594 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



thirty miles in width and to the depth of two to five feet. 

 The flood lies upon the land from two to four weeks, when 

 it subsides, and the farmers begin immediately to plough 

 and sow their seed, claiming that the overflow, like that of 

 the Nile, makes the land more fruitful. 



The summer in North Dakota is but little over four 

 months, but very hot ; the winter, eight months, with ))liz- 

 zards, heavy falls of snow and extremely cold, with the 

 thermometer far below zero. The soil, however, is rich 

 prairie, and raises the best flouring wheat in the world, the 

 average yield being twelve bushels to the acre. 



We left Fargo at 7 o'clock Saturday morning, and pro- 

 ceeded north, parallel with the Red River, some eighty miles 

 to Grand Forks, a town of 6,000 inhabitants, and a prettier 

 place than Fargo. 



Here the delegates were shown marked attention, and were 

 driven about town at the expense of its citizens. The pub- 

 lic buildings, court house, school-houses, hotel, railway sta- 

 tion and private residences exhibited' taste and thrift. 



From Grand Forks our way turned sharply to the west, 

 to Larimore, a town named for the first settler, who owns a 

 farm of 12,000 acres. Mr. Larimore was desirous of having 

 the excursionists visit his farm, then in the midst of wheat 

 harvesting ; but other arrangements had been made, and the 

 distance to be covered by the train in the home stretch to 

 St. Paul, 350 miles, would not permit. 



Larimore has a fine railway station, hotel, school buildings 

 and residences which would honor many a town two hun- 

 dred years its senior in age. 



From Larimore the route was due south down the Red 

 River valley some 50 miles west of our route north, but 

 parallel with it. It was through the richest wheat lands of 

 that fertile valley, golden with ripening grain, which the 

 farmers were busy harvesting. On either side, as far as the 

 eye could take in, there was one vast expanse of wheat, with 

 reapers and threshers at work all along the route. 



At Maj^ville, some 50 miles west of Fargo, the train 

 halted for the excursionists to take dinner, which had been 

 prepared by the ladies of that town at half a dollar a head, 

 the proceeds to be devoted to the establishment of a hospital 

 in that town. 



