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AGRICULTURAL SERIES N° 4 AGRICULTURAL SERIES N° 4

UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

MONOLT apy

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MINNESOTA
FOREWORD pO 2o

St. Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota offers unusual opportunities for all
persons seeking farm homes, no matter what his
tastes or abilities. The man with plenty of capital
can find highly improved farms and the man with
very limited means can find cheap land. ‘There are
opportunities for the man who wants to do diver-
sified farming, as well as for the man who wishes to
specialize in small grains, potatoes, dairying, garden-
ing, or in raising beef cattle, sheep, hogs, or chickens.

Minnesota has a variety of soils and kinds of land.
There are gently rolling lands with streams and
wood-lots and also level prairiees with rich clay
loam suitable for general farming, sandy soils suit-
able for the raising of potatoes and similar products,
and the rich cut-over lands of Northeastern Minne-
sota, especially suited for truck gardening and
dairying.

There is no lack of educational opportunities.
The State’s school system is among the best and the
large school fund insures the permanency of the
State’s support of public schools. Minnesota has
taken an advanced position in the establishment of
consolidated rural schools, and in promoting agri-
cultural and vocational training.

The railroads bring markets within a few miles of
every farm home, and the flour mills and stock yards
of the Twin Cities, and the great inland port at
Duluth, furnish splendid terminal markets. The
highways of Minnesota are already ahead of those
of many other states and the trunk highway system

to be voted on next year will, if adopted, furnish a
network of permanent, hard surfaced highways
touching almost every community in the State.

Minnesota has become known as the sure-crop
state. Total crop failures have been limited to such
small areas as to be practically negligible.

~

A,

.

Governor.

St. Paul, Minnesota.

This booklet has been prepared for the purpose of
giving, in as brief and concise a form as possible, a
survey of the agricultural possibilities and oppor-
tunities for farm-home building in Minnesota. A
consistent attempt has been made to avoid mean-
ingless words of glowing enthusiasm and to make
only saaseh substantial statements of facts abot

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which the prospective settler may base a sound
judgment as to the adaptability of Minnesota’s con-
ditions to his own needs and desires. The data
upon which this information is based were found

partly in the official statistics of the state and federal —
bureaus, and partly in the experience and observa- —

tion of the writers of the different parts of the book-
let, who were chosen for the service because of their
long experience in agricultural development work
in Minnesota.

The fundamental reason why there are such
undeveloped agricultural resources in Minnesota is
the fact that until comparatively recently there
were ample areas of untilled prairie lands available
for settlement. These prairie lands needed only
to be cut up with the breaking plow to become imme-
diately tillable. Much of Minnesota’s undeveloped
lands were, originally, covered by the “‘Big Woods,”
or by reason of inadequate drainage were incapable
of immediate utilization as farm lands. Now, how-
ever, the forests have been removed by the lumber-

men, swamps have been drained, railroads and roads ~

have been built, and vast areas of fertile land lie open
to settlement. It should be clearly understood,
however, that these are not generally prairie lands,
and that the problems of settlement and development
are different from those of the open plains of the
great prairie regions.

Hence it is not only to point out the possibilities
and opportunities which are now available in Minne-
sota, but also to indicate briefly the methods by
which the development of this new land can be
undertaken with safety and profit that this booklet
has been prepared.

The new settler will find many agencies available
to give him assistance and advice in meeting his
problems. The Department of Agriculture of the
University of Minnesota, with its experiment sta-
tions and agricultural extension work, is ready to
offer every possible assistance to farmers and home-
makers. Several state departments,
sions, are ready to assist with special problems of
land settlement, rural finance, marketing of agri-
cultural products, regulation of sale of foods, feeds,
fertilizers, etc. In fact, Minnesota is well organized
to afford help to new settlers in every possible way.

RN Matehe

Dean of the Department of Agriculture,
University of Minnesota,
St. Paul, Minn. |

or commis- ~

Foe

MINNESOTA

Minnesota farmers profit by the combination of dairy, cattle and grain

Minnesota |

All the states in the Union offer opportunities and
possibilities for agriculture. Minnesota is espec-
jally fortunate in this regard. It has a strategic
location, a dependable climate, fertile soils, abundant
rainfall, pure water, good markets, progressive men
and women—everything needed, in fact, for a pros-
perous, permanent farm life. In addition, its mines,
its forests, its manufactures, its railroads, its other
resources are developing, and each is adding to the
State’s wealth and prosperity.

Old Jonathan Carver, writing more than 140 years
ago, told of a region where trees bend under the
weight of fruit, where meadows are green and luxu-
riant, where the waters teem with celery and wild
rice, where the earth is stored with useful roots and
is carpeted with beautiful wild flowers, where the
hills rise boldly and are crowned with oak and
maple. He also told of the wild duck, the swan, the
brant, the goose, and the partridge. The region of
which he wrote was Minnesota, and its beauty and
fertility have reacted on its people, who enjoy their

work in the fields during the warm summer and
glory in the chill, bright sun of winter. In Minne-
sota there are beautiful rivers and streams, thou-
sands of lakes and still to-day forests not yet whglly
sacrificed to American haste and waste. es

The agricultural history of Minnesota began with
the story of the wheat field, and as the wheat fields
pushed on further west diversified farming crept in,
manufacturing sprang up, the lumber interests
invaded the forests, and mining followed, until
to-day every portion of the State is breathing activ-
ity and growing in wealth.

To Minnesota has been given the title ‘The
Bread and Butter State,’’ and justly so. This title
alone speaks for the agricultural success of the State.
The home seeker, hungry for a farm home, whether
his means be large or small, need look no farther.
There are yet in the older settled portions of the
State, farms which have not reached a prohibitive
price, but are priced according to actual returns in
dollars and cents on the investment. There are yet

MINNESOTA

More clover—more crops—more cash for your bank account

prairie lands in the northwestern part of the State
awaiting the plow. There are partly improved lands
in the region left some time ago by the lumbermen,
and in the more recently cut-over timber districts
are rich, fertile lands that can be bought by the man
of limited means and developed into farms, which,
when developed, will equal in value those already
established in the well settled districts.

The home seeker is likely to think of the northern
part of the State as a desolate waste, or a region of
dense forests, where he must pioneer as did his father
and grandfather when they opened up their farms.
The home seeker’s wife naturally shrinks when she
thinks of the hardships undergone by the early
settlers. But no such pioneering is necessary.
Good land is available on roads near good towns
with good schools, in good communities, and with
good neighbors whose interests are mutual.

Minnesota has all these things to offer the new
home seeker, and it is the purpose of this booklet to
present conditions as they exist to-day so that every
home seeker will fully understand the situation and
be able to choose for himself.

The geographical location of Minnesota is com-
manding. Except on the south and southwest its
boundaries are natural. On the east is Lake Supe-
rior, the largest of the Great Lakes, the St. Croix and
the Mississippi rivers. On the north is Canada
separated by the Rainy River, chains of beautiful

lakes, and lesser rivers and streams, and on the
west is the Red River of the North. The entire
area of the State is within the Atlantic watershed,
the drainage reaching the ocean in three distinct
channels. The largest area is drained through the
Mississippi River, the northwest portion through
the Red River of the North, into Hudson Bay, and
the remainder is tributary to Lake Superior.

Among the states Minnesota ranks thirteenth in
land area and nineteenth in population. Its total
area 1s nearly 54,000,000 acres, or more than 84,000
square miles. Of this over 3,500,000 acres is water
area, 10,000 lakes lying within the State’s borders
These lakes vary in size from small ponds to larger
bodies of water many square miles in extent, such
as Red, Mille Lacs, and Leech lakes.

The total population of Minnesota is now over
2,300,000. Of the total land area only a little more
than one-half is devoted to farming at the present
time, and the value of this farm property is about
$2,500,000,000, not counting the great cities of
St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth. Fifty per cent
of the inhabitants of Minnesota live on farms; of
these nearly 80 per cent own their own farm homes.
In other words, the farmers of this State are home
owners and community builders.

There are nearly 9,000 miles of railroad in the
State leading directly into the great markets of
St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth, the gateways and

MINNESOTA

The annual corn crop of the State is about one hundred million“bushels

clearing houses for the Northwest.

The railroads have all been built with a view to
the future agricultural development of the State, and
the home seeker can locate within easy hauling dis-
tance of a shipping point and on, or close to, well
constructed highways. Good roads spell dollars to
the farmer when he is marketing his farm products,
and the network of good highways constructed
under state and county supervision furnishes evi-
dence of Minnesota’s realization that the public
road is, and will be for generations to come, the basic
communicating medium of social and business life.

The rural free delivery and rural telephone lines
naturally follow the construction of these highways,
and we find that in proportion to the rural popu-
lation there are now as many rural delivery routes
in Minnesota as in Iowa.

Duluth and Superior, at the head of the Lakes,
offer direct water connection with the Atlantic sea-
board and the European markets. St. Paul, Minne-
apolis, and Duluth with the greatest grain storage
capacity in the world await the golden harvest
every year. The South St. Paul live stock market
takes the shipments of Minnesota cattle, sheep, and
swine, affording the Minnesota farmer a market
without the necessity of long hauls and unloading
in transit.

Minnesota has long been known as a great wheat-
producing state, but in recent years the corn acreage

has increased immensely. This crop now ranks
second and in the yield per acre is making the other
great corn states look to their laurels.

Other leading crops are oats, barley, rye, flaxseed,
hay, and potatoes.

Crop Preduction for 1918

. 79,710,000 bushels

esttticy rice 110,000,000 a
«+ +134,372,000
SBabodous 43,000,000
AY AIO Oe DAO 8,700,000
Utscheictsrel 32,700,000

TAR 2 dote)s, cise: assere 3,120,000 ‘

Be Cerne Chine 2,590,000 tons

As a dairy state Minnesota is well toward the top,
and her dairy cows were valued at the end of 1918
at $93,000,000. The dairy cow has made Minne-
sota one of the leading butter state of the Union, the
annual output of butter being valued at $50,000,000.
Other cattle are estimated as worth more than
$48,000,000.

The Minnesota farmer being a farm owner has
naturally developed the community spirit and this
is reflected in the number of codperative creameries,
codperative elevators, live stock shipping associa-
tions, and other coéperative enterprises.

The little old-fashioned, one-room schoolhouse is
gradually disappearing, and the consolidated graded
schools, paying special attention to agriculture,
manual arts, and the practical household arts, are
increasing. This is especially true of the northern
districts, and the many free busses carrying the

MINNESOTA

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children to these schools are evidence of the keen
interest pac in securing educational benefits for
the young.® In over 80 per cent of rural schools
textbooks are free.

All of the things enumerated mean much to the
new home seeker. Markets alone are as important
as the soil. Location means practically as much.
In making Minnesota your future home you are not
severing home ties or breaking connection with your
old friends and neighbors, but simply moving “‘next
door” into a state which can fulfill all conditions
required by the home seeker to assure his success.
Land can be purchase at a price that will fit the
pocketbook of the poor man, as well as meet the
requirements of the man of means.

GENERAL SOIL AREAS

The types of Minnesota soil vary from heavy clay
to light sandy and peat soil. The peat soils are
found most generally in Northern Minnesota, but as
yet they have been but slightly developed. The
shallower formations, where the peat is two feet or
less in depth and underlaid by good clay soil, are
being farmed successfully in many places. The
deeper peat soils are still of uncertain value and
should be avoided by the new settler.

Minnesota soils are mostly glacial drift, Houston
County, the extreme southeast county, being the

Oats rank second as a small grain crop in the State

only exception. Starting at this corner of the State —

_and traveling to the west over into the western part

of Fillmore and Winona counties, and as far over as _

Mower, Dodge, and Goodhue counties, the major
part of the soil is clay loam with clay subsoil, with © 4
gently rolling topography and scattered prairies — 4
and small hardwood timber sections. Further west, _
over into Freeborn, Steel, Waseca, and as far north- —
west as Meeker and part of Wright and Hennepin ~
counties, is an area which represents a transition —
between the clay loam to the southeast and the
prairie loam to the southwest. In this section, a —
part is prairie and a part is timber, and a portion is"
very rolling. soil is generally a good black 7
loam; some. layey and sandy, with usually a
clay subsoil.” :
If one wotld draw a line through Albert Lea,
Mankato, Hutchinson, and Willmar, and as far
northwest as the intersection of Stevens and Douglas
counties, he would cut off the southwestern part,
which is, perhaps, the most uniform of any section
of the State. It is a broad, level prairie, drained by
the Minnesota, Des Moines, and Rock rivers; an
excellent farming country, adapted to all the crops
of the North Central States. The soil is generally
black loam, commonly called the “prairie loam” of
the State, and there is usually a clay subsoil. In
Stearns, Pope, Douglas, and part of Ottertail and
Todd counties lies a district of black sandy loam,

Pasturing hogs means cheap pork production

more sandy than the prairie loam of the southwest.
Some of this territory is quite rolling, and there is
quite a variation in soil types. The percentage of
sand increases going north into Wadena, Becker, and
part of Cass counties. On the average, this is a
good sandy loam. East of the Mississippi River is
an area including parts of Isanti, Anoka, Sher-
bourne, Benton, and Morrison counties, which is,
perhaps, more sandy than any other in the State.
However, this sandy loam is spotted with farms of
clay and clay loam. Owing to the glacial formation
of the soils of this State, it is natural that they would
not be of great uniformity. In fact, in every soil
area there are several types.

Going northeast of this areasinto Kanabec, Pine,
and Chisago, and part of Aitkin and Carlton coun-
ties, is also found the gray sandy loam, sometimes
with sand and sometimes with clay subsoil. There
are more areas of clay and clay loam soils in this
locality than nearer the Mississippi River. North-
ern Aitkin, parts of St. Louis and Itasca, northern
Cass and southern Beltrami counties represent still
another area which is characterized by a gray sandy
loam. Swamps are frequent; and rocks, generally
hard heads, are scattered over many areas. There
are many good tracts of land and many good sized
areas of clay loam soil.

“I

The northeastern corner of the State, including
Cook and part of Lake counties, represents a hilly
and swampy territory, with a large portion covered
with moraines and many rocks. There are, how-
ever, localities which have good agricultural lands.
Along the lake shore there is more clay; and as the
elevation increases back from the lake, the land
becomes more rocky. There are many small lakes
made by moranic enclosures. Around Duluth is
an area which extends back some miles from the
lake, and which consists mainly of red clay loam
interspersed with slightly sandy areas, and with
scattering swamps. Much of this land is more or
less rocky.

In the northwestern corner, along the Red River
of the North, lies a valley which, from the stand-
point of soils, is known practically all over the world.
This is the Red River Valley, which ages ago was
covered by a glacial lake known as Lake Agassiz.
For many years water stood over this section and
deposited material of an alluvial nature, which pro-
duced the rich soil of this fertile region. This
valley includes Wilkin, Clay, Norman, Polk, Mar-
shall, Red Lake, Pennington, Kittson, and Roseau
counties. There is some gumbo and a little alkali
soil in this area.

MINNE

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A typical scene in the Red River Valley —one of the most fertile grain producing sections of the State

FARMING SECTIONS OF MINNESOTA

Minnesota may roughly be divided into four great
areas: Southern Minnesota, Central Minnesota, the
Red River Valley, and Northeastern Minnesota.

Southern Minnesota is a belt from 75 to 100
miles wide lying next to the Iowa border. Most of
the country south of St. Paul and Minneapolis is
usually thought of as Southern Minnesota. This is
a region possessing wonderful advantages for diver-
sified farming.

Prosperous cities, a network of railroads, perma-
nent highways, good schools, good homes, and large
barns, all combine to meet the ideal of the man who
desires to remain in the “corn belt’’ but whose
ambition for expansion is restricted by the advanced
value of land.

There is no wild land in Southern Minnesota.
Practically every acre is utilized for crops and live
stock. Corn, barley, oats, spring wheat, and fall
rye are the principal grain crops. Timothy, Ken-
tucky bluegrass, clovers, and alfalfa insure the suc-
cess of the live stock industry. All garden crops,
small fruits, and apples are easily grown.

Farm improvements here are fully equal to those
of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Land values range
from $100 to $200 an acre. The higher prices pre-
vail in districts exceptionally well located.

When compared with land values in other states,
and based on the actual returns from the capital
represented, land in this part of Minnesota is a
sound investment. In other words, there has not
yet crept into this part of the State a condition of
sentimental values such as may be found in the older
agricultural states.

Central Minnesota is a strip about as wide as
Southern Minnesota and lying just north of that
area. It extends as far north as Little Falls and
Fergus Falls, and is, in fact, bounded on the north
by the timbered and cut-over lands of Northeastern ~

_ Minnesota and by the broad level land of the Red

River Valley.

This belt contains very great natural advantages
for diversified farming: rich soil, favorable climate,
abundance of water in streams and numerous lakes,
delightfully rolling landscapes, and small groves of
native trees. It contains many of the best im-
proved farms to be found in any part of the United
States.

It is a region of great variety from the level
prairie lands of the western counties to the roll-
ing prairie, lakes and woodlands of the central
counties, and the timber belt of the eastern counties,
now rapidly being cleared and cultivated.

MINNESOTA

Dairy herds like this add millions annually to the income of Minnesota farmers

Corn growing is rapidly coming to be general on
farms formerly used mainly for small grain. Beef
cattle and dairy cows are increasing in numbers
rapidly. Silos are being built. Improved methods
of farming are producing increasing returns which
are reflected in a gradual increase in land values.
The section farther east, where the surface is more
rolling and where pasture and shade are abundant,
is already one of the greatest dairy sections of the
United States. Land improvement and clearing
are rapidly extending this highly productive region.
Good, improved farms here are worth from $65 to
$125 an acre, the higher prices covering improve-
ments of the very best character on farms well
located. Uncleared lands or farms partly improved
range in value from $25 to $50 an acre. There is
some variation in soil but practically all of it will
produce maximum crops.

This section is certain to appeal to the substantial
home seeker in the quality of its farms and its obvi-
ous advantages in point of production and farm
comforts. No doubt can exist but that farms of this
region will continue to advance in value. The
farmer coming to this part of the State from one
of the older central states will find the pioneering
done. It is anew country, but not raw. Moderate
land values enable the owner of a small farm of
high-priced land to establish the members of his
family each on a farm of his own; thus meeting the

demand for expansion without carrying a big debt
on high-priced land.

In addition to corn and small grain, clover and
timothy produce abundantly. Extensive areas spe-
cialize in potatoes and other vegetables, several hun-
dred cars being shipped from individual stations
each year. The quality of Minnesota potatoes has
established permanent markets for them throughout
the central and southern states.

Road-building has advanced so that all improved
sections are well supplied, and unimproved land is
within reach of good highways. Within a few
miles of railroad towns some of the best wild land
may be found.

The Minnesota Red River Valley is the basin
of the Red River of the North. This river is the
boundary between Minnesota and North Dakota.
The Minnesota share of the Red River Valley is
30 to 100 miles wide and 200 miles long, lying along
the eastern border of North Dakota. It contains
the greatest area of smooth even land in the State.
The valley is crossed at intervals by small rivers
which afford natural drainage into the Red River.

The soil of the lower or main portion of the valey
is a heavy black loam overlying clay of great depth
and exceptional moisture-holding qualities. It lies
even, without undulation to any extent but with
sufficient slope for good drainage. The sections

MINNESOTA

Potatoes are a never failing cash crop for the new settler

having the best natural drainage are highly devel-
oped for farming and are found largely along the
main or branch streams. Where drainage has been
facilitated by ditch systems development has been
slower, and it is this variation which accounts to
the greatest extent for difference in land values in
this portion of the valley.

A number of railroad lines traverse the valley,
bringing all farms within a few miles of stations.
The importance of such towns as Crookston, Thief
River Falls, Warren, Ada, Breckenridge, Moorhead,
bear evidence of the wonderful productiveness of
the valley.

This level, black land makes a certain appeal to
persons from similar regions of surrounding states.
Its great productivity is quickly recognized by men
familiar with such land.

In the early stages of farm development in this
region, continuous crops of small grain were grown.
Good crops were produced with a minimum of labor.
As time advances, diversification and rotation in-
crease. At present fields of corn, potatoes, clover,
and alfalfa divide immense fields of wheat, barley,
oats, and flax. Comfortable homes, large barns and
silos, groves, fenced fields and pastures, herds of
cattle and droves of sheep and hogs are coming to
be the rule of these Red River Valley farms.

The opportunity here is for the man of moderate
means to find room for expansion in acreage to meet

10

the needs of his grown-up boys and girls. Lands
may be purchased in this part of the State for $25
te $80 an acre, depending on the improvements and
ocation.

Along the eastern edge of the main portion of the

valley the surface changes from the even to the —

undulating or slightly rolling. The soil shows greater
variation from heavy black to black sandy loam,
and, continuing eastward, an increasing quantity of
brush and trees are encountered.

Farm improvement and drainage are gradually
extending. A great deal of the land is very cheap
considering its productiveness. Good opportunities
are offered for both grain and stock raising, as there
are still large expanses of wild pasture at a minimum
rental, an abundance of both hay and grazing.

Northern Minnesota has been slow in settling,

not because of any lack of fertility, or because of

location or climate, but because of the extensive
lumber operations. This entire area—more than
one-third of the State—has been a timber country.
However, as the timber disappears, Northern
Minnesota is being developed agriculturally. It is
a natural grass country. The grasses and clovers
grow profusely as soon as a clearing is made. For
this reason dairying is of the first importance. The
beautiful lakes, rivers, and numerous small streams
afford the purest of water. In most localities where

corn is grown it is used for silage. Small grains and
potatoes and root crops are grown successfully.
The class of timber which grows on these lands
readily classifies the soils. The heavier soils usually
carry only hardwood, or white pine timber, the sub-
soil being generally a heavy clay. The mixed hard-
wood districts, with a scattering of pine and poplar,
are generally very desirable for all-round farming.
This soil is a mixture of sand and clay, enough sand
being present to give warmth to the soil and ease
in cultivation. White pine is found on a variety of
soils ranging from very heavy clay to soils that are
quite sandy. One is generally safe in assuming
that hardwood and white pine lands in this section
are productive. A good deal of this land is too
stony for easy cultivation, but much of it is free
from stone and very desirable farming land. Hard-
wood land is somewhat easier cleared than white
pine land, because if hardwood timber is cut off,
especially if the land is pastured, the stumps quickly
rot and disappear. White pine stumps rot very
slowly. Norway pine land is lighter in type than the
white pine land, but will grow fine stands of clover
and grasses, and is capable of producing good crops.
Jack pine land is the lightest of the sandy soils.
With proper rotation and seeded to clover periodi-
cally it will pay good dividends to the careful farmer.
While only a small proportion of the good farm
land of this section is as yet developed, there are,
nevertheless, very many communities that are well

Feed for cattle, logs for building, and fuel for the beginner in Northern Minnesota

11

advanced. Some of the very best roads and schools
in the State are found here. Codperative creameries
furnish good markets for milk and cream. Potatoes
are one of the principal cash crops, and facilities for
marketing this crop are being properly provided.
Here is the place in Minnesota whetethe settler can
still find good farm land selling at thcomparatively
low price of $10 to $25 an acre for umimproved land.
While much of this land is improyed, the climate,
soil, and markets are such that there/ean be no ques-
tion about the future developments Good water,
trees, lakes, and streams, plenty offuel, and com-
paratively cheap building and ‘fencing material
afford opportunities for the development of farm
homes under really desirable ‘Minggoia sb

Settling in this section of Minnésota is by no
means pioneering in the old sens® of the word,
because there are plenty of good opportunities where
schools, roads, markets, and neighbors are acces-
sible. The land is cheap merely onsaccount of the
fact that it is still covered with: brush, stumps,
and logs, which must be removed before it can be-
come productive. The opportunities in Northern
Minnesota are for actual settlers who will clear the
land and make it productive. The opportunity
here is for the man who has little capital but his
own labor, or for the man with capital. The essen-
tial point is that the land must be developed. One
cannot expect rapid advance in undeveloped land
held merely for speculation.

MINNESOTA

Stump land pastures give good returns

CEREAL CROPS

The growing of small grains—wheat, oats, rye,
and barley—is an important part of farming opera-
tions almost everywhere in Minnesota. The harvest
of grain that every fall flows into the granaries and
elevators is a mute tribute to the productivity of the
land, the industry of the farmers, and the extensive
area of the State. The 1918 crop of 134,000,000
bushels of oats, 80,000,000 bushels of wheat, 43,-
000,000 of barley, and 8,000,000 of rye—a total of
265,000,000 bushels—shows how general and how
extensive grain production is in Minnesota.

Wheat has been, and still continues to be, Minne-
sota’s great cash grain crop. Throughout the Red
River Valley and Central Minnesota the wheat
raised is nearly all of the spring varieties Marquis,
Velvet Chaff, Fife, and Blue Stem particularly. In
Southern Minnesota some winter wheat is raised,
but hard spring wheat, for which Minnesota is
famous, is the principal variety grown.

Oats is the greatest grain crop of the State in
point of bushels grown, but a large part of the crop
is used on the farms where produced. This crop
seems to be adapted to every part of the State. In
Southern Minnesota it is a cash crop, and a large
acreage is commonly grown for sale, in addition to
that required for farm feed. On the smaller farms,

Beef and brains make bank accounts for the farmer

where the rotation calls for a grain crop once in
three, four, or five years, oats are almost always
sown. In Northern Minnesota, both quality and
yield are especially good, returns of 70, 80, or 90
bushels an acre being recorded. The early 60-day
oats are frequently grown in the north, and also
often in Central Minnesota, so as to get the oats
harvested before the wheat harvest is on. In
Southern Minnesota the standard white varieties
are common.

Barley as a feed crop or a cash crop is growing
in favor. A large acreage is harvested annually,
the 6-row bearded varieties being the favorite.
Its early maturity, which makes possible a longer
harvesting season, its large yield in pounds of feed
per acre, and its splendid feeding qualities make this
crop very popular. In regions where corn is not
successfully grown, barley is extensively used for
fattening hogs, being almost as satisfactory for that
purpose as corn.

Rye is grown to a large extent on the lighter soils,
but is also raised throughout the State. This crop
is often thought of as a crop for poor soils only, but
its adaptability in rotations and its excellent yields
have brought it into favor with farmers generally.
The winter variety is generally grown, but some
successful trials with spring rye have been made.

Alfalfa is becoming a most important crop on grain and live stock farms

Flax, though not a cereal, is grown so generally
it should be mentioned here. On new breaking it
does especially well, giving a good crop while sub-
duing the sod for other crops. It does well any-
where in the State.

Cultivated crops are of special importance in the
farming operations of Northern Minnesota. The
limited acreage under the plow on many northern
farms means that the largest possible returns must
be obtained, and cultivated crops, especially pota-
toes and root crops, offer such returns.

Corn is the great cultivated crop of Southern and
Central Minnesota, and is grown to some extent
all over the State. In spite of the fact that the
northern boundary is 400 miles from the southern,
which means that the State’s northern regions are
well beyond the corn zone, it must still be remem-
bered that the State ranks among the foremost as a
great corn state. Its mighty crop of 110,000,000
bushels in 1918 is outranked by only one fact, and
that is her average yield of forty bushels an acre.
In 1918 Minnesota stood seventh in total corn yield
among all the states of the Union. Corn is king in
Minnesota, as in so many of the other states of the
corn belt, and the farmers are looking forward to
still greater results.

Corn may be grown in many parts of Northern
Minnesota, but the settler who goes into Northern
Minnesota must not expect the same results as his
neighbor to the southward. Considerable silage
corn is grown all through the Red River Valley and
in parts of the cut-over region, and except in unfav-
orable years, ripe corn is also secured. North-
western Dent, Minnesota No. 23, and the flint
varieties are best adapted to northern localities.

Potatoes are an important cash crop in Minne-
sota. The State produces about 30,000,000 bushels
annually, about two-thirds of which are sold outside
of the State. Most of the potatoes grown on a
zommercial basis are raised north of the Twin Cities.

Potatoes are the great cultivated crop of Northern
Minnesota farms. For the new settler, with a small
clearing, the potato crop offers a large return per
acre, and for the better developed farm, with modern
machinery and large-sized operations, they are also
a profitable crop. The soil and the climate seem to
be peculiarly adapted to the production of large
yields of tubers of high quality, and yields of 200 to
250 bushels an acre are common, while many growers
regularly expect even larger yields.

MINNES

OTA

The poultry products of the State amount to approximately
thirty million dollars annually

Following the example of the Red River Valley,
which has developed the widely-know and well
adapted strain known as the Red River Valley
Early Ohio, the entire northern section of Minnesota
is swinging steadily toward certain definite varie-
ties, best suited to the soil and climatic conditions.
Of the late potatoes, probably the most popular
variety is the Green Mountain, or Carmen No. 1, a
splendid white potato which yields well and com-
mands a ready market. The Rural New Yorker, or
Carmen No. 3, is almost as generally raised. Russet
Burbanks are in favor in some localities, and other
varieties are found. These late varieties go on the
market as table stock, and their crisp, firm flesh and
splendid keeping qualities are winning for Northern
Minnesota an enviable reputation as a potato- pe
ducing section.

Early varieties are Bliss Triumph, Early Ohio,

and Irish Cobbler. These go on the market prin-
cipally as seed stock for the southern trade, and the
native influence of northern conditions in giving
sturdy seed stock as well as freedom from disease
and trueness to variety and type is bringing the
southern trade to Minnesota in every increasing

olume.

Many farmers raise one early and one late variety
0 lengthen their digging season and to concentrate
on standardization of varieties.

‘This man’s cee of Minne s thirty-two million bushel
potato crop make him smile

Rutabagas and other root crops for stock feed
are of great importance, especially on the farm with
a limited acreage cleared. Northern Minnesota is
a natural stock country. Pasture is abundant, or
may easily be opened up, but the winter feed is not
so easily provided. It is one thing to clear away the
brush sufficiently to give plenty of pasture land. It
is another matter to finish the clearing, to get out
the stumps, and break the land in sufficient quan-
tities to provide hay land to correspond with the
pasture land. Consequently, the shortage of hay
must be supplemented by crops which may be raised
on a smaller acreage, and of all these other crops,
rutabagas stand first. The yield is good, from
twelve to fifteen or more tons an acre, so that a
very small piece of ground will produce large
returns. Root crops of this character are more
than roughage; they take the place of grain which
in many cases would have to be bought and they
provide the succulence needed for the production
of live stock.

Root crops as they are handled in Northern Minne-
sota do not require so much work as one might
suppose. They are planted in rows and cultivated,
and require one thinning and some hand work in
weeding, but as the acreage is usually small on
account of the very heavy yields, the work of caring —
for the crop is not excessive. In the fall, the es

4

_

MINNESOTA

The clover crop raised in the northern part of the State insures ample pasture, winter feed, and soil fertility

is stored in cheap root-cellars near the barn so as
to be handy for feeding.

The price of rutabagas is often good enough to
make rutabagas a profitable crop to raise for the
market, but the farmer with a herd of cows in his
barn and a good market for dairy products will
usually gain by feeding this crop.

HAY AND FORAGE CROPS

Minnesota points with special pride to its grass
and hay crops. In addition to the great crops of
grain, corn, potatoes, and other farm products,
there is every year harvested a tremendously valu-
able crop of hay. Minnesota is a live stock state.
Diversified farming is the rule, not the exception.
The luxuriant pastures and heavy hay crops are
necessary to the continued success of the live stock
industry, which is the foundation of diversified
agriculture.

The standard hay crop is a mixture of medium red
clover and timothy. On low lands this is supple-
mented with alsike clover and redtop, but all over
the State the red clover and timothy combination is
seen. The clover, being a biennial, lasts only a year
or two in the mixture, and after that a year or so
of clear timothy is often secured before a meadow is
broken up. Often such a meadow is turned into
pasture for a time, though more often the rough or

15

low spots of the farm are fenced in as pérmanent
pasture, thus securing profitable yields from every
acre of the farm. Left to itself, an old meadow will
promptly grow up to Kentucky blue grass, though
the process may be hastened by sowing in a little
blue grass seed.

Clover is the most valuable of all the forage
crops grown in the State. This is not only because
of its wonderful growth and native adaptability, but
because of its importance in the general Minnesota
farming plan. The progressive farmer—whether in
Northern or in Southern Minnesota—aims to put in
a piece of clover nearly every year. It is the biggest
and surest rotation hay crop he can get; it produces
a fine aftermath for cattle, hogs, or sheep to pasture
on in the fall; it leaves a fine texture to the soil
when it is finally plowed under, and, more than all
these, it leaves the soil enriched in nitrogen. This
great crop seems to be especially adapted to condi-
tions in Northern Minnesota. Seed scattered from
the hay which the loggers took into this timbered
region years ago started the crop and now it grows
wild all over the north, wherever there is a clearing
large enough to let it start. Consequently, the first
thing a new settler does is to clear away a few acres
of brush and scatter in a little clover seed. Ina
few months he has as fine a pasture as any cow
could wish.

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MINNESOTA

Many successful Minnesota farmers began this way

Northern Minnesota i is a great clover-seed produc-
ing area, the lighter soils of the State being particu-
larly adapted to seed production. In addition to the
seed produced in this special region, clover is often
hulled in other parts of the State, and, consequently,
there is usually no difficulty in securing plenty of
high class clover seed. Timothy seed is produced
freely also, as well as alsike.

The advantage of securing home-grown seed is
apparent, because it is sure to be acclimated and
also because many farmers are able to raise their
own seed, thus assuring a constant supply for re-
placement. A ready market is found for any sur-
plus.

Alfalfa is successfully grown in every county in
the State. The acreage of alfalfa is not large, be-
cause it has been so easy to get a catch of clover and
other grasses that the grass necessarily grown in
rotations has furnished all the hay and pasturage
needed. On some of the more intensive live stock
farms alfalfa is now raised quite extensively. Where
alfalfa is grown, three crops are cut each year.

HOME GARDENS AND HOME FRUIT

A considerable part of the home living of prac-
tically every Minnesota farm is furnished by the
home garden. A small plot of ground, well planned
and well tended, will yield a surprisingly large and

18

regular supply of fresh vegetables and fruits, and
at a very small expenditure of labor.

All common garden vegetables are readily grown
anywhere in the State. Potatoes, beans, peas, let-
tuce, onions, radishes, carrots, beets, asparagus,
rhubarb, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, squash,
pumpkin, turnips, rutabagas, Swiss chard, spinach,
ground cherries, kohlrabi—these are a few of the
common vegetables raised. Such small fruits as
raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries,
blackberries, are usually raised in quantities suffi-
cient for home use. Home orchards of summer and
winter apples are common through Southern and
Central Minnesota, and plums, grapes, and other
fruit may be found in many orchards.

COMMERCIAL FRUIT-GROWING

Fruit-growing on a commercial scale has been
developed to a considerable degree in certain dis-
tricts of the State. The best developed of these
localities is that of the Lake Minnetonka district
just west of Minneapolis. Hundreds of farmers in
this district make the growing of raspberries, straw-
berries, and apples the main enterprise of their
farms. Other well known fruit districts are in
Houston, Washington, Fillmore, Wright, Crow Wing,
and Aitkin counties. Raspberries are the chief
commercial fruit crop in Crow Wing and Aitkin

MINNESOT

re cae

Rye is care adapted to newly cleared land

counties, and raspberries and strawberries in Wash-
ington County. Near Mankato many acres are
devoted to black raspberries and apples.

A special fruit-breeding farm is located near
Excelsior to bring out new varieties of fruits. Such
varieties as Minnesota No. 3 strawberry, Minnesota
No. 4 raspberry are varieties that are very promi-
nent. Minnesota No. 21 plum is receiving con-
siderable favorable comment.

Many commercial apple orchards may be found
throughout Southern Minnesota. Several splendid
varieties of apples originated in Minnesota,, as for
example, the Wealthy, well known for hardiness and
excellent quality. This originated near Excelsior.
Varieties best suited to the different localities have
been déveloped both for commercial and home use.
Lists of the varieties of fruits, vegetables, and orna-
mental plants, suitable for planting in the State, may
be secured from the Minnesota State Horticultural
Society which has headquarters in Minneapolis.

A very important development in connection
with the commercial growing of small fruits in
Minnesota is the plan of codperative marketing.
Practically every important small fruit section has
one or more of these fruit-shipping associations which
handle practically all the fruit grown in their respec-
tive localities. Each association has as manager an
experienced fruit salesman who handles the business
of the association. Ample warehouses and sheds are

19

maintained, the fruit itself is carefully picked,
graded, packed, and labeled, and everything possible
is done to maintain a reputation for high-class pro-
duction. These associations are a success in every
way and are a practical example of Minnesota’s
cooperative spirit.

LIVE STOCK

A report of the United States Department of
Agriculture for January 1, 1919, shows the number
and value of live stock in Minnesota:

Number Value
Horses 950,000 $03,100,000
Cows..... 1,368,000 106,704,000
Other cattl 1,632,000 54,072,000
heep 642,000 8,474,400
Swine 2,784,000 79,344,000

This allows for each of the 160,000 farmers in the
State 6 horses, 19 head of cattle, 17 hogs, and 4
sheep. Taking into account the fact that thousands
of farms were recorded in the newer settled portions
of the State, whose very recent development had
not allowed time to accumulate much stock, an idea
can be gained of the large amount of stock found
on the average well developed farm. As a better
idea of what a well developed Minnesota farm
actually does contain, the average figures for Rock
County, one of the older and well settled counties,
are given. On the 1,200 farms reported for this
little county of twelve townships, there was an

MINNESOTA

Sheep keep down the brush and make clearing easier

average for every farm of 9 horses, 36 head of cattle,
90 hogs, and 5 sheep.

On the larger farms of Southern and Central
Minnesota, the raising of beef cattle and the feeding
of cattle for market is common. Purebred herds of
all the beef breeds are common, some of the best
herds in America being found in Minnesota. Pure-
bred sires for the heading of grade and purebred
herds may be readily obtained, and as a consequence
the herds are showing constant improvement.

Throughout the area the feeding of beef steers
is a profitable practice. Especially on the larger
farms, where a large amount of feed is available
with a relatively small amount of help, the feed
yard is the main channel for the disposal of the
season’s crop. The advantage of being able to ship
to the South St. Paul market or to the Chicago or
Sioux City markets, as circumstances warrant, is
not lost to these feeders, nor is the opportunity of
buying feeders from these near-by markets neglected.

There is a splendid opportunity for the general
dairy farmer to secure good sires at reasonable prices
from these herds, or to secure foundation stock for
a purebred herd of his own. The best of codperation
exists between the established breeders and the new
beginner, as every additional purebred herd or
purebred sire means just that much more develop-
ment to the live stock industry of the State.

As the brush and stumps disappear, the farm develops

HOGS

Minnesota was designated by the United States
Food Administration in 1918 as one of the eight
leading corn and hog-producing states. Very rapid
development has been made in swine-raising in re-
cent years owing to a great increase in corn produc-
tion and to the large production of barley. The
thousands of cars of hogs that may be seen moving
toward South St. Paul, Chicago, and Sioux City
each winter are a visible proof of the importance of
this great crop. And the prosperity left behind in
cancelled mortgages in better houses and barns, in
tile drainage, and in other improvements, indicates
better than anything else the important part hogs
have played and are playing in Minnesota’s develop-
ment.

All breeds are raised. There are purebred herds
in large numbers, some of them being herds of na-
tional reputation. Duroc Jerseys probably out-
number any other breed, both as to number of
breeders and in the number of actual hogs which
reach the market. But there are many Poland
China, Chester White, Yorkshire, and Berkshire
herds, as well as those of other breeds.

—-

The half-way point in the evolution of a Minnesota farm

The great demand for wool during the last year
or so has called attention to the importance of the
sheep industry in Minnesota. Some sheep are raised
in every county. There should be more. In
Northern Minnesota, on the great cut-over pastures
of that verdant region, sheep do especially well.
Browsing through the brush and among the stumps,
they turn a handsome profit from the partly cleared
acres, while during the winter their warm coats turn
the cold so that meager shelters and a minimum of
feed bring them out in spring fit and ready for the
lambing season and the spring pastures. Thou-
sands of sheep have been shipped into Northern
Minnesota during the last year or so, but there is
room for many thousands more.

But it is not only on the cut-over farm that sheep
may be found. Anywhere in the State they do well,
and the farm flock is recognized on thousands of
farms as an important branch of the live stock indus-
try. A small flock will trim up the weeds, and clean
up the aftermath from haying and harvest, at a good
profit for the little extra feed they require, and they
will keep the place looking neat and trim besides.
Many farmers maintain small flocks of from ten to
fifty head especially for this purpose, and find it
pays.

Larger flocks are kept by many farmers. In the
Red River Valley many such flocks may be seen, and

they are found to be well adapted to the more exten-
sive methods of farming practiced there.

Dairying in Minnesota has made its great growth
in connection with diversified farming. Through-
out a great deal of the State the dairy herd is an
important part of the farming system, furnishing a
profitable outlet for the pasture, roughage, and
grain, and providing regular and profitable labor for
the farmer and his family; at the same time main-
taining the fertility of the farm and assuring a
permanent system of farming.

Dairy products in Minnesota are marketed chiefly
in the form of butter, and the butter industry of the
State is almost entirely on the codperative basis.
Minnesota has more than 800 creameries and of
this number more than 600 are cooperative, owned
and operated by the farmers. The practical advan-
tage of this close relation of the farmers to their
creameries is seen in the fact that of the $49,214,876
received for butter by the creameries of the State
in 1917, $44,176,033.18 was paid to the farmers for
butterfat.

The cheese industry of Minnesota is now making
marked progress. Many fine, new, modern fac-
tories have been built during the last year and cheese
factory managers have offered very alluring prices to

MINNESOTA

The winter harvest in Northern Minnesota

farmers for milk. There are now about eighty-five
factories manufacturing American, brick, and Swiss
cheese. Last year 6,421,148 pounds were produced,
the greater part of which was American cheese.
Although the amount of cheese made in this State
is less than that of some of the neighboring states,
the quality is not surpassed by any.

Poultry has attained an important place on
Minnesota farms. In fact, the average farm flock in
Minnesota is larger than is found in most other
states. The average egg yield per hen is also high.
The climatic conditions assure a strong, healthy,
and vigorous fowl and the farmers of Minnesota for
several years have made rapid progress in developing
a better class of poultry; not only aiming to obtain
better egg yields but increased meat production.

Poultry progress has been made possible primarily
through the efforts put forth by the county poultry
organizations, which, at the present time number
more than sixty. The object of these poultry or-
ganizations has been to better the quality of the
poultry. To a considerable degree the cross-bred
and low-producing hen has given way to well-bred,
high-producing, full-blooded stock.

There are communities that have made a specialty
of egg production. As an instance, the country
about Barnum, Carlton County, has become famous
as an egg-producing section. Within a radius of a
few miles there can be found over 30,000 hens kept

ESS

especially for egg production.

Barnum district. In the year 1918 more than
$53,000 worth were produced.

Turkeys, ducks, and geese are raised extensively
in about every section of the State. For many

At the present time there are eight hundred creameries in

Minnesota. More than six hundred being cooperative

Ten years ago —
$3,000 worth of eggs were produced annually in the —

A barley field in the northern part of the State

years it has seemed almost impossible to raise the
usual number of turkeys in the eastern and midwest
section of the United States. Still, the turkey indus-
try in Minnesota during the last few years shows a
very satisfactory increase. The most extensive tur-
key flocks are found in Northern and Western
Minnesota.

In the southern and central parts of the State
especially, water fowls are found in large numbers
The ducks and geese each year figure extensively in
the farm poultry operations.

In 1918, in the face of high-priced feeds, when
practically every state in the Union fell considerably
below its normal production, Minnesota was one of
the three or four states that not only maintained its
normal production of poultry and eggs, but showed
an increase of more than 10 per cent.

More than one-half of Minnesota’s large rural
population is made up of farmers, and more than
one-half of its school children are enrolled in its
rural schools. With singular foresight its leaders
have guided and built up all its educational insti-
tutions. The State points with special pride and
gratitude to their stewardship of the public school
funds. A permanent school fund, accumulated from
the sale of land, timber, and iron ore, of more than

$28,000,000 has been built up and loaned. The
interest on this fund, in addition to liberal legislative
grants, has been a potent factor in building up the
State’s schools. There are now 7,176 rural school
districts with a wide difference in area, property
valuation, and population.

By means of state aid, the standardization of the
rural schools began a number of years ago. This
aid has been increased from time to time. A first
grade rural school receives $100. In 1918 there were
6,577 state-aided rural schools requiring a legislative
grant of $1,022,065.

This special aid has resulted in better trained
teachers. The teachers’ training departments in the
State’s high schools prepare annually about 1,500

teachers. These have at least three years of high
school education and one year of professional
training.

Better buildings and equipment. Every school
has a good heating and ventilating system. In
many cases new buildings have had to be erected in
order that the district might receive state aid. Class
A schools must be in session at least eight months.

It is not strange that the State, always concerned
about the education of country boys and girls,
should take the lead in building a new kind of coun-
try school. This school, larger in the area served,
in enrollment, in valuation, and in possibilities, is

MINNESOTA

Modern consolidated country schools with their free busses take the children to and from school free of charge

known as the consolidated school. Already 280
consolidated schools have been established and
12,000 children are daily transported to school. To
aid in the building up of these large rural schools,
liberal aid has been provided by the State. The
buildings must be modern in every respect and pro-
vide special rooms for agriculture, manual training.
and domestic science. To aid in the erection of
such a building $2,000 state aid is offered. To help
maintain industrial courses consolidated schools of
Class A receive annually $500, and schools of
Class B, $250. In order to make possible a large
consolidated school many children must be trans-
ported by means of busses, and for this the State
offers a maximum aid of $2,000.

Every community of Minnesota, with a popula-
tion of 300, supports a state graded or a state high
school. Instruction in graded schools is free to all
pupils residing in the school district, and attendance
at any high school is free to every boy and girl in the
State. The courses of study aim to be in harmony
with the child’s home life and future activities.
Industrial training is a part of the work in most of
the high schools, and in a large number of graded
schools. Courses in agriculture, manual training,
and home eonomics, under the direction of well-
trained teachers, are provided through the special
encouragement of the State. Minnesota is ac-

knowledged as the leader in its general scheme for
industrial education through the public schools.

Minnesota supports six state normal schools: at
Winona, Mankato, St. Cloud, Moorhead, Duluth,
and Bemidji. The aggregate attendance in 1918
was 3,523. Tuition is free. Board and room are
furnished at cost. Dormitories are provided at all
of the schools. The course of study embraces two
years of professional work. On its completion, the
diploma issued becomes a state certificate. The
normal school graduates find positions in the public
schools, and there is a constant demand for a larger
number of teachers from them.

Minnesota’s varied population has always been
loyal to its public schools and state educational
institutions of a higher order. At the same time,
there has always been room and opportunity for the
private schools, academies, and colleges that have
been established by the different religious denomi-
nations. These have grown to be important fac-
tors in education and special training, and include
schools for girls, industrial schools, academies that
train for public school service, and denominational
school service, and many colleges that have a recog-
nized rank among institutions of higher learning.

As a permanent means of support for public
schools, Minnesota already has a fund of $28,000,000.

~

MINNESOTA |

The road appropriation act requires road maintenance

This has been accumulated through the sale and
lease of public lands granted by the National
Government. The income from this fund is dis-

tributed annually to the public schools, on the basis.

of the number of pupils, between five and twenty-one
years of age, enrolled and attending not less than
forty days. The fund is invested in state and muni-
cipal bonds. Besides this, there is a state one-mill
levy, which, together with the income from the per-
manent school fund, constitutes the current school
fund. The amount from these two sources of income
is about $2,000,000 a year. The aggregate amount
of the current school fund distributed since 1864 is
more than $51,000,000. The annual per capita from
the current school fund is about $6. It will be seen
that this is an important source of income in the
maintenance of public schools.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

The Department of Agriculture of the University
of Minnesota, including the experiment stations and
sub-stations, ‘the college and schools of agriculture,
the agricultural extension division, including a
county agent in each county, are all parts of one
great movement for the improvement of the agri-
culture of the State. The agricultural work, as
represented by these institutions, is but one part

bo
ou

The home comforts increase as the farm develops

of the work of the University of Minnesota, which
combines a college of medicine, a law school, a col-
lege of dentistry, a college of engineering, a ‘college
of science, literature, the arts, a college of agri-
culture, and many other branches, into one com-
prehensive institution.

The central experiment station is located at Uni-
versity Farm, St. Paul, and carries out any line of
agricultural experiments that may be required in
the agricultural development of the State. Many
new varieties of grain, corn, and other products
have been developed at University Farm as a result
of the systematic and careful search for varieties
exactly adapted to Minnesota’s conditions, as for
example, Minnesota No. 13 corn, and No. 23 corn,
two of the most valuable varieties in the State;
Minnesota 281 oats, and Minnesota 105 barley.

Branch stations at Crookston, Morris, Grand
Rapids, Duluth, Waseca, and Excelsior make it
possible to carry on the necessary experimental work
under the conditions of soil, climate, and type of
farming prevailing in various parts of the State.

Schools of agriculture are maintained in connec-
tion with the experiment stations at St. Paul,
Morris, and Crookston. In these, hundreds of
young men and women receive instruction every
year in the subjects best suited to fit them to become
the farmers and the home makers of the future.

MINNESOTA

The course offered is practically the same at all
three places, and consists of a three-year course of
six months each year. Graduates of these schools
may be met anywhere in the State. A recent census
showing that 85 per cent of the young men who have
graduated are farming or in farm homes. Any one
with farm experience who has finished the eighth
grade may enter. The expenses are very moderate
and the schools are in session only from October to
March. Hence these schools offer an exceptionl
opportunity to the boy or girl, who is needed at home
during the busy season.

The College of Agriculture, at University Farm,
offers a four-year course leading to a degree of
Bachelor of Science. High school graduates and
others able to meet the entrance requirements
usually take this course, which not only fits young
men and women for farming and home making, but
enue to teaching and experiment station or extension
work.

The agricultural extension division is the branch
of the agricultural college which reaches the people
of the State who can not go to the college or the
schools. A staff of trained men and women is con-
stantly employed for the assistance of people any-
where in Minnesota who desire help in solving their
agricultural problems. Not only that, but this body
of men and women is constantly bringing to the

26

attention of the people the best and most practical
methods which the experiment stations and pro-
gressive individuals have developed. Farmers’ in-
stitutes, short courses, and other meetings are held
throughout the State, and so general and so well
understood have these activities become that it is
seldom that a locality is reached where the purpose
and ae ie assistance of this work is not appre-
ciated.

COUNTY AGENTS

A county agricultural agent is maintained in every
county, usually with headquarters at the county seat.
The services of the county agent are available with-
out cost to any one, and the free use made of his
familiarity and training in the agriculture and devel-
opment of the county indicates how generally his
services are appreciated. In a strong live stock
county where the care and handling of live stock is.
of special importance, the county agent is usually a
man with special ability in such work. In some
counties, especially in Northern Minnesota, where
potato raising has developed to a large extent, the
county agents are emphasizing the importance of
disease control, standardization of varieties, and
other practices necessary for continued success in
this branch of farming. The work of the experiment
stations, the services of the extension division, and

MINNESOTA

Breeding pure blood dairy stock is a growing industry in Minnesota

the best and latest assistance from any source, is
brought to the county by the county agents.

A new settler should get acquainted with the
county agent in order to obtain practical assistance
in securing a good location and a right start.

TRANSPORTATION

Minnesota is well favored with reference to rail-
road transportation. The following federal con-
trolled lines operate within the State: Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy; Chicago Great Western;
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific; Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Omaha; Chicago & North Western; Duluth, Missabe
& Northern; Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic; Great
Northern; Green Bay & Western; Illinois Central;
Minneapolis & St. Louis; Minneapolis, St. Paul &
Sault Ste. Marie; Minnesota & International; North-
ern Pacific. From St. Paul and Minneapolis (the Twin
Cities) and Duluth and Superior (the “‘ Twin Ports’’)
radiate railroad lines to all sections of the country,
including four transcontinental lines to the Pacific
coast. To the northward the railroad lines branch
out into the Northwest; to the eastward they lead
to Chicago, Milwaukee, and the eastern markets; to
the southward to Des Moines, Kansas City, and St.
Louis, Bio the southwestward to Sioux City,

ur s, and Omaha.

27

By reason of the adequate transportation facili-
ties, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth have become
the greatest primary wheat markets in America.
The South St. Paul stock yards and packing plants
offer an excellent market for cattle, sheep, and hogs.
For Minnesota’s butter the markets of the east and
west are equally available. Lake transportation
from Duluth gives Minnesota economical rates on
export grain.

While the northern part of Minnesota is as yet -
only partly developed from an agricultural stand-
point, here, as elsewhere, the railroads have pushed
ahead of agricultural development, and with the
exception of comparatively few districts, there is no
land more than twenty or twenty-five miles from
rail or water transportation; and there are thousands
of acres of good undeveloped land that are distant
only from five to ten miles from a railroad track.
The prospective settler will find it unnecessary to
go any great distance from a railroad and in many
instances good improved or partly improved farms,
as well as wild land, may be secured less than five
miles from a town or shipping station.

Good auto and wagon roads traverse every section
of the State, making it easy to transport produce to
market, and the system of state highways is being
rapidly extended each year, and Minnesota during
the last. years has made great progress in this
directions

Threshing peas in Northwestern Minnesota

With respect to markets, Minnesota offers splendid
advantages. St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth,
the greatest grain markets in the world, are distrib-
uting centers of the whole Northwest. Practically
seven-eighths of the wheat shipped to Minneapolis
is ground into flour there. The Minneapolis flour
mills have a daily capacity of 85,000 barrels, and
26,000,000 bushels of grain have been received in
Minneapolis in a single month.

Minneapolis and Duluth stand first in the United
States as a flaxseed market, and as a result have
many linseed oil mills.

The immense tonnage passing through the Twin
Ports is only exceeded by that of New York City.
This direct water connection at the head of Lake
Superior with the eastern and foreign markets means
that the Minnesota farmer will always have access
to the world’s markets.

South St. Paul is recognized as one of the leading
stock markets of the Middle West. The packing
houses now have a large killing capacity of cattle,
hogs, and sheep. Immense additional facilities are
under construction. In 1918, 4,000,000 head of live
stock were received at this terminal.

_ Asa manufacturing state, Minnesota ranks twelfth
in the United States. The great waterways are

being harnessed and water power, ‘‘white coal,’’ is
causing manufacturing industries to spring up over
the entire State.

Minnesota produces two-thirds of all the iron ore
mined in the United States and one-fourth of all the
iron ore mined in the world. The great steel plant
at Duluth represents an investment of $25,000,
and employs thousands of workmen.

All these industries mean much to the farmer in
Minnesota. They bring the best markets to his very
door. Three-quarters of a million people in the
cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth are
dependent on the farmer for food; and scattered
throughout the State are ten live manufacturing
cities of over 10,000 population each. The new
settler locating in Minnesota will find not only a
fertile farm, but profitable markets already provided.

The spirit of true codperation is a prominent
characteristic of farm life in Minnesota. More
than 600 codperative creameries are at work in
Minnesota, every one of them a tribute to the efforts
of the dairymen of its community to get together in
the manufacture of a product that will be better,
more economically produced, and more profitably
sold than if handled in any other way. The codp-

Minnesota has ten thousand lakes and millions of fish

erative elevators have accomplished much the same
kind of thing in the storage and sale of grain.

A splendid example of the simplicity and effec-
tiveness of codperative effort may be seen also in the
live stock shipping associations. When the mem-
bers of an association have enough stock to make a
carload, one of their number acting as manager ships
the whole lot, marking each animal for identification.
Hundreds of such live stock shipping associations
are in operation in the State. From 60 per cent to
70 per cent of all live stock shipped is handled
through these codperative shipping associations.

The codperative marketing of potatoes is another
important phase of this movement. Associations
Owning warehouses and handling many cars every
year are in successful operation. Fruit-shipping
oo and other forms have also succeeded
well.

Minnesota stands well among the states of the
Union in its wealth of natural resources; especially
in wild life, game birds, quadrupeds, and fish. Not-
withstanding the rapid development of its lumbering,
mining, and agricultural industries, and its rapid

29.

growth in population, game is still abundant in
many regions and fish are plentiful in the State’s
thousands of beautjful lakes and winding streams.

The State was one of the first to outlaw the spring
shooting of birds, the sale of game, and other
destructive practices. Asaresult within the borders
of the State are to be found the cheery bob-white
quail, the wary prairie chicken, the handsome part-
ridge, and other grouse; waterfowl and shore birds
sweeping over the prairies, marshes, and lakes; in
season, furbearers of many species—the dainty deer,
the sturdy bear, and the lordly moose.

The forest area of the State is of vast extent and
much of it is of sucha nature that it will remain
indefinitely a haven for game. There are no arid,
treeless wastes; the unsettled portions are all thickly
covered with luxuriant vegetation. Besides exten-
sive sanctuaries have been set aside for game, where
the inhabitants of the forest will be forever free
from molestation by hunters.

One-sixteenth of the area of Minnesota is water
mostly lakes varying in size from a few acres to
440 square miles in extent.. The wide distribution
of water makes possible for vast numbers the enjoy-
ment of excellent boating, bathing, and fishing.

The commercial fisheries of the State employ
more than 1,000 men who receive an annual wage of

MINNE

SOTA

Good oe may be found throughout the State, and
are being rapidly extended

$500,000, represent capital of $700,000, pay a
revenue to the State of more than $75,000, and pro-
duce $1,500,000 worth of fish annually for the mar-
kets. Commercial fishing is carried on at such
places and in such a way as not to interfere at all
with angling.

A well established and successfully operated
system of hatcheries enables the game and fish
department to stock more than a thousand lakes
and streams every year with the choicest varieties
of game fish. The output of the hatcheries last year,
of fish actually hatched and planted in the waters
of the State, was over 332,000,000. What has been
extensively developed in fish propagation has been
begun in game propagation. A game farm is in
successful operation and 3,000 game birds a year
are being liberated. An equal number of eggs is
furnished to farmers.

ADVICE TO THE NEW SETTLER

The man who moves to Southern Minnesota,
Central Minnesota, or the Red River Valley will find
new conditions, but he will find a type of farming
not unlike that to which he has been accustomed.
The man who goes to the great cut-over region of
Northern Minnesota, though, will meet along with
new opportunities, some new experiences. He

30

‘

Numerous silos are an evidence of increasing prosperity
on Minnesota farms

should, therefore, searchingly study both the
adaptability of himself and family to the new loca-
tion, and also their ability to follow the successful
practices of the northern farmer.

The man looking forward to settling in Northern
Minnesota should consider carefully his available
funds and present condition before moving. If he
is saving money, he should stay by his present posi-
tion till he may have from $800 to $1,500 left after
the first payment on his land is made.

If, however, he is barely making a living now and
is unable to accumulate any savings, he may do
better to move at once, though he will be laboring
under a handicap if he starts without capital.

For the sake of wife and family, a settler in North-
ern Minnesota should locate on a road and not too
far from neighbors.

Land should be seen before it is bought. The
entire tract should be examined deliberately, and, if
possible, settlers should be talked with before a
purchase is made. Soil conditions should be thor-
oughly understood, and muskeg or undecayed peat
lands should be avoided.

Too much land should not be bought. Eighty
acres in the cut-over district make a good farm for
a man and the average family, with some boys to

Sheep thrive in every section of the State

help. If there is no help available except the set-
tler’s own labor, and funds are limited, forty acres
will be found enough. Of course, if funds are avail-
able to do so without crippling the working capital,
a farm of 160 acres or more should be secured. The
original purchase price is only a small part of the
cost of the improved farm.

Removal to the new location in the spring so as to
get ready for the coming winter is preferable. Only
a very small amount of stock should be brought—
two, three, or four good milking cows, one team of
horses, a brood sow, a few chickens, but usually no
young stock.

When one is located, he should visit his new neigh-
bors, ask questions, and observe methods.

A settler should also become acquainted with the
county agricultural agent, who is usually a most
dependable source of real information.

Potatoes and vegetables of all kinds for the home
cellar, and plenty of feed, especially roughage, for
the stock for the winter, should be the crops the first
year on a new cut-over farm.

Some new settlers prefer to spend the summer or
fall before moving to the new farm in opening land

31

for the next season’s crop. If this has been done, a
well drained and well worked location should be
selected for a garden, and sufficient potatoes, carrots,
beets, cabbages, squash, cauliflower, onions, rad-
ishes, lettuce, and other vegetables for the summer’s
use and the winter’s supply should be put in.

A half-acre or more of rutabagas should be put in
for winter feed. Best results are secured if they are
planted in rows from 24 to 30 inches apart and
thinned to 10 or 12 inches apart in the rows.

A pasture should be opened by clearing away the
brush, and logs. This should be disked or in some
way worked up among the stumps, and a little
clover, timothy, and blue grass should be sown.

If enough land is open, and a market is near, a
small field of potatoes should be put in. The cash
income from the potatoes in the fall will be much
appreciated, and if well tended a small field should
bring good returns.

It is not always best to wait till the stumps are
removed before getting a crop on the ground. Often
the brush can be cut, the logs picked up and burned,
and a good crop secured among the stumps. This is
especially true of hay and pasture crops.

MINNESOTA Ss

The never failing source of a monthly income

United States Railroad Administration ©
AGRICULTURAL SECTION

J. L. EDWARDS, Manager
WASHINGTON, D. C.

FOR THE USE OF ALL RAILROADS
IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

For Further Information, address

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