SOIL SURVEY OF ANOKA COUNTY, MINN. 9 



Normal monthly, seasonal, and annual temperature and precipitation at 

 Minneapolis, Hennepin County — Continued. 



AGRICULTURE. 



The first settlers in tliis county found much of tlie upland fairly 

 well timbered, with oak as the dominant growth. There was some 

 merchantable pine in the north-central part of the county, and much 

 of the peat land supported a large growth of tamarack, the remainder 

 being largely open marsh. A narrow strip of upland bordering the 

 Mississippi River was open prairie, the last coinciding in a general 

 way with the distribution of the Merrimac loamy sand. The first 

 white settlers are said to have come into the county as early as 1844. 

 By 1860 several farms were established, small grains, corn, and 

 potatoes being produced in conjunction with the raising of live 

 stock. The early settlers cut most of the merchantable pine for lum- 

 ber and the red oak and tamarack for railway crossties and cord- 

 wood. There is still considerable forest growth in the county, but 

 this is in the form of farm woodlots rather than a source of mer- 

 chantable forest products. 



Corn and potatoes apparently were jfirst grown in 1848. In 1859 

 the products of the county included 34,734 bushels of potatoes, 40,411 

 bushels of corn, 8,762 bushels of wheat, 9,917 bushels of oats, and 315 

 bushels of rye. The Colorado potato beetle made its appearance in 

 1866, and by 1869 the production of potatoes had been reduced to 

 less than one-half that of 1859. The production of wheat had 

 trebled during this decade, and all other crops had increased in acre- 

 age and production. By 1879 the use of paris green to control the 

 potato bug had become common, and potatoes have since remained 



46658°— 18 2 



