2 BULLETIN 757, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Xo apparent difference in yields is seen between spring plowing 
and fall plowing, but fall plowing has an advantage in giving a 
better distribution of labor and making it possible to sow grain 
earlier in the spring. 
" Stubbling-in " is almost invariably unprofitable. This practice 
of sowing grain without plowing, after merely disking the land, 
tends to lower yields and to encourage the spread of weeds and other 
pests. 
About 6.4 hours of man labor and 1*9.4 hours of horse labor (aver- 
age for all records) are required per acre in the production of wheat. 
Oats, barley, and flax require a little more work per acre than wheat. 
Different parts of the State show wide variation in this regard. 
The cost of thrashing from the stack is slightly greater than the 
cost of thrashing from the shock, but thrashing from the stack has 
advantages in labor distribution and the saving of grain. 
The cost of maintaining work stock was $145 per head in 1917, as 
compared with an average of $105 for the five years 1911-1916. The 
difference is attributable to the great advance in the price of feed. 
The first cost of farm machinery used on Xorth Dakota farms. was 
40 per cent higher in 1917 than the average for the five years 1911- 
1916. 
Seed wheat cost $2.28 in 1917, as compared with an average of $1.23 
for the preceding five years. 
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOP3IENT OF THE STATE. 
The first agricultural enterprise to receive attention in Xorth 
Dakota was the production of stock on large ranches. The location 
of the headquarters of the various holdings was determined largely 
by the availability of water for the cattle. As the tide of settlement 
moved westward and as the availability of underground water be- 
came known, the ranges were encroached upon by homesteaders who 
took up claims in units of 160 acres. A very large part of the ranges 
was Government land to which the ranchers could not secure title, but 
they nevertheless made use of the land for grazing purposes. (Fig. 
1.) The ranchers, who had preceded the homesteaders, resented the 
presence of the farmers, because they encroached upon the ranges, 
and many attempts were made to force the withdrawal of the so- 
called "nesters." (Fig. 2.) However, the desire for ownership of 
the land was so strong that practically all Government land suitable 
for farming purposes has now been occupied by farmers, as distin- 
Note. — The data in this bulletin were secured in cooperation with the North Dakota 
Agricultural College, Special acknowledgment is due Mr, W. E. Palmer for furnishing 
photographs, 
