The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1921-05-20
MR.. w. E. GRANTHAM WRITES
FROM NORTH DAKOTA
Talks Interestingly of That Section of
The United States. Says PossibiIi-
ties Are Great in That Section

( It IollON my well WTlIton lellel
from w. +. Graptham, nephew of the
Editor of The Sentinel, from Valley
City, N. D., will give Sentinel readers
some insight into North Dakota con
ditions and people:
have this whole forenoon to my.
self and it just occurred to me the
opportunity might be improved by
complying with your request Of last
fall, to write you something about
North Dakota, its products, people
weather, politics, soil, schools and
machinery for guiding the wayfarer
into the promised land; but | would
not undertake to cover the subject
comprehenSively in so short a time
as one forenoon for to do that would
require more fertile brain than |
possess and a familiarity with the
tools of writing which is given TO on
~ chosen few There is an abund-
ance of material at hand for a cork
/ ing good article but owing TO the
! scarcity OF print paper | shall only
! touch the high spots sufficiently TO
/ set your fancy racing. True. we did
/ not send 4 delegate TO the Peace
! Conference but we are heap more
| OF an entity than many Of the bush
| league nations that came in for CON
! siderable attention at the hands of
| that august body; and il sometimes
makes me laugh TO think of some Of
/ those new SoVerelgntyS that we could
tuck away IN ore of our Ignite mines
without at all Interfering with the
! daily output.
We have unlimited resources for
livestock. agriculture and industry ;
and while We are a little shv Of
population, we are rapidly IMPROVING.
IN that reSpect-large families being
the rule and twins and triplets often
occurring
The old glaciers that coured ont
this commonwealth moved from north
70 south. leaving behind fertile area
OF I0,S31 square miles, which is now
the home of 645,730 prosperous, con-
tented and God-fearing souls. and
Whlch Is nearly all cuitivatable. The
area Of waste lands in the vicinity
OF the lakes, water courses and hills.
IN comparison with the entire surface.
is lnSlgnificant,' and even these tracts
which may not be plowed are nearly
all good pasture lands. or are well
adapted for growing timber. The
turtle Mountain country. for instance
near the middle of the north bound
airy. Is tract Of forests. It's surface
IS rugged, the hills varying from
three hundred to seven hundred feet
IN height, and in some cases the val
levs are narrow and deep. These
nils are formed of drift. containing
no rocks IN places, although there
are great many boulders. some ne
ing very large
Ihe pralrles are covered with a
lch. dark drift Of alluvial loam. from
one to four feet deep. under which
is clay subsoil, which has the prop
ertv Of holding moisture TO a wond !
ertul degree. giving it out as needed |
for the growing crops. It contains |
2 practically inexhaustible supply of !
the soil ingredients most valuable for |
agriculture. There is 10 better soil |
IN the world for general farming pur-
poses, and none so well adapted for
the raising Of wheat and other small |
grains.
The climate Of North Dakota js
much more pleasant than il is gen
orally thought to be by those who
nave rot experienced il or consulted
statistics on the subject. The popu-
lar belief that the winters are Of arc
nc severity IS not warranted by the
meterologlcal records that have been
kept III the state for the past forty
two years. From these records it is
found that the average or mean tenn
Derature of the state is SO degrees
and that the month mean tempera-
ture ranges from 3 degrees in Janu-
ary to 70 degrees in July The ex-
rene maximum temperature ranges
from 101 to 40 degrees. and the ex-
RENE minimum from 20 below zero
% "a below. 1t is not to be supposed
nat such readings are often recorded
]r that the extremes are Of longI
iuration. From the fact that the
humidity or moisture in the atmos-
mere is always low, these periods of
Xtreme heat or cold are not accom- :
lanled by the discomfort or distress
hat is experienced in the seaboard
tates. The mean annual precipita- {
ION IS slightly over seventeen inch
s, varying from thirteen inches in {
he south central portion to 20 in the
orthern and northeastern and &c {
. the eastern and southeastern. '
Iovember is the month of least pre- :
WhIle June has the great {
st. followed next in order by May a
nd July. The time of occurrence Of {
le first killing frost is from August g
eth to September 30th, and Of the [
st killing frost in the spring from
larch 18th to June 8th, the frost c
rec days ranging from 10 to las. Q
While the soil and climatic condi- 2
ons are eminently favorable for the O
roWth of all the usual farm products o
le leading crop is hard spring wheat, n
hlch is so superior to all other va
eties, and commands prices so much N
gher, that it has acquired distinc- "
We designation in the markets. The
7erage yield of wheat per acre
lnges from 20 to 80 bushels, but
heavier returns are not fl
1usual. Hard spring wheat weighs v
ore to the bushel than softer varie- "
es, the wheat usually ranging from V