HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 157 



Cities sprung up as if by magic ; villages dotted the face of the country as 

 by the wand of the enchantress, and wild schemes for future profit absorbed, 

 to the exclusion of aU else, the minds of the inhabitants. 



Each individual was a speculator in the wildest sense of the term. 



Our forests of pine timber, immense mineral resources, valuable water 

 powders, the rich broad acres that awaited but the labor of the husbandman, 

 to shower their wealth into his hand, — all were as undisturbed by the progress 

 of development, as when the Indian tribes roamed over the country in undis- 

 puted possession. 



But over the spirit of these dreams came a change as sudden as it was 

 terrific. 



In the great financial crash of 1857 — these wild hopes of prospective wealth 

 vanished as the baseless fabric of a dream, leaving almost in beggary those 

 whose faith was strongest in the future. 



But the energy and pluck of her citizens were proof against even such au 

 emergency, and that which would have crushed and disheartened men made 

 of less sterner stuff, but roused to full vigor, the hitherto dormant energies 

 of the people, and with the determination to allow no misfortune to prevent 

 Minnesota from taking the rank due her position and advantage, they girded 

 themselves anew for the contest, and from the ashes of their dead hopes has 

 arisen a development which to-day challenges the admiration of every State 

 of our Republic. 



Previous to this time, as before stated, while millions of rich acres lay un- 

 cultivated, breadstufts for the necessities of the population were imported, 

 and the progress immediately thereafter was, with the sparse population, 

 slow, so that the cultivation of the soil can hardly be said to have begun 

 before the year 1859. 



To show clearly the agricultural development of Minnesota, I append the 

 following statistics, compiled in the Department of State. 



Wheatbeing the chief cereal, the statistics of that crop alone, are referred to : 



Years I860. 18«5. 1869. 1^7•2. 



Population 172.022 250,099 420.000 527,500 



Acres in Wheat 231,357 471,401 1,006.007 1,460.000 



Bushels 5.101.432 M,475,000 17.660,467 26.000,000 



Bushels per acre 22.05 22.70 17.55 17.75 



Bushels per capita 29.65 37.8S 42.05 49.29 



If these estimates of the productions of 1872 are to be relied on, and there 

 is no good reason to doubt them, Minnesota will rank as the third, wheat State 

 in aggregate production, the second in yield per acre, and the Jirst in propor- 

 tion to population. 



In railroad development Minnesota has made equally rapid advancement. 



The first ten miles of railroads within the State were completed July 2d, 

 1862, and though some years later a partial connection was made with eastern 

 railroads by boat from Winona to La Crosse, it was not until 1868 that an all 

 rail route was completed from Minnesota to the Eastern States. 



The total number of miles constructed and in operation at the close of the 

 year 1872, were a little over 1,900 miles. 



