sweep of the blizzard; neither are they subject to the 

 withering hot winds from the plains. They are the 

 protected lands of the wooded region clear north to 

 the Rainy River. The settler in this kind of country, 

 while he may have some initial expense in clearing 

 land, has many advantages over the man who builds 

 his shack on the wind swept prairie. He has com- 

 fort and shelter from the start ; he has firewood and 

 fencing material at hand; he is practically assured 

 of good crops on the land which he gets under culti- 

 vation; he has his large woodlot, if it has not been 

 rendered valueless by forest fires, from which during 

 the winter he can cut and sell various kinds of forest 

 products to help along, and he can also obtain from 

 the woods and lakes game and fish. 



Here are certain lands which, because they are 

 unsuitable for farming, should always be producing 

 crops of timber. We need not only the timber itself, 

 but the markets which the camps and mills afford. 

 The good soil should not remain idle, especially when 

 by devoting it to forestry it can be made almost as 

 productive in actual values to the state and the sur- 

 rounding farm communities as if it were being farmed. 



At the time of the settlement of the prairie por- 

 tions of Minnesota great herds of elk were common 

 sights. Everywhere there was a migration of the 

 animals from the scattered groves and prairie region 

 eastward and northeastward into the more heavily 

 timbered districts. The herds w r ere driven farther 

 and farther north until very recently in the wilder 

 portions and the neighboring districts off Northwestern 

 Minnesota, people raised a sum of five thousand dol- 



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