Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 27, 1909, Page 21

ez l BEMIDJI, BELTRAMI COUNTY AND NORTHERN MINNESOTA. practical for the average farmer. Many dairy farmers with only the help of their own family are doing equally well. With only ten cows a farmer can make a good living even though he devoted his entire time to the production of their feed and their care. Ten cows producing 250 pounds of butter each per year will pro- duce 2,500 pounds of butter. This at 25c per pound, which is below the average price, will amount to $625 in a single year. Fifty farmers with ten cows can suc- cessfully operate a creamery. The butter would amount to 125,000 pounds per year and at 25c¢ per pound would amount to $31,500. The reason the dairying com- munities so quickly prosper. CARL OPSATA. ~ ‘While still 2 young man, Mr. Opsata has been keen enough to develop a new field of industry in his section of the state. While well aware of the fertility of the virgin soil hereabouts, his ingenius mind conceived the practibility of the raising of bees, being guided as he was by the nutritive and abundant verdure and grasses Wwhich abound in this locality and by the various plants which contain the saccharine so es- sential to the production of honey. Mr. Opsata came to Beltrami county twelve years ago, at which time his parents settled here. Endowed with a fertile mind and ob- servant of nature’s productiveness, it was not long before he conceived the idea that the production of honey was not only a possibility but a remunerative industry. That his conclusions were well based is evi- Who Has Made a Success of Raising Bees. CARL OPSATA dent from the fact that today he is among the most extensive producers of honey in North Central Minnesota, having last year shipped 5,000 pounds of honey to various markets. Any one familiar with the bee in- dustry can readily perceive the enormity of this amount of honey, as there are few bee raisers throughout the great Northwest who can lay claim to a larger sale in a single year. That Mr. Opsata has made a technical study of this branch of farm life is indicated by the success he has achieved, both as a breeder of bees and by the enor- mous quantity of honey which he offers to the trade. It is fitting, at this juncture, to commend Mr. Opsata for his foresight, along this line, as by his participation in this business he has developed an entirely new field of activity in this county. Mr. Carl Opsata is a son of the Rev. L. O. Opsata, the well known pastor, who has of- ficiated in numerous churches throughout this district. He is a young man who is rapidly forging to the front in all matters pertaining to the development of this vicin- ity. He is generous and public-spirited, and he is of that calibre of man who is des- tined to make his influence felt at no far distant day, not to mention the fact that he has opened the eyes of the oldest inhabit- ants to the importance of bee raising in Bel- trami county. The Pioneer is elated to accord this brief mention to Mr. Opsata because he, like this publication, is endeavoring to open new fields of occupation and development in this territory. Mr. Opsata is not only to be commended for his thrift and the success that has attended his efforts as a raiser of bees, but also because he has opened a new field of occupation. FARM OF CARL OPSATA IN TOWN OF FROHN.