col MINNESOTA. STATE BOATED OF IMMIGRATION. MINNESOTA rL MINNESOTA, HER AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES, Commercial Advantages, AND MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIES. BEING A CONCISE 'description OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, AND THE INDUCE- MENTS SHE OFFERS TO THOSE SEEKING HOMES IN A NEW COUNTRY PDBLISHEI) BY THE STATE BOARD OF IMMIBRATION. COPIES SENT FREE A^D POST-PAID ON APPLICATION TO H. H. YOUNG, SECIiETAKY, ST. PAUL, MINN ST. PAUL, MINN. U. M. SMTTH & CO., PRIJfTEItS, lb79. TABLE OF CONTENTS. SUBJECT. rAOB. INTRODUCTION 3 Location and Area 4 GENERAL FEATURES 5 The Soil — Climate and Temperature — Length of Seasons — Waters, Supply and Quality — Esthetic Features — Character of the People 6—8 COMMERCIAL FACILITIES 9 A Commercial Thoroughfare — Railroads in the State 11 MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIES 12 Minnesota Flour — Manufactures of Wood — Sugar Making and Refining — Clays, Sand, Lime, Stone, &c. — Newspapers and Printing — Other Manufactures 13—16 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES 17 Wheat, its Yield and Grade— The Corn Crop — The Oat Crop- Rye, Barley and Buckwheat — Timothy, Clover, Flax and Hemp — Wild Grasses — Fruits and Berries — Bees and Honey — Garden Vegetables and Melons — Maple Syrup and Sugar — Tobacco — Amber Cane — Forest Tree Culture, Fuel — Stock Raising — Dairy Farming — Sheep and Wool — Hogs — Horses —Beef, Mutton and Pork— Fencing 17—25 EDUCATIONAL 25 MISCELLANEOUS 27 Healthfulness— What will a Home Cost— Titles to Lands — Mechanics and Laborers — Fish Culture — Improved Lands — Catholic Immigration — Postal Facilities — Homestead Ex- emption 27 — 3u UNOCCUPIED LANDS 31 Government Lands — How to obtain them — State Lands 31 — 32 RAILROAD LANDS. 33 St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad — Southern Minnesota Railroad — Jesup, James and Roosevelt Lands — St. Paul & Pacific Rail- road — Other Railroad Lands 33 — 39 CONCLUDING REMARKS 39 ■v-# A li '■ .. / •' / >■ /^ /v. A -\! •^' / O A ^^^ :...->■ ^^^^S^ 'o li'' ^' y - ■ ' cum Kl o\0U rf*^-7^?l- ^ li v4._:te^=S51»a:^' „ ft rv \v V .i^-.j? i . mt ,. .1 . . . -v. /•^£ « I - '--.j^'''-'' '=*'''™^^*'''^" *'»*;S"1;''^ ' ■' \'^-a"V S-SiSS r irOWNSHip .\Nl»iK'.\II.K().\l) MAP +i*xri-*M»AKn:>iMMi(.K' vnoN . <^ - MINNE50TA5 CONTINENTAL POSITION Svy*;;^^?^^ ^^-^ \" \ MINNESOTA, HER AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES, Commercial Advantages, AND MANUFACTURING CAPABIilTIES. BEING A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE STATF OF MINNESOTA, AND THE INDUCE- MENTS SHE OFFERS TO THOSE SEEKING HOMES IN A NEW COUNTRY. FUBLISHED BY THE STATE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION : Governor John S. Pillsbuky, President, ... St. JPAiTii. (Secretary of State J. S. Irgexs, ... St. Paut>. State Treasurer, Wsi. Pf^kdeh, - - - - St. Patjl. Clerk of Supreme Court, Samuel, H. Nichols, - St. Paul. Dillon O'Ukien, Esq., . . . . . gx. Paul. « Address H. H. YOUNG, Sea-etary of Board. • ST. FAUL, ]\IINN. H. M. SMYTH & CO., PIUN'hsRa, IbTS). DEDICATION. 'O those desiring to possess homes of their own in a beautiful, healthy and prosperous country, to business men contem- plating changes of location, and to all who wish to earn a comforta- ble maintenance for tliemselves and families, this pamphlet is respectfully dedicated. Its purpose is to couve}^ a knowledge of the advantages which the State of Minnesota possesses, and invite all who would escape the exhausting competition and hopeless drudgery of the over- crowded countries of Europe and the eastern portions of our own continent, or the debilitating humid southern atmospheres, to cast their lots with us in this extensive and fertile region, and, aiding in its development, share the rewards it yields so abundantly to intelligent industry. It is hoped that the following pages will be attentively perus-.-d, and the invitation which is here given accepted by many of those who are looking to the West for prospective homes. !3 h^a.S^ 5 ^^ -^ ^^ citO^'^' 01 fie^^' " MINNESOTA IN 1879. INTRODUCTIOK The State of Minnesota offers inducements to immigrants which camiot be surpassed ind are rarely equalled by any other country on the globe. These comprise excellence of climate, soil and water ; agriculturai, manu- facturing and commercial advantages, and educational facilities < and, ta addition to all these, cheap lands ! The settler who comes into this State now has not to undergo privations and hardships attendant upon pioneer- ing, nor is he under the necessity of submitting to the inconveniences of frontier life,, for there is practically no such thing as frontier in the State, except in the pineries of the extreme north. A glance at the accompany- ing map will show that it is difficult to locate anywhere (below the line of the Northern Pacific Railway) at the distance of a short ciay's journey from a ratlroad, and as these are being annually extended and augmented in numbers, the intervening spaces are continually narrowing, or being afforded facilities by means of branches extending laterally from the main lines. Mills, stores, schools, churches, etc., are met with aknost every- wliere, and opportunities for social intercourse are at the command of even those in the 'most sparsely settled neighborhoods. Notwithstanding this, however, there is slill a large proportion of unoccu- pied land in all parts of the State, except in the older counties near the Mississippi, St. Croix and Minnesota rivers. These water-courses were originally the only channels of communication between Minnesota and tlie older States, and the early settlements were formed along their banks. Since 1862, however, the building of rair\va}'s has been prosecuted with mar- velous rapidity, and those who have since immigrated hither have located along their lines or proposed routes, thus leaving the intermediate spaces unsettled, although the lands are equally good and often more desirable for agricultural purposes. As the roads were extended, the same course waa pursued by the newer arrivals— the government lands wi-thin the limits oi railroad grants being usually preferred ; until to-day the State is belted with settlements, extending from east to west, and one line reaches to its extreme north-west corner. These lines of oecupation become narrower and less dense as tlwy recede from the east, but are, for the most part, sufficient for the establishment of schools and societies ; and stores, where goods are sold at no greater advance of prices than the cost of additional p 48903 4 MINNESOTA IN 1879. freight, are found at all the raihva}' stations. Here, also, the farmer finds a, ready market for his grain. The small squares on the accompanying map represent townships. The lines are uniformly six miles apart, and it is very nearly eight and a half miles diagonally across the townships. Guided by them, it is easy for the reader to calculate the proximity of the railways to any locality ^jet ween theit lines. This season the several extensions indicated by dotted lines on the map will be finished, and probably a branoli line built from the Wi- nona and St. Peter road at Tracy to Sioux Falls. These additions will leave Tery few places in the State destitute of all the railroad facilities they re- quire at present. The design of this chapter, however, is merely to introduce the subject, leaving the several atti-actions of the State to be especially treated und6r appropriate headings, but it is not out of place to add here that the utmost care has been observed throughout, in the preparation of these pages, to avoid exaggeration. It must bo borne in mind that this pamphlet is not the production of an individual or company interested in the sale of laiids, but a publication issued b}' authority of the State, after careful revision by its highest oflacers. While its object is to set forth the inducements which Minnesota offers to immigrants and invite the latter to settle within her borders, those having charge of its publication fully appreciate that, if mutual benefits are to flow from immigration, new settlers must not be attracted by pepresentatiens which their future experience will not verify. Should they be deceived they may become dissatisfied, and results may fol- low alike injurious to both themselves and the State. For this rea&on it has been deemed of utmost moment that no assertion shall find a place in these pages unless it is entirely true. LOCA.TION AND AEEA. The State of Minnesota lies between forty-three and a half and forty- nine degrees north latitude, and extends nearly from the ninetieth to the ninety-seventh meridian of longitude west of Washington. Its length north and south is about three hundred and seventy-five miles, and its mean breadth some two hundred and fifty miles. The^ map which is at- tached shows its form. Its boundaries enclose an area of 83,530 square miles, or 53,459,840 acres. Of this expanse 50,759,840 acres are land and, (without including that pirt of Like Superior which lies within its limits,) 2,7tXi,009 acres are water surface. An idea of i^s extent may best tee formed, perhaps, by comparing it with other countries; for instance, it is greater than the united areas of all the New England States and Mary- land; nearly as large as Ohio and Pennsylvania taken together, or as both North and South Carolina, or Tennessee and Mississippi combined. The acreage of arable land already surveyed in this State, (exclusive of the pine and mineral regions,) is as great as the entire area of Illinois. Compared with European countries, it is larger than the entire island of Great Britain, and has more than two and a half times the area of Ireland. It contains about two-thirds as many square miles as Prussia, and con- siderably more than the entire German Empire outside of that kingdom. It GENERAL FEATURES. 5 iS about half the size of Sweden, nnl two-thirds as extensive as Norway. The idea of its extent may, perhaps, be better conveyed to some minds by remarliing that there are seventy-six counties in the State now, and that one of these, St. Louis, has an area of more than 4',000,000 acres, three others exceed 3,000,'000 acres, and four others contain more than 1,000,000. A number of others have over 500,000, and very few less than 300,000 acres. Its territory is, in truth, of magniflceat extent, and the term "Empire State of the Northwest," sometimes usetl in reference to it, ia not inaptly applied. GENERAL FEATURES. Lying in a high northern latitude, at an elevation of from about one thousand to eighteen hundied feet above tide water, and too remote from the great oceans to be perceptibly affected by their influence, Minnesota may jlistly claim to possess most of the advantages enjoyed by other countries, while exempted frpm many of their unfirvorable peculiarities. Though by no means mountainous, she has many of the characteristics of such regions, and with myriads of lakes scattered over her territory, is almost free from swamps, and entirely clear of their usually attendant miasms. About one-third of her area is covered with timber, yet she deservedly ranks with the prairie States of the Union, and though far in- land vessels may load at her ports, on Lake Superior and the Mississippi, and convey her produce to^all parts of the world with only a single trans- fer of cargo. The mighty Mississippi, with its source in Iter extreme northern districts, while serving her with motive power for innumerable mills and factories, affords her meanwhile the full benefit of its entire navigable channel for purposes of trans.poftation. The Red River of the North connects her with the immense and fertile regions of Manitoba and the Asainiboine and Saskatchewan vtural clvannels of communication, her territory is inter- sected witli a magnificent network of railways, which are being rapidly increased and extended, affording to all parts of the State ample and con- stantly increasing facilities for transportation and constituting, by their exteriv.r connections, means of speedy communication with all other parts of the Union. Every portion of the State is richly endowed with water- power, and the soil in each locality repays abundantly the labors of tha agriculturist, except where It covers inexhaustible stores of mineral •wealth. 6 MINNESOTA IN 1 879. While there is but little flat land in the State, and none that cannot be readily drained, there is no hilly country other than the river bluffs and the mineral regions north of Lake Superior, the surface being everywhere undulating, both in woodlands and prairie. Indeed, ht seems hardly pos- sible that a region can be formed more entirely adapted to the uses and conveniences of civilized mankind. THE SOIL. Of a region of the extent of Minnesota, it is only possible to treat here of the several features ia a general manner, but fortunately there is a re- markable uniformity of soil throughout the Stat«, inasmuch as it is nearly all an alluvial deposit, varying in depth from one to five or more feet. The exceptional district is on the north shore of Lake Superior, where the land is broken and unfit for cultivation. Generally 'this deposit rests directly upon a stratum of clay, and everywhere the alluvion is mixed with sand in sufiicient quantities to hold warmth and render it friable and it abounds in organic matter. To the general reader it is far more import- ant to set forth the results of its cultivation than to instruct him as to the elements composing it, for though ke may be familiar with the properties and value of all its constituents, he understands tliat there are conditions of eombination'and external circumstances under the influence of which it must be placed in order to produce desirable results. He can only be assured that these exist by knowing what the soil has produced, and in- stead of consuming space in attempting further to describe its peculiari- ties, we refer him to the articles upon the several agricultural products of Minnesota, which appear in the pages that follow. CLIMATE AND TEMPERATURE. The climate of Minnesota is one of its chief glories, and experience only confirms whart has been from time to time hitherto spoken and writ- ten in its praise. It is true that the State lies in a high northern latitude, but not more so than Maine and Canada on this continent, and nearly all of Europe in the old world. Christiania, in the southern part of Norway, is in latitude sixty degrees north. Stockholm, Sweden, in fifty-nine, and all of Great Britain and Ireland north of fifty. The German Empire is all north of forty-six degrees. Were latitude alone the index to climate and temperature, Minnesota would compare well with the most favored regions of the earth, but other causes are known to have influence, and the isothermal or climatic zones of the earth are curved irregularly be- cause of peculiarities in the conformation of its surface. The isothermal zone in which Minnesota is embraced is the same as that of Ohio and Pennsylvania, an^ so far as temperature is concerned, the climates of these States are somewhat similar. But it ought only to be required to show that the cold here does not prevent the growth, full de- velopment, and profitable yielding of cultivated vegetation, and that it can be endured by men and domestic animals with n© greater inconve- nience or discomfort than it occaaioos, during the winter seasons, in most GENERAL FEATURES. 7 countries of the north temperate zone lying abeve thirty-eight degrees ol latitude on this continent, and forty-four in Europe. The magnificent crops of wheat, corn, oats, fruits, vegetables, etc., which are annually grown in this State, and their wide extended repntation for superior qual- ity, are surely sufficient to demonstrate beyond question that the temper- ature is not detrimental to agricultural success, and the united testimony of its nearly 800,000 inhabitants ought to prove that they experience no excessive discomfort because of the cold. If further evidence is required, the invalids who flock here annually from all parts of the United States may be referred to. These refugees from death by lingering diseases contracted in the humid climates of more southerly localities, find in the pure, dry atmosphere of jMinnesota a pan- acea for the ills they suffer; and, if the vitality of their systems is not too completely exhausted, they usually recover health upon a few years residence in this State. One who has had such experiences cares little whether the mercury mounts above or sinks below zero. Hfe knows that he can keep himself comfortable with the clothing he has been accus- tomed to wearing, and that he is free from that sense of numbness and shivering which often caused him so much suffering while in his former home; that the blood courses healthfully through his veins, diffusing warmth and life and filling him with buoyant energy to which he had long been a stranger. The air here is too attenuated to float the noxious gases so injurious to health, and being always in motion, is purified by constant circulation. Both mankind and animals are benefitted by living in it, and the lov annual mean temperature of the climate is due rather to its uniformly pool summer nights than to excessive degrees of cold in winter. And it is largely owing to the coolness of the nights during the warm term that it ii 80 beneficial to invalids, for they are thereby able to obtain refreshing deep, a blessing which is denied them in hot, suffocating southerly regions. No one need fear the cold of Minnesota who can endure that of Ohio and Pennsylvania, for the mercury sinks at times nearly as low there as it doe# here, while here the system is in a much better condition to endure the cold. LENGTH OF SEASONS. There is no appreciable difference between this country and the middle States of the Union generally in the length of the seasons. Spring com- mences about the close of March or early in April, and planting is done but little later than in Ohio. Harvest usually commences in July and is contin- ued into August. The early autumnal frosts make their appearance about the first of October, but it is fn this month that India^n summer begins, and it frequently lasts from four to six weeks. This is the most delightful of all seasons. The air is cool and balmy, and all nature wears a peculiar aspect of caVmriess arid rest, which is mr st d-lightful to the senses. The advent of wintry weather, until which time fall plowing may be con- tinued, takes place about tlie twentieth of November usually, and the farmer has ample time to prepare his ground for early seeding in the Bpring. After this the cold increases gnukiaUy iu severity uniil winter 8 MINNESOTA IN 1 879. jeally sets in about the middle of December. It is not the ci^e, either, that winter is constantly cold, for there are warm intervals throughout its continuance, noticeably so between the middle of January and the middle of February. WATERS— SUPPLY AND QUALITY. In the surveyed area of the State there are upwards of 5,000 kkes. Their average extent is about three hundred acres, but a number of them exceed 10,000 and two or three cover respectively about 100,000 acres. Many of them are very deep, and most are filled with fish. Ordinarily their shores are dry and firm down to the waters' edge, except at their out- lets, and the waters clear, cool and pure. The bottoms are commonly sandy or pebbly. The existence of these lakes is necessarily attended with that of a mul- titude of streams, varying in size from the tiny rivulet fed by a single spring to the majestic Mississippi. Besides this bountiful surface supply of one of mankind's prime necessities, good water is easily reached by digging, in every part of the State. Inasmuch as the reader has access to the map, and can form a tolerably correct idea of the size of the larger lakes and of the length of the streams by the aid of the township lines, it appears hardly worth while to delay here for the purpose of particularizing, but, as a further help, it may not be uninteresting to remark that Lake Minnetonka contains 16,000 acres; Lake Winnebagoshish, 56,000 acres; Leech Lake, 114,000 acres; and Mille Lacs, 130,000 acres. Red Lake, which is much larger than any other in the State, has not yet been surveyed. The Mississippi, Minnesota, St. Croix and Red Rivers are large navigable streams; and the St. Louis, Big Fork, Red Lake, Wild Rice, Buffalo, Pomme de Terre, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Rock, Yellow Medicine, Cottonwood, Des Moines, Blue Earth, Root, Zumbro, Cannon, Rum, Snake, Crow Wing, Crow, Kettle and sev- ei-al others, are streams of considerable size during even their low water periods; wliile a thousand, more or less, of others are of sufficient size to make them worthy of note in a less favored country. • ESTHETIC FEATURES. Minnesota affords unparalleled opportunities for building homes amid beautiful scenery, and such considerations are certainly worthy the atten- tion of the immigrant. They contribute largely to the gratification of himself and family, and greatly enhance the value of his farm if he should desire to sell it. It is far more difficult to find locations in the State, liowever, that are destitute of beautiful surroundings than it is to secure those which possess them in an uncommon degree. The undulating prairies, dotted with lakes and groves and traversed by murmuring streams; the park-like oak openings, with rolling surface and sunny sheets of water shining in the distance ; the woodlands and pineries, river bluSs, and even the rugged north shore of Lake Superior, all have their aesthetic attractions, the preference for which must depend upon the tastes of the beholder. Song birds of several varrieties are numerous, and, in the propei COMMERCIAL. 9 seasons, the air is filled with the melody of their matin and vesper warb- lings. The senses of sight, smell and hearing are constantly delighted, and the benign influence which these charms of nature exert is manifested in the sentiments and conduct of people dwelfing continually subject to their inspirations. From any given point, a ride of a few miles will con- vey an excursion, fishing or pic-nic party to a delightful lake, or grove, or stream, for these opportunities of enjoyment abound everywhere. But it is in winter that Minnesota ministers most graciously to the aesthetic inclinations of mankind. Nothing can be more enchantingly beautiful than many of her winter days. It is at this season of the year that her atmospheric phenomena affe most magnificent. No pen or pencil can portray the gfandeur of her sunrises, and the mind can only appreci- ate by observation the brilliancy of her auroras. It is at tliis season that her skies are bluest and gemmed at night with the brightest stars, and the pure bracing air fits one for the enjoyment of the beauty surrounding him. CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. The adult population is mostly made up of native-born citizens of other States, with a large per centage of immigrants from Germany, Sweden, Nbrway, Ireland, England, Scotland and Canada, and fewer numbers of Welsh, Poles, Bohemians, Russians and French. These readily afiiliate with each other on acquiring the English language, and prejudices of race and nationality are soon overcome by association. The tone of public sentiment is eminently moral, and a high average degree of intelligence prevails. The importance of educating the young is appreciated by all classes of citizens, and schools are well attended and sustained. All the Christian sects of religion are represented, and the clergy of the State are usually highly educated, liberal-minded and conscientious. Taken alto- gether, there is hardly a neighborhood in the State th-it does not afford agreeable social advantages, and strangers are welcomed with generous hospitality. COMMERCIAL. The railroads marked on the accompanying map show, better than lan- guage can tell, how near every neighborhood in the State is to these lines of transportation. South of the Northern P.ircific road there are now but four localities where the distance is more than twenty-five miles, and the extensions proposed to be constructed this season will leave but one. These improvements will, no doubt, continue to keep puce with the future development of the country. Nor are they confined to the interior of the State, but in all directions beyond its borders connect with lines lO MINNESOTA IN 1 879. crossing other States and Territories and constitute our local roads parts ol a great national system, thus giving the producers of Minnesota whatever benefits are to be derived from having ready access to competitive inter- mediate and terminal markets. First, our own Lake Superior port of Duluth is reached by the St. Paul and Duluth road, connecting at St. Paul and Minneapolis with lines tra- versing the entire southern and western portions of the State ; also from St. Paul and the central parts of the State by the branch line of the St. Paul and Pacific, which forms a junction, through the Minnesota West- ern, with the Northern Pacific at Brainerd in Crow Wing county ; and, again, from the western section of the State by the Northern Pacific road. Leading to Milwaukee and Chicago are the West Wisconsin, two lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and the Chicago and Northwestern ; the Southern Minnesota, likewise, has communication with those cities, and the Green Bay and Winona road affords a route to the third Lake Michigan port. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad, crossing all the intermediate east and west lines running through the country between Minneapolis and ^i. Paul and its southern terminus, brings these cities in close commercial relationship with that entire fertile region ; by the St. Paul and Sioux City and its connections with the Union Pa- cific we have a direct thoroughfare to the Pacific Coast ; and the St. Vin- cent Extension up the Red River is part of a continuous line to Winnipeg in Manitoba. In short, there are few places in the State from which a person cannot start by the most direct route to travel to any part of the "United States or Canada. Only a few years will probably elapse before the Northern Pacific Rail- road, which already affords us commercial intercourse with the mining districts of Montana, will be completed to the Pacific coast in Washing- ton territory ; and as the British American road progresses from Thunder bay on Lake Superior, by the way of Winnipeg and the SaskatchevAin val- ley, to British Columbia, it will no doubt be tapped by a line connecting it directly with Dulritli, to construct which a company is already formed, and the St. Vincent E'xtensbion of the St. Paul and Pacific branch line, together with the Winnipeg road already built, will connect it directly with St. Paul and Mnneapolis. The deepening of the rivers and straits between the great lakes, now only navigable for vessels drawing twelve feet, will soon be sufficient to render the ports of Minnesota on Lake Superior accessible to large sea- going vessels ; and the improvement of the channel of the Mississippi, in course of prosecution by the general government, will ere long make its navigation to St. Paul practicable for large class steamboats during the entire season. With all these advantages of external communication, and with her already immense interior facilities of transportation by land and water, Minnesota ought, and it would seem must, place herself in the first rank anom-st the commeicial Stales of the Union within a very few years. COMMERCIAL. II A COMMERCIAL THOROUGHFARE. The exterior transportation facilities described in the foregoing ariicl© ■will do more than afford outlets for the products of Minnesota. By their means, in conjunction with lines traversing other States, she will become a general thoroughfare of cemmerce and trarel. In winter, whatever transportation flows eastward from the western portions of Britsih Amer- ica, or by way of the Northern Pacilie Railroad, including through freight and travel from China and Japan, will be diverted from its direct course, in consequence of the suspension of lake navigation, and seek the con- tinuation oT its journey by railroad lines running from St. Paul eastward. And in summer seasons much of the travel eastward by the Union Pacific and its auxiliary lines, will bead northward through Minneosta to enjoy the hixury of water transportation from Duluth. All this passing freight and travel will augment the commercial importance of this State, and many of the thousands of tourists who annually pass over the great thor- oughfares of the country, attracted by the delightful climate, beautiful Bcenery and excellent opportunities for hunting and fishing, will stop here for recreation. Thus the peculiarities of the situation of the State will not only tend to add to her commerce, but indirectly contribute to enhance the prices of her products generally in her home markets and increase the value of her real estate. RAILROADS IN THE STATE. In describing the commercial facilities enough has been said to give an intelligent idea of the capacities for transportation which the present railroads of Minnesota afford, but it may n®t be amiss to speak briefly of their building and of the new roads and extensions already in contem- plation. The first road in the State was built in 1862. It was only ten miles long. A mere irntial step. From that time on the work ha's pro- gressed rapidlj', except during the four years of general business depres- sion from 1873 to 1876 inclusive. In short, nearly the entire railway system of the State, having a total length of 2,608 miles, is the work of twelve years, and the question suggests itself : with the increased oppor- tunities now afforded for transporting ties and rails, what time will be required to build the new roads already projected ? These are : exten- sions of the Southern Minnesota from Jackson to the State line in Lin- coln county, of the Hastings and Dakota from Montevideo to the head of Big Stone Lake, of the St. Vincent Extension of the Branch Line of the St. Paul and Pacific to connect at or near Barnesville with that part of the line already built from Breckenridge to St. Vincent. New roads are pro- posed as follows : from Fergus Falls iu Otter Tail county, to tap the Northern Pacific at Verndale, in Wa'lcna county ; from Anoka to Spencer Brook in Isanti county, to be continued ultimately to the line of the Northern Pacific ; from Red Wing in Goodhue county to Faribault ; from the line of the Winona and St. Peter at Tracj' to Sioux Falls, in Dakota ( a branch of the Sioux City road from Lake Crystal to Blue Earth City in Faribault county; and a branch of the St. Paul and Duluth from Whit« 12 MINNESOTA IN 1 879. Bear Lake to Taylor's Falls in Chisago county. All of these will probably be built this season, and there are, besides, a number of other roads pro- jected, the routes, etc., of which are less definitely determined upon. It is proper to add here tkat a number of these railroad companies still have considerable bodies of unoccupied lands to sell. The terms are ex- ceedingly liberal in every instance, and great credit is due the companies for the earnest efforts they are putting forth to attract immigration. They not only sell their lands on advantageous terms, but transport all those who go to view the lands and such as are immigrating to settle upon them at cheap rates of fare for themselves and of freight for the carrying of their effects. They, likewise, operate their roads, both in conveying supplies to and shipping produce from the remote counties, so as best to promote the interests of the settlers in those regions, providiag them with every facility enjoyed by the more densely populated jjortlons of the State, at less than proportionate cost for transportation. MANUFACTURING. No State in the Union is richer than Minnesota in capabilities of man- ufacturing. At Minneapolis, the St. Anthony falls of the Mississippi river affords a water power of magnificent available capacity. It is alreatly utilized by nineteen flouring mills with an aggregate of 220 run of stone and capacity for the manufacture of about 1,650,000 bbls. of flour per year; by twenty saw and shingle mills, with eighteen gang, twenty- five double circular and a number of smaller saws ; and by man- ufactories of cotton and wool, farm machinery, etc. The St. Croix river, above Stillwater, in Washington county, and especially in the vicinity of Taylor'!} Falls, in Cliisago county, affords a series of superb water powers, in the aggregate equalling, if not surpassing, that of St. Anthony Falls. These are partial)}' improved now in running flouring and saw-mills and other macJiinery, and with the rapidly increasing railroad facilities which are being ifforded th*t section of the State, and the constant large addi- tions made to its population annually, they will no doubt be much more extensively employed in the (virjy future. At Fergus Falls, on Red River, is another extraordinary power, computed to be equal to over 20,000 horse- power, all of which can be easily and che.tply made available. It is not yet improved to any considerable extent, but will be during the current season. A good deal of flour is already manufactured there for home consumption and to supply the Manitoba market. At Granite Falls on the upper Minnesota river, in Yellow Medicine county, is still another of over twelve thousand horse-power capacity, improved partially, there being two flouring mills in operation there. Another power of extraordinary capacity, and easily and entirely made MANUFACTURING. I3 available, is found on the St. Louis river, near Thomson, in Carlton county. This is about to be improved somewhat extensively for sawing lumber, as it is adjacent to an extensive pine region. Three of the above, viz.: that at Minneapolis, thrit on the St. Croix, and that on the St. Louis river, justly deserve to be called gigantic powers, while the others already mentioned, and one at Sauk Rapids in Stearns county, another on the Cottonwood in Brown county, and, perhaps, a dozen more in as many different localities, are very extensive and valuable powers. Most of these are wholly unimproved, and probably the full capacity of none is j'Ct made available. Houston county has a fine power on Root river of very considerable capacity, and there are several others on that stream in that and Fillmore counties. On the Zumbro river there are four or five extensive powers, and on the Cannon some eight or ten Indeed, there are several hundred streams scattered all over the State which afford four or five times the water power needed for the districts adjacent to them. On looking over the Statistical Report for 1878, it is found that sixty-three counties reported 452 flour mills. These probably manufacture about 5,500,000 barrels per year. All but about 500,000 bar- rels of this, which is the product of steam mills, is the result of the water-power of the State now improved, and besides this there is an immense manufacture of lumber accomplished by the same agency, and a good many other factories derive their motion from this source ; yet hardl}'- one-twentieth of the capacity of the water-power of the State is yet made available. Every county in the State it is believed has more or less available water-power within its borders. This widely diffused and immense mechanical force gives ample oppor- tunity for Minnesota to send all the products of her fields, flocks, forests and mines to market in their prepared conditions, thereby avoiding ex- pense of transportation on the refuse portions, saving for her own use those i>arts which are not profitably marketable, and giving employment to thousands of her citizens in t>^ mechanical departments of industry, thus securing to the State the greatest possible shaj-e of the profits accru- ing from her products. MINNESOTA FLOUR. In the foregoing article on the manufacturing capabilities of the State, incidental mention is made of the already extensive milling interests. No data is obtainable at the moment from which to derive an approxi- mate idea of the amount invested in this single business, but it is neces- sarily very large, for a number of our Minnesota mills are the finest in thCTOorld. Those at Minneapolis are especiaMy noticeable, and are visited by persons who come here from the eastern States as objects particularly worthy of curiosity. At Stillwater, St. Paul, Red Wing, Cannon Falls Northfield and Lanesboro, and on the Zumbro river, and at Sauk Centre, Mankato, Fergus Falls, and several other points, are others less extensive but still of considerable dimensions and expensive construction, and in most instances supplied with all the recently improved machinery and ap- paratus for the manufacture of the best description of flouf. The floui 14 MINNESOTA IN 1879. manufactured of Minnesota wheat, and by mills in this State, has for years ranked highest in the eastern and foreign markets, and command'ed the best prices, and for the past two or three years has been in especial de- mand for sliipment to Europe. About a year ago orders began to be received by the millers here drrectly from foreign dealers, for the double purpose of making sure of obtaining the flour desired and saving the addi- tional expense of commissions and forwarding charges at eastern porta. This trade has grown rapidly, Minneapolis alone having shipped last year 109,183 barrels direct to foreign ports, and several other mills considerable quantities, and it continues to increase, thus augmenting the ability of the millers to pay higher prices for the wheat, and in that way contribAt- ing to benefit the agriculturalists of the State. From the satisfaction which has so far been given to both shippers and receivers there is no doubt but that this direct trade will continue to grow until it covers the entire quantity of Minnesota flour sent to Europe. MANUFACTURES OF WOOD. Owing to the circumstance that the laws of the Stat© do not impose upon any of the local officers the duty of gathering manufacturing statis- tics, leaving the State Statistician dependent upon voluntary contributions for this kind of information, it follows that the reports are necessarily in- complete. Yet, notwithstanding this, the aggregated showing in the report for last year is very cons'iderable. Manufiictoriea of wood are reported in fifty-two counties, and number 71.5 establishments. These embrace 207 sawmills, forty-eight counties containing one or more; 352 wagon and carriage factories, 33 planing mills, 54 cooper shops, 26 shops for the manufacture of blinds, sash and doors, 14 furniture factories, 20 establishments for making agricultunU machinery, and five others for making packing boxes, show-cases, and laths and shingles. A consider- able number of these establishments are quite large, employing a good many hands and heavy investments of capital, and the others are contin- ually increasing their extent and facilities, while additions to their num- ber are made every season. The possession of material and facilities for its profitable manufacture has already placed Minnesota in the category of States which export manufactures of wood, and she is gradually assuming a higher position in that list with the opening of the newer regions west and northwest, besides supplying the rapidly increasing home demand consequent upon the annual influx of new settlers within her own borders SUGAR MAKING AND REFINING. The manufacturing and refining of syrup and sugar from Amber Cane, which has heretofore been confined to fanmers growing the cane, is about to be made an especial deptxrtment of industry in this State The uni- form testimony of Southern sugar refiners as to excellence of the pro- ducts of thfs cane, and the nnalysis of the raw sugar made by the chem- ist of the national agricultural bureau in Washington, have led enter- prising capitalists here to regard it a^""of utmost importance that facilities MANUFACTURING. 1$ shall be provided in the State for manufacturing and refining it, under all the advantages of improved appliances and scientific skill, and a company is now about organizing in Faribault, Rice county, to build, furnish and operate such factory and refinery. Should success attend ftheir efforts, the example will, no doubt, be followed, and it may be confidently expect- ed that the business will shortly grow into importance. Both sugar and syrup, produced in this State, have been sent hence to St. Louis to be refined, and the experiments have been entirely successful. The products were pronounced fully equal to the syrups, and sugars obtained -from canes of Louisiana and Cuba. The chemisd of the agricultural bureau gave the following as the analysis of the Amber Cane sugar above alluded to, viz.: Cane Sugar (saccharose) 88.8934 Grape Sugar (glucose) 5.6100 Water (by drying at 110 deg. C.) .... 5.5250 Analyses made by other chemists confirm this, all of them giving the saccharine element as comprising more thtm 87 per cent., and thus show- ing the product to equal the cane sugar in sweetening power and whole- fiomeness. CIAYS, SA.NDS, LIME, STONE, &a. Clays are found in abundance in many localities, and they are generally of excellent quality. Fifteen counties report brick-yards in their terri- tories, and the aggregate number of these is thirty in the entire State. Several of them are, however, quite extensive, and the total of manufac- tures in this line is an item of considerable importance. In Red Wing, Goodhue county, and New Ulm, Brown county, there are extensive potteries where a very superior quality of stone-ware is manufactured. This is commonly preferred to the ware sent here from abroad, because of the fineness of the clay used. An excellent quality of fire-brick is also made at the same factories. Near the bed whence the clay used in Red Wing is taken there is an extensive deposit of much finer quality, suita- ble for the manufacture of queensware of a higher than average standard. There are a number of clay-beds elsewhere in the State, only awaiting the demand for their development, to furnish material for other factories and make this an important branch of industry. Limestone is found in various neighborhoods, and a large quantity of lime is manufactured annually both for home consumption and exporta- tion. The quarrying of both limestone and granite for building purposes is, also, already an important industry in a number of localities, in the vicinity of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Rich quarries of gran- ite of excellent quality are found on the Missis.?ippi river near Sauk Rapids, and likewise along the upper Minnesota river, and in the Lake Superior region ; and an excellent description of durable building stone i^ quarried from the bluils in the vicinity of Lake Pepin, on the Missis- sippi, and at Easota, on the Minnesota river. The demand for this kind of material for building purposes must be the means of allorfling employ- ment for a good many persons in the not distant future. In localities along the Mississippi bluffs immense deposits of white l6- MINNESOTA IN 1879. Band are, likewise, foand. This has been tested and found very superior for the manufacture of glass, for whieh purpose considerable quantities of it have been already exported. There are likewise several quarries of a fine quality of elate in the State. , Iron ore of extraordinarily good quality, which It Is claimed yields a metal equal to the best Swedish Iron, and copper ore of exceeding richness, are found in almost inexhaustible quantities in the region north of Lake Superior. Extremely valuable specimens of silver ore have likewise b«en obtained in that locality. There is little room for doubting that this ^iW prove one of the most profitable mining districts in the world, when tho metallic treasures which lie buried beneath its rugged surface are more fully developed. NEWSPAPERS AND PRINTING. There are very few counties in Minnesota in which no newspaper is published ; most of them have two, and several have more than two. Among the country newspapers are a score, at least, of large, well-con- ducted, first-class journals. There are five dailies in the State, all enter- prising and ably managed, and one, the Pioneer- Press, compares well with the large dailies of eastern cities, and has a circulation ranking fourteenth among the newspapers of th£ United States. Well appointed job print- ing offices are found in all the large towns, and there are besides engrav- ing, lithographing and stereotyping establishments, and one type-foundry.. OTHER MANUFACTURES, Besides the foregoing there are a variety of other manufactories in opera- tion in the State, consuming material produced within its limits, but gen- erally these are undeveloped industries, and are only rlluded to here as- serving to illustrate the capabilities of the State in this direction. Amongst these is a large paper mill at Minneapolis, which supplies much of the paper used in the State, besides exporting a considerable pcopor- tion of its products. There are, also, fifty-six cigar factories, which work up, in part, the tobacco grown here, together with imported mate- rial ; and sixty-eight breweries consume a large quantity of the barley produced in the State. A number of factories of leather are, likewise, in operation, and a considerable share of the stock thj?y use is taken from cattle raised here and is tanned in the State. Recently an important busi- ness has sprung up in the canning and preserving of fruits and berries grown in the State. Some of the railroad companies are making their cars here, and in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and several other cities, sta- tionary and portable steam engines, equal to those made anywhere, are being manufactured, and a considerable proportion of these are exported. Besides the factories for materials produt;ed here, it will thus be seen that a large amount of capital is employed in the manufacture within the State of materials produced elsewhere, so that Minnesota's mianufacturing interests are already of significant proportions. AGRICULTURAL. 1/ AGRICULTURAL. It is from no lack of appreciation of its primary importance tliat this branch of the subject follows those of manufactures and commerce, but as the agricultural resources of a country are of greatest moment, it was thought expedient to place the other topics more prominently before the reader, in order to insure his attention as well to the facts that this State possesses manufacturing and commercial facilities, which are partially developed and are keeping pace with the extension of her agricultural industries. In treating of the advantages she offers to the agriculturist it is deemed useless to theorize, because the opportunity of summing up results and making just comparisons are at hand, and thus the actual evi- dence may be presented. Generally the comparisons are made with Ohio, for the reason that the excellences of that State as an agricultural region are widely known, its fertility and careful tillage will not be disputed, and its statistics of agriculture are carefully prepared and entirely reliable. WHEAT— ITS YIELD AND GRADE. Wheat is the staple product of Minnesota, not because it is the only grain crop that will mature, nor even for the reason that it is surer and its yield more bountiful, but simply because it always sells readily fc cash. "Whether the crop is scant or full the farmer is safe in calculating his ■wheat as so much ready money as soon as he can get it in the market, and it usually brings a remunerative price. This i^why the agriculturists of Minnesota have applied themselves mainly to the cultivation of wheat, and thus won for the State the deserved and almost world-wide repu- tation of producing wheat of a better quality than that grown in any other part of the United States, if not of the world. It is exceedingly rich in nutritive elements, and the flour made from it always commands the highest prices. The average yield of wheat in this State ranges from about sixteen to twenty bushels per acre, and when, in connection with this statemeiji, it is remembered that the area upon which it is grown includes 1,850,000 acres, scattered over sixty-eight counties, extending about two hundred and sixty miles east and west, and two hundred and eighty nortli and south the magnitude of ^he yield can be more fairly appreciated. It is rarely, if ever, that a season passes without more or less injury to crops resulting from local drouths, storms or other causes in a region so extensive, and it must always be the case that amongst sixty-odd thousand farmers there are a good many who are negligent in tilling their lands and taking care of their produce. When a district of such immense extent shows an aver- age yield of even twelve bushels per acre, the circumstance merits especial mention. l8 MINNESOTA IN 1 879. In 1877 the average ■vras nineteen and a half bushels per acre. In four- teen counties that season it exceeded twenty bushels. In 1868, 1869, 1872, 1873, and 1875 the general average of the State was more than seventeeo bushels. Another circumstance in connection with cultivating wheat in this State deserves remark here, that is : the ability of the land to produce a good crop does not appear to be impaired by continuous cultivation. The farmers of the older counties have continued to grow wheat on the same land year after year, without rest, and without the application of fertilizers, and still the average is well maintained. Grouping the aver- ages of the six years from 1866 to 1871 inclusive, and we discover that the mean average per acre for each season was 15.34 bushels. Pursuing tlie same course with the interval from 1872 to 1877 inclusive, gives us a mean average or 15.33 bushels. A difference of just one one-hundredth part of a bushel, yet the latter period included 1876, when the crop of the State was reduced to its lowest know.i average. This result is not due to tlie continual additions of new lands to the wheat producing area either, as the following exhibit of the averages of some of the oldest counties in 1877 will show, viz.: Carver 24.60|Olmsted 20.12 Dakota 17.48 Ramsey 19.24 Dodge 21.45 Fillmore 17.81 Freeborn 22.29 Goodhue 21.58 Hennepin 20.50 Rice ,.,... 23.05 Scott 21.85 Steele 23.78 Wabasha 18.63 Washington 19.01 LeSueur 21.5liWinona. 17.59 Polk was the only new county that made a remarkable showing that season, its average being 25.19 bushels per acre 1 As compared with Iowa, Illinois and Ohio, the Minnesota average is found to be considerably in ex- cess, whether taken for a single season or for a term of several years, and its wheat has the further advantage of having a higher grade and greater money value. On page 503 of the Ohio Statistics for 1877, it is stated that the "average number of bushels of wheat to the acre in twenty-seven years is 11.61," and according to the report of the U. S. Commissioner or Agriculture for 1877, the average yield for that year in Ohio was 15 bus., Indiana 14.5 bus., Illinois 16.5 bus., Wisconsin 15 bus., Iowa 14.5 bus., Missouri 14 bus., Kansas 13.5 bus., Nebraska 15 bus., California 9.5 bus.; while Minnesota's yield according to the same authority was 18.5 bushels per acre I The total yield of wheat in this State in 1877 is stated by Hon. J. P. .Jacobson, State Statistician, to have been 32,280,637 bushels by weight of sixty pounds to the bushel I There can be no doubt but that this is one of the greatest wheat-growing regions in the world, and as it is not likely that the assertion wyll be contradicted, it seems hardly worth while to dwell longer upon this theme. If doubt of the statement should exist in any mind, reference for its confirmation may be made to reports of tlie U. S. Agricultural Bureau, and to the statistics published by the several wheat-producing States. There might be added here a great many well- authenticated instances of extraordinary yields, occurring in every county AGRICULTURAL. 19 •nd almost erery season, but it is considered inexpedient to publish them, AS the Board prefers that the reputation of the State for fertility shall depend upon general results as found in official records, which cannot b© disputed'. THE CORN CROP. Com has been grown in this State since its earliest settlement, and ife matures well and yields abundantly almost every season. In 1867 the area devoted to its culture was 162,722 acres, and in 1877 it had increased to 388,708 acres. The crop of the latter year was much below the usuall yield, but even then the average per acre exceeded 28>^ bus. For eigh& years, embracing the period from 1867 to 1874 inclusive, the average was 32>^ bus. per acre, and for the same period in Ohio the average yield was 35% bus. per acre. The largest yields during any year of that period were, in Minnesota, 37^ bus. and in Ohio, 40 5-6 bus.; and the lowest 28% bus. in Minnesota and 28)^ bus. in Ohio. This period includes three years of extraordinary yield in Ohio and only one of uncommon yield in Minnesota. When it is remembered that com is the staple crop of Ohio, and that particular attention is paid to its cultivation, the acreage devoted to it being more than twice as much as that of wheat ; while in Minne- sota it is the third crop in importance, having only about one-fifth the acreage that is devoted to wheat and considerably less than that used for oats, it must be admitted that the above is an extraordinarily good showing. The comparison is made, too, with one of the very best and most care- fully cultivated corn states of the Union. THE OAT CROP. The oats grown in Minnesota are generally heavy and contain an unu- sual proportion of nutritive constituents. They are held in high esteem for the mimufacture of oatmeal. In 1877 the quantity produced was 13,819, 63X) bus., an average of about 3d}-^ bus. per acre ; and the lowest average yield for the nine years preceding was 28% bus. per acre ; the liighest being 31}^ bus. During the same years in Ohio the lowest aver- age was 22 bus. per acre, and the highest 32% bus., showing that Minne- sota is far ahead in the matter of producing oats. RYE, BARLEY AND BUCKWHEAT. The yield of rye in this State since 1867 has not fallen below an avei-age per acre of 123^ bus. nor exceeded 19 bus. ; the general average has been about 16 bus. In Ohio during the same interval the lowest average was 93^ bus. and the highest 11^ bus. , the mean average being about IQi^ bus. During the same interval barley has ranged in Minnesota from an average of 18% to 30)^ bus., with a mean average of 26 bus., and the quality very superior. The barley of this State is renowned in the mar- kets for its weight, freedom from rust and mature development. In Ohio in the same time the range was for barley from 12% to 26% bus. , the naean average being 20% bus. Take Buckwheat in the same period, and 20 MINNESOTA IN iS/Q. we have as the extremes in Minnesota 7^ and IGJ^ bus., and a mean aver- age of 131^ bus.; and in Ohio 7% and 12 bus. are the extremes of annual averages and 10 1^ bus. the mean. Thus it seems that in all these products Minnesota is ahead of Ohio, notwithstanding the less systematic and care- ful cultivation arising from her newness. TIMOTHY, CLOVER, FLAX AND HEMP. Of tame hay the yields per acre in Ohio and Minnesota are nearly the same. That of Ohio being 1 13-100 tons, and of Minnesota 1 18-100 tons. The cultivation of clover has not, until quite recently, attracted, attention here, and there is no data at hand for instituting comparisons. The yield is pronounced by Minnesota farmers to be large. No report is made of the flax fiber grown in Minnesota, but the seed produced is 7 36-100 bus. per acre, and in Ohio 6 9-10 bus., an excess of 46-100 bus. in favor of this State. Both flax and hemp grow well here, and the fibers are excellent, and in the future their cultivation and manufacture will, no doubt, become an important source of wealth to the State. WILD GLASSES. The wild grasses of this State are famous for the nourishment they con- tain. They not only afford rich and ample pasturage, upon which horses, cattle and sheep thrive well, but also make an excellent quality of hay. Many farmers prefer them to timothy for the latter purpose. Three varie- ties, the buffalo and herd grass and blue joint, after the ground has been mowed over a few times, become fine and succulent and cure very nicely, and even the coarsest variety of slough grass is similarly affected, though its improvement is not so marked. Cattle subsist during the winter on hay of' this latter description, and keep in good order if properly sheltered. FRUITS AND BERRIES. Minnesota was long ago famous for its wild crab apples, plums, black- berries, strawberries and grapes. These were abundant all over the State, and the qualities were generally excellent. No more delicious wild plums and strawberries are found anywhere, and when improved by cultivation these excel many of the tame varieties. The wild grapes abound most on ■the bottom lands of creeks and rivers. A choice quality of wine is fre- quently made from them. Some varieties of the wild crab-apples were formerly used for preserving, but the introduction of tame fruits has obvi- ated the necessity for resorting to them now-a-days. The existence of such wild fruits and berries was, of itself, evidence to some minds that tame fruits, of similar varieties, would grow here, and experiments for their introduction were accordingly made. Tame grapes, plums, crab- apples, strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries were success- fully experimented with from the start, but considerable difficulty attended the earlier efforts to introduce the standard apples, and after several fail- ures, those who undertook it became discouraged. It was remembered, however, that similar disappointments attended the introduction of apple- culture into Michigan, now one of the greatest apple-producing States in the Union, and this encouraged Minnesota agi iculturists to persevere in AGRICULTURAL. 21 their endeavors, and the consequence is that laat year there were 203,493 apple trees in bearing in this State, and 1,219,324 growing; and the year before (1877) 15,736 bus. of apples were grown in the State. No report of the quantity of apples raised last year has yet been made by the county- assessors. Most of the apples raised were of handsome appearance and excellent flavor, and were preserved through the winter without difficulty. Tame strawberries were grown in fifty counties, and 203,024 quarts are reported to have been picked last year. These include all the popular varieties known in the Middle States. Fifty-one counties reported bear- ing grape vines last year, and a total number of 40,743 vines. In 1877 there weje 101,973 lbs. of grapes grown in the State. Of the varieties of grapes grown here the most common are the Isabella, Concord and Dela- ware, and they are certainly luscious fruit. ..No report is given in the statistics of the State of the cultivated raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, plums, etc., but they abound everywhere, the yield is pro- lific and the quality unexcelled. In short, it may be relied upon that there need be no greater scarcity of fruit, both large and small, in Minnesota than in the Middle States generally. BEES AND HONEY. Bees and honey are natural products of Minnesota. Wild bees were found here in great plenty when the State was settled, and they thriva well when domesticated. A great many swarms of Italian bees have also been brought here and are found to be easily kept through the winter. There were reported to be 10,835 hives here in 1877, and their produce was 213,768 lbs. of honey. This does not include a great many hives kept in the cities. GARDEN VEGETABLES AND MELONS. All the usual varieties of garden vegetables cultivated in the Middle States of the Union are grown here with equal facility, and mature about as early. Root vegetables especially flourish in this soil, and finer potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, salsify, radishes, onions, etc., are not raised anywhere ; and the water-melons, musk-melons and canteJopes of Minnesota bid fair to become as famous as those of New Jersey used to be. Squashes and pumpkins attain enormous size and are richly flavored ; and no better or larger tomatoes are grown anywhere. Cabbage, lettuce, spinach, endives, etc., grow rapidly and are tender and succulent. No finer beans and peas can be grown than those produced here. MAPO: SUGAR AND SYRUP. The fact that maple sugar and syrup were manufactured in thirty-six counties last year, shows that maple timber is pretty generally scattered through the State, and as the quantities made are respectively 13,588 gal- lons of syrup and 52,723 lbs. of sugar, that that variety of forest tree is somewhat abundant. There are maple trees in sufficient quantities for the manufacture of these products in several other counties, but if any was made in them it was not reported. In more than half the counties of the State maple syrup and sugar are manufactured every year. 22 MINNESOTA IN 1 8/9. TOBACCO. Tobacco is grown in fifty-nine counties, and in 1877 tliere were 38,83> lbs. raised. Thia ought to be accepted as sufficient evidence of the lengtli of the growing season, for it is well-known that this plant ma- tures slowly. AMBER CANE. The earlier experiments in the manufacture of syrup and sugar from the sorghum cane were unsuccessful in this State, as they were in the northern States of the Union generally. This was partly because the plaats would not fully mature, and partly from the crude and iqjperfect appliances and machinery used in the manufacture of its products. A. few years since, however, two enterprising agriculturists of the State, who had given the subject a good deal of attention, procured a variety of cane known as " Early Amber," and since its introduction the efforts in thia branch of industry have resulted in the realization of the most sanguine hopes. Proper machinery has recently been obtained for expressing the juice and manufacturing it, and syrup and sugar nf very superior quality are now made at their own homes by a large number of our farmers, at comparatively' small cost. According to the Statistics of 1878, there was more or less made in fifty counties. Two thousand two hundred acres of cane were grown, and the average yield of syrup was 63.07 gallons per acre. This, however, is much less than might have been obtained" had all the farmers who engaged in the manufacture supplied themselves with proper machinery. In those counties where suitable appliances were generally used the yield was from one hundred to one hundred and forty-five gallons per acre. The fact that similar success has not been achieved in other northern States would seem to indicate that Minnesota is peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of Amber Cane. FOREST TREE CCTLTURE— FUEL. Early in the settlement of the State, those who had made homes on the prairies frequently planted about their dwellings and stabling groves of white willow, white maple, cottonwoods, linden and other fast growing trees as a means of shelter from the winds, and in 1873 the officers of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company resorted to a similar expedient to prevent the drifting snows filling the cuts along the line of their road. This gave an impulse to the general culture of forest trees in the prairie districts, and mainly through the instrumentality of the delegation from this State, Congress, in 1873, passed a law for the encouragement of forest tree planting. This has since been amended until it is now efficient to promote this important purpose. In his inaugural message. Gov. Pillsbury suggested that the State likewise lend its assistance to this work by sec- onding the efforts of the State Forestry Association, an organization formed chiefly through the efforts of its present Secretary, Hon. L. B. Hodges, and the legislature accordingly made a generous appropriation to be distributed by the Association in the shape of premiums. Since then the work of forest-tree planting has made rapid progress, and the results will soon be available for fuel supply, as the groves already ax* for shelter and scenery. Agricultural. 2^ Aside from this prospective source, the native forests of the State and Ihe adjacent coal-fields of Iowa are ample to satisfy the demand for fuel for many years to come, and the railroad companies, being interested in the early settlement of all parts of the State, that the business of their roads may be thereby increased, are transporting fuel cheaply, so that it can be sold at reasonable prices in the most distant prairie counties. But there is really no portion of the State where enough timber for fuel is not accessible without any very serious inconvenience, even if these iuvoring circumstances did not exist. STOCK KAISING. The richness and abundance of the native grasses and the wide ranges of free pasturage in Minnesota naturally attracted the attention of cattle growers at an early day, and experiments in every instance proved re- markably successful. It was found that the pasturage frequently contin- ued fair until about the middle of November, and in the spring the grass grew rapidly, so that the feeding season was but little, if any, longer than iu Illinois or Missouri, and there was no more necessity for grain feeding than in districts further south. This success has led many per- sons to engage in raising cattle, and the business has already become im- portant, involving in the aggregate a large investment of capital. A gentleman formerly engaged in stock raising in Texas, and afterwards in Kansas, who is now located in Polk county in this State, says that he 4iad no difficulty whatever in wintering his herd during the season that has just passed, and that the cattle are in better condition this spring than was usual in the other localities named. He fed no grain nor has his cattle had extra care, being provided only with shelters made of polea 4uid closed in and covered with straw. He says that the dryness of the atmosphere and absence of cold rains, mud, sleet and continually varying temperatures more than compensate for the severer cold experienced here ; that the cattle's hair grows enough thicker to protect them and that they are not so liable to become chilled. Again, ihe quickly grown grasses of this country, cured without expos- ure to rains and successive falls of dew, retain all their nutritious juices and make stronger and more palatable hay. The extensive natural mead- ows furnish thousands of tons of this hay, to be had for the cutting and curing, and afford an ample supply of winter feed at little cost. The cattle contract none of the diseases here incidental lo damper climates, and their better health saves the heavy losses which southern fttock raisers annually suffer. Besides the common cattle raised here for beef, finer herds of Durhams,' Jerseys Ayrshires, Galloways, Herefords, Devons, etc., cannot be found anywhere. DAIRY FAKMING. The ease and incxpensiveness with which cattle are taken care of and their superb general health, added to the advantages which the cool sum- mer nights of this region afford for preserving milk, has induced a good .many of our enterprising farmers to engage in dairy farming. In 1877 there were 200,379 milch cows kept in the State, and 13,433,195 lbs. of batter and 829.076 lbs. of cheese were made. When the proper means are 24 MINNESt)TA IN 1 8/9. used and the abundant facilities systematically utilized, it is claimed thai dairy farming pays better than any other department of agricultural in- dustry. There are forty-six cheese factories in operation in the State and: a number of extensive butter making establishments. In 1878 there was an increase of 13,500 milch cows over the number of the preceding year. Much of the butter made in the regular dairy establishments here is shipped to eastern markets and sold for the highest prices, and cheese from Minnesota factories meets with ready sale and the best prices in the markets of England. SHEEP AND WOOL. The same causes which make Minnesota an excellent country for raising neat cattle also adapt it for growing sheep and wool. The feed is abund- ant in quantity, superior in quality and procured cheaply. Sheep require to be cared for in winter, and sheds with high roofs and good ventilation are necessary for the best condition of the flocks. They are not liable to foot-rot, catarrhal affections, and various other ailments as in moister climates; their wool is heavier and grows thicker and of finer fibre be- cause of the greater warmth required in this natural covering in the reg- ularly cold winters of this latitude. There is but little danger from wolves, as the bounties paid by the State for their destruction have led to their becoming very scarce and shy, except in heavily timbered dis- tricts. Dogs are their most dangerous foes, and in respect to the num- bers of these Minnesota is no worse off than older states. There are a great many fine blooded sheep in the State. In 1878 there were 173,269 sheep, and 645,156 lbs. of wool were sheared. On account of the unusu- ally warm weather of the preceding winter the clip was much lighter than ordinarily that year. HOGS. The number of hogs raised in the State last year was 217,183, and th© success attending this business is leading to its large annual increase. Hogs thrive well, fatten easily, and require no extra care whatever. Of late a good deal of attention has been paid to improving the stock and on, most of the farms the drove of hogs attracts the visitor's attention. Minnesota farmers appear to have accepted the conviction that it is as cheap to feed the best as the worst animals, while the profit is much, greater, and therefore, the improved breeds are the universal favorites. HORSES. Horses appear to become hardier and more capable of endurance in this climate, even when brought here from countries further south after their maturity, and those raised here are certainly much better than theavei-age from other States. In part this is due, no doubt, to the care that has been, taken in introducing the best stock, but it is also largely owing to the he'althfulness of the climate and the superior nutritive properties of the. feed. There are 204,983 horses in the State, and amongst them is a larger proportion of perfectly healthy, handsome animals than is to be seeo. elsewhere, and they always meet with ready sale and bring good prices when shipped to eastern markets. EDUCATIONAL. 2$ BEEF, MUTTON AND PORK. Mr. George Baihly, an experienced butcher of Rochester, MinncBota, who has followed the business for more than twenty years here, after an, exjrorience of fifteen years in Ohio and Indiana, declares that the meats of animals raised here are decidedly superior to those of the two other ]ocalities named, and the experienced butchers of the State confirm this assertion. The animals slaughtered are found to be free from diseases of liver, kidneys, or intestines ; the flesh is firm and solid and abounding in natural juices. This is true of all the domestic animals whose meats are nsed for food. There were never any signs of trichina discovered in Minnesota hogs, and the bacon made from them is dense without being dry, and deliciously flavored. Mr. Baihly declared that he never slaugh- tered a hog in this State that had any marks of disease and never one in Indiana that had not. Minnesota beef and pork are sought for in Eastera markets in preference to that raised further south. FENCING. It has become an established custom among farmers, in the prairi© counties, to herd cattle during the summer, confining them in small yards at night. Two or three boys can thus take care of the cattle and sheep of an entire neighborhood. This obviates the necessity of fencing the fields in which grain is growing, and limits the amount of fencing required, to what is necessary for enclosing only a few acres about the houses and stabling. This saving becomes considerable, in comparison with which the cost of herding the stock is iasignificant, and in the meantime the appearance of the farm is improved by the absence of un- sightl}' fences. AVhere trees are planted along the highways, it takes only a few years to grow live fences, which can easily be made to turn cattle by placing poles along and nailing them to the growing trees ; and for what fencing is actually needed fence-boards can be procured at low prices in every locality. Resort to these expedients greatly lessens the force of the objection urged against prairie countries, for there the ex- pense of fencing always must be a serious consideration, especiall}' with those who possess only small capital, if the necessity exists for fencing to protect the growing crops against cattle. It is the uniform custom throughout the State to keep hogs in enclosures of limited extent, aa they give no trouble, do better and are fattened at less expense by that course of treatment. EDUCATIONAL The educational facilities afforded in Minnesota, when the newness of its settlement is considered, are surprising even to those who have wit- nesaed their gradual development, and it must severely tax the credulity of people residing elsewhere to believe hnlf ihe truth. Yet the figure*. 36 MINNESOTA IN 1S79. •given below are taken from the report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and there can be no doubt of tlieir accuracy. There are schools in seventy-one counties of the Staie, the number of districts being 3,811, and of school-houses 3,280. Of the latter, 2,469 .are frame buildings, 136 brick, 74 stone and 601 log. The nuinber of •scholars is 167,825, and teachers employed 4,872. The average monthly ■wages paid teachers (including board) is $37.52 for male and $28.12 for female teacJiers, and the aggregate amount paid them last year was $378,- '980.42. The value of school houses and sites is $3,382,351.85. The in- crease of scholars in 187S over 1S77 was 5,274; increase of districts 114; increase of school houses 131 ; iucrea.se of value of houses and sites $399,835.35 ; increase of teachers 130. The total cost of the schools for ihe year was 11,181,326.58. The system of public schools embraces, besides the common schools, graded schools and high schools. There are seventy-eight of the former and thirty-nine or forty of the latter, and as the scholars in the lower schools advance, the number of high schools is increased, though hardly fast enough to satisfy the demand. Above the high scliools and depend- ent upon them for its supply of scholars, is the State University, of. which the Agricultural College is a department, and three excellent Normal Schools are maintained by the State for training teachers. Most munif- icent provision has been made for the support of public educational institutions in this State by both the general and State governments. The former donated for common schools lands equal to one-eighteenth part of the entire surveyed area of the State, and 178,086 acres additional were ceded for the University and Agricultural College. The State has pursued a sagacious policy in disposing of these so as to get the highest price for what have been sold, and the money accruing from such sales is safely invested and is already yielding a very considerable income. It is provided that no part of the principle of this sum shall be expended, but it remains a perpetual endowment for the schools, the interest only being available for current use. This greatly reduces taxation for educa- tional purposes already, and, as its total increases every year through addi- tional sales of land, the revenue derived from it will contribute still more largely in the future to the support of education. Besides the public schools and higher institutions of learning, there are a large number of private and denominational schools and colleges. No statistics of these are at hand, but it is believed that they will num- ber fully 300. While it is not strictly true that the educational facilities of the State are entirely adequate, they are equally so with those afiorded fiven by the older States of the Union. MISCELLANEOUS. 27 MISCELLANEOUS. HEALTHFULNESS. Thehealthfulaess of Minnesota is best illustrated by comparisons witli the rates of mortality in other countries. The total number of deaths in the State during 1877 was 6,509. This is at the rate of one in every one hundred and thirteen of the population ; but 738 of these deaths were from consumption and 354 from other chronic ailments, most of which were of persons who came here invalids, too much reduced in health to recover. Deducting these and we have only one death to one hundred •and thirty-five inhabitants. Lest this shall be deemed unfair, the com- parison is made on the basis of charging fifty per cent, of the chronic cases to this State, when we have the following : Minnesota 1 in 124 Wisconsin 1 in 108 Iowa 1 in 93 Pennsylvania 1 in 96 Michigan 1 in 88 Illinois 1 in 73 Missouri 1 in 51 The whole United States. 1 in 74 Norway 1 in 56 Sweden 1 in 50 Denmarij 1 in 46 Great Britain and Ireland. 1 in 46 France 1 in 41 Germany 1 in 37 The chances of life in Minnesota are increased in the proportion that the above death-rates of the countries named bear to the death-rate of tliis State. This statement ought to remove all doubt as to the healthfui- aess of this climate. WHAT WILL A HOME COST ? The question is often asked : how much money is indispensably nec- essary for the immigrant to bring with him to make a home in Minne- sota? The answer to this depends very much upon who the questioner is, what family he has, with how little they could be content, and many other circumstances which cannot be anticipated. It is, therefore, best to tell simply what may be done under ordinary adventitious circumstances, in the case of a poor man going on government land. The fees for making his claim will amount to $14, and his expenses in risiting the land oflice $3— total $17. The material for his house, 16x18 leet, built of single boards, crjvered with shingles, unplastered and hav- ing only two doors and windows, will cost $45. The work he can do limself. For winter this can be made warm enough by building a sod wall outside of the boards. Furniture, consisting of a cooking stove, DtlSCRIPTldN OF MINNESOTA FOR GRATUITOUS DISTRIBUTION, FREE OF POSTAG-E. Those who receive this Pamphlet are requested to read and pass it to their neighbors; and likewise to send to this office names and post-office addresses of all whom they think ought to read it. Address, H. H. YOUNG-, Secretary State Board of Immigration, ST. PAUL, MINN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISURBANA 3 0112 000920097 W