Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 27, 1909, Page 20

s e e e e e BEMIDJI, BELTRAMI COUNTY AND) NORTHERN MINNESOTA. TO INVESTORS. With cmr recent rate of inerease of im- r.igraticn, about 2.000.000 a vear. just think of it! Kncugh people every twelve months to furnizh a family of six persons for every aquarter sect.on of land in the entire state of Towa. and with 600,000 people to spare to fill up its towns and cities. Thus, with our public lands practically exhausted, the question in the near future will not be where to get people to work our land, but where to get land enough to give employment to our people. The wise man, therefore, at the present time, is he who puts every spare dollar into farming land before the advance in price sets in. You want a sure place to put your money; a safe investment; railroad and big corporations are manaced by and for the large stockholders. 'They manipulate sometimes to the ruin of several holders. An investment in a farm is safe. Farm lands are more than ever in de- mand and the demand will always be in- creasing and the value enhancing and be a safe. sure, profitable investment. Farm lands return big interest. LIVE-STOCK. The rich, natural and tame grasses and abundance of pure water are especially and favorably adapted to the development of live stock interests and dairying. With the increasing demand for good stock, it is indisputable that Minnesota offers great- er inducements than other localities. Thomas Shaw, professor of animal hus- bandry at the University of Minnesota, de- clares that, “to say we cannot grow beef as well as the people of the corn belt, is a libel under the producing powers of our state.” Minnésota is rapidly winning its way to the front as a beef-producing sec- tion and it is an acknowledged fact that finer beef is not grown than that raised in the North Star State. The raising of sheep and hogs is a success, the time and money devoted to these branches of hus- bandry have proved very profitable. Sheep are free from hoof-rot and other kindred diseases. so fatal in damper sec- tions of the country. Hogs can be raised and fattened here as easily as in the older states, without loss by cholera. AGRICULTURE IN GENERAL. [t is conceded that Beltrami county, like all Minnesota, raises the best No. 1 hard wheat in the world, and that in plenty. We pass over the subject of small grains be- cause Minnesota stands before the world as the grower of the best cereals obtain- able, and a state which has never yet failed to produce big crops. In vegetables and garden truck generally Minnesota has invariably compensated the gardener and farmer, and this fact is also common prop- erty to the world in general. DAIRYING. Remembering the above reference to an abundance of natural and tame grasses and a plentifulness of pure water, it may readily be imagined that Beltrami County is matchless in its endowment as a dairy- ing field. The State experimental dairying «tation at Grand Rapids, this state, has done much to stimulate and foster dairy- ing interests throughout this portion of Minnesota, and that it has proved a remun- erative undertaking is attested by the com- pensation which has rewarded those who have been wise enough to include dairying in and with their live stock interests. Beltrami County is destined beyond "cavil to be a pre-eminent fleld for dairying purposes, and rieht now the farmers here- abouts are yearly increasing the number of cows much over and above the number they previously pastured. NO FERTILIZERS HERE. Fertilizer is an unknown quantity in Bel- trami County. Instead of having occasion to superficially enrich their lands, the soil hereabouts is pregnanted with a vigor and progenitiveness that is beyond belief or comprehension. The land of Beltrami County is practically virgin soil, the major portion of it untilled, and the man who is well informed knows what depth and scope this condition implies—an abundant and sure yield, a high grade product and ocne much sought for. They who would reap ceeds so lavishly the gilded pro- proffered by Mother Earth should at once repair to Beltrami County. Faith and perseverance, conscien- ticus endeavor and industry are the only qualifications demanded to realize a com- petence from the soil of Beltrami County. These averments may appear rather strong, but since the proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof, we have mno qualms, but that all who investigate will be satisfied that we do not exaggerate. THE CLIMATE. the climate of north- western Minnesota is too well known to require comment. The air is clear and dry in the winter, and the mud and rain and chilly, penetrating atmosphere, so dis- agreeable in moist and warmer -climates, are unknown here. No malaria, no ague, but all enjoy that greatest blessing pos- gible to mankind—-clear heads and healthy hodies. Among domestic animals disease is practically unknown, unless imported from the East and South. In proof of this, we refer our readers to the descriptive article on Bemidji, setting forth her possessions as a pleasure resort, and to the reproductions appearing herein of the various and beautiful scenes which abound in this vicinity. For healthfulness, We call attention, for the third time in this edition of The Pioneer, to the abund- ance and nutriment of the tame and wild grasses which thrive in this portion of Minnesota, in order that we may convince the prospective dairyman and stockraiser cf the possibilities open to him as to these two industries. The following official excerpts denote the availability of this portion of the state as a dairying and stockraising center, and ap- pended will be found official reports from the state immigration office. They offer food for reflection to the prospective home-seeker: From A. J. McQGuire, superintendent of the North Xast Experimental farm at Grand Rapids, and who is a recognized authority on dairying, we have the follow- ing: THE CALL OF NORTHERN MINNE- SOTA. There is a call for farmers in Northern Minnesota. The increased demand for farm products, due to the development of the mining industry, and the assurance of profitable returns from the soil are reasons why this section of Minnesota should be settled. The fact that of the ten million acres of high land in Northeastern Minne- soto, less than ten per cent is in the hands of actual farmers, gives no logical proof that this land is wunfit for agriculture. There were natural causes for its late set- tlement. The forest was a barrier to the emigrant wagon of the farmer, with his family and all his belongings. He was forced to follow the trail of the prairie to locate a permanent home. It was the ad- venturer with his pack sack who took up the land in Northeastern Minnesota, not as a farmer, but for the possession of the tim- ber, and when that was sold he could again pack his sack and drift out of the country with the logs. s THE SYSTEM OF FARMING FOR NORTHERN MINNESOTA. During the past four years the Experi- ment Farm has been given largely to working out a system of farming for this section of the state. Dairying is the base of this system of farming. Any one who has made a careful study of the natural conditions of the country and the crops that do best, could come to no other con- clusion than that dairying will be the most profitable system of farming for the aver- age farmer. There are two very good reasons for ad- vocating dairying in a country so favorable to that industry as Northeastern Minnesota. The dairy cow is the most productive of all farm animals, and in dairying less of the soil fertility is removed than in any other branch of agriculture. The demon- stration of this may be seen in the fact that the dairy farmers are the most pros- perous the world over, whether in Minne sota, Vermont or Denmark. In this section of the state where the acres under cultivation must necessarily be few, what crops are grown should be made the best possible use of, and that is in feeding. Feeding on the farm, and sell- ing a finished product, and butter is the highest finished product of the farm. The creameries that have already started in Northeastern Minnesota and having suffi- cient patronage, paid over 27 cents per pound for butter fat during the past year. In a certain town of this section of the state located in a community where the farmers have gone into dairying, the bank paid out over $80,000 for cream checks; over $7,000 a month during 1907. In this same town flve years ago, before the farm- ers had a creamery or made a business of dairying they did not receive a dollar in cash for dairy products. Dairy farming is the system of farming to which Northeast- ern Minnesota is best adapted, it is the most practical and profitable system for the average farmer, The strongest endorsement for the dairy industry of the county is in the growth of clover. This wonderful plant, so difficult to grow in some sections of the state, finds a native habitation in Northeastern Min- nesota and yields as high as four tons of cured hay per acre at a single cutting. A twelve acre fleld on the Experiment Farm that had only its natural fertility, having never been manured, yielded 33; tons of cured hay per acre in a cutting in 1906, and the following year (1907) 3.65 tons per acre. Two tons of hay per acre is consid- ered a large yield. Clover, unlike the prairie grasses, grows from early spring until covered with snow in the fall, making a longer pasture sea- son for the dairy cow than in sections much farther south. Wherever dairying has been intellizently conducted in Northern Mimnesota, it has proved profitable. The cows kept on the Experimental] Farm average over $35.00 a yvear net profit for butter alone. They are common cows and kept under conditions