lOh. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, JULY 14,1888.
NO. 28
HE NOKTH-WEST   AND   ITS   BE-
SOUBOES-NO. 3.
e Bed Eiver Valley and Its Grain Productions.
Mortal Correspondence by J. B. C.
Ia the temperate and milder latitudes ol
ntral Western States people long Bustled that the Red river of the North was
hort tributary to the"jumping off place."
jt in fact the great valley country of that
...has come to be pretty well under-
>od as indeed the jumping on place, so
as illimitable grain growing and other
m industries are concerned. In our
<t we briefly noted the rapidly develop
j live stock industry and the great re-
.rces for it. A fow years ago we made
•.rip into the valley and while there vised the herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle at
and Forks, owned by Dr. C. J. Alloway
that place. We then were strongly in-
inedto regard him as a clever, though
thusiastic idiot, to attempt cattle grow-
j bo far north. This trip has dissipated
at conceit, and the Doctor stands that
ach ahead, and the numerous other en-
getic men who had equal foresight. The
[fe stock industry, as we have already
id, is hound to grow rapidly here. But
hat else?
Md tne reader ever note the fact that
is region lies in the same parallel of lat-
■lde that the great Russian grain grow-
?Wt does? If prejudiced people will
sist on latitude and temperature as the
al test, in their own opinions, on this
"cstion oi wheat and other grain grow-
", let them consider the productiveness
"« great Russian wheat district, and
7 are estopped. Bat here is found the
•ctical test, the crops for several years
'"' emselves. At the public reception
8a our party at Grand Forks, Dakota,
•■J. H, Bosard, an intelligent agricultu-
P'here said: "Gentlemen we welcome
" to this center of the great wheat belt
America. It was long considered that
■ego was the center, but here you are
m »thousand miles northwest of that
■J", and going a thousand miles north-
« from here you are still in a great
«t growing country." That sounded
e*'y strong, and it takes a little time to
'f> on" in theoverturnings of pre-con-
!'°°8* But I guess that this trip has
. ™W m6 the data. This Red river val-
I'Tfu 150by300 miles in extent,
jm ns, but it is hard to mark its be-
t.f\and endin8-   G° in any direction
the limit, and still you find splen-
JT1 n growing country for hundreds
Thus, in this instance, where personal
supervision was had by the farmer, and
every item of expense saved, the cost of
growing wheat was a fraction less than 2G
C3nts per bushel, on an average yield of
17K bushels, on 939 acres of land. This
also included harvesting, threshing and
hauling to the elevator, and aU the other
items of expense, with interest on land
investment. For several years they have
been using the 14 feet long seeders, and a
bushel and a half seed per acre., But the
wide 12 feet, wheel drills are now being
introduced, and it requires but a bushel of
seed per acre to get a thicker and better
stand than obtained by the seeders. The
drills are .so constructed that the hoes are
followed by a cast iron wheel which presses
the soil down on the grain as it is drilled
It germinates quicker, grows more rapid-
and bran afford a good ration, and that
it is not more expensive, to say the least,
than if corn was used as a part of it.
These facts give the reader some idea of
the possibility of keeping and fattening
stock in this country.
From Grand Forks our party went via
Crookston, Minn., to "Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Crookston is another of the very promising young cities of this valley, of some
8,000 inhabitants, situated on the Red Lake
river, and surrounded by a rich farming
country. We have already stated that
Red Lake river is a tributary of Red river,
putting into the latter at Grank Forks.
Red Lake, the source ofthe river, is in the
midst of great pineries, whence come the
logs which supply all this country with
lumber. Dawn the Red river valley to
the Manitoba line the country is very fine,
|W,
COST OP WHEAT GROWING.
■5*in      P8iM to "^certain  the cost of
mui? Whe&t in tnis country. We found
^hoT". WUh a large farm in the yal-
"Who v, ,8rown "wheat for seven years,
r'todec, li kept acourate accounts. He
f"*C 6costof the seed, expense of
P*CTn«R harro^ing, harvesting,
hrtst!' bauUn8 to the elevator and the
growth of the city and country,let slip the
fact that he was a native of Xew York
State. A quiet inventory, as it wore, of
the people accessible, disclosed the fact
that a majority of those present, some of
them appointees of the Canadian Government, were born and grown up in the
States. There was decided Republican
simplicity in the reception given tit the
Governor's residence, and even greater at
the one following, at the residence of Mr.
Wm. F. Alloway, a leading aud very successful business man of Winnipeg, not a
native of Canada, either, and who had the
good judgment to marry an intelligent
American lady, who on the occasion of
our reception was patriotic enough, and
exhibited the good taste to display the
starry flag along with that of her adopted
country. And so here is a very beautiful
city of 30,000 people, built up in a few
years in a now country, and by such enterprising, generous people. That is always the way with Americans.
Manitobi is rapidly developing her capabilities for wheat-growing, barley and
oats. The province exported 15,000,000
bushels of the wheat crop of 1887. And
so, for hundreds of miles to the west, and
northwest, is a great grain-growing country, developing under the stimulus of the
Canada Pacific railway and its branches,
still being extended. They say they can
grow wheat at a cost of 20 cents per
bushel In Manitoba. From Winnipeg
we cross over the Red River and run up
the valley south on the west side, to
Grand Forks, from which point our trip
lies west.
One striking thing about this country is
the long days of summer. As put by one
of our party during the reception at Winnipeg: "tbe country is so big that it takes
the sun all night to go down." One can read
the news papers here till near ten o'clock at
night by daylight. Perhaps here Is one of
the secret** of the rapid maturity of the
grain, root and vegetable crops. This
country has over 200 hours more light during May, June and July than you have at
Indianapolis, and light is the great factor
in growth. Potatoes and other root and
vegetable growth here is wonderful. A
farmer apologized to us for the small potatoes of last year's crop he exhibited,
stating that all his large potatoes had been
used, when in fact none he showed would
measure less than three inches in diameter. If we had not learned before about
the big potatoes thoy grow here, this
would have been considered "poking fun,"
as serious as our friend was in his exhibit.
SCENE AT WINNIPEG ON RED RIVER.
ly, and the soil is not blown off the grain
by the spring winds, as when put in with
the seeders.
_,,„. _            Oats and barley are coming to be irnpor-
:_,'    * the money  invested in  the  tant crops here, as the live stock industry
all
I'*"had"' "" by tJle acre'   Hiss oven
-perve8Vera8ed him  19 bushejs per
"_-f*|»   Ye--  — -■■ ~*-r w u *-* UV4U     UW.*.
_r0w f, ^and the total cost per bushel
P1 all h* i!6 had been i2V* cents- He
F^atlua^ • p and superintendents,
lenses h ln Ws ^P61-86 account table
Ww*0* foodat S°°d Prices.
P*8 '»mier W statement of another
[-olives-n'*!* old Massachusetts man
*« the i
valley on  as beautiful a
** «ccnr«f     6Ver shown upon.   He
iitapf*x0r°unta witb thefarm
CcstM «**iag the
increases. They are ground together and
make the grain ration for stock in lieu of
corn. And It will be noticed that they
make a good food.mixed with wheat bran,
in great abundance here.
-RELATIVE   COST   AND   FEEDING  VALUE   OP
ONE TON OF OATS, CORN, BRAN & BABLKl. .
CONTAINS.	
Carbo-hydrates.
Oats......
Corn	
Bran	
Barley..
Costs.
<2D00
20 00
IO.-*""
20.00
Protein.
19« lbs.
168 lbs.
252 lbs.
193 lb-c.
1,Ml lbs.
1J 0 lbs.
i»4 c lbs.
,;__0 bs.
Thus it is seen   here that oats,  barley,
crops of 1887 In Traill county, Dakota; :i*ull cost including labor,
table account, etc. ■ • ,
cjosl jeer ouauc-l
s grown.
Bushels per acre.iNet cost.(l*o»t p«r acre.
387.
25
(4,829 30
tew.* .
2S**c
117SC
WiC
many pretty farms, and growing crops
being seen, with occasional streams and
timber belts. At the line we enter on the
British Possesslons,Province of Manitoba,
and from St. Vincent to Winnipeg, is a
branch of the Canada Pacific railway, over
which we traveled 68 miles-. The country
is pretty and promising all the way, but
Is not Improved as it has been hitherto on
our route.
The people of Winnipeg, and Manitoba
generally, seem more American than
"Britishers," both in their habits and customs. This country indeed had for several years a sharp and rather bitter struggle with the Canadian Government for the
recognition of her provincial rights, and
won, Yankee like. They ace not slow-
going as you see them in Toronto and farther east. A pretty palpable reason for
all this appeared at a reception given the
party in Winnipeg. When the Mayor
casually alluding to the wonderfully rapid
FAIK PBEMIUM LISTS.
Sheridan District Fair, at Sheridan,
Hamilton Co., Sep. 3 to 7.
Tippecanoe County Fair, at Lafayette,
Sep. 3 to 7. Albert Henderson, president,
Mortimer Levering, sec.
Clinton County Fair, at Frankfort, Aug.
27 to 31.   Jos. Heavilon, sec.
Poplar Grove A. H. and M. Fair, at Poplar Grove, Howard Co., Oct. 1 to 5.
Edgar Co., Illinois Fair, at Paris, Sep. 3
to 7.   Chas. O. Chesnut, sec.
The premium list, rules and regulations
of the Ohio Centennial at Columbus,Sept.
4th to Oat. 19th, has been received from
Secretary L N. Bonham. It is a hundred
page pamphlet with numerous illustration of the buildings upon the grounds.
Keeping Oats in the Mow.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Mr. H. Bradford says the secret of keeping sheaf oats from mice, in the mow, is
in pressing the sheaves close together.
After placing them right and kneeing
them very tightly, he said he had kept
oats well in his barn loft for four years.
Hadley.        . A. II.
 «  m  .   .
In the town of Pataz, in Peru, a woman
accused of being a witch was recently publicly burned alive by the people.