222 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



nearly every man in a community tried to own a piece of 

 land. Storekeepers, shopkeepers, mechanics, and profes- 

 sional men bought farms which they partially worked 

 themselves or rented "on shares" to farmers 17 . Quick 

 returns led to speculation. Threshing outfits costing 

 about $800 in some instances paid for themselves in two 

 years 18 . Farmers ran store bills and bought machinery 

 on time, and in many instances the returns from their 

 crops more than warranted the outlay. There was small 

 incentive for the farmers to use either their land or 

 machinery carefully. Straw stacks were burned as the 

 easiest way to dispose of them. Binders costing more 

 than $200, and other machines and tools, in many in- 

 stances were left in the field until wanted in the next 

 season. As a result they rapidly depreciated in utility 

 and value 19 .. The prairie soils yielded so readily to the 

 plow, wheat was relatively such an easy crop to grow, 

 and yields were for the most part so satisfactory, that it 

 is no wonder that farmers became a bit careless about 

 expenses. 



The acreage and production of wheat in southeastern 

 Minnesota and elsewhere in the Spring Wheat Belt in- 

 creased rapidly after certain developments in the market- 

 ing phase of the industry occurred. A notable one was 

 the introduction of the "middlings-purifier" and other 

 milling improvements which made it possible to produce 

 a high-grade flour from the hard spring wheat 20 . The 

 improvement of transportation to eastern markets was 

 even more important, This was accomplished by (1) 

 an increase of the number of steamboats on the river, 

 (2) the introduction of river barges especially designed 

 for cariying wheat, (3) the erection of warehouses and 

 elevators along the railroads and at the steamboat land- 

 ings, (4) the establishment of rail connection between 

 the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, and (5) the con- 

 struction of railroads westward from the Mississippi. 

 The importance of these developments is reflected in the 

 fact that in 1865, sixty-five per cent of the land under 



"Schatzel, G. W. : Among the Wheat Fields of Minnesota, Harper's 

 Magazine. XXXVI, January, 1868, p. 197. 

 18 Ibid. 



"Ibid., p. 200. 

 20 Robinson, op. cit., p. 77. 



