NOV. 2S 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Louis River. Inquiry elicited the fac s that 
the minimum flow of water is about 2,500 
cubic feet per secoqd, the falls extending for 
a distance of 4’? miles, with a fall of 400 feet, 
rendering a power obtainable of 113,000 
horses. Within the limit of the town site 
(about a mile) the fall is HO feet, giving 
about 17,000 available hoise power, or nearly 
twice that of Low r ell, Mass. We may in a 
future letter give a detailed review of this 
power. The river for many miles above and 
the general business of this pretty city is ex¬ 
cellent. There are several handsome business 
blocks and a general spirit of activity, enter¬ 
prise and desire for improvement and pro¬ 
gression. Along Ur* line we made brief stops at 
Rush ('ity and Pine City, both thriving towns, 
and White Bear Luke, Taylor’s Falls and Cen¬ 
ter City having acquired much favor as re¬ 
sorts, especially the former, situated, as it is, 
within 12 miles of St, Paul, replete with good 
hotels, sail and row boats, a steamer or two, 
by 12 exhibitors; 15 Herefords by four 
exhibitors, and 15 Hereford grades by thrpe 
exhibitors; 8 Devons by one exhibitor, and 
two Devon grades and a single Ayrshire steer 
named Jack, from the Illinois Industrial Uni¬ 
versity. Jack was I,(KM days old and weighed 
l.SUo pounds. averaging a gain of 1.2ft pound 
a day since birth, and the Devon grades were 
, days old, and gained respectively 
a “ fl 1 22 pounds per day since birth, 
n hile the entries greatly outnumbered tboaeof 
last year, there was also a marked improve¬ 
ment iu the quality as shown by •* handling '’ 
and general appearance. 'I he excellent char- 
uct6i of t,h<? Hcrofofds iind tin* cyniparfltivolv 
large number on exhibition as oompared with 
former years, attracted a groat deal of favoi - 
able comment Upon the skill and enterprise of 
those pushing this line breed; while the very 
large number or excellent Short-horns en¬ 
gaged general admiration. The umin interest 
in the cattle depart meat of the exhibition lav 
in the rivalry betwoau two breads and 
between the Short-horn and Hereford grades 
even more than between the pure-bred*. 'The 
reason for this is readily under-stood when 
we consider that the chief use of both these 
pure breeds in the West is to grade up the 
common native stock, and, of course, the ad¬ 
herents of each are especially anxious to 
show that their favorites are pre-eminent, for 
*bis object,. In view of the fact that the 
bhort-horu grades were upwards of five times 
A NEW DEPARTURE. 
Sketch of the Scenery, Products, Towns, 
etc., Along the Line of the St. Paul 
and Duluth Railroad. 
MESSRS. HOLMES AND SWEETLAND. 
[Special Correspondents or the Rurai, New-Yorker.] 
1 he pencil of the traveling correspondent 
must, perforce, be even more versatile than 
the brush of the artist, describing, as it does, 
successively the plain, prairie, timbered 
region and craggy dill's, the culture of corn, 
of flax, then, per chance, comes a chapter on 
wheat, followed by others on stock raising 
and kindred interests. 
Those who know casually of the country 
traversed by the St. Paul and Duluth Rail- 
'jr If ~ 
nor tide will ever wear nway. All around 
these lakes ami rivers is a “sportsman’s para- 
dise,’ there being, in season, abundance of 
geese, ducks and chickens with sometimes 
deer and bear. In regard to markets for 
grain and stock, farmers have a double ad¬ 
vantage with Duluth (via the Great Lakes to 
C hicago and New York) on one side and St. 
Paul and Minneapolis on the other. Success¬ 
ful ex]>eriments have been made in growing 
apples, pears, plums and small fruits, and 
there is no question that for one who under¬ 
stands it, it would prove in this section a 
profitable pursuit. 
Thu great interest of the entire region now, 
and for some years to Pome, is lumber. We 
did not see a town without a saw-mill and 
learned of many of notable importance a 
short distance off tin* lino of road. At Knife 
Full (here is a superior water power and two 
of the largest saw-mills in the States. It is 
estimated that the pine timber on the river 
St. Louis and its tributaries exceeds 2, (MX), 000,- 
000 feet, There are 70,000,000 feet of lumber 
tributary to Barnuni, and the immense 
amount of pine lumber transported by the St. 
Paul and Duluth R. R. testifies that the de¬ 
mand is still greater than the supply. After 
reaching the St. Louis, crossing its bubbling, 
boiling tide, hugging the hills and blulfs, the 
train speeds through “ the Dalles,” unfolding 
ill its rapid flight down a grade of tfOO feet in 
ten miles a panoramic scene of beauty, es¬ 
pecially gorgeous when viewed resplendent in 
the rays of the rising or setting sun. 
i he waters of the swiftly-running stream, 
rock-encompassed, and thus compelled to 
leap in sportive glee from crag to crag, foam¬ 
ing and boiling in rued rivalry, with each 
and every wavelet crested with the purest 
umber, form au unusually beautiful sight. 
Yesl owing to the abundance of red clay, 
which is stifT and marly,, intermixed with 
sand, the waters are positively red, the pecu¬ 
liarity extending far into the lake which re¬ 
ceives the stream a few miles further down. 
Duluth is the northern terminus of the road. 
It is known as the "Zenith City,” and is the 
head of navigation for Lake Superior. Con¬ 
sequent upon this fact the gruiu receipts are 
enormous Elevator A, capacity 560,000 
bushels, shipped last year over 2,000,000 
bushels of wheat. Elevator B, capacity 
1,000,000 bushels, {hipped in the year ending 
October 1st, 1,025,28ft bushels. 
u ue mat it, doe* exist, even here, as those who 
have cleared and cultivated farms can attest. 
Greater labor and more time are, of course, 
required to grub, clear, break and reduce to 
use timbered lands than to break prairie lands; 
but in selling these lands the owners (the 
Railroad Land Company) agree to purchase 
all the ties, piles, cord wood, etc., that may 
be cut from lands which may be cleared and 
cultivated; il one-fourth to one-half of the 
purchase is so cleared within four years they 
will also allow a rebate which will reduce the 
price to S| per acre for the entire tract. 
The farms in this region, although perhaps 
nearly as numerous as in the northwestern por¬ 
tion of the ,State, are none of them as large 
owing iu a great extent to tile labor and time 
required to place the land in condition to 
yield its first crop. However, from those who 
raised crops we learned that wheat did re¬ 
markably well thi' year, most of it ranging 
"No. 1 Hard "and with full heads, a good 
stand, and abundant yield. Oats, barley and 
rye did well, and iu root crops, and especially 
potatoes, there has been a large yield of a 
very superior quality. Many of the farmers 
have wisely added to their other interests a 
little stock which, from the excellent grazing 
in Summer and ample protection in Winter, 
seem to do surprisingly well. 
The Railroad Company have had for two 
years an experimental stock farm at Alah- 
towa, jlj miles from Duluth, The clearing is 
about 800 acres, with good fences, barns, 
dwellings, etc. They have about 100 Short¬ 
horns and grades, also herds of Berkshire, 
Tohuid-China and Chester White hogs and a 
flock of Lincoln sheep. As L. M. Ford, Esq,, 
the former agricultural editor of the Pioiieer- 
Pivss, is good authority, allow us one quota¬ 
tion from his able pen: "This same region 
will become celebrated someday for stock and 
dairy business. This opinion is based upon, 
the fact that, in spite of the luree innnimt 
in color, so large or “double” as those known 
as hybrid perpetuals ; neither will they en¬ 
dure so much cold. But in frnganee and 
beauty of buds they are surpassed by none. 
They bloom profusely during the entire sea¬ 
son until frost. Bon Bilcne, the subject of 
the accompanying sketch, is of a deep rose 
color, varying sometimes to a rosy crimson or 
to paler shades. It is justly esteemed for the 
great size and beauty of its buds which ren¬ 
der them especially valuable for bouquets or 
personal ornament. The American Banner 
Rose is, we believe, a sport of Bon Silene the 
buds of which, though small, are striped with 
red upon a white ground. 
[Ri-ral Special Report.] 
The Chicago Fat Stock Show, which opened 
here on January 7 and closed on January 14 
lads fair soon to eclipse its great English'pro- 
totyfie, the Smithfield Fat. Stock Show hold 
annually m London, a little before Christmas, 
tins Western exhibition was inaugurated only 
four years ago, and already it bus attained 
vast proportions and become an important 
nv event to stock owners not in 
Illinois alone, but throughout, the whole 
\\ eat, and. Indeed, throughout! the whole 
Union. There is no doubt that the keen com¬ 
petition between the adherents of the various 
creeds of stock and the lessons annually taught 
b . the results of the show have had a great 
influence in stimulating improvement in all 
classes of domestic animals exhibited arid in 
titling them for human food in the most ex¬ 
peditious and economical manner. To this 
show dm most skillful and successful stock 
breeders and owners within a radius of a 
thousand miles bring their choicest animals 
tor exhibition. Here people have a yearly 
opportunity of judging for themselves‘which 
doss of stock nays beat as meat animals, for 
the primary object ot a fat stock show is to 
d •termme this ijue-d.ion. Exhibitions of breed¬ 
ing stock and o( cows for dairy purposes, are 
excellent in thom^elv©**, hut th*\so bave no 
place in a fut stock show, for to fatten breed¬ 
ing animals or dairy cows is to greatly lessen 
then - value for the special purposes for which 
they arc intended. It is the "meat” breed* 
therefore, that make up the vast bulk of the 
exhibits hern and it is the rivalry between 
these in ivirlv maturity and rapid tvs well as 
economical fattening that excites most in¬ 
terest. 
In the cattle department there were 14S en¬ 
tries—considerably more than in anv previous 
year. Of these there were 10 short-horn* 
uliv ucat iifi in Til i iiiiviuows ever seen in any 
country. * * * The amount of pasturage 
is enormous, while every one has conceded 
that as for pure water for stock, no part of the 
world could be more favorably situated. * 
* * There is another advantage that Prof. 
Riley, of the National Entomological Com¬ 
mission claims for this part of the North¬ 
west; viz., that the omnivorous Caloptonus 
sprotus (the Rocky Mountain Grasshopper) will 
never extend his ravages more than ten miles 
east of .St. Paul,” 
'The prices of lands in this region var from 
$2.50 to 8(1.00 per acre, according to quality, 
location and character of the timber, and it is 
not now the labor of a life time to grub out 
the stumps of a forty-acre farm, as the im¬ 
provements made in stump pullers have sim¬ 
plified the work to a great extout. 
We were very much interested in noting 
the wonderful water power at the town of 
Thomson, where the railroad crosses the St 
Besides these 
elevators a new store-house of 1,100,000 bush¬ 
els’ capacity is being erected west of Elevator 
i tve steamboat lines are running in these 
waters, probably 60 boats, passenger and 
freight, which curry to Eastern markets 
gram, hides, furs, etc. (the latter from the 
\ ollowstone country), and bring in coal, iron 
mid merchandise. The Duluth Iron Co. lias a 
blast furnace manufacturing pig iron only, 
bringing ore from Marquette and L'Ausej 
shipping to eastern and southern markets! 
Nothing but charcoal is used for fuel, turning 
out over 80 tons per day. There is an ore 
deposit about 80 miles north of Duluth, to 
which we learu a railway will lie built next 
year. Besides the interests mentioned there 
are extensive lumber mills and trade, while 
