DALRYMPLE'S FARM, DAKOTA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5994, 2 February 1881, Page 3

DALRYMPLE'S FARM, DAKOTA.

The following is an extract from the Notebook of Messrs Read and Pell, appended to their report :— In 1879 ten days' rain at the end of Jane saved the crop. Without rain there would have been only 4 bush, an acre. " They called prayers all round wherever there was Christian faith." Mr. Dalrymple put away 7000 bush, of wheat for seed. Job hands travel the country with their horses and waggons, ca,mping out on the prairie. They ® ploughing and breaking up by piecework. Wife, children, and poultry travel with them. The nomadic habits of these people are illustrated by the say in t; that when the teams are ''hitched to," prepatory to shifting the camp, the hens at once lie down on their backs to have their legs tied. Mr. Dalrymple'a crops of 18/9 are believed to have turned out about 15 3-10 bush, per acre. No ricks are thatched about here. In Mr. Dalrymple's case no stacks even are made, nor is the wheat sometimes shocked. It is picked up and carried to the engine direct from the ground. This is a hazardous practice, and, on the whole, said to be uneconomical. Pairs of oxen are used to plough in this district. We had the advantage of meeting Mr. Dalrymple, and he showed us over a laro , e portion of his gigantic farm. With a readiness that is characterises of the American nation, he imparted to us all the information we sought, and answered numerous questions with great courtesy ani frankness. His is the biggest grain farm we have heard of even in America, the whole being managed in a singularly admirable maimer.

The following is a verbatim report of this interesting conversation, which took place in the train as we journeyed from Fargo to Dalrymple station :—

Q. What did your farm cost?—A. The farm consists of 75,000 acres, of which I own half interest; it cost from 40 cents to SOOdols. per acre four years ago. The taxes for school, road, and comity purposes amount to 10 cents per acre = £364 Ils Sd per annum ou the farm. There is no Governmental tax. I am general manager, and the system of farming is_this We divide the land into divisions of 5000 acres with a superintendent over each, who has a division foreman and a gang foreman under him. The superintendent subdivides his SCOO acres in divisions of 2500 acres. The finances are conducted on a regular system of vouchers. All of the supplies are in one store, and are taken out upon a requisition, as in the army. The division foreman gives the order. All f cash is paid iu on time checks, and we pay as' often as a man wants his money. We are cultivating now 20,000 acres, and add 5000 acres each year. Q, When do you sow your crops ?—A. We commence in April to sow wheat and oats ; we only raise oats and barley enough for our own use. It takes about three weeks to put in the crops. For wheat we sow 1 bush, and 20 quarts to the acre, and raise the Scotch I I ife variety, which is used in making the new patented process flour. Our laud produces what has been graded as No. 1 hard. The yield runs from 20 to 24 bush, per acre on an average. The wheat is all sown with machines, and it takes 400 head of horses and mules to put in the crop. One seed sower sows 200 acres, and one harrow goes over 100 acres. (J. How do you prepare new land?—A. \\ e break new land after the crop is in. We commence cutting about August 1, and use 110 automatic self-binding harvesters (100 W. A. Wood's and 15 M'Connick's), which bind with wire. The crop is usually cut in 12 days. To thresh we use 21 threshers, and each machine threshes 1000 bush, per day. It takes a gang of 25 men and 20 horses for each thresher to haul wheat to the machine (for we do not stack) and then to the cars. We thresh and ship.lo cars each day, with an average of 400 bushels per car. An expert on horseback attends to two harvesters when they are at work. Q. What does your freight cost?—A. We pay freight to market, it costs 15 cents to Duluth, 250 miles, there the elevator s charges for storage, cleaning, and shipping are cents per bush. It costs on an average from 10 to 12 cents for freight from Duluth to New \ ovk, or 4s. per qr. of 4SO lb. Q. Where do you get your seed ?—A. We take the seed from our new land, and generally aim to sell at the conclusion of harvest. The first yield of wheat from new land is usually the best. Our wheat averages a weight of 59 lb. to the bushel.

Q. What are the class of emigrants to this part of America?—A. Mostly Norwegians, Scandivanians, and Germans.

Q. Are you well supplied with labour? —A. Yes.

Q. Does the new population supply the old? —A. \es; the new-comers get their farms into condition in two or three Years, so they help their neighbours. Q. How do you care for your cattle in this State?—A. We have the herd law; each man takes care of his own stock. He either fences the cattle in or provides a keeper for them.

Q. V* hat is the cost of labour ?—A. In the spring mouths we pay on an average ISdols. per month and board. During the cutting

it fh»T**? d6[9 - 25C - P er board. In the threshing season, 2 dols. per day and' board. *or fall work, till the ground freezes' n P» w ® P a y 2o dols. a month and board. y. Do you keep men in the winter 9 4 Only one man for each forty head of horses* ana pay him 30 dols. per month in winter. Q. Have you been troubled with chinchbugs or grasshoppers ? The first year they injured the crop 2 to 3 bush- per acre, but they have not troubled us since, and it se6ms a historical fact that they make short stays m country cultivated or being rapidly cultivated. - ben do you commence breaking new ground ?—4. We commence in the middle of May and finish the last of June. We usually p ough 3 inches to 4 inches deep. July Iwe backset, the same ground. The average distance of one man's daily ploughing is 18 miies or about 2h acres. After we backset we then harrow and leave the ground till next spring ; every four' years we sow 1 limothy and clover to recuperate the land, and plough the clover under. Q. Y\ hat is the cost of raising wheat ?—A. About 11 dols, per acre the first crop, and 8 dols. for the subsequent crops. On an average of 20 bush, to the acre a Yankee can make a tair living. The interest on the capital is aboitt 72 cents per acre, on a basis that the land is worth 12 dols. per acre. The?f e , S 10 cents ' which would make a' total of S2 cents. * '! Could a man grow wheat at a profit and sell it in I\ ew York for i dol. per bush. ?— ■A. t es, a good living. Q. "YY hat is the cost to open a farm ?—A. Io put buildings,- teams, machinery, and house goods on a ploughed wheat farm • would cost about 9 dols. per- acre, which, added to 3 dols., the original cost, comes to 12 dols. Q. Can you sell wheat in New York for 75 cents per bush, and not lose anvtliinf ? A. Yes. ° ' ■ \ At this point Mr. Drake asked Mr. Dalrymple if it was true, as reported, that he could raise wheat and deliver it at his station for 35 cents *>er bush., and Mr. Dairymple admitted that was pretty near the correct ngure. iSIr. Drake thereupon made this statement Cost of raising wheat in farm 35 cents ; freight to New York, 28 cents selling commission H per cent.; marine insurance at 2 per cent. ; ocean freight, IS cents ; for contingencies, 12 cents. And you have tlie wheat sold off the coast at Cork for 96 cents per bush.