi.
CLANS are fished out Of the river, and
searched for pearls. Besides pearls,
the clans furnish a pearly shell used
in the manufacture Of buttons. About
10000 tons Of these shells are obtain
ed annually from the upper MISSISSIPPI