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UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE RIGHT REV. JOHN IRELAND,
COADJUTOR BISHOP OF ST. PAUL.

The increase in the number of our Catholic Colonies in Minnesota,and the changes which population and other causes havebrought about, make it necessary to publish a revised edition ofthe Immigration Pamphlet, issued by the Catholic ColonizationBureau of Minnesota, in 1877.

We are pleased to notice the increased interest which is manifestedall over the country, by Catholics, in the matter of Catholicimmigration from the cities to the land.

The sympathy, aid, and words of cheer, we are continually receivingfrom friends totally unconnected with our local work, assureus of this pleasing fact; which we attribute, in a great measure,to the honest, intelligent advocacy, and generous support our Catholicnewspapers have given to the question.

For ourselves, we are glad to gratefully acknowledge the liberalsupport the Catholic editors have given to our work: the confidencewhich they placed, from the very beginning, in the purity ofour motives and the soundness of our business arrangements, is anindorsement of which we are justly proud.

They have recognized that our aim is to do good to the many;and in all cases where our advice has been taken, our instructionsfollowed, our warnings heeded, we do not fear that we have injuredone.

The approbation of our co-religionists, conveyed to us from allparts of the country, the success which God has been pleased togive to our humble labors, are cheering guarantees that we are onthe right road; and we pray God that He will continue to bless ourefforts, enlighten us in our present task, and keep our ardor in thecause we have espoused strictly within the bounds of truth.

Happily, in this country, the people's title to the land is recognized,they are invited to take possession of their own, and thetall, luxuriant grasses of the broad prairie are the messengers itsends forth from its virgin bosom, telling of the wealth it has instore to reward honest, patient labor.

There is no angry contest here for the possession of the soil,but there is, and should be, a noble, wise emulation among the[Pg 4]various races that have emigrated to these shores, for their justportions of it. The surplus populations in our cities, the depressionof business, the scarcity of employment, the poverty, sufferingand discontent attending thereon, the magnitude of laborstrikes, and the dread of their repetition, have made the questionof immigration to the land from our over-crowded cities of pressing,national interest. The policy of our people immigrating inlarge numbers to the lands of the West, is no longer a theory todiscuss, but a necessity, calling for the active support of everygood, intelligent Catholic.

It is not necessary to review the many causes which have heretoforeretarded the immigration of our people to the land. Amongthose causes was one which should endear them to every Catholicheart, and which stands out in bright contrast to the irreligiousindifference of the age.

They feared that if they came West, they would be beyond the reachof church and priest.

The danger of a Catholic settling in any of the Western Statesnow, and finding himself entirely isolated, by distance, from hischurch, is scarcely to be apprehended, for the West has now itshandsome churches, its priests and Catholic schools; but it mightcome to pass, that coming undirected, and without any Catholicorganization to which he might apply, the Catholic immigrantmight find himself settled in a locality inconveniently distantfrom church and priest, and where he and his family would beseparated from Catholic associations.

Bearing this in mind, the religious welfare of those coming toour colonies, was one of the main features to which Bishop Irelanddevoted his attention when organizing the Catholic ColonizationBureau. Before the arrival of any of our immigrants, the rulewas established that whenever we opened a colony and invited ourpeople to it, the resident priest and church should go in with ourfirst settlers, be their number small or large. To this good rulewe attribute, to a great extent, not alone our success in bringingsettlers to our colonies, but likewise their general contentment intheir new homes and brave cheerfulness in meeting the trials,hardships, and set-backs, which are incident to new settlements.

No question is so frequently asked by our correspondents as,"How near can I get land to a Catholic Church?" In no portionof any of the Catholic Colonies of Minnesota, established bythe Catholic Bureau, under the auspices of the Right Rev. BishopIreland, shall a settler find himself beyond the easy reach ofchurch and priest.

AGRICULTURAL LIFE.

"It's na' to hide it in a hedge;
It's na' for train attendant;
But for the glorious privilege
Of being independent."

Thus sung Robert Burns long ago in praise of independence.This is one of the rewards which the land holds out to thehonest, hard-working, persevering settler; and never does it breakits promise to industry and perseverance.

In the city, dangers surround the poor laboring man; temptationsarise on every side to drag him down; insurmountable barriersoppose his advancement.

Well, he may avoid the dangers—we wish to give the best viewof the case, and, thank God, there are thousands of instances tosustain it—spurn the temptations, and even surmount some of theoutward barriers to his advancement. He may be respectablyhoused and clothed; he may have a good boss. Ah, there is therub, good or bad—

a man at whose nod he must come and go. He may have moneyin a savings bank honestly managed; but if a spell of sicknessprostrates him, how much of his hard-earned savings will be leftwhen he rises from his sick bed? And suppose he feels that hehas his death sickness, can you, by going into sorrow's counting-house,attempt to estimate the agony of the poor Catholic parentwhen he thinks of the fate which may await his children, left fatherlessin a sinful city?

There are other pictures of a poor man's city life, which we care[Pg 6]not to draw. But we will take this prosperous workingman, witha good boss, from the city, and place him in his first rude houseon his own land. He misses many things, many comforts. Hemisses the society of friends who used to come round from time totime—the milkman's bell, the butcher's cart: everything was sohandy in the city.

He is lonely: a feeling of desolation comes over him as he standsat the door of his new home, and looks around at the unimprovedland. The land is rich and good, and the scene is fair to look at;but the reality is so different from the mental picture he madebefore setting out for the West, that he feels sad and disappointed.Then as he looks around himat his own,

At the thought, the spirit of independence which has led thisman thousands of miles, perhaps, to seek a new home, and whichsadness and disappointment—the first effects of a great change—forawhile subdued, leaps in his heart, and sends the red bloodsurging through his veins.

His eyes grow bright with pride as he looks out upon the land,a wide circle of which he calls his own.

And the man, the owner of a wide stretch of real estate, consciousof a great awaking of self-respect in his being, stands erect at thedoor of his own house, on his own property, and feels that no onebetter than he is, shall pass him by all day.

How the consciousness of independence, the feeling of self-respect,will sustain this man through many hardships, disappointmentsand trials!

In a short time one or two cows take the place of the dingycans of the milkman, and some young grunters in the hog penrepresent the meat-market.

After some years are past we visit the scene again. There is noloneliness here now, for it is harvest time, and the farmer and hissons are busy in the fields, his wife and eldest daughters busy inthe house preparing for the keen appetites the men will bring inwith them. The first rude shanty has given place to a nice two-storyframe house, well sheltered from sun and wind by the healthyyoung trees the farmer planted with his own hands, and in therear are the snug barn and granary.

Where once the wild prairie grass waved, comes the cheery clatterof the harvester, and swath after swath of the golden grain fallsdown before it.

By and by the younger children return from school, rosy andhungry, and a small skirmisher is thrown out and enters the pantry;he is repulsed and falls back on the main body; then, takingadvantage of the "good woman," being obliged to run to theoven to keep the bread from burning, the whole force advance, apie is spiked and carried off in triumph.

As the shades of evening fall, a herd of cattle march lazily intothe farm yard, and then from the field come the farmer and hissons. Lonely, indeed! Why the noise of Babel is renewed here.Dipping his hot face in a basin of cool water, the farmer spluttersout his directions; seizing a jack towel, he scrubs his face, andcontinues to halloo to Mike, and Tom, and Patrick. Why,theboss has come back. Ay, but

All things come to an end, so does the farmer's supper; andas we sit with him on the porch outside we say,

"It will do," he answers quite carelessly; but he can't fool us.We know that he is proud of his success.

We are not romancing. We have drawn a picture from theoriginal, which can be duplicated a thousand fold in this State.

It is not individual success alone we can point to, but likewisethe success of whole farming communities, where the people commencedpoor—many of them, perhaps the majority, with scarcelyany means at all—under disadvantages that would now appear tous, with railroads and markets on every side, almost insurmountable,and where to-day we cannot find one exceptional case offailure without an exceptional cause for it.

Thoroughly acquainted with the Catholic settlements in Minnesota,we cannot call to mind a case where a hard-working, industrious,sober man failed to make a comfortable home for his family.We know of many cases where such a man met with reverses, losthis crop, his cattle, his horses; but never a case where a man methis reverses with a brave heart and trust in God, that he did notovercome them, and come out of the battle a better and prouderman.

Let a poor man in the city find his all swept away from him,[Pg 8]and what does he do? He slinks into its alleys and lanes, hispleasant, decent rooms are changed for one foul room in a tenementhouse, from whence, after a little, charity carries him to apauper's grave.

We have spoken of the general prosperity of our Catholic settlementsin Minnesota, and we have not to travel far from its capitalto find some of them—only into the adjoining county, Dakota, oneof the very finest in the State.

Fully two-thirds of the lands of the county are owned (mind,owned.) by Catholic settlers, Irish and German.

Some twenty-five years ago, a few poor Irishmen settled in thetimber in this county. It was very generally supposed, at thattime, that people could not live on a prairie in Minnesota; but byand by, those who had settled in Dakota county found out theirmistake, and commenced making claims on the adjoining prairie,Rosemount prairie, to-day the garden of Minnesota.

But not before Hugh Derham, of the County Meath, Ireland,now the Honorable Hugh Derham, came along and put up hisshanty on the prairie. "I had seven hundred dollars," he said tous some time ago, "when I came on here; oxen were dear then, andwhen I had a yoke bought, together with a cow, and my shantyup, I had little or none of the money left. But I went to work,broke up all the land I could, got seed, put in my first crop, andlost every kernel of it."

To-day this man owns four hundred acres of improved land, ina circle round his house. Fifty dollars an acre would be a lowvalue to put on his land. Some four years ago his neighbor, aman of the name of Ennis, bought one hundred and twenty acresof land adjoining, for something like ten thousand dollars.

When Hugh Derham settled here there was not a railroad nearerthan two hundred miles of him, now passengers on the Milwaukeeand St. Paul Railroad, passing within half a mile in front of hishouse, point from the windows of the cars to his place, as a modelhome of a thrifty farmer.

His handsome, two-story frame house stands embowered in theorchard and shade trees, sturdy Hugh Derham planted with hisown hands; his barn alone cost three thousand dollars; he hasflocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and horses as he requires them;and he has a good wife, who assisted him in his early struggles,healthy, fresh and handsome still. He has had his eldest daughterat a convent school, and bought for her last year a five hundreddollar piano. It is said that he has some ten thousand dollarsloaned out at interest.

If you came along, and we were inclined to brag, and show youa specimen of our Catholic farmers in Minnesota, we would bringyou direct to Hugh Derham, not for his herds, and stock, and wellfilled granary—he is surpassed by many of our farmers in all these—butfor the look of respectable thriftiness all around him. Thereis his next neighbor, Wm. Murphy, another well-to-do, respectablefarmer, not perhaps as well off as Derham, but still able tobear some time ago a loss of five thousand dollars by fire, and tomake no poor mouth about it. Another neighbor, Mich. Johnson,a prosperous man, better still, a high spirited, fine fellow, and anearnest worker in the cause of temperance. Another neighbor,Tom Hiland, as rich a man as Derham. In the next township, theBennetts—three or four brothers that a poor but good, intelligent,widowed mother, with much struggling, managed to bring West,and locate on government land. These brothers now farm fivetimes as much land as Derham, and raise five times as much wheat.

And as we have been led into giving individual cases of success,—notat first intended, for such cases must be always in certainfeatures more or less exceptional—we will give one more, that ofMich. Whalen of Whalen township, Fillmore county.

His history is a remarkable one, as told by himself to us;remarkable in his brave struggle for independence, his sagacity,and final success. We give some points:

About thirty years ago Mich. Whalen landed from Ireland inNew York. He was then forty years of age, and had a wife andeight children—all his wealth.

Yes, his wealth, he thought, if he could but reach with them thebroad acres of the West.

So he sawed wood for seventy-five cents a cord in the city ofNew York: the more he sawed the less he liked the work, andmaking a brave effort he found himself, with wife and children,squatted on one hundred and sixty acres of government land inFillmore county, Minnesota.

When the land came into market he was not able to pay thegovernment price, one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, butCapt. McKenney, the then receiver of the U. S. Land Office, managedto give him time, and the next year's crop enabled him topay up. At this time John, his eldest of six sons, was sixteenyears of age, and able to help his father.

To-day Mich. Whalen is the owner of thirteen hundred acresof land in Fillmore county. The village of Whalen with millsand a fine water power, is on his land: or rather, on the land ofhis son John, for as the boys get married the old man gives them[Pg 10]title to portions of the land, on which they build. There isanother mill within a few rods of the old homestead, and there isnot less than from six thousand to ten thousand bushels of wheatraised on the farm each year.

"Why, Mr. Whalen," said a friend some time ago, "you goton splendidly; with such a large and almost helpless family at thebeginning, I don't see how you could have managed it."

"We put our trust in God,avourneen!" replied the old man,"and we stuck together."

Where were the special advantages in this man's case; which enabledthe poor wood-sawyer of New York to become one of thesolid men of a rich county?

They are to be found in the fact that he was blessed with goodchildren, who, as they grew up and became able to help him, remainedat home and did help—and amply are they rewarded for itto day—

But it is of the general prosperity of our Catholic settlements inMinnesota that we wish more particularly to speak, for as a generalrule there is no business which has not its representative successfulmen.

Dakota County being close to the capital of the State, (St. Paul,)and possessing the advantage of having, on the Mississippi River,a market for its produce, at a time when there was not a mile ofrailroad in the State, was settled up at an early day. Among itssettlers were Irish and German Catholics. From that period outthese settlers have not alone held their own, but, year after yearreceiving fresh additions to their numbers, they have advancedfrom township to township, buying improved farms and wild land,until, as we have stated before, two-thirds of the lands of thecounty belong to them.

Travel which side you will, and you shall find evidence that one"can read as he runs" of their prosperity, intelligence and respectability;handsome houses, good offices, young orchards, ornamentalplanting, and the grand big wheat fields around, which have suppliedthe means to build up those pleasant homes.

Traveling along down the Mississippi to the eastern boundary ofthe State and taking a wide range of country on the Minnesotaside of the river, we find many prosperous settlements of ourpeople. Again southwest, up the beautiful valley of the MinnesotaRiver, in Scott, Sibley, Le Sueur, Nicollet and Blue Earthcounties, there are numerous Catholic settlements, both in thewoods and on the prairie. So, too, in the midland counties of Rice,[Pg 11]Steele, Waseca, Olmsted, Dodge and Mower counties, our people aresettled, prosperous and happy, their valuable farms giving ampleand cheerful evidence, how bountifully the soil rewards honestlabor. Nor, in their prosperity, have they forgotten Him fromwhom all blessings flow.

Where a few years ago the Catholic settlers, few and poor,waited anxiously for the visit of the priest, and where the holysacrifice of the mass was offered up in the settler's cabin, we nowfind the resident priest, the handsome church, and in manyinstances, the Sisters' school. In those settlements the wholeatmosphere is Catholic; here, with no bad influences around them,the young people grow up pure and virtuous, with the love of theirreligion warm in their hearts. An ample reward to their parents,those brave men, the early settlers, who displayed such indomitableperseverance in their battle for

They had to steer their way with the compass, over tracklessprairies, often while the snow lay upon the ground, to blaze theirway through the forest or follow an Indian trail, carrying theirprovisions on their backs, and when the claim shanty was put upand the provisions exhausted, the new settler would often have toreturn twenty, forty, sixty miles to some place where he could buya few more pounds of flour, and with this and perhaps half abushel of potatoes to put in the ground, he would again set off tohis new claim.

But in all the privations they went through, those connectedwith religion they felt the most. And, praise be to God, amongthe earliest evidences of their growing prosperity was the erectionof temples to His worship, that to-day, on every side, ornamentthe State. Wherever in the State there is a clustering of Catholicsettlements, there you will find a clustering of Catholic churches.

RELIGIOUS AND MORAL VIEW OF THE QUESTIONOF IMMIGRATION TO THE LAND.

To a Catholic, this is, after all, the most important view, andmust not be overlooked; at the same time it is obvious that itcannot be done justice to in a condensed pamphlet of this kind.

There is about the same difference between the moral atmosphereof the rural Catholic colonies to which we invite our people,and the back streets and alleys of the over-crowded city, as there isbetween the pure air of the prairie and the foul air of the city lane.

Some time ago, a friend from the East, to whom we were showingsome of our Catholic settlements, said to us,

"Why, it is not surprising that the people settled out here inthe country should be moral and religious, they have much tomake them so, and nothing to make them otherwise in their surroundings;but look at our poor people, huddled together in thetenement houses of New York. When you find them good, givethem praise."

"Oh, yes," he answered; "but the great danger is to the children.The priest does his best, the Catholic parent grounded inhis religion before he ever saw a city does his best, but his circumstancescompel him to live where the foul air reeks with blasphemy,and low debauchery; vice and drunkenness are ever before theireyes."

This is a very sad picture, but a very true one. It is a fearfulreality before the eyes of many a poor Catholic parent, who obligedto be continually absent from his children, knows but too well thesociety they are likely to fall into.

In our Catholic colonies in Minnesota a parent has no suchdread. He knows where his boys are on week days; they are helpinghim on the farm. He knows where they are on Sundays; theyare with him at church. When they are amusing themselves, heknows that they are with the young people of his neighbors, theircompanions and co-religionists.

Here, too, the anxious heart of the loving mother is at rest; forshe sees her daughters associating with the good and innocent oftheir own age, and growing up pure and virtuous.

"God made the country and man made the town," is an oldsaying. The immigration of those of our people adapted to agriculturallife from the city to the land will be a benefit, not aloneto themselves, but to those they leave behind. By this healthfuldrain the latter will be left more room, and have more opportunitiesto better their condition.

From any side we view it, it is a great and good work to encourageand labor for Catholic immigration to the land, whereindependenceshall reward labor, and Catholic zeal shall spread ourholy faith over the fertile prairies of the West.

We would be very sorry to see, even if it was practicable, ourpeople leaving the citiesen masse. Many of them, well adaptedfor city life, rise to prosperity and social position in the city.Some to high professional or business standing, others to moderaterespectable independence; others, in humbler walks of life, todecent homes of their own, and the city affords to the well broughtup children of such homes, many solid advantages. We want fullrepresentation for our people in the city, and full representationon the land. By encouraging those of our people adapted, andbest adapted for agricultural pursuits, to seek the land, we benefitthem and benefit those who remain behind as well, for we givethe latter healthy room and more opportunities: in a word, weimprove the condition of our people, both in the city and in thecountry.

A STATEMENT IN REGARD TO THE RELATIONSWE HOLD TOWARDS IMMIGRANTS.WHAT THEY MAY EXPECT.

The great drawback to organized colonization is, that peopleexpect too much; therefore we will be explicit, and state exactlywhat is proposed to be done for those coming to the Catholic coloniesof Minnesota. In the first place, they will get in this pamphlettruthful and full statistics of the State, so far as those statisticsare of interest to them; they will also get full details in regard toour colonies, and all the directions and information necessary.

When they arrive here (in St. Paul,) by calling at the office ofthe Catholic Colonization Bureau they will be directed to whichevercolony they may wish to go. Arrived at the colony, theywill be shown over its lands. Then when the immigrant hasmade his selection and taken possession, he must depend fromthenceforth, on himself, and the more he does so the more he willfeel himself a man.

The Catholic immigrant coming now to Minnesota will not besubject to the severe trials and hardships the early settlers encountered,while he will be altogether exempt from the religious andsocial privations they had to bear through many lonely years.

The immigrant is now conveyed to the Catholic Colony he mayselect, by railroad train, and finds before him church and priest,market and settlers; nevertheless he should be a man possessingthat noble quality which western life so well develops—

And here is the proper place to speak of the class of personswhom we can confidently invite to our Catholic colonies—

Not necessarily those who have heretofore been engaged altogetherin agricultural pursuits, but persons who come to settle onfarms, and who are able and willing to hold the plow. The poorman to succeed on a farm in Minnesota, must hold his own plow,and do his own chores; and, above all, have courage and strengthto depend upon himself.

If he has a good, healthy, cheerful, wife, who prefers the prattleof her children to the gossip of the street, why, all the better—lethim come along, and we will put him on the road to

MINNESOTA.

The State contains 83,153 square miles or 53,459,840 acres, andis, therefore, one of the largest in the Union. It occupies the exactcentre of the continent of North America. It lies midway betweenthe Arctic and Tropic circles—midway between the Atlantic andPacific oceans—and midway between Hudson's Bay and the Gulfof Mexico. It embraces the sources of three vast water systemswhich reach their ocean termini, northward through Hudson'sBay, eastward through the chain of great lakes, and southwardvia the Mississippi River. It extends from 43-1/2° to 49° of northlatitude, and from 89° 29' to 97° 5' of west longitude; and is boundedon the north by the Winnipeg district of British America, on thewest by the Territory of Dakota, on the south by the State ofIowa, and on the east by Lake Superior and the State of Wisconsin.

In official reports before us, we find many interesting extractsfrom the writings of well-known public men, agriculturists, geologists,professors in various branches of science, engineers, surveyorsand government officials, who have visited Minnesota atvarious times on business or pleasure, and who have borne enthusiastictestimony of her resources, the fertility of her soil, thehealthfulness of her climate and the beauty of her scenery.

In the official report of General Pope, who was commissionedby the government to make a topographical survey of portions ofthe State, we find the following sentence, which embraces almostall that can be said in praise. He says:

"I knowofno countryonearthwhere somanyadvantagesare presented to thefarmer and manufacturer."

The adaptability of our rich soil for all the staple crops, asproven by experience, the large yield per acre in wheat, oats,potatoes, &c., &c., the immense quantity of good land in largebodies, the truly magnificent water power within the State, andso beneficently located in its different sections; all these advantages,seen beneath a sky always bright, and in a climate at all[Pg 16]seasons healthy, may well account for the enthusiasm whichinspired the above eulogy on Minnesota.

The accredited correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, who visitedthis State some three years ago, is equally enthusiastic in hispublished letters to his paper. We give two extracts from thoseletters.

In the second extract we give, this correspondent expresses himselfin language very similar to that made use of by General Pope.He says, still speaking of Minnesota:

We will close these brief extracts—taken from the writings ofpersons well qualified to form a sound judgment on the subjectthey were discussing, and totally unconnected personally with theinterests of Minnesota—with two extracts from a speech of thedistinguished statesman, Hon. Wm. H. Seward, delivered in St.Paul, the capital of our State, so far back as 1860.

GENERAL STATE STATISTICS.

In the following we have borrowed much from authorized Statereports, adding our own comments when necessary.

Minnesota abounds in lakes of great beauty. They are fromone to fifty miles in diameter, and are well stocked with a varietyof fish. Those beautiful lakes are found in every portion of theState, sparkling on the open prairie, hidden in groves, or restingcalm and pure in the depths of the silent forest.

"It may be interesting," says John W. Bond, Secretary of theMinnesota State Board of Immigration, "to note the areas of afew of the largest lakes in our State. Lake Minnetonka contains16,000 acres; Lake Winnebagoshish, 56,000 acres; Leech Lake,114,000 acres; and Mille Lacs, 130,000 acres. Red Lake, whichis much larger than any other in the State, has not yet been surveyed.

"The above estimate of 2,700,000 acres in lakes does not embracethe vast water areas included in the projected boundary linesof the State in Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods, and alongthe great water stretches of the international line."

The importance to the State of having Lake Superior as anoutlet for its produce cannot be overestimated. The day is notdistant when a large amount of grain will be shipped in bulk fromthe Minnesota harbor (Duluth) on Lake Superior, to the Liverpoolmarket in England.

Minnesota has five navigable rivers. The Mississippi (TheFather of Waters,) having its rise in Lake Itaska, in the northernpart of the State.

The Minnesota, rising in Dakota Territory and flowing througha large portion of the State empties into the Mississippi, fivemiles above St. Paul. It is navigable, in favorable seasons, about300 miles.

The Red River of the North, forming the northwestern boundaryof the State for a distance of 380 miles, and navigable about 250.

The St. Louis River, flowing into Lake Superior on our northeasternboundary, a distance of 135 miles.

Besides these, the largest rivers are the Root, Rum, Crow, Sauk,Elk, Long Prairie, Crow Wing, Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Maple,Cobb, Watonwan, Snake, Kettle, Redwood, Wild Rice, Buffalo,Chippewa, Marsh, Pomme de Terre, Lac qui Parle, Mustinka, YellowMedicine, Two Rivers, Cottonwood, Cannon, Zumbro, Whitewater,Cedar, Red Lake, Straight, Vermillion, and others. These,with a vast number of smaller streams tributary to them, ramifyingthrough fertile upland and grassy meadow, in every section ofthe State, afford invaluable facilities for the various purposes oflumbering, milling, manufacturing and agriculture.

In connection with her rivers, we will say that Minnesota hasperhaps the finest water power, within her bounds, to be found inthe world. This power is found all over the State, and thoughonly very partially developed, it serves to manufacture 2,600,000barrels of flour annually, and runs 250 saw mills.

Minnesota is neither a timber nor a prairie State; yet it possessesin a large degree the advantages of both, there being unquestionablya better proportion of timber and prairie, and a moreadmirable intermingling of the two than in any other State. Itis estimated that about one-third of Minnesota is timbered land,of more or less dense growth. In Iowa, it has been officially estimatedthat only about one-tenth to one-eight of the State istimbered.

On the head-waters of the various tributaries of the extremeUpper Mississippi and St. Croix rivers is an extensive forestcountry, known as the "pine region," comprising an estimatedarea of 21,000 square miles. Extending in a northeasterly and[Pg 19]southwesterly direction, about 100 miles long, and an averagewidth of 40, is the largest body of hard-wood timber between theMississippi and Missouri rivers. It lies on both sides of the MinnesotaRiver, comprising in all an area of 5,000 square miles, andis known as the "Big Woods."

Prominent among the questions proposed by the immigrantseeking a new home in a new country, are those concerning theclimate, its temperature, adaptation to the culture of the grandstaples of food, and its healthfulness.

"The climate of Minnesota has often been the subject of unjustdisparagement. 'It is too far north;' 'the winters are intolerable.'These and other similar remarks have found expression by thosewho should have known better. To the old settler of Minnesota,the seasons follow each other in pleasing succession. As the sunapproaches his northern latitude, winter relaxes its grasp, streamsand lakes are unbound, flowers spring up as if by the touch ofsome magic wand, and gradually spring is merged into the bright,beautiful June, with its long, warm days, and short, but cool andrefreshing nights. The harvest months follow in rapid succession,till the golden Indian summer of early November foretells theapproach of cold and snow; and again winter, with its short daysof clear, bright sky and bracing air, and its long nights of cloudlessbeauty, completes the circle."

"Men," says the late J. B. Phillips, Commissioner of Statistics,"suffer themselves to be deluded with the idea that heat is in someway a positive good, and cold a positive evil. The world is inneed of a sermon on the gospel and blessing of cold.

"What is there at best in the indolent languor of tropic siestasfor any live man or woman to be pining after? Macauley, afterhis residence in India, did not. He said that you boiled there fouror five months in the year, then roasted four or five more, and hadthe remainder of the year to 'get cool if you could.' 'If youcould!' No way of refrigerating a tropic atmosphere has everyet been devised; while you can be perfectly comfortable in anynorth temperate zone."

"The healthfulness of Minnesota is one of its strongest points.Having been, for a long time, a sanitary resort for persons threatenedwith pulmonary complaints, it has disappointed no reasonableexpectation. It is equally favorable for those afflicted withliver diseases. Thus for the two great organs in the tripod of life,[Pg 20]the liver and lungs, that is for two-thirds of life, Minnesota offersthe most favorable conditions. She is more exempt from paludialfevers then any new State settled in the last half century. Thefearful cost of human life it has required to subdue the soil in theStates along the line of lat. 40° has never been estimated. Witha moist, decaying vegetation, and a certain intensity and durationof summer and autumn heat, sickness of that kind is certain tocome, no matter what they maysay about having 'no sicknesshere.' It always exists when the requisite conditions are present.Freed from the depressing influence of this decimating foe, theaverage Minnesotian eats with a craving appetite, sleeps well,moves with a quick step and elastic spirits, and fights his life-battlesturdily and hopefully to the issue."

The mean yearly temperature of our Minnesota climate, (44.6,)coincides with that of Central Wisconsin, Michigan, Central NewYork, Southern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine; but inthe dryness of its atmosphere it has, both for health and comfort,at great advantage over those States. It is well known that dampnessis the element from whence come sickness and suffering,either in cold or warm weather, and the dry atmosphere of winterin Minnesota, at an average temperature of 16°, makes the cold lessfelt than in warmer but damper climates several degrees farthersouth.

With the new year generally commences the severe cold of ourwinter, but for the last few seasons the old Minnesota wintersseem to be giving place to much milder ones. During last winterthe thermometer, in the most exposed places, scarcely ever markedzero, and now, on the 21st of December—weeks after they havehad fierce snow storms south and southwest of us—good sleighingin Chicago and St. Louis—we are getting our first regular fall ofsnow, (only a slight sprinkling before,) which is falling unaccompaniedwith either wind or cold and giving a good promise ofmerry sleigh rides during the Christmas holidays.

Whether or not there has come a permanent change in ourMinnesota winters, brought about by causes affected by populationand settlement, we cannot say; but that such a change would notbe acceptable to many of our old settlers we are convinced; notcertainly to the enthusiast who writes as follows of our old, crisp,bright winters:

"Winter in Minnesota is a season of ceaseless business activity,and constant social enjoyment; and by those accustomed to longwintry storms, and continued alternations of mud, and cold, andsnow, is pronounced far preferable to the winters in any section of[Pg 21]the Northern States. Here there is an exhilaration in the crispatmosphere which quickens the blood, and sends the boundingsteps over the ringing snow with an exultant flurry of good-spiritsakin to the highest enjoyment."

Doubtless this was written from the stand-point of warm robes,a light cutter, a fast horse, and tingling sleigh-bells; neverthelessit is in the main true. When the surface of the body is warmlyclothed, one can enjoy out-door exercise in the winter with everycomfort.

The greatest and only objection that we find against the winterseason in Minnesota, is its length.—It is true that, as a generalrule, we have all our spring wheat in the ground, and for the mostpart over ground, before the end of April.—This infringement ofwinter, as we may term it, upon the domain of spring, is thedraw-back to our climate.

It is a slight one compared to those of other climates, wherespring brings with its flowers, fever, ague, and chills.

The summer months are pleasant. We have hot days, as onecan judge by bearing in mind that our wheat crop is put into theground, cut and often threshed, all within three months, but ournights are always beautiful and cool. Then comes autumn, whenthe wayside copse, blushing at the hot kisses of the sun, turnsscarlet, and every tint of shade and color is seen in the variegatedfoliage of the forest; and then the hazy, Indian summer—nothingso lovely could last long on earth—when forest and prairie, dell andhighland, palpitate with a hushed beauty, and to live is happinesssufficient.

Pure air is health, life. Winter and summer, fall and spring, theair of Minnesota, free from all malaria, is pure. We promise tothe new settler making a home on land in Minnesota, plenty ofhard work, and the best of health and spirits—so far as climatehas any effect on those blessings, and it has a great deal—whiledoing it. It will not be necessary for him to get acclimated, butto pitch right in.

Disturnell, author of a work on the "Influence of Climate inNorth and South America," says that "Minnesota may be said toexcel any portion of the Union in a healthy and invigorating climate."

In connection with this very important subject, health, the followingcomparative statement as to the proportion of deaths topopulation, in several countries in Europe and States in theUnion, will be read with interest:

The above is so conclusive an exhibit in confirmation of thehealthfulness of the Minnesota climate, that it exhausts the subject.

Under this head, the late J. B. Phillips, Commissioner of Statistics,from whose work we have already quoted, says:

"The soil of the arable part of the State is generally of the bestquality, rich in lime and organic matter, and particularly welladapted to the growth of wheat, over 26,400,000 bushels of whichcereal were produced in 1873, and over 30,000,000 in 1875.Although its fertility has never been disputed, these authenticfigures prove it beyond question. Good wheat lands in a favorableseason will produce from 25 to 30 bushels to the acre. I believethe whole county of Goodhue, in a yield of between 3,000,000 and4,000,000 bushels, very nearly averaged the first figures in 1875.A great portion of the State is equally adapted to stock raising,and many farmers think it would be more profitable."

We will add to this, by way of a note, that in 1877, aswill be seen on another page, Minnesota with only 3,000,000acres of her land under cultivation, produced 35,000,000 bushelsof wheat, almost all No. 1 quality, and that Goodhue County,mentioned in the extract quoted, had a yield of 4,050,250 bushels.

We know of no country where stock, horses and sheep, do betterthan in Minnesota, and we believe that it will be found true thatthe climate conducive to the health of human beings is one whereall kinds of domestic animals will thrive.

We had, some time ago, a very interesting conversation withMr. Featherston, an English gentleman residing in GoodhueCounty, on this subject.

He informed us that he had farmed in England, in the State ofNew York, in Kansas, and now in Minnesota, and he was neverin a place where sheep and stock did better than here. "Iattribute this," he said, "to the dryness of our winter weather.Sheep here are not weighed down with wet fleeces; and as for cattle,[Pg 23]they suffer more in southern Kansas, where they can remain out allthe year, than they do here in the coldest days of winter."

"Easily accounted for," he replied. "One part of the day, inKansas, it will be raining, the coats of the cattle will be saturatedwith wet, then it comes on to freeze, and they become sheetedwith ice; this is very injurious to the health of a beast. Sheepraising in Minnesota I have found very profitable farming indeed."

"Well," he replied, "I was home in England two years ago,traveled about a good deal, and did not see any soil equal to thesoil of Minnesota."

Now, in speaking of Minnesota for stock-raising, it must beborne in mind that it is more expensive to keep cattle here, wherethey must be fed many months in the year, than where they canrun at large the whole year; but, if properly housed during winter,young cattle fed on wild hay—which can be put up for $1.50 perton—will come out in the spring in fine condition.

The opportunities of getting wild hay in the localities where ourCatholic colonies are located, are not surpassed in any part of theState; and it will be borne in mind that if there is extra expenseand trouble in raising cattle here, there is also extra good pricesto get for them. A steer that will sell for $10 in places where,like Topsey, he "just grows," will sell here for from $30 to $40.

The following, taken from a late report of a committee of theChamber of Commerce, St. Paul, will be read with interest:

"Our climate and soil appear to be peculiarly adapted for grazingpurposes. Its healthfulness for cattle of every kind is wellestablished. The abundant and prolific yield of both tame andwild or natural grasses, of every description incident to the West,affords abundant and cheap pasturage during the summer, and thechoicest of hay for winter, which is produced at less expense perton than in most of the States in the Union. If necessary, yourcommittee could refer to countless instances in regard to the profitof raising stock in the State. The demand for horses has alwaysbeen in excess of the supply. Thousands are introduced intoour midst every year from the adjoining States. The demand willincrease as the country west of us becomes settled. Choice herdsof cattle have been imported into the State during the past fewyears, attended in every instance, as far as your committee havebeen able to learn, with much profit to the enterprising partieswho embarked in the lucrative business. The dairy is beingintroduced in the shape of cheese and butter factories in many[Pg 24]neighborhoods and attended with much success. It appears thatshipments of both these home products have been made toEngland with satisfactory results. The sheep-fold to some extenthas been neglected, but those who have engaged in wool-growingare greatly encouraged. Flocks of sheep brought from the Easthave, with their progeny, improved to such an extent by the influenceof our climate, that they have been repurchased by thosefrom whom they were originally bought, and transported backEast to improve the breed of their stock. The wool becomes of afiner texture when produced in our State, also an increase in sizeof the carcass of the sheep."

The advantages which our present Catholic colonies afford,abounding in nutritious grasses and the best quality of wild haylands, will we trust turn the attention of settlers to stock raising,butter packing and cheese factories, and we are informed thatsome enterprising parties are going to establish one of the latterat Clontarf, in Swift County Colony. Farming to be prosperousthe industry on the farm must be diversified; there should berotation of crops. It will not do to depend altogether on wheat orto be too ambitious to have a great breadth of it under cultivation;not an acre more than the farmer knows he will be well able tohave out of the ground in good season, making no chance calculations.

CROP STATISTICS.

In 1849, Minnesota was organized into a territory, and the followingyear, 1850, she had under cultivation 1,900 acres of land.In 1877, she had 3,000,000 acres. In these twenty-seven years,during which the breadth of her cultivated lands has increasedover one thousand five hundred fold, the quality and averagequantity per acre of all the great staple crops have been equallysatisfactory, until we find her to-day, taking the foremost placeas an agricultural State.

To quote from the writings of the Hon. Pennock Pusey, thanwhom there is no more upright gentleman nor one more qualifiedto deal with statistics, we find that

This is not too high praise for Minnesota, when we find thegreat State of Ohio for the last six years failing to raise sufficientwheat for her own consumption, while Minnesota with but2,232,988 acres under wheat, has, after bountifully supplying herown population, exported in 1877 over fifteen million of bushels.

The important position which Minnesota is destined, in thenear future, to assume as a great contributor to the supply of themost important article of food used by the human family, is wellput forward by Mr. Pusey in the paper we have already quotedfrom. He says:

We will now give some extracts from the report of the late J.B. Philips, Commissioner of Statistics. We select from hisreport with great satisfaction, because he has been very careful tomake his calculations rather under than over the truth.

The number of bushels of wheat gathered and threshed, accordingto the returns reported to the Commissioner for the year 1875,was 28,769,736; but there were 77,032 acres unreported, which at17-1/2 bushels per acre, (the general average,) would make a total of30,079,300 bushels.

Illinois, with her large cultivated area, has until recently beenthe largest wheat-raising State. In 1860 she produced 23,837,023bushels, and in 1870 30,128,405 bushels.

"In 1871," says one of her statisticians, "the United Statesproduced 235,884,700 bushels of wheat, of which 27,115,000 are[Pg 26]assigned to Illinois, or about 700,000 bushels more than any otherState."

In 1871 the product of the United States was 230,722,400bushels, of which Illinois had 25,216,000, being followed by Pennsylvania,Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa.

In 1870 Illinois produced 30,128,405. "But," says the sameauthority, "we now (1870) find Iowa close alongside of us, herproduct being 29,435,692 bushels of wheat."

It is to be remarked that neither Minnesota nor California weredeemed worthy of notice in this rivalry of these older States.But in three years from that date Minnesota, as well as Iowa, was"close alongside" of Illinois, raising from 15 millions in 1870 to22 millions in 1872, and 26,402,485 in 1873. In 1874 the wheatproduct of Minnesota was within a fraction of 24 millions. Igive her yields in this table:

I am not aware that any State ever did, or can, show a betterrecord than this for four successive years. I give below a few ofthe

"It will be observed," remarks the Commissioner, "that accordingto these figures Minnesota ranks fourth."

True enough, but fast on the heels of 1875 comes the crop of1877, and with a bounce to 35,000,000 bushels of wheat Minnesotastands at the head of all as a wheat-producing State.

of almost all No. 1 grade. In 50,000 bushels of wheat graded inMinneapolis, something less than 300 bushels graded No. 2, andnone under that figure.

Or 24-1/3 bushels to every acre under cultivation. But the averageis much higher than this, for in the above table no account istaken of the gardens and large breadth of flax under cultivation.

The official report, when published, may differ slightly with theabove, but not to an extent to make any alteration necessary.

	Bushels.	Average per acre.
1872	22,069,375	17.40
1873	26,402,485	17.04
1874	23,988,172	14.23
1875	30,059,300	17.05

Number of acres under cultivation in 1877	3,000,000
Crops.	Bushels.
Wheat	35,000,000
Oats	20,000,000
Corn	12,000,000
Barley	3,000,000
Potatoes	3,000,000
Total	73,000,000

We are informed that, in several instances, land giving wheatfor the last twenty years, without being fertilized or manured,produced in 1877 over twenty bushels of wheat to the acre; a factcreditable to the land, but very discreditable to the farmersengaged in suchland murder.

While Minnesota has, without dispute, established her reputationas a great wheat producer, and the dangers which always liein wait for the growing crops are perhaps less here than in mostof the other western States, still it must not be supposed that wecan expect to be always free from them. If we had any such ideait would have been dispelled by our experience the past season.Never since the State was organized was there a finer prospect ofa magnificent wheat yield than we had during the months of May,June and the first half of July, 1878. It was not that the general cropwas good, but one could not, in a day's travel, find one poor lookingfield; but just as the wheat was within a few days of being fit tocut, a fierce, hot sun, lasting a week or so, came and wilted up thegrain, so that the crop lost materially in quality, weight andmeasure.

Yet this evil had its compensating good. Our corn and potatocrops were very fine, so that our farmers have learned a lesson inthe value of having diversity of crops as a leading feature in theirfarming system, and be it remembered that without system thereis no successful farming.

The following statement is taken from the immigration pamphlet,issued by the Minnesota Board of Immigration for 1878:

Oats is peculiarly a northern grain. It is only with comparativelycool atmosphere that this grain attains the solidity, andyields the return which remunerate the labor and cost of production.[Pg 28]The rare adaptation of the soil and climate of Minnesota tothe growth of this grain, is shown not only by the large average,but the superior quality of the product, the oats of this State beingheavier by from three to eight pounds per bushel than that producedelsewhere.

The following is a statement of the product of oats in Minnesota,compared with that in the other States named:

Year.	No. acres sown.	No. bushels produced.	Average yield per acre.
1868	212,064	7,831,623	36.00
1869	278,487	10,510,969	37.74
1870	339,542	10,588,689	31.02
1875	401,381	13,801,761	34.38
1877	432,194	16,678,000	37.75

	Average per acre.	Bushels to each inhabitant.
Ohio, average of 11 years	23.	9.17
Iowa	28.30	17.80
Minnesota	37.70	23.88

The foregoing exhibits abundantly sustain the extraordinarycapacity of Minnesota for the production of those cereals whichare best produced in high latitudes. Our State is often supposedto be too far north for Indian corn. This is a great mistake,founded on the popular fallacy that the latitude governs climate.But climates grow warmer towards the west coasts of continents;and although its winters are cold, the summers of Minnesota areas warm as those of Southern Ohio.The mean summer heat of St.Paul is precisely that of Philadelphia, five degrees further south,while it is considerably warmer during the whole six months ofthe growing season than Chicago, three degrees further south.The products of the soil confirm these meteorological indications.

The average yield of corn in 1868 was 37.33 bushels per acre,and in 1875—a bad year—25 bushels. In Illinois—of which cornis the chief staple—Mr. Lincoln, late President of the UnitedStates, in the course of an agricultural address in 1859, stated thatthe average crop from year to year does not exceed twenty bushelsper acre.

These results, so favorable to Minnesota as a corn growing aswell as wheat growing State, will surprise no one who is familiarwith the fact established by climatologists, that "the cultivated[Pg 29]plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limits atwhich they will grow."

Among the grasses that appear to be native to the soil of Minnesotaare found timothy, white clover, blue grass and red top.They grow most luxuriantly, and many claim that they containnearly as much nutriment as ordinary oats. So excellent are thegrasses that the tame varieties are but little cultivated. The wildgrasses which cover the immense surface of natural meadow landformed by the alluvial bottoms of the intricate network of streamswhich everywhere intersect the country, are as rich and nutritiousin this latitude as the best exotic varieties, hence cultivation isunnecessary. The yield of these grasses is 2.12 tons to the acre,or 60 per cent more than that of Ohio, the great hay State!

The cultivation of the sugar cane is fast becoming popularamong the farmers of Minnesota, and one Mr. Seth H. Kenney,of Rice county, claims that it can be made more profitable thaneven the wheat crop. The syrup and sugar produced is of thefinest character, possessing an extremely excellent flavor. Anacre of properly cultivated land will yield from one hundred andseventy-five to two hundred gallons of syrup, worth seventy centsa gallon.

	Bushels per acre.
Ohio, average of nineteen years	32.8
Iowa, average of six years	31.97
Minnesota, average of nine years	30.98

	Bushels per acre.
Minnesota, average for five years	120.76
Iowa, average for five years	76.73
Ohio, average for nine years	74.55

The following short extracts are taken from a paper written byCol. D. A. Robertson, of St. Paul, a scientific amateur fruitgrower; one thoroughly conversant with the subject on which he[Pg 30]writes, and to whose disinterested labors in this branch of industrythe State owes much:

"There is no doubt that Minnesota will become a great fruitState, because wherever wild fruits of any species grow, improvedfruit of the same or cognate species may be successfully cultivated.The indigenous flora of Minnesota, embraces apples, plums, cherries,grapes, strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries.We may, therefore, successfully and profitably cultivate the improvedkinds of all these fruits. The conditions of success areonly these:—experience, knowledge and perseverance.

"All kinds of Siberian Crab apples, (which are valuable chieflyfor preserves,) including the improved Transcendant and Hyslop,are perfectly adapted to our climate; and flourish in almost everysoil and situation where any other tree will grow, and also producegreat crops.

"At our State Fair at St. Paul, in October, 1871, there wasa magnificent display of home grown fruits, which would havebeen creditable to any State in the West. Among the numerousvarieties of excellent fruit exhibited in large quantities were thefollowing:

"Apples.—Duchess of Oldenburg, Red Astracan, Saxton orFall Stripe, Plum Cider, Fameuse, Haas, Jefferson County, PerryRusset, American Golden Russet, Yellow Bellflower, RamsdaleSweeting, Geniton, Lucy, Winona Chief, Jonathan, Price's Sweet,Westfield, Seek no Further, Sap, Wagner, Winter Wine Tay,English Golden Russet, Dominie, St. Lawrence, Pomme Gris, BenDavis, Sweet Pear, and about thirty other varieties."

TABULATIONS FROM COMPANY REPORTS.

LENGTH AND LOCATION.

The Railroads of Minnesota, with Termini and Lengths in this State, on June 30, 1876.

Since the publication of the report of the railroad commissioneras given above, showing 1978 miles of railroads in Minnesota;there have been 216 miles built in 1877, and 350 miles in 1878—total,2544 miles now operated in the State. In 1862, we had butten miles of railroad in Minnesota; in 1878, sixteen years afterwards,two thousand five hundred and forty-four miles.

This past year, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad has extended itsline to the British Possessions in Manitoba, connecting with aroad there and giving us direct railroad communication with thevast country lying north of us; while the Southern Minnesota, theHastings & Dakota, the St. Cloud branch of the St. Paul & Pacific,are extending their lines, like arteries, through the heart of theState. In much less than ten years, Minnesota will have the mostperfect railroad system on this continent.

We are proud of the Homestead Law of Minnesota. The Statesays to its citizen: you may be unfortunate, even culpably improvident,nevertheless you and your family shall not be lefthomeless or without means to enable you to retrieve past misfortunesor faults.

Thus the State, in its bountiful protection, says to its citizen,"You may be unfortunate, even blamably improvident, neverthelessthe State shall not allow you and yours to be thrown pauperson the world. Your homestead is still left to you, a competencyat least."

There are also reserved for the settler, free from all law processes,all his household furniture up to the value of $300, 3 horses,or in lieu 1 horse and yoke of oxen, 2 cows, 11 sheep, 3 hogs,wagon, harness, and all his farming machinery and implements;also a year's supply of family provisions or growing crops, andfuel, and seed grain not exceeding 50 bushels each of wheat andoats, 5 of potatoes, and one of corn, also mechanics' or miners'tools, with $400 worth of stock-in-trade, and the library andinstruments of professional men.

This is the beneficent protection which the State throws aroundthe poor man's home. Yet there is one way in which he may forfeitit.

Should he have the misfortune to mortgage his homestead thelaw can no longer protect him; he is in the toils of the moneylender, and should poor crops or other set-backs come to him now,there is every probability that he will lose his home.

We say to our settlers, avoid this fatal error, misfortune almostalways follows it; toil, slave, fast, rather than mortgage yourhomestead.

Name of road.	Termini.	Miles.
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul--
River Division	From La Crescent to St. Paul	128
Hastings and Dakota Division	" Hastings to Glencoe	75
Iowa and Minnesota Division	" St. Paul to Southern State line	127
Iowa and Minnesota Division, Branch	" Mendota to Minneapolis	9
Iowa and Minnesota Division, Branch	" Austin to Lyle	12
Chicago, Dubuque and Minnesota	" La Crescent to southern State Line	25
Central Railroad of Minnesota	" Mankato to Wells	40
St. Paul & Duluth	" St. Paul to Duluth	156
Minneapolis & Duluth	" Minneapolis to White Bear	15
Minneapolis & St. Louis	" Minneapolis to Sioux City Junction	27
Northern Pacific	" Duluth to Moorhead	253-1/2
St. Paul & Sioux City	" St. Paul to St. James	121-1/4
Sioux City & St. Paul	" St. James to southern State line	66-1/4
St. Paul & Pacific, First Division--Main Line	" St. Anthony to Breckenridge	207
" --Branch	" St. Paul to Sauk Rapids	76
" --St. Vincent Extension	" Sauk Rapids to Melrose	35
" "	" Brainerd, 4-1/2 miles south	4-1/2
" "	" a point 12 miles S. of Glyndon to a point 28 miles N. of Crookston	104
St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls	" St. Paul to Stillwater	17-1/2
" --Branch	" Junction to Lake St. Croix	3-1/4
" --Branch	" Stillwater to South Stillwater	3
Southern Minnesota	" Grand Crossing to Winnebago City	167-1/2
Stillwater & St. Paul	" White Bear to Stillwater	13
Winona & St. Peter	" Winona to western State line	288-1/2
Winona, Mankato & New Ulm	" Junction to Mankato	3-3/4
		1978

	Number.
Population in 1870	439,706
Population in 1875	597,407
Population in 1877	750,000

FARM STATISTICS.

We come now to a very important part of our work. Underthis head we have made several calculations, for the guidance ofthe immigrant. They have been made with care, and are, wethink, as nearly correct as it is possible to make such calculations.By a careful study of them the intending immigrant will learn

WHAT HE HAS TO DO WHEN HE HAS SECURED HIS LAND.

THE VARIOUS MODES HE MAY TAKE TO OPEN HIS FARM.

THE EXPENSES INCURRED BY EACH METHOD.

THE EXPENSE OF LIVING UNTIL HIS FIRST CROP COMES IN.

These, with minor details, we have set forth in the followingcalculations. They embrace the case of the poor man with asmall capital and the man with quite a respectable capital, whomay wish to put it in a bank that never fails, and in which he willhimself be the director and owner.

a man requires to settle in one of our colonies, and also, if he canafford it, how advantageously he can lay out a considerable sumfor which he will receive a quick return.

We will take up the poor man's case first, as it is the one wehave the most interest in, and we land him on his land

He puts up a very cheap house; by and by, he will have a betterone—but, in the meantime, he can make this one comfortable,warm and clean—much better than a cheap lodging in a city.

We will give the dimensions of the house as 16 × 18 ft., to bebuilt of single boards; these to be sodded on the outside to anydepth the owner may wish. In this way, he can have a house farwarmer than a poorly put up frame house, at the following cost:

Then he goes to work and breaks up, we will say, 50 acres ofland. He has to live sixteen months before his principal cropcomes in, but he can have his potatoes and corn, planted on thesod, within a few months, to help him out in his living; that is,when he breaks his land the first year, he will plant a portion ofit under corn, potatoes, and other vegetables, sufficient for hisown use, and for feed for his cattle.

He has besides, vegetables, and corn sufficient, that he raised onhis breaking, and two hogs that he raised and fattened on thecorn, and for which we should have charged him two or threedollars. In the fall, his hogs weigh 200 lbs. each, and he can sellthem or eat them; we recommend the latter course.

This sum he will absolutely require to have when he arrives onthe land. To this, in his calculations, he must add his expensescoming here.

We have not here made any calculations in regard to thepurchase of his land, in the first place because the lands aredifferent prices in different colonies, and secondly because most ofour settlers with small means, buy their farms on time, gettingvery easy terms of payments. All information in this respect willbe found in its proper place, when we come to speak of our colonies.It must be born in mind (and it may be as well said here as elsewhere)that the Catholic Bureau owns no lands; we but controlthem and hold them at their original prices for our immigrants.We have also secured advantages in prices and terms of paymentwhich immigrants cannot get outside of our colonies.

This he requires now, and more when he puts in his first crop,but, as he will get time for some, perhaps all, of the followingcharges, we will not charge them to his original capital.

Adding to this the sixty dollars the man earned the first harvest,he has in hand $438.25.

It must be borne in mind that the settler has supported himselfand family for sixteen months, his home is made, stock paid for,his farm opened, and at least $300 added to the value of his land.We will suppose that he plows the second year fifty acres moreand has one hundred acres under his second crop. With this goodset off, we leave him. Now we will give the

for the same number of acres, where a man hires all his workdone. He may prefer to do this, to buying cattle or horses tobreak, as he may be a man who can earn high wages, until hisfirst crop comes in.

Now, the expense of breaking, by right, should not be charged[Pg 37]to the first crop, for it is a permanent value, added to the value ofthe land, and should be calculated as capital: 50 acres broken on afarm of a 160, adds fully $2 an acre to the value of the property.

But in the above calculation, we have not alone charged thefirst crop with the breaking expenses, but also with the cash priceof every dollar's worth of labor expended, until the wheat is inthe railroad elevator, and the owner has nothing more to do,unless to receive his money for it; and yet there is a clear profitover all expenses of $535.00.

In making these calculations, it is necessary to put a certainvalue on the wheat per bushel, and to allow for a certain amountof bushels to the acre, but it will be obvious to any reader that inboth these important items there are continual variations.

The calculations we now give appeared in the edition of ourpamphlet for 1877, and were based, in a measure, on our finewheat crop for that year.

The crop of 1878, as we have already stated, fell short of 1877,and were we basing our estimate on it we should calculate wheatsecond grade at 66 cents per bushel, but the crop of 1879 maysurpass the crop of 1877; taking the average of many years' cropsand prices, our calculations are as near correct as they can bemade.

In our calculation of the smallest sum a man would require,coming to settle on the land, we made an estimate of a very cheaphouse indeed, nevertheless one that can be made warmer thanmany a more expensive one. We give an estimate of the cost ofa frame house 16×24, a story and a half high, with a T addition,and a cellar 12 by 16.

We give the exact expenses of a house of this kind as it standsat present in one of our colonies. It has three rooms up stairswith a hall, two rooms down stairs with a hall and pantry, andhas had one coat of plaster:

A man himself helping, can lessen this item for work, say $25,leaving the cost of the house $330.

In our first calculation we put down as the lowest sum a manwould require to have after his arrival on the land, $409.75. Butin this calculation we gave him a house, such as it was, for $38.75.Now, if he wants the better house we have just described, hiscapital should be $726.

We now come to the case of a man with moderate capital, whowishes to start with a complete outfit of farming machinery, &c.Coming in the spring, in time to commence breaking, the end ofMay, he buys

N. B.—It is calculated that the grain saved by the self-binderover hand work, pays for the wire used in binding, and in labor50 cents an acre is saved, besides the board of two men. We willsoon have twine and straw binders perfected, an improvementwhich will do away with the expense of wire altogether.

With a sulky plow and three horses, our farmer breaks 100 acresof land, and puts it under wheat the following year.

Now, it will be born in mind, that we have charged the firstcrop with horses and machinery, property that, by right, shouldcome under the head of capital; we have charged it with whatwill work the farm for years, and help to produce successive crops,not of one hundred acres, but of two or three hundred acres; andyet, with all the charges, the crop shows a profit of $773.

As a matter of fact, all the ready money the settler will requireto provide himself with machinery, will be ten per cent. on theprice; for the balance he will get two years time at 12 per cent.interest.

GENERAL REMARKS.

While our figures and illustrations in regard to the opening ofa farm, and the expenses attending thereon, have been as explicitand full as our space would permit, still we regard them but as abasis for a variety of similar calculations to be made by intendingimmigrants.

For instance, two friends might buy a breaking team betweenthem, and break, say twenty acres, on each one's farm. One coulddo the breaking, while the other might be doing some other work.

In fact, each man's case has its own peculiar features, which hemust bring his own judgment to bear upon, and we don't pretendto have done more than to have given him a good guide to assisthim in his calculations.

Twenty acres would be a pretty fair breaking for a poor manthe first year, and quite sufficient to enable him to support a smallfamily. We have farmers in the woods, now prosperous men,who for years had not more than from five to ten acres cleared,for it is hard work to clear heavy timbered land, and much easierto plant young trees than to cut old ones down. But heretoforepoor men were frequently deterred from going on prairie land onaccount of the heavy expense attached to fencing their tillageland. This was about the highest item of expense. It is notso now, for in the counties in which our Catholic colonies aresituated, and in the adjoining counties,

is in force, whereby cattle have to be herded during the day, andconfined within bounds during the night. In this way one manor boy can herd the cattle of a whole settlement, and the heavy,vexatious and continual tax of fencing is entirely done away with.

All the lands in our Catholic colonies are prairie lands, and inthe colonies and adjoining counties, as we have already stated, theherd law is in full force.

No one, at the present day, who has any experience in farmingin the West, would settle on an unimproved timber farm. Ittakes a lifetime to clear such a farm, and even then a man leavessome stumps for his grandchildren to take out. But we earnestly[Pg 40]impress upon our settlers the necessity of setting out trees aroundtheir prairie homes. The rapid growth of trees set out on any ofour prairies, is absolutely wonderful. In six years after planting, aman will have nice, sheltering, young groves, around his house.One of the first things a settler should do after breaking up hisland is to set out some young trees, which he can buy very cheap.All our railroads carry such freight free. If he cannot get thetrees he can sow the seed, which will do as well.

For comfort on a prairie, trees are a necessity; but it is worsethan useless, it is loss of time, to set them out, unless they aretaken care of: give them solitude, and keep the weeds and cattlefrom them for a little while, and they will soon be able to take careof themselves. Cord-wood can be bought at any of the railroadstations in our colonies at an average of about five dollars a cord.

While we have shown by figures the good profits which may becalculated upon by an industrious farmer, still, he must not lookfor a great increase of money capital, for some years at least.

While he will be enabled under God, by industry, sobriety andperseverance to give his family a good, comfortable living, it mustbe to the increase in the value of his farm each year, that he mustlook for an increase of capital, to that and the increase of his

Above all things, he must attend to the latter; it is almostincredible the way young stock will increase. A man startingwith one cow will have his yard full of young stock in a few yearsby raising the calves that come to him.

It is a fact that men who came to this State without any meanswhatever, and settled on land, are to-day among our most prosperousfarmers; but they came uninvited, at their own risk, and ifthey had failed, they could only blame themselves.

The case is altogether different in regard to persons coming toour Catholic colonies. They come invited, and depending uponthe information we give to them; therefore, there must be no misunderstandingon either side.

We say to the immigrant, with the capital we have specified,you can open a farm in Minnesota, and if you are industrious,brave and hopeful, we promise you, under God, an independenthome. If you come without this capital, you do so at your ownrisk.

CATHOLIC COLONIES IN MINNESOTA.

We now come to speak of our Catholic Colonies. In doing sowe will be as accurate and as truthful as it is possible to be. At thesame time we recognize the difficulty of making others see thingsas we see them, they are too apt to draw imaginary pictures fromour facts. For instance when we speak of settled communitiesand towns, it should be borne in mind that our oldest settlementwas only opened in the spring of 1876, our two latest in the springof 1878, and that both farms and towns exhibit the rough,unfinished appearance of new places in the West, which it takestime, perseverance and industry to mould into thrifty comeliness;with the aid of the two latter (perseverance and industry) theformer (time) will be but a very short period indeed. We havenow four Catholic Colonies in Minnesota, two in the western andtwo in the southwestern part of the State.

SWIFT COUNTY COLONY.

This is the oldest and doubtless best known of our colonies.The colony lands commence 120 miles west of St. Paul and extendfor 30 miles on each side of the St. Paul and Pacific railroad. Withinthe bounds of the colony are four railroad towns, one of them,Benson, being the county seat; but the two colony towns proper,are De Graff and Clontarf, being organized and run, as they sayout West, by our own people.

In fact, Swift County Colony may very well be spoken of as twocolonies, for the present under one name, the Chippewa Riverdividing the colony lands about in the center, having De Graff onthe east and Clontarf on the west. Each town too, has its ownCatholic church, congregation and resident priest—the Rev. F. J.Swift, pastor at De Graff, and the Rev. A. Oster, pastor at Clontarf.

The colony lands on the east side of the Chippewa, stretch outfrom the town of De Graff, 18 miles in length and 12 miles inwidth, and Clontarf lands on the west side of the river, have equalproportions.

This division and explanation may be of service to correspondents,some of whom frequently write to one or other of theresident priests, for information, in preference to writing directto the Catholic Bureau, in St. Paul.

When Bishop Ireland in 1876, got control of the unsold railroadlands within the present bounds of Swift County Colony, there wasa large quantity of Government lands lying beside these railroadlands, and open for homestead and pre-emption entries, so that agreat number of our people were able to secure farms of 80 and160 acres by merely paying the fees of the U. S. Land Office.

Early settlers too, on the railroad lands, had an opportunity bypaying cash to get their farms much below the market value, forthe St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company (the owner) havingfallen behind hand in paying the interest on its bonds held byforeign capitalists, these bonds became depreciated in the market,but were, nevertheless, good for their full amount, in payment ofthe lands belonging to the company.

In this way we were enabled in the first edition of our pamphletfor the year 1877, to offer lands, much below, in some instances[Pg 43]more than half below, their average value; but as prices dependaltogether on the market value of the bonds, a value which is alwaysfluctuating, we deem it unwise to bind ourselves to arbitraryprices. The average railroad price of lands in Swift CountyColony is $6.50 per acre; the actual cash price, by buying bonds andpaying for the land with same, will be much less than this, andwe will, when called upon get the bonds for the immigrant attheir then value, but what the exact prices of the bonds may beor how long they will remain in the market available for thepurchase of land, we cannot take upon ourselves to say.

In this connection we wish to point out to immigrants, that irrespectiveof paying for land in bonds, for which they must paycash, they can make contracts, on long time, with the company,for their farms.

There are other ways too by which our people can make homesin this well-settled colony. Non-Catholics who were settled inthe county before the colony was established, will be willing tosell out. Homesteaders, too, who got their land free from thegovernment, and made improvements, are frequently anxious torealize a little capital by the sale of those improved farms, and gostill farther west. There is also a large quantity of school andState lands in the county, which will be in the market in 1879;so notwithstanding that the greater part of the colony railroadlands have passed from the control of the Bureau into the possessionof settlers, and that all the government lands have beentaken up, we look forward, with pleasure, to see many more ofour people settling in Swift county next spring. They will find agoodly number of their co-religionists settled before them andanxious to give them a friendly welcome. There are very few of theNew England or Middle States that have not representatives inthe colony.

From a communication received from the Register of the UnitedStates Land Office at Benson, the county seat, we find that sincethe Bureau opened this colony in 1876, 425 Catholic settlershave taken up government land in the colony; of these, 300 familieswere Irish, the remainder Germans, Poles and French. Aboutan equal number of Catholics—a large majority Irish—have takenrailroad lands—80,000 acres of which have been sold; so that wecan claim at least 800 Catholic settlers, with their families, inSwift County Colony at the present writing. Driving west fromDe Graff to Clontarf, seventeen miles, and still eleven miles fartherwest from Clontarf to thePomme de Terre River, one is never outof sight of a settler's house; and some of those farm houses would[Pg 44]be a credit to a much older settlement, for we have settlers whofarm as much as five hundred acres, while others again farm buteighty acres. The general quality of the soil is a dark loam,slightly mixed with sand and with a clay sub-soil, admirably adaptedfor wheat, oats, &c., &c., while the bountiful supply of good waterand the large quantity of natural meadow lands, scattered all overthe colony—there is scarcely a quarter section (160 acres) withoutits patch of natural meadow—give the settler an opportunity tocombine stock raising and tillage on his farm.

The village or town of De Graff has a railroad depot and telegraphoffice; a grain elevator, with steam power—which is the same assaying, a cash market for all farm produce—six or seven stores,with the general merchandise found in a country town; lumberyard, machine warehouse, blacksmith, carpenter and wagon makershops; an immigrant house, where persons in search of land canlodge their families until they are suited; a resident doctor, andresident priest, Rev. F. J. Swift; a fine commodious church; ahandsome school house and pastor's residence. No saloon. Thebusiness men of the town are our own people, and a Catholic fair,for the benefit of the new church, held last fall, and patronizedexclusively by the colonists, netted $1,000 clear.

Traveling along the railroad and passing through Benson,half way between De Graff and Clontarf, we come to the latter, theyoungest town in this young settlement, but it has a very fineclass of settlers around it: west of the village the land is as fineas any in the State, known as the Hancock Ridge.

Clontarf has two general stores, a grain elevator, an immigranthouse, a railroad depot, blacksmith shop, a large church and avery handsome residence for the priest, the Rev. A. Oster. Nopart of the colony is settling up more rapidly than the portionaround Clontarf and several new buildings will go up in thevillage next summer. Swift County Colony is fast beginning towear the features of a settled community. Many of our farmershave harvested this year their second crop; our merchants reportthat they are doing a lively business; bridges are being built,roads laid out, plans of improvement discussed by the settlers; andwe challenge any part of the West to produce a more intelligentrural class.

True to the memory of the old land and their love for theirchurch, the settlers have given familiar names to many of thetownships in the colony, such as Kildare, Cashel, Dublin, Clontarf,Tara, St. Michaels, St. Josephs, St. Francis, &c., &c.

The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, running through the whole[Pg 45]length of the colony, has, by its late extension, become one of thegreat railroad thoroughfares of the northwest, and added muchto the value of the colony lands. Commencing at St. Paul, thecapital of Minnesota, it crosses the Northern Pacific at Glyndon inthis State and continues on to St. Vincent, situated on the lineseparating the State of Minnesota and the British Possessions inManitoba. Here it connects with a railroad just completed andrunning to Winnipeg, the capital of the British province ofManitoba.

GRACEVILLE COLONY.

This colony is located in Big Stone County, west of Swift. Itis our Homestead Colony, and one which we feel very proud of.What is thought of Big Stone County by Western men, in connectionwith stock raising, is shown by the following extract froma published communication.

"Stock raising now receives more attention from the prairiefarmers than ever before, since the erroneous impression heretoforeexisting that the wintering of cattle was too expensive, hasbeen entirely disproved. Numbers of settlers from the lower partof our State, and from Iowa, have removed to Big Stone Countywith large droves of cattle, that they herd on the vast naturalmeadows of that county, which also furnish all the necessary hayfor winter food." We will add to this, that the soil of Big StoneCounty, for agricultural purposes, is deemed as good as any in theState, without exception.

The lands in the county being government lands, we could notof course have any control of them, they were open to all comers;but by prompt action the Bureau located during the months ofMarch, April and May, one hundred and seventy-five families inthe county. Many of those colonists were poor people who wereinduced to leave Minnesota towns and settle on land.

But we will let a resident of the colony, one who has examinedevery quarter section in it and materially aided in its settlement,speak for it.

In answer to a letter from us, Col. J. R. King, a resident ofGraceville, and a practical surveyor, who has acted as agent for theBureau since the opening of the colony, writes:

"During the months of March and April, 1878, a great numberof claims for our people were entered in the United States LandOffice, but before any of them come on to their lands, BishopIreland shipped, in March, five car loads of lumber for erecting achurch building; the church was commenced the same month andcompleted, in the rough, in about three weeks. This is the firstinstance, in my knowledge, where a church was erected in advanceof settlement. Our Right Rev. Bishop must have had a foreknowledgeof what was to follow.

"In the short space of three months there was built, in a radiusof six miles from Graceville Church, over 150 comfortable cabins,and on each claim from five to ten acres broken for a garden andplanted with potatoes, corn, beans, turnips, &c., &c., which yieldedquite a good supply for the present winter. Our colonists had theadvantage of being early on the ground and had their gardensplanted in May.

"The colonists broke during last summer from fifteen to thirtyacres per man, so that next spring they will be able to get inwheat sufficient to carry them through the second winter handsomely.They are all in the very best spirits and could not beinduced to return to the cities—for they already feel independentand masters of the situation.

"The soil here is splendid and the country beautiful. Gentlyrolling prairie, with numerous ponds or small lakes and plenty ofthe finest hay.

"The balance of Big Stone County, outside of our colony, hasall been taken up; a large majority of the claims occupied andsubstantial improvements made by the settlers, who are first class.Traverse County, adjoining us on the north, is fast filling up.

"I must not forget to say that we have good water in abundance;my own well is sixteen feet deep, with as fine, pure water asever was found.

"And now to tell you about our little village, Graceville, namedin honor of our revered Bishop, the Right Rev. Thos. L. Grace.It is beautifully situated on the north shore of one of the two largelakes known as Tokua Lakes, and has three general stores, onehotel, one blacksmith and wagon shop, a very handsome littlechurch and the priest's residence attached. Around the lake is afine belt of timber which adds much to the beauty of the place. Thevillage is 26 miles due east from Morris, on the St. Paul & PacificRailroad, but the Hastings & Dakota Railroad, now built close tothe line, will run through our county next summer; by and by wewill have a cross road running through the colony lands.

"Our resident pastor is the Rev. A. V. Pelisson, a veteran missionary,who is doing a wonderful deal of good, temporal andspiritual, among his people, and is 'the right man in the rightplace,' full of energy and zeal.

"The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered up in our churchevery day, and on Sundays we have High Mass, for Graceville has asweet church choir.

"It is most edifying to see the crowd of men, women andchildren who flock in from all points of the compass to church onSundays. Father Pelisson had the first temporary church takendown and in its place he has erected one of the prettiest andneatest churches in the State; a credit both to the good fatherand his people who so cheerfully assisted in its erection, undermany difficulties.

"From the roof of the church I can count to-day over 70 houseswhere last March there was nothing but a bare prairie. If Godprospers our people next season with good crops, they will beover their difficulties, in a fair way to prosperity."

We do not know that we have anything to add to Col. King'svery graphic and truthful statement in regard to Graceville Colonyand the prospects of its settlers, very many of whom were so poorwhen they went in, that it required Western pluck to face theprairie. The building of the Hastings & Dakota Railroad lastsummer, giving them employment, was a great help.

No doubt they had and will have a rough time of it for a littlelonger, but, they are toiling with hope, with the hope of an honestindependence in the future. And with this hope in his heart, thesettler toils and feels himself "every inch a man."

Traverse County, mentioned in Col. King's letter, has, at thepresent writing, a large quantity of government land open tohomestead and pre-emption entries. (See the Homestead Law inanother place.) There is no doubt too, but that persons, duringthe land excitement last year, made government claims in BigStone County—some within the colony bounds—which, from onecause or another, they will neglect to hold, by not fulfilling theconditions required by the law governing such claims. In allcases of the kind the lands revert to the government and are againsubject to entry. Yet, so rapidly are those lands taken up thatwe cannot promise to our people, coming from the East, thatwhen they arrive, they will find any homestead land adjoining orwithin any of our colonies.

ST. ADRIAN COLONY.

This colony, situated in Nobles County, in the southwesternportion of the State, close to the State line of Iowa, on theLuverne and Sioux Falls branch of the Sioux City and St. PaulRailroad, was opened in September, 1877.

Before going into details in regard to the colony we will givesome extracts from an article (lately published) treating of southwesternMinnesota, where, as we have stated, St. Adrian colonyis located.

"Southwestern Minnesota has made rapid progress in stockraising. As capital increases, and the utility and profit of stockraising become better understood by the farmer, we shall seefine flocks and herds, in addition to the fields of waving grain,and our rich prairies teeming with the life they can so amplysustain. The abundance of clear, sweet water, dry atmosphere,its elevation, rich pasturage, freedom from disease, and direct andready access to all the prominent markets, unite to make Minnesotathe paradise of stock raisers. Good hay can be put in thestack in Southwestern Minnesota for $1.25 per ton. It can besecured without other expense than cutting, and with very littlelabor, enough can be made for the maintenance of a large amountof stock.

"This section has been settled but seven years, yet it is alreadyteeming with a population of wide-awake, industrious people,whose fields are evidences of the innate wealth of the region.The soil of Southwestern Minnesota is adapted to the successfulcultivation of grain, and so celebrated has its grain producingqualities become, that capitalists have put their money into largetracts of land, and have now immense fields under cultivation,and their investments have proven extremely profitable. Thereare farms of 600, 1,000 and 2,000 acres, all producing Minnesota'sgreat staple, wheat. Every year, as the success of these investmentsbecomes known, new and large farms are opening.

"Southwestern Minnesota is on the move, and to those who wishto locate in a thriving, driving, pushing, growing country, nolocality on the green earth promises more faithfully, and nonewill redeem its pledges with greater pride to the wide-awake,[Pg 49]stirring husbandman. The very soil teams with wealth, and theair is laden with the most precious gifts of health."

Making allowance for the rather high coloring of the aboveextracts, its facts are correct. Southwestern Minnesota has manyadvantages for stock raising, its soil is good, none better. Stockraising has been carried on successfully there to the advantage ofa great many poor settlers, and men of wealth have opened largegrain farms in this section of the State; the largest of these farmsadjoins the colony lands of St. Adrian.

Of the 70,000 acres of railroad land which Bishop Ireland holdsthe control of for colony purposes, 22,000 acres have been sold tosettlers.

The colony lands adjoin the railroad town of Adrian. A littleover a year ago it had three houses, now it is one of the brightest,liveliest, most bustling little burgs in Southwestern Minnesota.But, as in the case of Graceville, we will let a resident of St. Adrianspeak for the town and colony. The following is an extract froma letter which we received the other day from the Rev. C. J. Knauf,the pastor in charge of the St. Adrian colony.

Father Knauf resides in the town of Adrian—where immigrants,bound for the colony, leave the train—and takes an activepart in locating immigrants. Father Knauf writes:

"The village of Adrian consisted of three houses when I camehere, September 20, 1877, one year and three months ago to-morrow;now there are 68 houses in the village. We have three hotels,one restaurant (no beer,) three lumber yards, one steam feed mill,four general stores, one drug, two hardware stores, one jewelrystore, one barber shop, one large livery stable, two furniture dealers,four dealers in farming machinery, one shoe maker, one tailor,three blacksmiths, one carpenter shop, four wheat and producebuyers; a public school house, costing $1,800; a Catholic Church,well finished, and the pastor's house, the latter costing $1,840.

"I sold, up to date, 22,000 acres of land. Thousands of acreswere broken last season. I was the first Catholic to arrive here:now we have sixty Catholic families in the colony. Next springwe will have 160 Catholic families, for a great many bought farmslast year, had breaking done—some broke extensively, others moderately—andwill move on, with their families, to their new farms,next spring, in time to put in their first crop."

In explanation of that portion of Father Knauf's letter whichspeaks of parties who have purchased farms in the colony but whohave not moved on to them as yet, we will say, that since theBureau, at the solicitation of many correspondents, agreed to have[Pg 50]land selected and contracts made out for persons anxious to secureland in some one of our colonies, and yet unable, from one causeor another, to come on immediately; a great many have adoptedthis mode to get land.

We find from Father Knauf's letter that he has on his booksthe names of one hundred families who have secured land in St.Adrian colony, and will move on to their new homes next spring,so that he is looking forward to very lively times.

There is also coming out to St. Adrian Colony in the spring abrave-hearted little lady from Brooklyn, N. Y., to get in her firstcrop, and put up her first farm house. She was on here last summer,spent a month or so at St. Adrian, bought 270 acres of land,left money to pay for the breaking of 200 acres, and will come onto settle in the spring. She has no doubt but that she will makethe venture pay, and prefers to make the trial rather than haveher money bearing small interest in the East.

Lands sell in the colony from $5 to $7.50 per acre. A discountof 20 per cent. from these prices is allowed for cash. The conditionsfor time contracts are as follows: At time of purchase,one-tenth of principal and interest on unpaid principal; secondyear, interest only; third year one-fourth of remaining principaland interest on unpaid principal; same for three ensuing years:after the expiration of which the full price of the land is paid.

As an instance, showing the value set on land in this part ofMinnesota, we will state, that school lands, sold last spring, atpublic sale, in the neighborhood of St. Adrian, brought from $7.50to $17 per acre: the price obtained heretofore having been $5 peracre.

On stepping from the train at St. Adrian, last summer, one witnesseda scene of bustle and activity similar to those frequentlydescribed by writers in sketches of Western life in new settlements,with some important exceptions, for neither in Adrian norin any of the towns under the control of the Catholic Bureau,can there be found rowdies, nor the saloons that vomit them forth.This fact may take from the dramatic effect of such sketches, butit is the anchor of family unity and love, the harbinger of prosperity.

The town of Adrian is 197 miles from St. Paul. A daily trainfrom St. Paul to Sioux Falls, D. T., passes through it; it has alsorailroad communication with Sioux City, Iowa.

The lands of the colony are first-class, both for agriculture andstock raising: and to those of fair capital we strongly recommendSt. Adrian Colony.

AVOCA COLONY.

This is the latest opened of our colonies, Bishop Ireland havingonly secured control of the lands last April. It is situated inMurray County (Southwestern Minnesota,) adjoining NoblesCounty on the north, and in the whole 52,000 acres of land securedby the Bishop for the colony, we very much doubt if one poorsection (640 acres) could be found, nor do we suppose that any ofthe land will remain unsold by the 1st of next July.

While the beauty of the location and fertility of the soil, makeAvoca one of the most desirable locations in Minnesota, the easyterms on which a farm can be secured, are additional andsubstantial advantages for men of small means.

The centre of the colony—the village of Avoca, situated on abeautiful lake—is just twenty miles from Heron Lake, a stationon the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, 160 miles southwest ofSt. Paul; but the Southern Minnesota Railroad, which will givethis portion of the State a direct communication with the Milwaukeeand Chicago markets, is now completed to within forty-fivemiles of Avoca, and we expect to see it running through ourcolony lands by next fall. This will give to the settlers in AvocaColony, a direct southern route to Chicago, and a choice of marketsfor their produce: the latter an advantage which farmers can wellappreciate.

The price of lands in the colony are from $5 to $6.50 per acre,on the following easy terms of payment. At the time of purchase,interest only, one year in advance, seven per cent., is required; atthe end of one year, interest only for another year; at the end oftwo years, one-tenth of the principal, and a year's interest on thebalance; at the end of three years, one-tenth of the principal, andinterest on balance; at the end of each year thereafter, twentyper cent. of the principal, and interest on balance; until all is paid.

We will say that January, 1879, a man contracts for 80acres of land at $5 per acre, this will come to $400, with 7 percent. interest, which sums he will have to pay as follows:

The advantage of the terms is, that the principal payments areall postponed until the farmer has had time to raise several cropsfrom his land. A quarter-section of land will support a family,pay for itself, leave after seven years a balance in cash, and beworth more than twice its original value.

We have already selected several 80 and 160 acre farms in Avocafor persons not in a position to come on immediately to the land.Now let us explain how this operates.

An intending immigrant writes to the Bureau to have 80 acresof land in Avoca at $5 per acre, selected for him, (as a general rulea man should take a quarter-section, 160 acres, by doing so hewill be likely to have both meadow and tillage land on his farm.)For those 80 acres, he pays down, before getting his contract fromthe railroad company, one year's interest, $28. He writes onthen, next spring, to the Bureau, to have 30 acres of his land brokenand ready for a crop the following spring—1880. His breakingwill cost at $2.50 per acre, $75. He will have paid the first year$103, and have his land ready for the seed; he comes on then thesecond spring, 1880, pays $28, another year's interest, to the railroadcompany, puts in his crop and has it saved and ready formarket in August. Up to this time—not calculating the expenseschargeable to the crop, which we have estimated already in anotherplace—he has paid out $131, and has his farm opened and in a fairway to pay for itself.

In soil and location the Colony of Avoca is not surpassed in theNorthwest. Nine miles from the village of Avoca there is a largebody of timber. Settlers can also get coal from Iowa.

The Rev. Chas. Kœberl is pastor of the colony, address, Avoca,Murray County, Minnesota. He writes to us under date of December20th, 1878:

"In regard to this colony it promises, thank God, to be a greatsuccess. Since June, when the land sales commenced, we havesold 9,850 acres, and forty-five Catholic families are preparingto move into the colony next spring. Immigrants will have inour village of Avoca, a building where they can leave their familiesuntil they have put up their houses, also a boarding house andstore.

"In speaking of our climate you can boast honestly of its health.Among 200 families belonging to my missionary district, I havenot known of one case of internal disease, during my sevenmonths' stay here. It would be well to particularly mention inyour forthcoming pamphlet, that this is a prairie, not a timbercounty. I receive so many letters asking about the cost ofclearings, &c., &c.

"I expect quite a rush for land in Avoca, next spring, and will beglad if our people come on early, in time to plant potatoes, corn, &c."

In bringing this brief review of our Catholic colonies to a close,we again thank the Catholic press of this country, for its honestadvocacy of Catholic immigration to the land. The favorablenotices its editors have given to our humble labors in our ownfield of duty, and the service rendered to our work thereby, cannever be forgotten by us.

Our friend, P. Hickey, Esq., editor of theCatholic Review, camespecially from New York, last summer to visit our colonies, tojudge for himself; and what he saw, the favorable impressions hecarried away with him, together with sound argument in favor ofCatholic colonization, have appeared, from time to time, since hisreturn, in able and lucid articles from his pen.

God has blessed our labors beyond our expectations. We seeour colonies fast merging into settled communities, where honestlabor goes hand in hand with religion, and where men work notfor a mere pittance from a master's hand, to support them for aday or a week, but with the hope, the prospect, of an inheritancefor their children, in the future.

THE BEST TIME TO COME.

Decidedly the best time for the emigrant to come to Minnesotais the spring. If possible, he should not arrive later than the firstweek in May. He should have his land selected in time to commenceto break for garden stuff and corn about the 20th of May,then he can continue to break, for his next year's wheat crop, upto the early part of July.

The month of June is the month for breaking, for then the grassis young and succulent, and will rot readily. A man coming inthe early part of June can have land broken for his next year'scrop, but he loses the advantages of garden stuff and sod corn tohelp him out in his living until his first crop comes in.

All your bedding that is of value. All your bedclothes. Allwearing apparel, good clothing of every description: nothingmore. Do not think of bringing stoves, nor any kind of housefurniture. You can get all such at the stores in the colonies, orhere in St. Paul, new, for nearly what the freight on your old furniture,worthless and broken, perhaps, by the time it arrived here,would come to. The better way is to sell what you have in thisline, before leaving, and buy here.

We intend that our closing remarks shall treat fully and clearlyon this very important portion of our subject. They will be foundunder the head of

No doubt the country builds up the town, and we look for quite[Pg 55]a building up of our young Catholic towns next summer; but, inthe way of business, stores and mechanics' shops, the home supplyis generally fully up to the demand, and at present we wouldnot feel justified in inviting any one to our Catholic colonies buta man

N. B.—The above are the fares from the points mentioned toSt. Paul. Doubtless persons coming in a large party from thesame place would get special low rates. From St. Paul to any ofour colonies, immigrants are carried for half fare; about $3 for anadult. They also get low rates for baggage &c., &c.

	1st Class.	2d Class.	Immigrant.
New York	$35 25	$30 25	$24 00
Philadelphia	33 50	28 45	24 00
Montreal	36 25	26 00
Toronto	29 25	23 00
Buffalo	29 25	23 00
Cleveland	25 25	20 00
Chicago	15 25	12 00
Milwaukee	12 25	9 00

Immigrants, on arriving in St. Paul, will immediately reportthemselves at the Catholic Colonization Office, situated in thebasement of the Cathedral school building, corner of Sixth andWabashaw streets. There they will be received by an agent ofthe Bureau, who will give them all necessary information andinstructions, also half-fare tickets to railroad points in the Catholiccolonies, and procure for them half-freight charges on goodsand extra baggage. Office hours from 8 o'clocka. m. to 6 o'clockp. m.

A CHAPTER FOR ALL TO READ.

We wish that this concluding chapter of our pamphlet may beread carefully, and thought well over by intending immigrants.

We wish it for their benefit, and our own benefit and protection.It is, we might say, a fearful responsibility to advise another in amatter which contemplates a change in his habits, mode of life,and home, and such a change should never be undertaken, especiallyby a man of family, without a most thorough investigation,not alone as to the place he intends going to, but likewise as to hisown fitness for the change.

When you have examined this pamphlet from cover to cover,then commence an examination of yourself, not forgetting yourwife, if you have one, who is part of you, and a very importantpart in connection with this question of your going upon land.

This is especially necessary if you and your wife have lived foryears in a city and become habituated to city life. It is a greatchange from city life in the East to country life in the West,especially when the part of the country one moves to is new andsettlements just forming.

You are not to expect to realize the advantages of the changeright off; it is through yourself, through your own grit and industry,those advantages must come.

To a Western farmer there is nothing bleak or lonely in a prairie;to a man coming fresh from a city and looking on it, for the firsttime, with city eyes, it may, very likely, seem both. Indeed, asense of loneliness akin to despondency is a feeling which thenewly-arrived immigrant has generally to contend against, a feelingwhich may increase to a perfect scare if he is a man anxiousto consult Tom, Dick and Harry—who are always on hand—as tothe wisdom of the step he has just taken.

We speak from experience, from facts we have a personal knowledgeof. Our labors in the cause of immigration have brought tous much happiness and some pain.

To illustrate: Two immigrants arrived here last year, in highspirits, called at our office a few minutes after landing, and soimpatient were they to go hunt up land that they were quite disappointedto find they would have to stop over one night in St.[Pg 57]Paul. Well, the next morning they called at the office again, allcourage, all desire to go upon land wilted out of them, and informedus that they had changed their minds and were going back toMassachusetts.

Why? Well, they had met a man at the boarding house theystopped over night at, who advised them not to go out and settleon a prairie. He told them, too, that "he was fifteen years inMinnesota and never could get a dollar ahead."

Now here were men, rational to all appearance, having traveledtwo thousand miles or so to settle upon land, when they camewithin sight of the land, as we may say, losing all desire to visitit, all courage, all confidence in disinterested, experienced friends,and in the information they gave to them; in everything but theword of a loafer, who never did a day's good in his life, nor neverwill, and who was anxious to shuffle off the onus of his slipshodcondition from himself to the country.

Here is another case, which occurred a few months after SwiftColony was opened and while the country around looked still wildand lonely.

Two men arrived here from Philadelphia. They went on to theCatholic colony in Swift County, and in a day or two returned,saying that they had made up their minds to go back to Philadelphia.Why? Did they not find everything as it was reportedto them? "Oh, yes, the land was good, and there was a goodchance for a poor man to make a home on it, if he could contenthimself, but it was too lonely for them."

Lonely, to be sure it was; with the noise of the city still ringingin their ears, with its crowds and its gaslights still in their eyes,these men found the prairie lonely, and without pausing to considerall the circumstances, they turned their back upon it.

They were both decent, intelligent men, and, had they remained,taken land, gone to work, opened a farm, and seen their first cropripening, you could no more have got them back to Philadelphiathan you could get them into the penitentiary.

Now, we say to those for whose benefit this pamphlet has beenwritten, if you come here you must come fully prepared to feel theeffects of a great change. If you come from a city, you will,doubtless, feel lonely for a while, until you get accustomed toprairie life; you will miss many immediate comforts; you will haveto put up with discomforts, with disappointments, with trials.The man who feels he can stand up against all such difficulties inthe present, and look bravely to the future for his reward, let himcome to Minnesota. The man who feels within him no such[Pg 58]strength, who is easily disheartened and inclined to listen to theidle talk of every man whom he meets, let him stop away andlisten; better to listen now, where you are, than after going tothe expense of coming here.

To the family man we say: We would much prefer that youshould come on here in the spring and see for yourself beforebreaking up your present home and bringing on your family.

If you settle down, you can send or go for your family; if youare not pleased with the change, there will not be much harmdone.

Another very important piece of advice we give to you: If yourwife is very much opposed to going upon land, do not come out.A discontented wife on a new farm is far worse than the Coloradobeetle. But if she urges you to come, if, in this matter, shethinks of your welfare and that of her children, rather than ofthe society of the gossips she will leave behind her; if she says toyou, "we will have the children out of harm's way anyhow,"then come with a brave heart and the smile of the true wife andmother shall be as a sunbeam in your prairie home.

HOW TO SECURE GOVERNMENT LAND.

Although we cannot promise government land in any of ourcolonies, still we give the following synopsis of the laws affectingsuch land, as likely to be of benefit to those who wish to securehomes in this way.

1.Who may enter.—First, every head of a family; second, everysingle person, male or female, over the age of twenty-one years,who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their intentionsto become such.

2.Quantity that may be entered.—80 acres within ten miles oneach side of a land-grant railroad, and 160 acres without.

4.Time for settlement.—After making his entry the settler hassix months within which to remove upon his land.

5.Length of settlement.—The settler must live upon and cultivatehis entry for five years. At any time after five, and withinseven years, he makes proof of residence and cultivation.

7.Residence.—Single, as well as married men, are required tolive upon their homesteads.

8.Soldiers' Homesteads.—Every honorable discharged soldier,sailor or marine, who served for ninety days, can enter 160 acreswithin railroad limits, upon payment of eighteen dollars. Thetime spent in the service will be deducted from the five years' residencerequired.

4.Requirements.—No settlement is required. By the amended[Pg 60]law only ten acres need be broken and set out in trees on 160acres, (quarter section.)

If the timber entry be but 80 acres, one-half the quantitybefore given is planted; if 40 acres, one-fourth.

A man making a Homestead entry, is also entitled to make aTimber-culture entry. This would give him, outside of the tenmiles railroad grant, half a section of land; a son or daughter,twenty-one years of age, can also enter under the Homestead andTimber-claim acts, half a section; and thus one family can securea whole section of land.

Under this act, a man can enter 80 acres of government land,inside the ten miles railroad limits, price $2.50 per acre; or 160acres, outside the railroad grant, for which he will have to pay,getting two years time $1.25, government price.

If he wishes, he can pay up in six months, on proof of actualresidence, having made the improvements on the land requiredby the law, which are easily done, and get his title; havingsecured this, he can then enter 80 or 160 acres more, under theHomestead act. He cannot Pre-empt and Homestead at the sametime.

None of the government conditions for securing land are atall burdensome to the actual settler; whether required by law ornot, to be a farmer, a man must live upon his land and cultivate it.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

It is the only Northwestern Line connecting in same Depotin Chicago, with any of the great Eastern or Southern Lines,and is the most conveniently located with reference to reachingany depot, hotel, or place of Business in that city.

ASSENGERS approaching Chicago by any Railway, will find Parmalee'sOmnibus Checkman on the trains, who will exchange their checks, andgive them all requisite information. Parmalee's Omnibusses are on hand at alldepots, on arrival of trains, to convey passengers to the depot of this Company.Passenger Agents of this Company are at the several depots, on arrival of connectingtrains, for the purpose of directing and assisting passengers.

A thoroughly ballasted Steel Rail Track, Palace Coachesand Sleeping Cars, and finely upholstered Second ClassCars, all perfect in every particular, equipped with theWESTINGHOUSE IMPROVED AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKE, with MILLER'SSAFETY PLATFORMS AND COUPLINGS, are distinguishing featuresof this Popular Route.

Tickets for St. Paul and Minneapolis are good either viaWatertown, Sparta, La Crosse, Winona, and the famed MississippiRiver Division, or via Madison, Prairie du Chien,McGregor, Austin and Owatonna.

228 Washington Street. Boston.
63 Clark Street, Chicago.
Union Depot, cor. Canal and West Madison
Streets, Chicago.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

It Threshes more Grain, Separates more Perfectly,is Lighter Running, Cleans Grain Cleaner,than all others, and has no equal forTimothy or Flax.

It will thresh and separate wet grain as well as dry. It has atthe same time both an over and an under blast. In strength,durability, and economy, it has no rival.

IMPROVED MOUNTED PITTS POWER,
with a Powerful Brake and a Drop Gear Attachment.

IMPROVED MOUNTED WOODBURY POWER,
more strongly and durably built than any other of its kind in themarket.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

THE LATEST NEWS FROM ALL PARTS OF THEWORLD RELATING TO THE CONDITIONAND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

The Marsh Harvester and Harvester King, with or
without their celebrated Automatic Crane Binder Attachment for 1879.

We present, on this page, a cut representing the latest improvements in grain-cuttingmachinery, as shown in the celebratedMarsh Harvester with Automatic Crane-BinderAttachment.

The Marsh Harvester itself is too widely and favorably known to require an extendeddescription or commendation. It was the first of this class of grain-harvesting machines, and,indeed, for some years the only one, forcing itself into favor against the united opposition ofthe various reaper manufacturers who are now so clamorous in praise of their imitation harvesters.It also made practicable automatic grain binding. All attempts to put self-bindingattachments to other reapers proved futile, and have only been successful when attached toharvesters cutting and elevating the grain, as is done by this harvester.

The manufacturers of the Marsh Harvester have been fully alive to the importance ofhaving a self-binding attachment to their harvesters that should be correspondingly for abinder what their harvester is admitted to be—the best of its class. To this end they have hadskilled labor specially employed for several years, and have invented and patented severalimportant improvements and devices, and have bought others. They have also had theirbinders in the grain fields for several years past, following the progress of the harvest fromTexas to Manitoba. Last season this binder did remarkable work. Such minor defects asthe most thorough tests and roughest usage developed have been carefully remedied.

It is no longer a question of success with this binder, success is a fully demonstrated fact.Another thing will be obvious to all who carefully examine this binder, that it is very simpleand easily understood. This is an indispensible requisite to a successful machine.

Farmers are too busy and too much hurried in harvest time to study mechanics or tinker onmachinery. They want a machine they can put in the field, and do good work, without bother,loss of time or undue perplexity. This harvester and binder will do good work with certainty.

The Marsh Harvester cuts a five-foot swath the King cuts six feet. All of these harvestersare so made this year that a binder attachment can be put on at any time hereafter, so thata farmer, desiring to divide the expense, can buy the harvester this year and the binder next.

Look at it! A few years ago it required six or seven men to do, with a self-rake reaper,what the Marsh Harvester and Binder will do with one man or one boy. The Harvester alsodoes the work cleaner and better. It binds every straw, and saves enough in this way tonearly or quite pay for the wire. The wire-bound bundles can be made as large or as small asyou like. The wire is unobjectionable in threshing, the wire passing through without injuryto the thresher. No cattle will eat wire, and no one has ever been known to be injured by it.It requires about three pounds of wire to an acre of grain of average stand. This machinereduces the cost and the labor of grain harvesting to a minimum. No progressive farmer canafford to do his work with an old-fashioned reaper. He might almost as well return to thehand sickle.

It is now a question of the best binder.Thus far the manufacturers of the Marsh Harvesterhave furnished the best harvester, and now they offer the best binder, and still proposeto keep their machines in the lead, as they have been, and are now.

We also manufacture the old and reliable WARRIOR MOWER, admitted by all to beone of the best mowers in use. Apply to the nearest agency or to Gammon & Deering,Chicago, Ill., for circulars containing full particulars in regard to those machines.

Transcriber's Notes:

Some inconsistent hyphenation (i.e. overcrowded vs. over-crowded) has been retained fromthe original — text quoted from different sources may have different standards.

Within several long quotes, series of asterisks on line ends have been replaced withthought breaks — these presumably indicate abbreviations to the quotations.

Page 64, changed "to busy" to "too busy." The image on this page hasbeen reconstructed using multiple sources. The majority of the image issourced from the Villanova University Digital Library, but damaged areasof the graphic have been replaced using a lower resolution image sourcedfrom microfilm.

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Minnesota	1 in 155	Wisconsin	1 in 108
Great Britain and Ireland	1 in 46	Iowa	1 in 93
Germany	1 in 37	Illinois	1 in 73
Norway	1 in 56	Missouri	1 in 51
Sweden	1 in 50	Michigan	1 in 88
Denmark	1 in 46	Louisiana	1 in 43
France	1 in 41	Texas	1 in 46
Switzerland	1 in 41	Pennsylvania	1 in 96
Holland	1 in 39	United States	1 in 74

Ohio, 1850	30,309,373
California, 1874	30,248,341
Illinois, 1870	31,128,405
Minnesota, 1875	30,079,300
Iowa, 1870	29,435,692

1,600 feet of lumber	$25 00
2 windows, 2 doors	6 50
Shingles	7 25
Total	$38 75

Cooking stove	$25 00
Crockery	5 00
Chairs	2 00
Table	2 00
3 bedsteads	9 00
Total	$43 00

He buys a breaking yoke of oxen, weighing from 3,200 to 3,400 lbs. at about	$100 00
Breaking plow	23 00
Wagon	75 00
Total	$198 00

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The Project Gutenberg eBook ofCatholic Colonization in Minnesota

CONTENTS

CATHOLIC
COLONIZATION
IN MINNESOTA.

INTRODUCTORY.

AGRICULTURAL LIFE.

RELIGIOUS AND MORAL VIEW OF THE QUESTIONOF IMMIGRATION TO THE LAND.

A STATEMENT IN REGARD TO THE RELATIONSWE HOLD TOWARDS IMMIGRANTS.WHAT THEY MAY EXPECT.

MINNESOTA.

GENERAL STATE STATISTICS.

CROP STATISTICS.

FARM STATISTICS.

GENERAL REMARKS.

CATHOLIC COLONIES IN MINNESOTA.

SWIFT COUNTY COLONY.

GRACEVILLE COLONY.

ST. ADRIAN COLONY.

AVOCA COLONY.

THE BEST TIME TO COME.

A CHAPTER FOR ALL TO READ.

HOW TO SECURE GOVERNMENT LAND.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

[ADVERTISEMENT.]

Transcriber's Notes:

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

For a family of four, 30 bushels of wheat, ground into flour, at $1, a bushel	$30 00
Groceries	15 00
1 cow for milk	25 00
Fuel	30 00
Total	$100 00

He has laid out, for a house	$38 75
For Fuel	30 00
" Furniture	43 00
" Cattle and farming implements	198 00
Cost of living, including price of cow	100 00
Total	$409 75

1 drag to put in the crop, shaking the seed by hand	$12 00
Seed wheat for 50 acres. 1 bushel and 2 pecks to the acre	75 00
Hires his grain cut and bound	75 00
Shocking, stacking, etc., done by exchanging work with neighbors.
Machine threshing at 5 cents a bushel	50 00
Extra labor done by exchanging work.
	$212 00

50 acres of wheat 20 bushels to the acre	$1,000 00
Charges	621 75
Balance in favor of crop	$378 25

Breaking 50 acres, at $2.50 per acre	$125 00
Seed wheat	75 00
Seeding and dragging, at 90 cents per acre	45 00
Cutting and binding, $1.50 per acre	75 00
Stacking, five days, two men and team	25 00
Threshing and hauling to market, at 12 cents a bushel	120 00
Cash expenses of crop	$465 00

Fifty acres of wheat, 20 bushels to the acre, at $1 per bushel	$1,000 00
Charged to the crop	465 00
Balance in favor of crop	$535 00

Three horses	$375 00
One sulky plow—seat for driver, breaker attachment	70 00
Seeder	65 00
Harrow	12 00
Harvester and self-binder	285 00
Horse rake and mower	125 00
Wagon	75 00
Total	$1,007 00

He has been already at an outlay for horses and machinery, of	$1,007 00
Seed wheat costs	150 00
Shocking and stacking	70 00
Threshing and hauling, using his three horses, 10 cents a bushel	200 00
Total	$1,427 00

2,000 bushels of wheat	$2,000 00
Hay cut by mower	200 00
	$2,200 00
Expenses	1,427 00
Balance in favor of crop	$773 00

Jan. 1st, 1879,	At time of purchase, one year's interest in advance, at 7 per cent.		$28 00
Jan. 1st, 1880,	One year's interest in advance, at 7 per cent.		28 00
Jan. 1st, 1881,	Ten per cent. of principal.	$40 00
	One year's interest on balance $360, at 7 per ct.	25 20
		———	65 20
Jan. 1st, 1882,	Ten per cent. of principal.	40 00
	One year's interest on balance $320, at 7 per ct.	22 40
		———	62 40
Jan. 1st, 1883,	Twenty per cent. of principal.	80 00
	One year's interest on balance $240, at 7 per ct.	16 80
		———	96 80
Jan. 1st, 1884,	Twenty per cent. of principal.	80 00
	One year's interest on balance $160, at 7 per ct.	11 20
		———	91 20
Jan. 1st, 1885,	Twenty per cent. of principal.	80 00
	One year's interest on balance $80, at 7 per ct.	5 60
		———	85 60
Jan. 1st, 1886,	Twenty per cent. of principal.		80 00
			————
Total.			$537 20

Material for house	$280
Work	75
Total	$355

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The Project Gutenberg eBook ofCatholic Colonization in Minnesota

CATHOLICCOLONIZATIONIN MINNESOTA.

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

CATHOLIC
COLONIZATION
IN MINNESOTA.