The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-01-25

in the treasury. The opinion has
been freely expressed that this mis-
taken idea has become prevalent on
account of the Poor Richard" talks
made by certain congressman re-
garding the plight of the "down-
trodden farmer" AS a result land
values have gone to low levels and
statesmen of the Dakotas, Mime
sofa, Montana and Wisconsin have
been in the money centers of the
east in an effort to combat this i'm
preston. Now comes this bunch
with the statement that Northern st.
Louis County, containing some of
the finest agricultural land in the
state, is only fit to raise timber. In
considering this it must be remem-
bered that st. Louis County carried
off the principal prizes for agricul-
tural products at several of the re-
cent State Fairs.
The Superior National Forest at
present comprises over a million
and half acres and with the town
ships to the north tied in forming
connection with the Canadian
Quitico Forest will form an un-1
broken international playground of
over three million acres. This land
is chiefly valuable for it's timber
and nature has provided for the
eut-over, burnt-over sections with a
profuse second growth which if
kept clear of fire takes care of it
self. Fire is the great destroyer
in northern st. Louis County and
this menace is further augmented
by the slashings of the concerns get
ting out timber products.
r. j. (Dick) Ryan, pioneer in
this section of the country and one
who has explored almost all parts of
the northern end of st. Louis
County, fails to enthuse over the
reserve proposition as the following
to the Duluth Herald would indicate.
"Dick" says:
81 notice that a bunch of Chicago
people are trying to tie up all of
our mining country and farm lands
in Northeastern Minnesota. This
does not surprise me. If the people
who can afford to. pay $25 to $50
a day to hire guides for canoeing
trips through the country are per-
mitted to have their way, our entire
country will soon be made wilder
ness.
"The fact that does surprise me
Is that so many people will permit
advertising of what is not a fact in
regard to our country.
Good Farming Land.
81 have been all over the woods
in st. Louis, Lake and Cook counties
and know more than SO per cent of
all the lands mentioned in the area
proposed for forest reserve is the
best farming land out of doors, yet
local people permit outsiders to adj
vertise this as no good for anything
except to grow pine and other soft
woods, that it is simply pine bar
rens, when if they thought for a
moment they would know it is not
a fact.
1.-THE territory proposed to be put
into the national forest starts near
Canyon on the Miller Trunk and in
cludes all of the iron mines east of
Mountain Iron. It includes all of
the mining districts of Tower and
Ely, all of the operations of the
East Missabe Iron company, and all
of the mineral prospects from those
points east to Ontario, the richest
part of the state of Minnesota from
a mineral viewpoint. The area be-
tween Embarrass and Ely is the
most fertile in the state of Mime
sofa, and great belt extends from
the western line all the way through
Lake county to the boundary line
of Ontario.
Fertile Valley.
s'The Isabelle River valley and
from that point TO Finland in Lake
county is the best farming land
when cleared up and under cultiva-
ton, in the United States of
America. It always gets the moist
ure, always raises crop with no
failure. the portions of the land in
the territory that contains rocks or
lodges is part of that which was
commented on by George st Clair
in his article read before the mining
institute as being the territory con-
tanning the last great range in Min
nesota and having in sight and on
the surface in excess of $3.50, 000,-
900 tons of ore
81 can't understand how people in
our locality will permit advertising
the fact that our lands are no
good when they are better than the
lands of the outsiders who are talk
ing about making it forest reserve.
The first forest reserve made in