230 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



team plowing as fast as the wheat could be hauled awa}' and <he 

 straw burned. 



With this situation of things and with a beautifwl clear day, mak- 

 ing it an easy matter for the visitor to look upon those lines of wheat 

 stacks as far as the eye could reach, and just beyond this farm thou- 

 sands of acres of land unimproved, is it any thing strange that the 

 Maine farmer should be placed a little off his base? Now I must 

 confess that I was somewhat enamored with the country, and began 

 to think that I had pitched my tent somewhat outside of the best ag- 

 ricultural section of tlie country. Yes, it all looked well. It looked 

 as though farmers were getting rich growing wheat. And it pre- 

 sented itself so forcibly upon m}^ mind, that to satisfy myselt of the 

 fact as to whether or no the western farmer was not makins: more 

 than his share in the profits of farming, I was obliged to appeal to a 

 method of figuring. And in order to get satisfactory information I 

 asked all the questions I could think of. I obtained an Annual Re- 

 port of the Board of Trade of Minneapolis ; I subscribed for an ag- 

 ricultural paper printed in St. Paul ; I also consulted the United 

 States Agricultural Commissioner's Report, and compared it with 

 what little that I knew about Maine farming. 



It is not my intention to speak one disparaging word of the West, 

 for certainly, generally speaking, their soil is good and in many 

 sections they have a beautiful countiy, but to compare notes and 

 figures and ascertain if possible whether or not it would be sound 

 judgment or good policy for the Maine farmer to dispose of his 

 effects and remove to that so-called beautiful land in order to benefit 

 himself in the business of farming. As we have just passed through 

 this beautiful wheat countr}-, let us take the wheat crop and figure 

 for a moment. The United States Commissioner's report gives the 

 average yield per acre for Minnesota in 1884, thirteen bushels, 

 average price eighty cents per bushel, average value $10.40 per acre ; 

 Dakota, average yield sixteen bushels per acre, average price 

 seventy- two cents, average value per acre $11.52. 



Why I speak of this section of the great wheat belt is because 

 the growing of wheat is made more of a specialty than in any other 

 section of the West at the present time, and gives near the average 

 of all the other States, making it safe to accept this section as a 

 basis to work from. 



How is it this present year? Upon the best farms they claim 

 fifteen bushels yield per acre, while upon many a much less yield 



