1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
73 
Farm, consisting of several thousand acres, which 
cost the owner not long ago 85 cents per acre, 
is now offered for sale at $25 per acre. We found 
Morehead, Fargo, Jamestown, and other points 
along the road, particularly in the Red River Val¬ 
ley, alive with land buyers, land speculators, and 
land explorers. Fargo presented all the bustle and 
A WESTERN IOWA MINIATURE LAKE. 
activity of a city, and the growth and development 
of the surrounding country since we visited it three 
years ago, is truly wonderful. / 
St. Paul and Manitoba R’y Lands. 
The network of railway lines, known as the St. 
Paul and Manitoba, and extending from St. Paul 
northerly to the frontier line, and westward to 
various points in Minnesota and Dakota, comprises 
over 1,200 miles of road, which run both through 
and parallel with the Red River Valley, and embrace 
some of the finest wheat growing regions of Min¬ 
nesota. The original amount of the Land Grant 
to the St. Paul and Pacific R. R., of which the St. 
Paul and Manitoba is the successor, was 3,577,400 
acres. Up to this time, 1,463,400 acres have been 
sold, of which amount 141,965 acres were disposed 
of from Jan. 1881 to Jan. 1882. The prices of the 
remaining 2,114,000 acres range between $5 and $8 
per acre. .'It is generally sold on seven years’ time, 
in annual payments'with seven per cent interest; a 
west into Dakota. It is computed that this area of 
country is capable of producing, at a low average, 
20 bushels of wheat to the acre, or a total of 440,- 
000,000 a year. This is 40,000,000 more than the 
estimated entire wheat crop of the United States 
for 1881. Of these 22 million acres of wheat-pro¬ 
ducing land about one million acres were under 
cultivation last year. The soil is dark, varies in 
depth from eighteen inches to 21 feet, upon a deep 
subsoil of clay, and is said to possess ‘‘the most 
valuable ingredients known to chemistry for the 
perfection of vegetation.” “It retains,” says a 
writer upon the subject, “ such a degree of chilli¬ 
ness that the eggs of insects deposited in it do not 
incubate, which accounts for the immunity this 
section has enjoyed from grasshoppers and other 
insects.” 
It is computed that the wheat yield in the Red 
River region last year amounted to about 12,000,000 
bushels. The lands of the St. Paul and Manitoba 
road He on the east side of the Red River. Mr. 
James B. Powers, the Land Commissioner, whose 
headquarters arc at St. Paul, will furnish informa¬ 
tion regarding character and cost of lands in various 
counties. In reply to our question, as to where he 
would advise settlers to locate, he answered, 
“wherever vacant lands can be found on the 
lines of the road.” 
Some of the places are growing with great rapid¬ 
ity, notably Crookston, which flourishing village, 
when we visited it three years ago, numbered four 
houses. It now appears to be the center of what 
promises to become one of the richest of agricul¬ 
tural regions. Mr. Charles Hallock, whose name 
is familiar to the public as the former editor of 
“Forestand Stream,” and of the “Sportsman’s 
Gazetteer,” has established a village on the rail¬ 
road north of Crookston, not far from the Canadian 
boundary. It is named after himself, and the many 
friends, in both hemispheres, of the genial writer 
will be pleased to learn that it gives promise of 
attracting many settlers. On the preceding page is a 
view of the prairie home of a settler near Hallock, in 
Kittson Co. The owner, John Oleson, came hither 
from Iowa, in 1879, and took a homestead and tree 
claim of 320 acres, finely located, with 30 acres of 
timber. He had but very little money at first, but 
like most Swedes has been very industrious and 
frugal. Now, in less than four years’ time he has 
a home and farm valued at $3,000. We might cite 
winters here are long and cold, as in the Northern 
Pacific country. Here as elsewhere through the 
vast West they should make themselves familiar 
with all the conditions favorable and unfavorable 
before permanently locating. 
Union Pacific Railroad Lands. 
The Laud Grant to the Union Pacific Railroad 
Company consists of the alternate sections, or 
square miles contained in a belt 1,032 by 40 miles, 
extending through Central Nebraska, Northern 
Colorado, Southern Wyoming, and Northern Utah. 
The aggregate is a little short of 12,000,000 acres, 
distributed as follows: 
j\.C1*68 yl CT6S. 
In Nebraska.5,000,000 I In Utah.1,400,000 
In Wyoming.4,500,000 | In Colorado. 600,000 
These may be divided into agricultural, grazing, 
and mineral and waste lands. The agricultural 
lauds, in Eastern Nebraska and in Utah, comprise 
about one-third of the Grant. The sales thus 
far have been restricted to the agricultural lands. 
The total amount sold is 2,225,400 acres ; proceeds, 
$9,958,800. The average price per acre is a trifle 
less than $5. The sales during 1881 amounted to 
about 100,000 acres, for about $500,000. There 
still remain unsold in Nebraska about as follows :— 
22,000 acres at an average price-.$10.00 
130,000 acres at an average price. 6.00 
190,000 acres at an average price. 4.00 
300,000 acres at an average price. 3.00 
1,000,000 acres at from $1.25 to. 2.50 
The land is sold on long credit or for cash in full; 
in the latter case a discount of 10 per cent is made 
from the appraisal. In time sales, one-tenth of the 
purchase money is required down. The remainder 
is divided into nine equal annual instalments, with 
interest on deferred payments at 6 per cent. 
The most attractive locations for new settlers at 
the present time are found in Colfax, Platte, Mer¬ 
rick, Buffalo, and Dawson Counties, taken in the 
order in which they are named. These counties 
are diversified with hill and dale, valley and up¬ 
land. The surface is generally smooth and cov¬ 
ered with an abundant growth of excellent grasses. 
The soil is deep, free from stone and gravel, and 
easy of tillage. Water is pure and abundant. 
Many of the streams offer excellent water privi¬ 
leges, some of which are already utilized. The 
market facilites are first-class. Colfax and Platte 
Counties particularly, are already well settled and 
THE UTAH HOT SPRINGS, NEAR OGDEN. A KIOWA, COLORADO, SHEEP RANCH. 
rebate of $3 is allowed by the company for break¬ 
ing and cropping the land. The sales last year 
were made to large numbers of settlers, the average 
being 160 acres to each. The gross earnings of the 
road for the ten months ending October 31st, were 
$3,842,167, against $2,561,916 for the corresponding 
period in 1880. There are 125 elevators along the 
various lines of the road, with a combined capacity 
of 6,500,000 bushels, thus affording ample storage 
for grain. The region of country drained by the 
Red River and its tributaries, and which it is claim¬ 
ed is peculiarly adapted to wheat raising, is about 
220 miles long, and 156 miles wide, comprising in 
round numbers some 22,000,000 acres. It extends 
about an equal distance east into Minnesota and 
several other poor men who have aone equally as 
well. Then going to Kennedy, in the same county 
(Kittson), we find in H. W. Donaldson, a represen¬ 
tative of the large and wealthy land owners, who 
come to the wheat regions of Minnesota supplied 
with ample funds to carry on farm operations on a 
large scale. He is managing a farm of 12,500 acres 
belonging to himself, and an absent partner, Dennis 
Ryan. He writes that his gross receipts from the 
mixed products of 1,000 acres last year will amount 
to $25,000, of which $10,000 will be clear of all 
expenses. 
While this portion of the United States appears 
to be so well adapted to profitable wheat raising, 
those seeking new homes must not forget that the 
improved, and have the aspect of farming com¬ 
munities in the older States. Comfortable dwell¬ 
ings and substantial barns and outbuildings have 
taken the places of the rude habitations of the early 
settlers. Roads are laid out and kept in repair, 
and the streams bridged ; school-houses, churches, 
mills, and other appliances of civilization are found 
at convenient distances. The various productions 
of the Eastern and Middle States are grown here 
with success. Wheat and corn are the leading 
staples. Hay, broom-corn, flax, and sorghum arc 
specially profitable, seldom failing in large returns, 
Owing to the backwardness of the spring during 
the past season, wheat was not an average crop in 
yield, but the quality was excellent, and the money 
