USA > Minnesota > Minnesota - its advantages to settlers, 1869 : being a brief synopsis of its history and progress, climate, soil, agricultural and manufacturing facilities, commercial capacities, and social status, its lakes, rivers, and railroads, homestead and exemption laws > Part 4
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"2. Passing to the second point of comparison with New-England, already incidentally touched upon, the commercial position of Minnesota upon the termini of the three great water lines of the continent, not only gives it an immensely wider capacity of interior trade, but a far easier access to the sources of supply of raw material. A region six times as large as all New-England, as yet undeveloped, but already starting on the swift career of Western growth, and capable of supporting many millions of population, is directly dependent upon Minnesota for all the manufactured commodities it may consume. Its position relative to these Northwestern valleys, invests its manufacturing capabilities with an importance greater than those of any other of the interior districts of the con- tinent. For the future manufacture of cotton and woolen fabrics, it has decided advantages of position over New-England. The Mississippi river brings it into intimate relations with the sources of the cotton supply, and it lies in the midst of the great wool zone of the continent."-J. A. Wheelock.
The falls of the St. Louis river, at the point where the Lake Superior and Mississippi R. R. reaches the navagable waters of Lake Superior, said to furnish a manufacturing power equal to that of the falls of the Mississippi river at St. Anthony, must not be omitted from the above list.
Minnesota is evidently destined to become one of the greatest manufacturing States in the world, and already manufactories are springing up everywhere. There were five hundred and eleven establishments in 1860, with an aggregate capital of two and a half millions, producing annually four and a half million dollars worth of manufactures. The present number of establishments is esti- mated at 1,200, with a capital of twelve millions.
Minnesota has the further advantage of possessing the raw material for a large class of manufactures,-copper, iron, wool, lumber, salt springs, sand for flint glass, &c., as already referred to, also coal and peat.
AGRICULTURAL CAPACITY-THE SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS.
Not only are the manufacturing facilities of Minnesota equal to any in the world, but its agricultural capacities are unsurpassed by the finest agricultural districts of the old States. This combination of agriculture and manufacture is something very unusual ; generally where one feature is present, the other is ab- sent ; but here, both features exist with all their advantages. Persons residing
22
MINNESOTA :
in the Middle and Western States too often regard Minnesota as an inhospita- ble region, too cold for agricutural pursnits. But such will learn with surprise that few of the most productive districts in the world can compete with Minnesota.
Soils .- "The prevailing soil of Minnesota is a dark, calcareous, sandy loam, contaimng a various intermixture of clay, abounding in mineral salts and in or- ganic ingredients, derived from the accumulation of decomposed vegetable mat- ter for long ages of growth and decay. The sand of which silica is the base, forms a large proportion of this, as of all good soils. It plays an important part in the economy of growth, and is an essential constituent in the organism of all cereals. About sixty-seven per cent. of the ash of the stems of wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats and sugar-cane, is pure silica, or flint. It is this which gives the glazed coating to the plants, and gives strength to the stalk.
"The superiority of sand in giving a high temperature to the soil, is a great advantage in a climate in which the limited period of vegetation requires the highest measures of heat."
This species of soil, on account of its penetrability to a great distance, by the roots of plants, enables them to gather nutriment at a greater distance from the stalk. It is porous, and permits free respiration of the soil,-as important to plants as animals. Owing to capilary attraction, it easily imbibes moisture from the air, and retains it a long time, enabling it to support vegetation during drouths, that in less favored localities prove disastrous to crops. The same quality prevents it from becoming supersaturated with water during wet seasons, on account of the facility with which it drains.
There is also this further advantage of sandy soils, that the roads are smooth and hard, easily made and kept in order, and are free from mire and mud, thus facilitating travel, hauling, &c., as well as farm labor generally.
"Another important feature of the soil of Minnesota is, that its earthy mate- rials are minutely pulverized, and the soil is everywhere light, mellow and. spongy, existing naturally in the condition reached in soils less favorably con- stituted, by expensive under drainage. With these uniform characteristics, the soils of Minnesota are of different grades of fertility, according to local situa- tions, or the character of the underlying rocks from which their elements have been derived. Distributed according to geological situations, the soils of the- agricultural district of Minnesota may be divided into limestone soils, drift soils, clay soils, and trap soils."
Products of the Soil .- The following table shows the staple agricultural pro- ducts of Minnesota, and about the average yield per acre :-
Orops.
Av. No. bushels per acre.
Crops.
Av. No. bushels per acre .;
Wheat,
20.05
Sweet potatoes,
100.00
Rye,
21.56
Beans, -
15.00
Barley,
33.23
Hemp lint, (pounds,)
- 1,140.00
Oats,
42.39
Flax lint,
750.00
Buckwheat,
20.00
Sorghum, (gallons syrup)
100.00
Corn,
35.67
Hay, (tons)
- 2.12
Potatoes,
- 208.00
The above table has been compiled with some care from various sources, and gives only the average yield of the crops mentioned, and may be taken as a fair sample of the average for the State at large, one year with another. It must be understood, however, that on the prevailing soil of Minnesota, with manuring and careful cultivation, the actual yield is often nearly double the above figures. Potatoes, for instance, set down at 208, on good soil, and ordinary culti- vation, will easily yield 300 bushels per acre ; wheat 35, corn 40, and other crops in proportion. In 1865, from 400,000 acres of wheat in Minnesota there was harvested the enormous crop of 10,000,000 bushels, being an average yield of 25 bushels to the acre. 'The crop of 1868 has been estimated by Mr. Pusey, Assistant Secretary of State, at 16,125,875 bushels. from very imperfect data, and I feel certain his desire to be safe made his estimate one million too low.
Wheat is one of the chief staples of agriculture in Minnesota, and is compara ...
23
ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
tively exempt from the dangers to which it is exposed in other States,-drouth, rust, smut, insects, &c. The average per centage of the tilled area of the State in wheat is over 53 per cent., nearly double that of Ohio, which is 33, or Illinois, which is 28, from the fact that in those States the uncertainty of the crop, from the above causes, renders it unsafe to venture so large a proportion of the crop upon so precarious a product. In Minnesota the whest crop is regarded as a . sure and safe one, and rarely fails of a fine yield. The farmer sows with an as- surance of reaping a good return, which he could feel in no other State, except perhaps Wisconsin and Northwestern Michigan, which belong to the same great wheat belt as Minnesota.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER STATES.
The wheat crop of Minnesota is not only more certain than that of Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and other great wheat growing States, but the yield is greater than the best of them. The average wheat-yield of Minnesota has been put down at 20 bushels to the acre ; in some counties, the yield was 25. The aver- age wheat-yield of the rich prairies of Illinois, owing to uncertainty of the crop perhaps, was stated as not over 8 bushels per acre, by Abraham Lincoln, in an address before the Wisconsin State Fair of 1859. The average yield of Iowa is not over 12 bushels ; that of Ohio and Pennsylvania will not exceed 10. The average yield of Iowa in 1859, was 4 bushels; that of Minnesota for the same year was 19. In 1850, the four States producing the largest average yield, were Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida ; this did not exceed 15 bushels, while the other States averaged only from 5 to 12. The largest known yield of other States, as compared with the average of Minnesota, is as follows :
Year. Bush. per acre.
Year. Bush, per acre.
Minnesota,
1860
22
Michigan,
1848
19
Ohio,
1850
17.3
Massachusetts, - - 1849
16
In the face of these facts, we need have no hesitancy in pronouncing Minne- sota the banner wheat State of the Union. Spring wheat is principally sown but winter wheat does equally well, I believe.
Corn .- Many newspapers in States south of us have asserted that Minnesota is too cold for corn. But this is not so ; though not so much of a staple pro- duct as wheat, corn grows well in Minnesota, and the yield compares favorably with that of the best corn States. When stock, especially hogs, are raised to a greater extent than at present in the State, the corn crop must eventually become an important one to our farmers. The average corn yield of Minnesota in 1859, a bad year, was 26 bushels; 1860, 35} ; 1865, 43} ; the average may be set down at 35 bushels per acre ; that of Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky at 20; that of Iowa, just south of us, 23. The average yield in 1859, was 26 bushels, 11 per cent. higher than that of Iowa for the same year.
In 1860 our average, as shown by the census record, was greater than any Middle or . Northwestern State except Ohio, and the yield of 1868 will be found . equally satisfactory.
"This strikingly confirms the law already noticed, that the cultivated plants yield their greatest products near the northernmost limits of their respective growth."
Oats .- The superiority of our climate and soil in the production of the cereals is nowhere more strikingly manifested than in the inferior classes of these grains." In 1859, the average yield of this crop was 33 bushels to the acre ; in 1860, it was 42 ; in 1865, the yield was 51} bushels. I have no means of comparing these results with the yield of other States, but doubt not but that the comparison would be a favorable as that of wheat and corn.
Rye, Barley and Buckwheat, like the other small grains, do exceedingly well in Minnesota. Mr. Wheelock in the valuable Report referred to, says : " The climatic influences which give the wheat of Minnesota its recognized superiority of grain, are especially marked in the quality of our barley. This is beginning to be so generally recognized, that it is already exported in consider-
24
MINNESOTA :
able quantities to supply breweries in the Middle States." The average yield per acre of these grains for three years were as follows :
1859
1860.
1862.
1865. .
Rye,
19,4
21.56
24.00
Barley,
29.1
33.23
34.00
37.50
Buckwheat,
6.5
15.73
26.00
Potatoes .- "The superior flavor and the rich farinaceous quality of the pota- toes of Minnesota, afford an apt illustration of the principle maintained by Dr. Forry, that the cultivated plants come to perfection only near the nothern limits of their growth. In the south, the potatoe, in common with other tuberous and bulbous plants, with beets, turnips, and other garden roots, is scarcely fit for human food. 'A forcing sun,' says Dr. Forry, ' brings the potatoe to fructifica- tion before the roots have had time to attain their proper size, or ripen into the qualities proper for nourishment.' Minnesota, at the west, reproduces the best northern samples of this delicious esculent, in characteristic perfection. From their farina and flavor, the potatoes of Minnesota are already held in considerable esteem as a table delicacy in the States below us, and a market is rapidly grow- ing up for them throughout the States of the Mississippi Valley, as is indicated by increasing exports."-J. A. Wheelock.
Sorghum .- But little attention has been paid to this crop in Minnesota. It is evidently adapted to a warmer climate, but planted early, on our rich soil, it will grow and produce equal to any place in the world. The average yield from very imperfect returns, has been set at down 723 gallons ; but "some instances are reported where a product of 200 and even 300 gallons has been obtained from one acre," says Mr. Wheelock : and there is no doubt but that the average yield may be safely estimated at from 100 to 150 gallons per acre.
Maple Sugar .- The sugar maple is found plentifully in the timbered part of the State. A product of 370,947 pounds of maple sugar, was reported for 1860.
Hay .- Timothy and clover flourish in Minnesota ; in fact, white clover, red top, and blue grass seem indigenous to the soil, and speedily cover any land pastured much. The tame grasses are but little cultivated on this account ; the luxuriant growth of the native grasses, which cover the "immense surface of natural meadow land formed by the alluvial bottoms of the intricate network of streams which every where intersect the country," and which "are as rich and nutricious in this latitude as the best exotic varieties," render cultivation unne- cessary. The average yield of these grasses is 2.12 tons per acre, 60 per cent. greater than that of the great hay State of Ohio, which, according to the Com- missioner of Statistics of that State, is 1} tons per acre.
The lint plants, Flax, Hemp, g.c., as they come to perfection only in a cool climate, do extremely well in Minnesota. Their bark, in southern climates, is harsh and brittle, because the plant is forced into maturity so rapidly that the lint does not acquire either consistency or tenacity. Minnesota is equal for flax and hemp growth to Northern Europe.
Onions, Turnips, Parsnips, Carrots, Beets, and nearly all bulbous plants, do equally as well as the potatoe.
Sweet Potatoes .- Our loamy, warm sandy soil is just the thing for it, but our seasons are rather short ; planted early however, it yields a good crop.
Turnips, Rutabagoes, and Beets often attain a great size.
The Salad Plants .- Cabbages, lettuces, endive, celery, spinach-plants whose leaves only are eaten-are not only more tender here than in warm climates, where the relaxing sun lays open their very buds, and renders their leaves thin and tough, but are more nutricious, because their growth is slow and their juices well digested.
Melons, although they come in rather late, instead of throwing too much of their growth into the vine, as they do south, attain a large size, and a rich sac- charine and aromatic flavor. This is especially true of the cantelope melon, which in warmer climates has its sides baked or rots before it is fully matured.
Pumpkins, Squash, S.c., on the same principle, fully mature, and grow very
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ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
fine and large. The Hubbard variety requires early planting, say first of May. Beans, Peas, S.c., of every variety, are fine and prolific. Rhubarb, or Pie Plant, flourishes without cultivation.
The Hop Culture does not pay at present prices.
Perhaps in no State in the Uniou does the soil so surely and amply reward la- bor, or yield larger products for the amount of labor bestowed on it. It is easily cleared of weeds, and once clean, its warm forcing nature enables the crop to speedily outstrip all noxious growths. Two good thorough workings usually in- sures a good growth of almost any cultivated crop.
BEES-A CORRECTION.
In my pamphlet issued January, 1867, the Bee business was spoken of as pay- ing well iu Minnesota. That year did not sustain the statement, and in the 1868 issue, Bees were omitted. Now, in January, 1869, all testify to the paying results of the Bee business last year, and if not pressed for room I would re- store the 1867 article.
FRUITS.
.The year 1868 has more than confirmed all that has heretofore been stated in this pamphlet as to fruit growing. With the progress now making here in grape culture, Minnesota will soon do her share toward producing the pure wines that are to drive from us the mixed and poisonous drinks now in use.
Apples, S.c .- An impression seems to prevail abroad that we cannot raise fruit in Minnesota,-"an extraordinary inference," says Wheelock, "when we consider that many forms of wild fruit are indigenous to the country." Our cli- mate is evidently not so well adapted to fruit-raising as that of some other States south of us. Still, sufficient of most kinds may be raised to supply the home demand. It has been demonstrated that many varieties of apples do well here, and there are now several bearing orchards in the vicinity of Minneapolis, Wi- nona, St. Paul, Red Wing, Owatona, Rochester, Mankato, and other portions of the State. The specimens of Minnesota apples at the State fair of 1866, were equal in size and flavor to the same varieties elsewhere produced. It is not the severity of the winter that kills the tree, but the alternate thawing. and freezing of the south side of the tree in the spring, which is avoided by mulching, and protecting the stem of the tree when young, by a wrapping of straw. The State being new, time sufficient for planting and acclimating orchards, has not elapsed; but there is no longer any doubt of our ability to raise fine apple orchards. Dwarf cherry and peach trees, which are easily protected in winter, do well, but the larger varieties are too tender. However, cherries may yet succeed, as the wild variety is a native of the soil. Apples grow well in Wisconsin, right along side of us; in Canada and New-England, north of us. The inference is clear that by procuring our trees north of us, (not south, as has heretofore been the practice) or planting the seeds and thus acclimating them, or by grafting on to the stock of the Siberian crab, which is remarkably healthy and hardy, and flour- ishes here through the coldest winters without protection, we may raise all the apples we wish. There are several flourishing nurseries near Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Austin, Rochester, Faribault, Mankato, and other portions of the State. The exhibition at the State Fair, Ist October, 1868, was a gratifying surprise.
. Crab Apples .- The wild crab apple tree is indigenous to the soil, improves much by cultivation, and furnishes an excellent stock for grafting, but inferior to the Siberian Crab, which is equally hardy, and furnishes an excellent apple for preserving. Some varieties approach a hen's egg in size, and are quite palatable.
Strawberries .- Every variety of this excellent fruit does well here, attaining a size and flavor unsurpassed. Wild ones fill the woods and prairies every year.
Grapes .- The different varieties succeed well here, and several varieties of the wild grape vine grow luxuriantly all over the State. The cultivated varieties, while young, require to be laid down in the fall, and protected by a light cover- ing of straw. The nature of our climate and soil would seem to designate Min-
1
26
MINNESOTA :
nesota as a great grape-growing State. The juices of the grape, says Dr. For- ry, are best matured for wine near the northern limit of their growth. On the Rhine, in Hungary, the sides of the Alps, and other elevated or northern sitna- tions, the vine is strongest, richest, and most esteemed. The grapes of Frarce are more delicious for the table than those of Spain or Madeira, south of it. The excess of heat and moisture in the States south and east of us, blights the grape to such an extent that its culture has been abandoned. The vire, however, whether wild or cultivated, grows there luxuriantly. The vinous fer- mentation, as well as the pressing and distillation of the juice, can also be best conducted in a climate comparatively cool.
Truman M. Smith, Esq., of the "St. Paul Gardens and Nursery," has suc- ceeded well in a large variety of fruit. He writes me :- " Grapes have always done well with me. I have not in any year failed to have my grapes thoroughly ripe before frost; and in 1867, the coldest one on record, I ripened twenty-seven varieties, and have now, on this 20th of January, 'Delawares' in good condition, by hanging them up in a cool, dry cellar."
Gooseberries, Currants, and Raspberries, are cultivated extensively through- out the State, unsurpassed in flavor, size, and productiveness. They also grow wild, in common with blueberries, whortleberries, and both marsh and upright cranberries.
Wild plums, of a great many different varieties, some of them very large and fine, approximating the peach for domestic purposes, abound in the neighbor- hood of streams, lakes, and moist localities. They improve so much by being transplanted and cultivated as to equal any of the tame varieties. Wild cherries are also plenty.
From this list it is apparent that Minnesotians are not likely to suffer fo the want of fruit. And it may be remarked of all fruits generally grown in Minne- sota, that, owing to the principle announced by Dr. Forry, they attain a perfec- tion found only at the northernmost limit of their growth. The pulp is delicate, saccharine, and of a rich flavor, while they are free from the larvæ, gum, knots, ard acerbity of fruit grown further south. The dryness of the atmosphere, as well as the inherent perfection of the fruit, enables us to preserve it for a much longer time than can be done in warmer localities. Apples keep much better than in St. Louis or Cincinnati.
THE GROWING SEASON IN MINNESOTA.
In Minnesota, during the growing season, we find all those conditions most favorable to agriculture present in a marked degree. Its mean spring tempera- ture is 45.6 degrees, which is the same as that of Central Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Northern Ohio, Central and Southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 2} degrees south of it. Its summer temperature is 70.6 degrees, corresponding with that of Middle Illinois and Ohio, Southern Pennsylvania, Long Island and New Jersey, 5 degrees south of it.
The season of vegetation in Minnesota, in common with that of the upper belt of the temperate zone, is embraced between the first of April and the first of October. Some idea of the average temperature of this period may be obtained, by comparing it with the same period in other localities, whose agricultural capa- cities are well known :
St. Paul, Minn.
April. 46.3
May. 59.0
June.
July.
August.
Sept.
68.4
73.4
70.1
58.9
Marietta, O.,
52.3
61.4
69.6
73.5
70.7
63.6
Chicago, Ill.,
46.0
56.3
62.7
707
68.5
60.1
Boston, Mass.,
45.57
57.04
65.57
71.08
69.10
62.78
It will be observed that the temperature of the growing months in the above places is so nearly the same, that the difference can be scarcely appreciable *
*"Minnesota, from its Mgh noilarn position, lar always led to maintain a certain struggle for a just appreciation against il e ignorar1 pecor cej ticis ot the majority of people of our days, who were educated in the notion that latitude govons chn ate. It is d'ff cult io nake the New Hamp- shire farmer con prebend that St. Anthony Falls, in the latitude of Hanover, Fas the sun no chmate of Philadelphia-er that wheat, which will scarcely grow in northern New England, thrivee on the
27
ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
"The April of Minnesota is still the April of England, but her May corresponds- in temperature with the English June."
The spring temperature of Ohio, it will be noticed, is greater than that of Minnesota, while its summer temperature is less. The coolness of the Minnesota spring, and the rapid increase in temperature as summer approaches, is claimed as a great advantage, and on this fact the prefection of its grains and other agri- cultural products in a great measure depends. The fact anounced by Dr. Forrey, "that the cultivated plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limits at which they will grow," is explained on the principle that the cool spring restrains the growth of the trunk and foliage of the plant, and throws the full development into the ripening period. "The very warm southern spring devel- ops the juices of the plant too rapidly. They run into the stalk, blade, and leaf, to the neglect of the seed, and dry away before the fructification becomes complete. Our cooler springs reverse this process, restrain the undue luxuriance of the stem and leaf, and concentrate the juices in the development of the fruit and seed."
The cereals all attain their most perfect development in northern climates. Potatoes and other cultivated roots follow the same law The perfection and strength of the grasses in cool and northern regions, and their power of keeping horses and cattle fat without grain, is proverbial. Although the grasses attain sufficient size south, they are forced to a rapid fructification before they have time to elaborate their juices, and consequently contain but :1 small proportion of nutriment. These facts depend upon the same general law. At the same time, the products of grain, flour, &c., are manufactured to better advantage in a cold climate, as they are preserved from sourness, mustiness, &c., a longer time .*
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