NORTH DAKOTA. 



555 



Industries and Products. The amount of 

 coal produced in 1893, as given in the report of 

 the Geological Survey, on a basis of short tons, 

 was 49,580 tons, of the value of $56,150. Experi- 

 ments were made in March and April to test 

 the value of the lignite coal of the State as a 

 steam-producing fuel. The results seem to show 

 that the lignite can be used to advantage as a sub- 

 stitute for the bituminous coals of Pennsylvania. 

 Experiments were made at St. Paul with a view 

 to determining whether lignite could be used 

 profitably in the factories of that city and Min- 

 neapolis. The lignite fields underlie 40,000 

 square miles of the State's area. The State Rail- 

 road Commissioners have been trying to get the 

 Northern Pacific and the Great Northern to re- 

 duce the rates on lignite. At the close of the 

 year they agreed upon a maximum rate, which 

 was lower by 15 to 35 cents a ton at all distances 

 than that proposed in the coal-rate bill as agreed 

 to by the railroad committee of the last Legisla- 

 ture before it was amended and passed, but is 

 from 15 to 25 cents a ton higher than the rates 

 fixed in the law as passed. In order to make a 

 rate that would stand the test of reasonableness 

 in the courts, the short-haul rates of the North- 

 ern Pacific were accepted. It is a reduction of 

 55 cents to $1 a ton from Great Northern rates. 



The report of the Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture, made in March, indicates that 1893 was un- 

 favorable for the farmers of the State, more so 

 than any other year since the settlement. The 

 average crop was the smallest on record, although 

 the quality of the grain was above the average. 

 The average yield of wheat for the State was 

 9'36 bushels an acre, or about 4 bushels less than 

 the preceding year, and the total crop was but 

 About 27,000,000 bushels, or 12,000,000 bushels 

 less than the preceding year. The average yield 

 of oats was 22 bushels, *10 bushels less than, in 

 1892, while the total crop was about 11,000,000 

 bushels, or about 2,500,000 bushels less than in 



1892. Barley averaged 18 bushels an acre, 8 bush- 

 els less than in 1892, and the total crop was 

 4,000.000 bushels, about a million less than the 

 preceding year. Flax decreased in average yield 

 from 9 bushels an acre to 6, but increased in total 

 yield about 100,000 bushels, the acreage having 

 been trebled. The acreage of rye was doubled in 



1893. but the yield fell off 5 bushels, and the total 

 increase in yield was but 70,000 bushels. Corn 

 likewise was increased in acreage, but decreased 

 in average yield. Potatoes decreased in average 

 yield from 113 bushels in 1892 to 69 in 1893. 



In 1894 the drouth seriously affected the crops 

 of this as well as of the neighboring States. The 

 hay crop was reduced by nearly one third ; the 

 peach crop was a failure, and many of the pota- 

 toes were burned up in the fields. 'Streams and 

 wells were dried up, and in some towns farmers 

 were obliged to drive long distances to bring 

 water from the rivers for their stock. 



A summary of the census report on manufac- 

 turing industries shows that in 1890 there were 

 382 establishments in the State, with an aggre- 

 gate capital of $2,894.553. 



The Russian Thistle. Interest has been ex- 

 cited this year by the proposition for a Govern- 

 ment appropriation of $1,000,000 to help in ex- 

 terminating the Russian thistle. The weed, 

 which is supposed to have been introduced into 



this country by seeds contained in imported flax, 

 spreads with extraordinary rapidity, and is now 

 to be found in North and South Dakota, and has 

 invaded one fourth of Nebraska. It is a bushy 

 weed, approximately spherical, composed o'f 

 branching twigs, covered with spines, that grow 

 upward and outward from the root. When the 

 plant is full grown these are so dense that the 

 hand can not be inserted between them. When 

 the plant is young it is soft and fleshy, and at 

 this stage sheep will eat it. But as it matures it 

 covers the ground with such a thicket of thorns as 

 to be impenetrable. Grown plants reach 5 feet 

 in diameter. They blossom in July and August, 

 and the seeds mature in September and October. 

 In autumn the plant breaks off at the root and 

 rolls away across the prairie with a breath of 

 wind. Each plant carries from 10,000 to 15,000 

 seeds. So rapid has been its spread and so great 

 the damage done that farmers have sometimes 

 been driven from their holdings in despair. 



It is estimated that the weed covers 70,000 

 square miles. The damage done by it to crops 

 last season is estimated at $2,000,000. 



Decision on Trading- in Options. A de- 

 cision of the State Supreme Court on a case in- 

 volving the legality of trading in options was 

 announced Aug. 6. The action was entitled 

 David Dows & Co. vs. Samuel L. Glaspell, the 

 first being commission merchants in Duluth, and 

 the latter an attorney in North Dakota. In 1885 

 Mr. Glaspell began shipping wheat to the plain- 

 tiffs, to be sold for him on account. Shortly 

 after he had made his shipments of actual wheat 

 he telegraphed the commission firm to purchase 

 for him 10,000 bushels of May wheat. From time 

 to time he ordered more purchased, or sold, un- 

 til the following June, when he was closed out 

 for failure to make his margins good. Suit was 

 instituted in the district court for Stutsman 

 County by Dows to recover $7,500 which they 

 alleged Glaspell owed them on the transaction. 

 In his answer Glaspell admitted the transactions, 

 but averred that they were in the nature of 

 gambling deals, and he not only denied that he 

 owed the firm any money whatever, but asked 

 for judgment against them for over $11,000, 

 moneys paid them from time to time for mar- 

 gins and for the proceeds of actual wheat sent 

 to them. In the lower court judgment was 

 given for the defendant, for a dismissal of the 

 plaintiff's action, and for the defendant's counter- 

 claim set up by Glaspell. The judgment was 

 affirmed by Justice Corliss, the full bench agree- 

 ing, who held that the deal was of the nature of 

 gambling and illegal on both sides. 



Political. The officers to be elected in No- 

 vember were: Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney- 

 General,' Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, Com- 

 missioner of Insurance, 3 Railroad Commission- 

 ers for terms of two years, Chief Justice of Su- 

 preme Court for six years, 1 Congressman. 



The State Convention of the Independent or 

 People's Party met at Jamestown, June 14. Fol- 

 lowing is the ticket: For Governor, Elmer D. 

 Wallace ; Lieutenant-Governor, Lars A. Ueland ; 

 Secretary of State, Gilbert P. Slette; Auditor, 

 Arthur 'W. Porter; Treasurer. Knud J. Nom- 

 land; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 



