The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1921-03-11
1864 FARMS IN SD.
FIGURES o.. HISTORICAL CEPART.
MENT SHOW DEcREAsE
IN NUMBER.

~oSA W - SAs
ment? Statistics recently re ceived
BY the state historical department,
showing the number Of farms IN the
state recorded by the fourteenth fed.
sral census, would indicate that this
il either taking place Or that the
smaller farms are being combined.
making larger mes and thereby reduc.
ing the total number. In 1920. the re-
port shows there were 1854 farms In
South Dakota, a reduction since the
1910 census, OF I per cent, when 81
farms. made q gain for the decade De-
tween 100 and 1910, of Al per cent
The bulletin explains the word farm"
as used for census purposes as, "all
the land which is directly farmed by
one person, either by his own labor
alone or with the assistance OF mem
bers Of his household or his employees.
When q land owner has or more
tenants, renters, choppers, OF mana
GER" the bulletin continues, the land
operated by each is considered a
farm" West river cour ties were re-
sponsible for the reduction in the last
ten years, according to the table show
ing the number of farms in each
ty. Armstrong county, IN the west
central part OF the state, boasted Of
l57 farms in 1910. but only II n 1920.
Fall River, in the extreme western
corner, dropped from 1924 in 1910. to
813 in 1920. Lawrence county, along
with the six counties lying along the
MISUNDERSTANDING border, held it's
own with AS farms in 1910 end 449
in 1920.
While this is not the regular open
season for snake stories" one comes
from Winner, in which a rancher de-
clares the fact that a few days ago
he killed over 200 snakes at his place.
He says that the water In the we'll
which supplied the house had . pc
culiar taste and he decided the well
needed cleaning. After the water had
been pumped out in an effort to clear
out the bottom of the we'll. several
snakes were see in the cracks OF the
loose stone wall. This started an in
| vestigation and q tearing out Of tne
entire wall, revealing over 200 rep,
tiles of varying sizes making their
home in the well. A new and snake
proof wall has been put into the well
to prevent any further such trouble.
Information has been received that
q band Of five bandits have been loot
ing stores in the vicinity OF Salem,
Spencer and other small towns. The
band is headed by q woman. said to
be beautiful. who is the advance agent
OF the gang. She visits the towns Sc
lected as the scene of the ~contemplat-
ed robberies. and On several occasions
has vamped clerks and obtained in
formation concerning the "lay" OF a
particular store. This Information is
who visit the stores at night and carry
away loot in the automobile with
which they are provided. Officers OF
several counties now are watching for
the gang.
A move IL under way to obtain the
Bads Lands Of South Dakota as a ma
tonal park. Most OF the tract Is yet
government land and will not be taken
under existing land laws. as it Is not
agricultural land. 1t is claimed that
the Bad Lands Of the state are more
interesting in their characteristics
than are the Bad Lands OF North Da-
kota. and a large part Of that terri
tory could easily be transferred to a
national park. The South Dakota
strata is said to be one OF the great
est fields in the country in which to
study prehistoric life through the spec
linens which are scattered in the
shales OF that section.
Watertown's new vocational high
school building project launched W
years ago, but postponed, due to ris-
ing construction costs. may reach the
actual construction stage this spring
and hummer IL the voters decide in
favor Of a school bond issue OF $780,
900 at q special election March q.
The government has installed an
electric lighting plant . Cheyenne
River agency, and that agency no
longer depends upon the old fashioned
kerosene lamps for its lighting facil-
tiles.
1t 10 expected that in the near fu-
ture Sturgis Will become the center VI
a new oil field. A number OF leases
Vt land already have been signed and
plans Ae being made for drilling to
start In the near future.
A number Of counties in the western
part OF the state are providing dipping
watts at convenient locations for the
dipping OF cattle this spring, as q de-
termned effort is being maze to eradi.
cate scabies from thu state the present
year.
Tho Highmore board Of education
has sold bonds Of $50. 900 which were
issued to provide additional school Ia
s:Alitieo.
The Lathsrans Of Esan and vicinity