History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110

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The total tax was $555,802.19, of which $118,563.45 was state tax. The county revenue was $60,078.58; roads and bridges $30,136.04; bonds and interest $15,639.96 ; cities and villages $77,642.70; townships $34,386.56; school districts $168,081.46. In 1858 the total taxable property of the county was assessed at $244,952; in 1880 it was $5,884,374; in 1913 it was $18,144,916. The return of moneys and credits was $1,710,970, this being exceeded in only five other counties in the state.

The personal property assessment for 1914 gave 7,732 assessments, the total true value of the property assessed being $13,614,621, and the assessed value $4,411,187. The following items were included: Household furniture, $485,051; rugs, carpets, books, etc., $23,380; sewing machines, $27,299 ; watches and clocks, $16,343; jewelry, $9,252; pianos (1,000), $71,332; melodeons and organs (736), $6,863. (These are assessed at 25 per cent of their true value.)

Horses-Under 1 year, 1,436, average value $10.23; 1 year and under 2, 2,027, average value $18.14; 2 and under 3, 1,923, average value, $24.78; 3 and over, 16,122, average value $40.56; fine bred, 85, average value $193.11.

Cattle-Under 1 year, 12,068, average value $3.08; 1 and under 2, 11,111, average value $5.70; 2 and under 3, 7,449, average value $9.40; cows, 30,371, average value $15.05; bulls, 1,121, average value $25.32; other cattle, 67, average value $15.40.

Miscellaneous-Sheep, 5,702, average value $2.06; hogs, 20,219, average value, $4.17; poultry, $43,152; dogs, $18,700; farm tools and machinery, $273,- 729; wagons, carriages and sleighs, $161,522; harness and saddles, $44,011; automobiles (904), $209,448; motorcycles and bicycles, $2,313; street railway cars, $7,633; grain and other agricultural products in hands of producers, $7,940; threshing machines, $21,014; steam engines, etc., $45,541; manufac- turers tools, etc., $110,812; wheat, flour, etc., in the hands of manufacturers, $13,343; lumber, lath and shingles, $61,042; brick, quarried stone, etc., $7,759; other manufactured materials, $19,691; wholesalers' goods, $57,631; retail merchants, $470,952; store furniture and fixtures, $23,977; office furniture, etc., $12,656; printing presses, etc., $14,872; creamery equipment, $6,627; saloon equipment, $33,074; restaurants, $11,365. (Assessed at 331/3 per cent of their true value.) Elevators and warehouses on railroad land, $56,324; shares of bank stock, $408,427 (assessed at 40 per cent of their true value) ; lands, 850,069.59 acres; average value, $14.67 per acre; total assessed value of all real estate, $16,962,286; true value, $48,463,684.

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In the following list will be found under each township, the total assessed value of real property as equalized by the county board, the total assessed value of personal property as equalized by the county board, and the number of automobiles and auto trucks.

Townships-Albany, $364,822; $73,989; 4. Ashley, $398,962; $68,077; 10. Avon, $247,270; $39,735; 1. Brockway, $490,700; $74,339; 7. Collegeville, $146,938; $30,684; -. Crow Lake, $281,467; $56,622; 10. Crow River, $262,768; $58,557; 6. Eden Lake, $292,802; $68,408; 9. Fair Haven, $279,779; $55,445; 5. Farming, $330,728; $63,696; 7. Getty, $311,599; $62,732; 2. Grove, $314,554; $78,627; 4. Holding, $348,688; $79,642; 5. Krain, $396,897; $84,561; 3. Lake George, $313,701; $67,654; 10. Lake Henry, $302,987; $56,380; 18. Le Sauk, $163,072; $42,720; 4. Luxemburg, $306,624; $76,965; 10. Lynden, $143,250; $42,391; 1. Maine Prairie, $494,892; $115,066; 31. Melrose, $340,861; $54,844; 3. Millwood, $301,536; $70,336; 5. Munson, $314,508; $71,299; 5. North Fork, $296,424; $66,584; 4. Oak, $317,827; $78,745; 11. Paynesville, $285,117; $53,081; 8. Raymond, $302,754; $60,405; 4. Rockville, $282,953; $53,200; 3. St. Augusta, $324,663; $62,565; 8. St. Cloud, $244,901; $58,354; 10. St. Joseph, $283,303; $78,916; 3. St. Martin, $311,750; $66,494; 3. St. Wendel, $302,805; $53,368; 1. Sauk Centre, $320,- 163; $61,269; -. Spring Hill, $328,492; $71,474; 4. Wakefield, $298,300; $61,662; 8. Zion, $341,141; $71,781; 12. Total automobiles, 249.

The lowest real estate true value was in Collegeville, $19.36 per acre; the highest in Ashley, $41.34, and in Lake Henry, $41.25; the average true value per acre in the county being $35.22.

Villages-Albany, $96,642; $244,949; 14. Avon, $26,534; $59,058; 3. Belgrade, $81,390; $182,541; 16. Brooten, $103,064; $240,620; 30. Cold Spring, $126,212; $209,259; 24. Eden Valley, $28,261; $48,399; 11. Freeport, $55,835; $156,012; 12. Holding, $44,108; $116,771; 13. Kimball, $71,453; $154,798; 22. Lake Henry, $65,326; $60,258; 4. Meire Grove, $17,974; $49,719; -. New Munich, $16,616; $81,906; 4. Paynesville, $181,791; $374,- 565; 63. Richmond, $91,428; $175,083; 17. Rockville, $27,565; $68,273; 6. Roscoe, $24,642; $79,738; 13. St. Anthony, $32,902; $33,664; 3. St. Joseph, $62,696; $117,322; 8. St. Martin, $43,974; $54,532; 4. St. Nicholas, $44,974; $40,406; 2. Sartell, $27,295; $38,890; 8. Spring Hill, $27,341; $29,056; 4. Waite Park, $78,479; $32,090; 2.

Cities-St. Cloud, $2,583,665; $2,422,419; 242. Sauk Centre, $643,245; $653,143; 81. Melrose, $399,323; $401,114; 44. Total automobiles in cities and villages, 655. Real estate is assessed at 40 per cent of its true value and personal property from 25 per cent to 331/3 per cent.

A bulletin from the State Board of Immigration, compiled from the official records, gives the crop reports for 1913 for the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio, Mich- igan and Wisconsin. Minnesota leads, either in total production or in aver- age yield, in practically every product. Its average yield of corn, 40 bushels per acre, is equaled only by Wisconsin, which is the same, Ohio coming next with 38 bushels. Its production of wheat is exceeded only by North Dakota, while in yield per acre it is 5.3 bushels ahead of that state. In oats it leads

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in average yield, 38 bushels, and in production is exceeded only by Iowa. The barley crop is far in the lead in total production and in average falls but two bushels below Illinois, which has 26 bushels on a very small total crop. In rye its average is the highest, 19 bushels, and the production is exceeded only by Wisconsin. The average of the potato crop is first, 110 bushels, the total yield being slightly below that of Michigan and Wisconsin. The average of the hay crop, 1.50, is second, the total product being fourth. Other statis- tics show that Minnesota is the leading state in the Union in flour-mill and grist-mill products. In the production of butter, cheese and condensed milk it advanced from the sixth place in 1889 to the fifth in 1904 and fourth in 1909, which place it still holds.

An advance statement from the Board of Immigration gives the follow- ing statistics for the 1914 crop in Stearns county, the acreage, average yield and production being given under each product: Corn, 50,967; 40; 2,038,680. Oats, 76,329; 20; 1,526,580. Wheat, 104,447; 71/2; 783,352. Barley, 24,776; 25; 619,400 Rye, 16,326; 20; 326,520. Flax, 7,776; 8; 62,208. Potatoes, 4,056; 100; 405,600. Hay, 108,234; 11/2 (tons) ; 162,351. The exceptionally low average yield of wheat last year was due to the prevalence of black rust, which also affected the oats. The general average yield was about the same as in the state at large in 1913.

By the first government census, that of 1860, the number of farms in the county was 680; number of acres under cultivation, 16,770; number of neat cattle, 3,865 ; number'of horses, 423; number of swine, 3,267.

The official crop report for 1862 gave for Stearns county 100,000 bushels of wheat; 12,000 bushels of rye; 2,400 bushels of barley; 48,000 bushels of cats; 43,000 bushels of corn; 68,000 bushels of potatoes.

For many years Wheat was King in Stearns county. It was practically a sure crop, the yield was seldom less than thirty bushels per acre of Scotch Fife No. 1 hard. The generous soil paid this tribute year after year although in too many cases the farmer gave nothing in return-no fertilizing, no sum- mer fallowing, no rotation of crops. In frequent years the price was exceed- ingly low, yet it was always a cash article when it reached the market and it provided the farmers with the means to pay taxes and such other demands as required actual money.

But as years passed the yield gradually lessened, and at the same time farmers grew wiser. They came to appreciate the wisdom of diversifying agri- culture, to realize the greater and surer profit which came from raising stock, either for dairying or for beef purposes. Butter had been much of the time a drug in the market, and much of the time was without a market at any price. The demand was almost wholly that created by local consumption; only the best quality was saleable at anything like a fair price, and only too large a proportion was not of a fair quality.

The remedy for this condition came gradually, but it finally did come- through the creamery. The result has been to fairly revolutionize the situa- tion as regards butter production and to make this one of the most profitable branches of the farmer's income.

The first butter and cheese factory in Minnesota was built in 1870, but

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the progress was slow. At the end of ten years there were but 27; at the close of the year 1890 there were 200. It was during this year that the separator came into use, and by 1900 it had entirely displaced the gravity method of separating the cream from the milk. Minnesota made rapid progress in the amount and value of its dairy products. While in 1880 it was only eighteenth among the states, by 1890 it was seventh; ten years later it was sixth, and in' 1910 it was fourth, being outranked only by Wisconsin, New York and Iowa. · In the matter of quality its success has been still more marked. At the national dairy convention held in Chicago Minnesota scored the most signal and sweep- ing victory in the butter exhibition ever achieved by any state. Not only did it win the $100 banner offered as a trophy to the state whose entries led in average for the ten highest scores, but both the first and second highest scores were taken by Minnesota buttermakers-the former being 96.83 and the other 96.50. The average of Minnesota's ten highest scores was 96.24; Iowa was second with 95.68; Wisconsin third with 95.43; Illinois fourth with 94.48. The judges were from Wisconsin and Iowa.

Stearns county has taken a leading part in this development. In 1860 there were 1,102 cows, producing 87,565 pounds of butter and 1,000 pounds of cheese; in 1870, there were 4,399 cows, producing 323,085 pounds of butter and 10,435 pounds of cheese. Ten years later the number of cows had in- creased to 9,723, and the factory had come to take its place in the farm economy, the result being that 43,147 pounds of milk was sent to the factory, while 591,202 pounds of butter was made on the farm, and 40,440 pounds of cheese. By 1890 there were 16,348 cows, whose product was 3,920,526 gallons of milk, 851,080 pounds of butter and 10,273 pounds of cheese. In 1900 dairy products were reported from 4,168 farms, the value being $397,650, of which products to the value of $144,984 were consumed on the farms. The total number of gallons of milk produced was 7,671,896, of which 2,363,433 gallons were sold, and in addition 2,379 gallons of cream were sold. Of butter 1,- 043,154 pounds were made, 654,137 pounds being sold. The cheese production was 2,040 pounds, 1,182 pounds being sold. In 1910 there were 35,090 cows on farms reporting dairy products-an increase of more than one hundred per cent since 1890-producing 8,337,777 gallons of milk, of which 3,018,714, or almost two-thirds were sold. The amount of cream sold was 439,378 gal- lons, of butter fat 1,022,376 pounds. The butter produced was 622,491 pounds, 325,730 pounds being sold. The production of cheese was 2,704 pounds ; sold, 2,350. The value of all dairy products excluding the home use of milk and cream was $814,549, and of this $739,092 was received by the farmers from the sale of their products.

These figures are intended as showing the remarkable growth of the dairying interests of the county from 1880, when there were but 1,102 cows, to 1910 when the number had increased to 35,090, bringing to their owners a cash income of almost three-quarters of a million dollars a year, aside from the milk and cream consumed at the home table. The records of the Min- nesota Dairy and Food Department show that during the year 1913 the farm- ers of Stearns county received more money from the sale of butter fat than was received in any other county in the state, aside from Ramsey and Hen-

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nepin counties, which are not agricultural counties at all but in whose cities are located the "centralizers" which draw from all parts of the state. This income could be very materially increased if farmers generally would grade up their cows along dairy lines, too many of them acting on the principle that "a cow is a cow." A farmer with a good-sized herd, or a group of farm- ers, if preferred, could profitably invest in a registered bull-Jersey, Guernsey, Holstein or some other recognized good breed-thereby increasing the yield of milk rich in butter fat sufficient to pay a handsome dividend on the cost of the animal.

The creameries would seem to have crowded out the cheese factories in this county. While at one time there were three, with a production of 10,435 pounds of cheese, the number was reduced until in 1910 there was but one, producing 8,897 pounds of cheese. A year later even this one had disappeared and its place has not since been taken. In the entire state there are 72 cheese factories, 31 being in the two counties of Dodge and Goodhue-Benton has one, paying its patrons in 1912, the sum of $3,255.04-the amount paid patrons being $621,301.92, with $76,490.67 expenses. The larger proportion of these factories (46) make American cheese; thirteen, brick cheese, and four Swiss cheese.

In the days of the first settlement of the county it was an accepted be- lief that corn could never become a profitable crop, that the growing season was too short. The only variety of corn that was planted for a number of years was "squaw corn," small of ear, small of grain, small of yield and in- ferior in quality. But gradually the farmers ventured to try the flint and the dent, with most gratifying results. In recent years it has become one of the most profitable crops in the county and state. Experiments at the state farm have produced varieties, especially Minnesota No. 13, giving exception- ably large yields. The cultivation of corn has been found to be advisable not only for the yield of the grain but for the cleaning of the land and as valuable in a wise system of crop rotation. The corn acreage has also in- creased as farmers are more and more abandoning the raising of wheat and giving their attention to stock raising, both for the market and for dairying purposes. Corn stands at the head of the list of grains for fattening pur- poses, while ensilage has a superlative value as a feed for cows.

At the sixth national corn exposition held at Dallas, Texas, in 1914, Min- nesota took many prizes. It won with white dent the championship of the northern zone, beating Michigan, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota. It took the world's sweepstake prize for the best ten ears of early sweet corn, as also the second prize. It won the second prize on pop corn, the first going to Michigan, in the world's sweepstake competition. Minnesota had the only ear of corn measuring fourteen inches, for which $1,000 was paid by James J. Hill.

But it was not alone in corn that Minnesota won honors and prizes. The sweepstakes prize for spring wheat from the northern zone was won by Min- nesota. The judges pronounced the samples of wheat exhibited at this expo- sition the finest ever shown in the history of the association. In millet seed, the world contest, it took second prize; buckwheat, first prize; alfalfa, fourth

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prize; alsike clover, fourth prize; Kentucky blue grass, second prize-the last being in competition with four samples from Kentucky, the "home of the blue grass;" timothy seed, fifth prize.

As one of the most fertile and productive counties in Minnesota, Stearns shares in the honors won for the state at this exposition. There are none of these grains or grasses but are most successfully raised here. While the prin- cipal crop is still wheat, yet the tendency is strongly in the direction of corn, barley and rye, for feeding stock, and the grasses, clover, timothy, millet, blue grass and red top, especially the two first named. The result has been favorable both to the income of the farm and the strengthening and improv- ing of the soil. It is an undeniable fact that farmers are giving more atten- tion to the science of farming, to adopting methods with a view to results, in other words doing more intelligent farming than in years gone by. No small amount of credit for this is due to the influence of the agricultural department of the State University, with the experimental stations, from which scores of farmers' sons and daughters are graduated each year.

In a contest entered into the present year (1914) among the farmer boys of the state for the championship on the product of one acre there were entries from 80 out of the 86 counties in the state. The successful contestant was Roy Halverson, a 16-year-old farmer of Kerkhoven, Chippewa county, whose record was 115 bushels of dry shelled corn on one acre of ground. Three others raised more than 100 bushels of dry shelled corn to the acre. The results obtained by the Stearns county contestants are not given, but their failure to be winners was not due to any defect of soil or natural conditions but to lack of the best methods of cultivation.

The system by which the prize lot of corn was grown is somewhat at variance with other experts who have advocated planting corn early and planting it deep so that in case of heavy frost the roots would not be dam- iged. This boy won his success by planting the corn on May 18, after the frost danger was past; drilling only an inch and a half deep; cultivating :ften and deep; thinning out stalks carefully; giving the corn ample time in the fall to mature and harden; testing the seed in seed corn week; planting Minnesota No. 13 corn. It might be well for Stearns county farmers, old as well as young, to give this young champion's method careful consideration and a practical test.

The reputation of Stearns county for blooded stock is not only state-wide but is almost national. Some of the highest grade animals, both cattle and horses, have been owned in this county, not merely as individuals, but in herds and studs, selected with the greatest care and handled with skill and every attention to the best results. This distinction began early in its history. The first importation of choice stock was in 1857, when the Rev. Thomas P. Calhoun brought overland from Tennessee a herd of pure-blood cattle, these being probably the first blooded cattle ever brought into Minnesota. It was Mr. Calhoun's intention to go into stock raising on a somewhat extensive scale, but his tragic death a little more than a year afterwards had dis- astrous results for his undertaking.

The late N. P. Clarke appreciating the value which would result to the

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farmers of this part of the Northwest from improving the grade of their stock, especially their cattle, both for dairy and beef purposes, secured by purchase in the United States and by direct importation from Great Britain- often by personal selection-some of the choicest animals that could be had. His specialty was Shorthorns, and he eventually gathered at his farms in this county an exceedingly choice and valuable herd. They took prizes wherever exhibited, and their progeny went to grade up the herds of many of the more progressive farmers not only in Minnesota but in the states adjoining. In the way of horses Mr. Clarke was equally successful, his stables of im- ported Clydesdales being unexcelled in the country.

Others who engaged in the raising of blooded cattle, although on a less extensive scale, were the late Judge D. B. Searle and John Cooper, both of whom confined themselves mainly to Shorthorns. John Lorenz, near Rock- ville, has been successful with Herefords.

Of late years more attention than before has been given to graded swine. Hodgson Bros., purchasers of the Searle farm at Pleasant lake, breed Chester whites, as also Percheron horses and Aberdeen Angus cattle. These gentle- men removed to Stearns county from Martin county, where they had many years' experience in raising fine stock.

P. J. Fosse, who came to this county from Wisconsin, locating near the city limits of St. Cloud, breeds the Duroc Jersey swine, as also Percheron horses and Poll Durham cattle. Both breed prize animals, and dispose of their product both inside and outside of the state. There are other breeders in different parts of the county who handle blooded stock.

The raising of Angora goats, principally for use in clearing brush land and only incidentally for the wool, has been undertaken, several large flocks having been introduced, but on the whole the experiment was not satisfac- tory, and there are now very few left.

Following for many years the policy which prevailed in most of the counties in the state of having road work done piecemeal, a section here and a section there, without any concerted plan or competent supervision, Stearns county's roads were far from being what they should have been. The plan of "working out" the road tax, whereby tolerably good roads were made almost impassable by the plowing up of sod and piling it in the middle of the highway, was popular, as it made the payment of the tax easy and con- venient, but it was wasteful and unprogressive. But more recently the "gospel of good roads" which had been vigorously preached made many converts, and the oldtime policy of the road overseer was supplanted by a consistent plan of state supervision. The more important roads were made state high- ways and competent engineers were placed in charge of the work of con- struction and improvement. The result has been that Stearns county has annually added many miles of well-built roads. The character of the soil and the material readily at hand make possible the construction of excellent roads at a minimum cost.

During the year 1914 fifty-five miles of good roads were built in this county, and provision has been made for the care and repair of all state

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roads, which is quite as important as their construction. The following synopsis of the annual report of R. P. Didlake, deputy highway engineer, made to the state board contains much that is of value and interest :

The total road mileage in Stearns county is approximately 2,200 miles, including 118 miles of state roads. State road No. 1, from St. Cloud through St. Joseph, Avon, Albany, Freeport, Melrose, Sauk Centre north to the county line. State road No. 2, from St. Cloud through Rockville, Cold Spring, Rich- mond, Roscoe, Paynesville, west to the county line. State road No. 3, from St. Cloud through Kimball south to the county line. No. 4, from St. Cloud through St. Augusta to Clearwater. No. 5, from Avon through St. Anna to Holdingford. No. 6, from St. Joseph to Cold Spring. About 125 miles of this total are improved according to the standard adopted for earth roads by the state highway commission.

During the year 1914, $43,523 has been spent on this system of roads un- der the supervision of the highway commission. This includes $7,000 given toward the Sartell bridge, $1,153 for a bridge in the town of St. Augusta, and $6,500 for the maintenance of the state road system during the season. Not all of this money was expended directly by the county, some of the work being handled by the different town boards.

A total of 55 miles was graded and improved during the season. The total cost of these 55 miles was $29,370-or $534 a mile. The cost (including clearing, grubbing, grading and culverts) on a few pieces with which the reader is familiar is as follows: St. Cloud to St. Joseph, 5.1 miles, $3,000; St. Cloud to Rockville, including the graveling at Waite Park, 9.8 miles, $6,640.85; Melrose to Sauk Centre, 7.8 miles $6,502.54; Halfway House to Pleasant lake, $3,273.62.

The first job on state road No. 1, St. Cloud to St. Joseph, was graded by the county outfit, consisting of one 35-horse traction engine and two blade graders. After finishing this job, the county outfit has graded that portion of state road No. 2 that could be worked with a blade grader, from Cold Spring through Paynesville to the county line; state road No. 6, from St. Joseph to Cold Spring and several other smaller jobs. This outfit is suitable only for light grading or turnpiking and has been busy the entire season.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 1110

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110