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VOL. XXIV. INDIANAPOLIS, IND., AUG. 24,1889. NO.34 OUB lUTUBE WHEAT. Where Will It Oome From?-Shall We Export or Consume Our Grain at Home? A Study in Physical Geography Whioh Indicates the Next Possible Bread Producing Area, Tha Elevations, the Courses of the Eiver*-, and Th ir Belation to ihe Soil ana Olimate. The past ten yeara there has been an increase of population in the United States ot 20 per cent, and daring the Bame period only 3 per cent increase in the area devoted to the cultivation of the cereal. In a few years, at this rate, the exportation of ■wheat from our country .will cease altogether, and the home consumption will exceed the production. It was this consideration that prompted me to make a Uttle study of physical geography to discover what bear Id g It might have on the development of new wheat fields. "COOK AT THK MAP. If one will place Defore him one of the large new government maps of the United States and scan it olosely, he will observe (and no donbt to the surprise of most who try it) that the true inland source of the Cdlumtoia «•!▼«* is the ftouth Fork of the Snake river, whioh takes its rise ln the Gros Ventres ranges of mountains at about the 110 ih meridian in Wyoming, or in nearly the longitude of the eastern •boundary of Utah. From there it flows -northward through Idaho, and merges <into the Columbia in Southeastern Washington. The Missouri takes its rise away -west at Uw Big Hole in the Bitter Root jccuntry, meridian 114, or about the longitude of the western boundary of Utah. Tae Big Hole baeomes swallowed up ln ihe Jeff.rson river, whioh joins the Madi son and Gallatin at a place called Gallatin or Three Forks, to form tha great Missouri. From there the river moves northward, making that magnlfioent out through the mountains called the Grand Canyon of the Missouri, and, reaching latitude 48 deg. •north, it flows east nearly 400 miles before ■Moving south through Dakota in the be- grinning of its final journey. Bat tiie main poi-U, to be remembered is that the Missouri, whose waters empty into the G all ■of Mexico, takes its rise about 180 miles west of Uw source of the Colombia, which •empties into the Pacific ocean. Lst us ta&e a look at some of the smaller rivers and .streams. OF the Musselshell and Judith it may be said that they are both of very great importance, both from a dram- age and a fertilising point of view. One takes its rise in the Crazy mountains, the other in the Big Snowy range, and both -flaw north and empty into the Missouri, Nearly all of the streams of any oonse- •quenee taking their rise in Middle Montana, even almost as far north as the valley of the Yellowstone river, flow north *ndemptyinto the Missouri. Thlsinoludes *be<Otter, the Bolt, the Big Dry and the •Rsd Water. COUBSK OP THK RIVERS. I traveled through a considerable portion of the Belt and Otter valleys and found them rich and beautiful, almost be- •yond description. The Yellowstone river -takes its rise in Yellowstone lake in Northwestern Wyoming and flows northward and eastward until It empties into She Missouri near the dividing Une of Montana and Dakota. We observe that the Yellowstone has no tributaries of consequence from the north flowing southward to it, but on the southside flowing northward to it there are many of importance, including the Little Big Horn, the Tongue and the Powder rivers,these three taking their rise in Wyoming and emptying into the Yellowstone in Montana. The Little Missouri rises in Northeastern Wyoming, rnns almost due north till it reaches in Northwestern Dakota, about the latitude of Great Falls, 47° 20', and then flows eastward and empties Into the Missouri on the Fort Bsrthold Indian reservation. A scrutiny of the map further south Bhows that the heights and depths In the physical configuration of the country change their relation to each other. Both f irks of the Cannon Ball river, both forks of the Grand, and the Owl river, all rising in the western part of South Dakota, flow almost due eastward to their confluence with the Missouri. The Cheyenne, the White, the Niobrara and the Platte rivers have a general trend almost due east, or slightly north of east. The courses of the rivers farther sonth than those last named have no particular bearing on what I wish to illustrate. WHAT IT ALL MEANJ. That which is important to indicate is the bearing of the faots stated on the possible extension of onr productive wheat area. The question of bread making and the obtalnment of the materials wherewith to make the bread, may become, as time rolls on, of more vital significance to as than it seems today, particularly in the remote contlntfa-jv-y ot a war with some foreign power. At all events tho development of a new wheat region In any part of the Union as large say, for example, as the State of Ohio, is certainly worthy; of consideration. For granted that it has the conditions of soil, air and moisture .favorable to the cultivation of the perfeot cereal, and that ordinary drouths would have but little eflect upon it, suoh a region wonld be large enough to prove the deciding force between prosperity and disaster to the nation in case ot mauy an emergency whioh the mind might not H all unreasonably fotecast. NORTH MONTANA AMD DAKOTA. There ls j ast such a region awaiting development, a region of the size and character indicated, and it is easy to apprehend many of the physical causes which must make of it one of the chief granaries of the continent. Bearing in mind the facts about the courses of the rivers already stated, take another look at the map- If you will follow the Ricky mountains down you will observe that at the northern edge of Montana, or the southern line of the British possessions, the ranga is on the same meridian of longitude as the west boundary of Utah. It extended southeastward until, in the latitude of the Shoshone Indian reservation in Wyoming, It has the same longitude as the -eastern extremity of Utah. In other words, while the range is trending southward and crossing six parallels of latitude, it diverge eastward enough to cross five meridians of longitude. Thus itis not dl/JJ- cult to understand how the Mlsssouri manages to rise 180 miles west of the souroe of the Columbia. All streams of consequence rising In Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming o» the eastern slopes ot the range ran northw»rd and empty Into the Missouri. Of the tributaries of the Great Muddy oomlng in from the western and northern side in Montana, the Sun and Teton flow almost due east, the Marias and Milk rivers, taking their rise up near the British possessions, flow southeasterly, the Cottonwood and Poplar rivers and many lesser streams flow nearly due south, and this continues until the Missouri turns Its own course south, and yon have gone far enough east to reach that great water shed running north and south through the middle of Dakota, whioh divides the valley of the Missouri from that of the Bed river of the North. By the physical causes given there haa been formed between latitudes 47° and 49° and longitudes 103° and 112° a great basin more than 400 miles long and about 100 miles wide, bounded on the north by the Cypress hills and other ranges ln Canada; on the east by the backbone ot Dikota or the Missouri and Red river watershed; on the south by the Bait range, the Big Snowy mountains and that vast elevated region whioh lies between the 46th and 47th parallels of latitude in Southern Montana and extreme Western Dakota; onthe west by the main range of the B icky mountains. Through a large portion of this basin the Milk river flows, carrying with it a rioh silt from the region of its upper waters and depositing it in the lower valleys. The Milk river valley is wonderfully rich and perfeotly drained; and has no need for any but nature's own irrigation. The valleys of most of the tributary streams are equally rich. The Milk empties into the Missouri on the Western edge of Fort Peck Indian reservation. The elevations above the sea of this great tract of country range from about 1,900 feet at Its eastern extremity to a little over 3,000 feet at Great Falls, Mont., or, to speak comparatively, these altitudes are from 2,000 to 8,000 feet lower than those of the country extending for hundreds of miles south In the same logitndes. Tae mountain barriers to the west, furnished by the Rocky and Bitter Boot mountains, jre in most places several thousand feet lower than th# range in Wyon.jog and Colorado, 'jt'he soil *jnd cllmatlo conditions here are suoh as would naturally grow oat of the physical facts narrated. WARM WINTER WINDS. There is no mistaking the influence of the so-called ohinook winds which proceed from the warm ocean currents of the Pacific, whioh flow near shore off Cape Flattery and the southern extremity of Vancouver Island. These winds blow landward, and finding the mountain barriers comparitlvely low, pass them and lend their mellowing influence to Northern Montana and even to a portion of North Pakota. f!ji$ region drained by the Milk river was In the old days the home of the Crow, Blackfeet, Piegan »i*d (Jros Ventres Indians, and was a celebrated banting ground among ail the tribes of the Northwest. The savages used to be able to dis cover with unerring sagacity, those places where the least labor had to be performed in order to gain a livelihood, and often times to wa^e very destructive warfare among themaelye? to gain possession of these places. This country was opened to settlement by the white man nearly a year ago last winter, but in the days of ^gwis and .Clarke, and for almost three- quarters of jj century later, the Indians congregated here ty the thousands, particularly to hunt and fish, and enjoy protection in the winter time. Many of the natives still living here tell exciting stories of the killing of vast numbers of buffalo in the valley, JJ is a well authenticated fact that the bison did come here some years ago in great droves, to pass the winter, from points at least 100 miles north and from as many miles south. Alas for the poor, almost extinct buffalo! It proved a great charnel ground fr,r tlw, First the Indian, then the white man, alaughtej-ed him. Sometimes, it would seem, lost to w^sfe the desire for killing something- but, to t)8 more cjjar- ltab. e, perhaps lt was for the hump on his back and the robe that nature gave him. Mr. i- A. Mayer, of Montana, tells me that between 120 and JE0 tons of buffalo bones are now shipped dally to St. Louis from points between Mlnot and Great Falls. Mlnot and Great Falls are about 600 miles apart. J,9t the buffalo rest. I can give you, from a far Western point of view, the moral bearing of hia extinction'in a future letter. GROWTH OP VEGETATION. In the valley of the Bait creek in the slopes of the Belt mountains I fonnd wild hops growing in extravagant luxuriance, olimblng trees jast for sport, on the banks of the stream; and jast beyond were hundreds of acres of wild roses and delightful little patches of anemones and wild pansies. What a contrast of the bitter with the sweet. In the Milk river valley were wide stretches of red top, blue joint, bunch and blue grass, growing naturally; and large fields of timothy had been cultivated. Erery where flourished the wild pea vine, whose presence and hardy growth are always evidences of great fertility In the soil. According to many careful tests and conservative estimates that have been made, good marketable steers average 150 to 200 pounds heavier than those bred in the Southwest whioh have received equal care. NEXT GREAT WHEAT FIELD. Here is the basin, I believe, that will prove to be the next great wheat field of the Union. All the conditions are here to make it such. The settlers are few and scattered yet. It is to be hoped that when they come in, they will farm economically; the natural abundance of everything here, including space, is apt to breed wastefulness even in very conservative immigrants. I have referred to large game: ducks a.nd geese, etc., chiefly to remind disciples bf Nirnrod and Izaak Wai- i ton that here is a virginal li.ld for them. If. W. M. - —t * t—-rrr.™- <Blg Fields of Wheat. Editors Indiana Farmer: I have been trying to find the man who wai reported as having-used goo pounds of bone meal to the aore aad threshed ■}<} bashel of wheat to the acre this year. an4 I find that he does not exist. I found a man named Harrett who claimed at our Farmers' Institute last winter that last year he had put at the rate of goo pounds to the acre on a small plot and threshed at the rate of 46 bashels to the acre off of that small plot. Bat that was not extraordinary for last year. A man by the name of,Beanblossom lathe southern part of the county averaged 38 bnshels cff of •50 aores. He used 200 pounds to the acre. Levi pit-nan, Central, Ind., has the best yield tbat I know of this yo^r. JJe told; me that he averaged 30 bushels on ont» field. He has not threshed his entire crop yet, but he will average 27 bushels on 100 acres. Bat the wheat In this county will not average over 10 bushels to the acre. The drouth came near ruin iag the orop. !as to using 800 pounds to the aore, that Is all nonsense; 200 to 300 pounds will produce as much wheat to tho aore as 800 pounds, that being all that is necessary to feed the crop. Had better put the fertiL'z ar on your land oftener and not so much at j» time; feed your crops as you do your stock, so that thprg wjjl be nq waste. ' J. <4 A.. S>eg. Corydon. WMGRTS OF "WHEAT. Mr. Dodge, statistician of the Dopart- ment of Agriculture, gives the result of an investigation, through agents and correspondents, of the average weight of wheat per bushel, by States. The average weight of six wheat crops, those of 1883-1888, is set down 57.7 lbs. per bushel. The present average is still lower—5(15. Tha eotlm&tes for the spring wheat region are all very low, from 53.7 pounds In Dakota to 55 in Nebraska. The New Monarch gives much better weight than the avergge, according to all the reports we have had of It. It ought to be sown In preference to most other varieties op this account, A letter can now be sent round world in 6'J days, Vi"Vancouver, the
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1889, v. 24, no. 34 (Aug. 24) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA2434 |
Date of Original | 1889 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2010-11-05 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript |
VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., AUG. 24,1889.
NO.34
OUB lUTUBE WHEAT.
Where Will It Oome From?-Shall We Export or Consume Our Grain at Home?
A Study in Physical Geography Whioh
Indicates the Next Possible Bread Producing Area,
Tha Elevations, the Courses of the Eiver*-,
and Th ir Belation to ihe Soil
ana Olimate.
The past ten yeara there has been an increase of population in the United States
ot 20 per cent, and daring the Bame period
only 3 per cent increase in the area devoted to the cultivation of the cereal. In a
few years, at this rate, the exportation of
■wheat from our country .will cease altogether, and the home consumption will
exceed the production. It was this consideration that prompted me to make a
Uttle study of physical geography to discover what bear Id g It might have on the
development of new wheat fields.
"COOK AT THK MAP.
If one will place Defore him one of the
large new government maps of the United
States and scan it olosely, he will observe
(and no donbt to the surprise of most who
try it) that the true inland source of the
Cdlumtoia «•!▼«* is the ftouth Fork of the
Snake river, whioh takes its rise ln the
Gros Ventres ranges of mountains at
about the 110 ih meridian in Wyoming, or
in nearly the longitude of the eastern
•boundary of Utah. From there it flows
-northward through Idaho, and merges
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