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 T" WESTERN NEBRASKA 
 
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 AND THE 
 
 •—^EXPERIENCES 
 
 OF ITS 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 Union Pacific Wy Co.'s Land Department, 
 
 OMCA.HA, NEIiTtASliA. 
 
 Prepared and Compiled by Ji^T. ALL 
 
 OMAHA, NEB.: 
 
 Republican Printing House. 
 
 1882. 
 
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 ^1 WESTERN NEBRASKA AND ITS CROPS. 
 
 — . S 
 
 ^r« The object of these papers will be to say something about homes 
 
 - S in Western Nebraska, the facilities for obtaining- them, the manner and 
 * ^ profits of grain growing and stock raising, the value of our great 
 
 ^ native meadows for stock breeding and dairying, the growth of forests 
 .^A~~and orchards, the facilities of markets, and other matters of interest to 
 '< those seeking homes in the west. All this information has been 
 obtained from personal interviews with farmer's at their homes, the 
 intention being to present solid facts from the experience of practical 
 and successful men. The section visited is the Platte Valley, along the 
 line of the Union Pacific Railway, and for twenty miles each side, 
 commencing loo miles west of the Missouri River and extending 150 
 miles, "or beyond the looth meridian. Till recently this has been called 
 desert land, but now, as these statements attest, it is proved to be rich 
 in all the elements necessary for-most successful and profitable farming. 
 This brings in" a few years to the poorest homesteader, who com- 
 menced with nothing but a stout heart and willing hands, all the com- 
 forts of life, and, before he is worn out with toil, that enjoyment of 
 well earned rest which all hope to attain, 
 
 PROFITS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 
 
 Last harvest time the land commissioner of the U. P. railway sent 
 out to the wheat fields of Nebraska to ascertain where were the wheat 
 fields of the State. The result indicated that they were in the western 
 and northwestern counties, some of which give an averag^ of 16 to 30 
 bushels. The highest being 27 bushels in a field of BufTalo county, 
 while many fields yielded over 20 bushels to the acre. The failure of 
 the crops in some of the great wheat growing States like Illinois and 
 Michigan, brings up the inquiry: Where are the wheat lands of the 
 continent? And taking up the Mark Lane Express (j^and glancing 
 over its reports, we cannot help but ask: Where are the wheat fields 
 of the world, and from whence will come the daily loaf? The food 
 which will sustain the labor of the country at the least expense, and 
 still furnish the necessary food power is a great item to-day. We can 
 now estimate what relation there is between forces and food, and the 
 
8 "Western NebkasSa. 
 
 demands of labor on the food supply. The question is: What will 
 furnish the greatest amount of ability to work? 
 
 Here comes in the quality of the wheat from which we get the 
 great indispensable, bread. Farmers, we cannot help saying, are 
 looking for quantity in their grain crops, and while they seek to im- 
 prov the breed in their hogs and cattle, don't stop to think that their 
 grain needs the same attention. Minnesota has a great flour trade, 
 both at home and abroad, because attention has been paid to growing 
 wheat which produces the best flour that possesses the most gluten. 
 A gentleman who was here a few days ago, who came with letters to 
 Secretary Blaine, from Hungary, in Europe, a great wheat grow- 
 ing region, had been north in Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba, and 
 furnishes information in regard to the quality of wheat, and says that 
 the samples he took from the Laud Department of the Union Pacific 
 are identical with some of the se of the north. He had made careful 
 analysis of wheat from different parts of the United States, with the 
 following results in regard to the amount of gluten. The whole goes 
 to show that the wheat lands are west and northwest, and that Ne- 
 braska has a great share of them. The figures are: Oregon, 36 per 
 cent.; California, 19; Indiana, 31; Tennessee, 33; Delaware, 14; Con- 
 necticut, 32; Manitoba, 45; Minnesota, 46; Dakota, 53. The samples 
 of wheat shown from Kearney county at the State fair is identical with 
 the Dakota wheat. A hard wheat has the most gluten, and hence 
 more value for food. The Union Pacific Land Department has 
 been interested in a change of seed, and has on exhibition 
 some fine samples. Some of these wei'e sent by Mr. HoJIingshead, 
 formerly of Pawnee county, in this State, now of Fargo Dakota. 
 Growers of wheat should give this matter attention and consider 
 whether it is not advisable to cultivate these varieties which yield so 
 much food. There is no need of the complaint of crops running out. 
 There are interests which pay largely in the river counties aside from 
 wheat growing, but the country one hundred miles from Omaha and 
 westward should give attention to wheat growing. The success of 
 the wheat crop this year in Buffalo, Phelps, Dawson and Kearney 
 counties and those adjoining has answered the question as to where 
 are the whejt fields of Nebraska. The writer could mention the 
 names of dozens of farmers In these counties who have sold five and 
 six thousand bushels of wheat of this year's crop. 
 
 Europe looks westward for bread and meat. Nebr;jska will furnish 
 a share, and there is no better location for those who are seeking 
 cheap lands to engage in producing food which the world wants. 
 
 Gilt. : 
 
 JUH 20 
 
 VSW)* 
 
Western Nebraska. 3 
 
 ' BUFFALO COUNTY.. 
 J, A, Herron, of Kearney, commenced four ye^rs ago on a home- 
 stead, all his capital being four horses and a plow. Had previously 
 been a merchant, and unsuccessful; now seems to have found the 
 business to which he has given both thought and labor, and found 
 
 success. 
 
 Last year he sold 6,000 bushels of wheat. The crop of 1881 con- 
 sists of 4S0 acres of wheat, 120 of corn, 60 of barley, 20 of millet and 
 160 of flax in a solid body. The latter crop he considers one of good 
 profit, and will cause the erection of numerous mills throughout the 
 State. Last year he sold I300 bushels to the mill at Omaha, at $1 per 
 bushel; He sows three varieties of wheat in the order of their ripen- 
 ing. White Italian, Scotch Fife and Grass wheat; plows deep in the 
 fall, sows early 11^ to 3 bushels to the acre. In harvesting uses a 
 hea'der which cuts twenty-five acres a day. He says if a man comes 
 west with capital to go into business he will find nothing more profit- 
 able than growing small ^rain; believes it better than corn, as the 
 work IS all done by n^chinery. 
 
 The expense this year for pulling in these crops has been the labor 
 of himself and two men hired by the month, and two men hired dur 
 in<'- harvest. Has now ten head of horses, and agricultural machinery 
 valued at $1,200, all from the profits of grain growing. 
 
 David Anderson, formerly sherift' of this county, lives four miles 
 west of Kearney, on a farm of two hundred and forty acres, and com- 
 menced farming five years ago, his capital being one yoke of oxen 
 This year raised 100 acres of wheat, 60 being Italian, 16 Scotch Fife 
 and 24 acres grass wheat; the yield was 22 bushels per acre. He has 
 also 1 10 acres of corn, and 3^^ acres of Timothy, which gave a heavy 
 crop, some heads measuring ten inclies. This was cut with a headei 
 to save the seed, and the straw with a mower for hay. Is satisfied 
 timothy will do well, and will sow all his seed. Believes in combining 
 stock o-rowing with faming, and has 83 head of cattle and S horses, 
 A grove of trees around a white farm-house adds to the beauty and 
 comfort of the place, and an orchard is to be planted at an early day. 
 
 His present crop shows good tillage, which he considers most 
 important, and is a strong advocate of wheat growing for profit, as he 
 has had success, and believes here are the wheat lands of Nebraska. 
 
 J. D. Seaman, of Kearney, commenced growing w'heat in 1874, and 
 has had each year since from 25 to 250 acres. During that time the 
 lowest yield has b«en 165^, and the highest 28 bushels per acre. Thf 
 
4 Western Nebraska. 
 
 lowest price wns 73 cents; price Oct. i, iSSi, $i.oS. The first crop 
 will pay more than the expense of breaking; after that and hiring all 
 the work done he has raised wheat for 40 cents per bushel. To succeed 
 he says plow deep in the fall, and thus be ready for early seeding, a most 
 important point. Use plenty of the best seed that can be obtained, two 
 bushels to the acre is not too much. Don't try to grow two crops at the 
 same time, one of which is weeds; believes in a frequent change of seed 
 if only frpm the highlands to the valley; but has found success in get- 
 ting seed from abroad, and prefers thjt grown farther north. 
 
 Geo. Norris, of Kearney, came to this county from Iowa, in 1S72, 
 without capital and $3,000 in debt, lias now 200 acres in farm and 
 pasturage. Is engaged in the milk business in connection with farm- 
 ing. Has 130 head of cattle, 50 of which are milch cows. Finds that 
 stock combined with grain growing insures the most profit to the 
 farmer. Has eleven head of horses and mules. The crop of this year 
 consists of 90 acres of Italian and grass wheat, 70 of corn, 16 of barley, 
 20 of oats, and 16 of millet, and all have done well. The above shows 
 what can be done by a man of energy in a very few years. The old 
 debts of $3,000 have been paid, and now does not owe a dollar. 
 
 Low^enstein Brothers, Kearney P. O. These men came here three 
 yenrs ago with seven other German families from Iowa, and located 
 five miles north of Kearney, on railroad land. They had some capital 
 to start with, and have received a good return for their labor and in- 
 vestment. This year have 160 acres of wheat, 75 of corn, 25 of millet,- 
 15 of oats and 8 of barley. The varieties of wheat are Lost Nation, 
 Mammoth and grass wheat. Sowed this year on fall plowing ir^ 
 bushels to the acre broadcast. Harvests with a twine self-binder, 
 which cuts 14 acres per day, and does good work. 
 
 They believe in the profit of combining stock raising with farming. 
 •Have 69 head of cattle and 13 horses. Both live in good white farm 
 ihouses with barns and granaries. 
 
 Mr. Anderson, three miles east of Kearney, commenced three years 
 ago with small capital, has now 135 acres improved, good farmhouse, 
 'barn and granary, with a grove and young orchard started, and all the 
 rimprovements, made from the profits of grain growing. 
 
 C. R. and Abner Stimson, of Kearney, Buffalo county, have each a 
 homestead of one hundred and eighty acres, with good farm houses 
 and groves about them; each have eighty acres under cultivation. The 
 ■first year C. R. did not have even a team, now he has seven head of 
 Worses and all necessary agricultural machinery.. He believes in the 
 Ibenefit of summer fallowing. These two men commenced four years 
 
Western Nebraska. 5 
 
 ago with nothing- but their unbroken homesteads. Another example 
 of the profits of wheat-growing. 
 
 D. M. Fuhner, of Gibbon, illustrates what a man can do 
 who comes here with capital. Last year he came here from Onon- 
 dago County, New York, and bought two adjoining quarter sec- 
 tion':, improved, each having a good story and a half house. The 
 whole cost $3,Soo. Besides his own he is cultivating an adjoinmg 
 farm for another New York man who will come here this fall. 
 The present crop is 350 acres of wheat; varieties, Early Ham- 
 burg and Grass; 70 acres of corn, 10 of oats and 12 of potatoes; vari- 
 eties being Early Rose, Early Vermont and Buckeye; o^cres of corn, 
 which he feeds to his horses green and finds it the best feed during 
 summer and fall work. He has one field with a good stand of timothy 
 and clover and will sow 40 acres more. In regard to preparation of 
 the soil he said: "Give me fall plowing 6 to 8 inches, at least, and this 
 work will begin the day the wheat is off and not stop till 200 acres 
 are turned over. By this means I can commence seeding as soon as 
 6 inches of frost is out of the ground, for early sowing and planting 
 is most important. Sowed wheat and oats this year in April, which 
 was afterward covered with snow. By all means be liberal with 
 seed; a great mistake is made in this. The soil here is richer than the 
 East, and in all respects tha crop is benefitted by standing thick; the 
 harvest will show the result." He prefers drilling, the grain being 
 put in an even depth, and if the ground is plowed deep the roots 
 like down and find a deposit of moisture furnished by the spring 
 rains for use during dry time. Wheat, like grass, makes its strong 
 root growth during the cool weather of spring, the influence of suc- 
 ceeding warm*;h. Mr. F. showed the difference between fall and 
 spring plowii.g. A strip in a field left last fall and plowed in the 
 spring showed a much lighter crop of grain and plenty of weeds, 
 while the fall plowing was clean. He uses a header for harvesting, 
 but the crop, he says, must be entirel}'^ free of weeds or there is danger 
 of the grain spoiling in the stack. This year he has built an exten- 
 sive barn with sheds, and he remarked, "I am going to keep just as 
 much stock as I can shelter, nothwithstanding I am surrounded by a 
 thick grove." This year, from the planting of hisjDredecessor, he has 
 had a good crop of currants and grooseberries, and is -satisfied that 
 this will be a good country for profitable fruit growing. The above 
 shows what can be done in Western Nebraska b\ a thinking man of 
 energy who comes here forehanded. The result of this year's wheat 
 crop will pay for the original investment, while the corn, oats, etc., 
 
3 "Wkstern Nebraska. 
 
 will pay for all the improvements, expenses of living and labor, and 
 
 leave a margin. 
 
 WHAT CAN BE DONE. 
 
 In looking for the man who came here without a nickel and sue 
 ceeded by growing wheat, the writer found a number near Kearney, 
 Nebraska, but will instance the case of L. D. Brigham, who lives on 
 the railroad three miles from town. A little over six years ago, for 
 want of money to pay his fare, he left the train at Columbus and 
 walked a hundred miles, arriving here without money to buy a meal, 
 and a total stij^inger. A man who was working at the carpenter's 
 trade took him, and they- "bached" it during the winter. Mr. Brigham 
 was a good blacksmith, and through his friend got credit for some 
 tools and lumber for a small shop. Work flowed in, he took up a 
 claim, and put up a cabin. Mrs. Brigham, in the meantime, raised 
 money to come out, and while he worked at his trade in town, she 
 lived on the claim to hold it, the carpenter's wife also helping along 
 in the same way. I have heard those two men laugh together at those 
 days, and give their brave wives the credit justly due them. 
 
 Five years ago Mr. B. commenced farming, and everything about 
 him shows the skilled farmer. He has 417 acres, all but fifty improved. 
 A good white farmhouse, furnished in a style not cortimon with many 
 of eastern farmers; $1,200 invested in agricultural implements and 
 machiner_^, eleven horse&, five cows, thirty horses and young stock. 
 
 Besides his own land, he is farming some outside. This 3'^ear's crops 
 are in No. i condition, promising a great harvest, and consist of 450 
 acres of wheat. What I saw ought to yield twenty bushels to the 
 acre, 175 acres of corn, twenty of oats, twenty of barley, and twenty 
 of fl:ax. Last year he sold 5,150 bushels of wheat. It was a dry 
 year, but an average of 14]^ bushels per acre. The kinds this year 
 are Italian, Scotch Fife, and Grass wheat. He sows i^ bushels to 
 the acre broadcast, believes in deep fall plowing and early sowing. 
 This year sowed March 27th, last year February 27th. The above 
 is an emphatic answer to the question does it pay to grow wheat in 
 Nebraska. Tho best judge of property has told me that he could 
 step out of the place to-day with $12,000- and reserve the present 
 crop. 
 
 PHELPS CO UN XT'. 
 
 L. Hallgreen, Phelps Center, began five years ago and now has 320 
 acres under cultivation. Three years ago he had 200 acres of broom 
 corn, which has always been a paying crop. This year has 50. His 
 
Western Nebraska • 
 
 neighbors, J. M. Dahlstrom and John Johnson, nave each forty acres, 
 and" almost every farmer ten to twenty- five. Five years ago there 
 were only sixteen families in this county, which now has a population 
 of 3,000. Three-fifths of the farmers are Swedes, but there has been 
 an influx of moneyed farmers this year from Wisconsin mostly, who 
 are doing excellent work. Most of these Swedish families came here 
 destitute, who now are in comfortable circumstances, with good 
 houses, teams, stock, and an abundant crop. 
 
 H. Duquene came here in 1874, and took a timber claim and a 
 homestead. Had a team, but went in debt for a plow. The last c^t 
 of money was used to pay for a sack of flour. For the result of six 
 years farming, he has all his homestead in cultivation, and sixty acres 
 of timber claim, forty acres of which is planted in timber cottonwoods, 
 box elder, locust and black walnut. The cottonwoods will measure 
 fifteen inches, black locust the same size. All the trees have made a 
 good growth, and have received cultivation like any other crop. He 
 thinks planting timber most important for protection to crops and 
 stock, and very soon furnishing an abundant supply of fuel. He has 
 now five horses and four mules, and has this year turned off"forty.five 
 head of cattle. Is very much in favor of mixed husbandry. Has sixty 
 acres fenced for pasture, and says the most money can be realized 
 from grain growing, by feeding it on the farm. Prefers ground feed 
 in all cases, and a frequent change." Save all the straw, allowing the 
 stock to run to it, thereby turning it into manure, which every farm 
 needs, notwith'^tanding the natural richness of the soil. Sheep grow- 
 ing has proved very successful, and is largely on the increase. 
 
 \n September he sowed fifty acres of rye which furnishes excellent 
 pasturage after the native grasses are killed by frost; butter nlade 
 from it is as rich and yellow as that from grass in June. 
 
 He urges fall plowing for all crops, and instances a field which 
 gave forty- two bushels of oats to the acre; while another, spring- 
 plowed, gave nothing but short straw. Present price of oats forty- 
 five cents and corn fifty cents, now being sold to Kansas farmers who 
 suffered fr<om drought the past season. 
 
 The varieties of wheat he prefers are Australian and Scotch Fife, 
 sowing one and one-fourth bushels per acre ; thinks that amount of 
 seed sufficient as the plants stool much more than in the eastern 
 states; has counted thirty-seven stalks from a single seed. By fall 
 plowing the ground is more compact, not so open to allow of drying 
 out. Besides, it allows seeding as soon as the frost is out, insur- 
 ing a good growth before the heat and dry winds of summer. The 
 
8 Western Nebraska. 
 
 increase of ho^s is very noticeable in the county, the cross of Poland 
 China, with Berkshire being the breed mosf preferred, and furnishing 
 a hog which will weigh 200 pounds at six months old. He believes 
 there is no better farming county in the state than Phelps county, 
 and among other crops, says broom corn has,i been a very profit- 
 able one. 
 
 J. P. Abrahamson walked into Phelps county three years ago with- 
 out a cent. Commencing as a common laborer, lie is now worth 
 over ^2,000. 
 
 C. C. Hansen took a homestead here in March, 1S79, an-' hired a 
 part of it broke by paying back in work. Has now five b ses and 
 necessary agricultural implements. His oat crop this year as sixty 
 bushels to the acre, selling at 45c, From seven bushels of potatoes 
 planted, he got a return of 200 bushels, which were sold at $1.00 per 
 bushel. He says the demand for labor on farms, gives work at once 
 for the new-comer and he soon earns a team and starts for himself. 
 
 Charles P., Carlson came to Phelps county in the fall of 1S74. 
 His wife remaining at work in Lincoln till the next year. His 
 winter's work enabled him to buy d yoke of cattle, and his wife's 
 earnings bought a cow. He took a homestead and timber claim, and 
 has now 150 acres improved, a span of horses, two mules and three 
 cows. Tiiis year his wheat crop amounted to 1,000 bushels. This 
 is a striking case where a competence has been obtained in a short 
 time by diligent labor and careful management. The same oppor- 
 tunity is open to-day. 
 
 A. Christensen, near Sacramento, in Phelps county, came there in 
 1S76; his sole capital being a yoke of cattle. He took a homestead 
 and a timber claim, and now on the homestead has 100 acres in cul- 
 tivation and his timber claim doing well; has a span each of mules 
 and horses and all needed implements. Thrashed Soo bushels of 
 wheat and'a good crop of rye. This case is a sample of a large num- 
 ber in this county, who have worked from nothing by persistent 
 energy, until they reach the high road to competence, wealth and 
 rest in the later days of life. 
 
 J. D. Moore, of Hall county, has forty acres of Canada Red and 
 Rio Grande wheat, which yield twenty bushels per acre, and sold for 
 $1.09. As the work was all done by machinery, he says it pays to 
 grow wheat. To show the condition of roads there he mentioned 
 that he hauled 129 bushels to market in two loads, with two horses. 
 
Western Nebraska. 9' 
 
 KEARNET COUNTY, 
 
 John Nelson, who lives near Mirage Postoffice, has 330 acres, 200' 
 of which are in cultivation, with substantial farm buildings, black- 
 smith shop, and^a iull line of agricultural machinery, from a threshing 
 machine down. This year has 100 acres of wheat, 70 acres of good 
 corn, besides rye and barley. For varieties of wheat he puts the Tea 
 first, (which mus,t be cut before it is too ripe, as it shells easily), the 
 Italian next, and the grass third * 
 
 He has had previously five crojDS with a yield of 8, 16, so, 15 and 
 iS bushels, being an average of [51^ to the acre, ile prefers drilling 
 and has pieviously sown 11^ but, next year will use two bushels of 
 seed to the acre. Where wheat is sown thick the heads, though 
 smaller, are filled to the end, with lighter straw; when it is thin the 
 heads spindle up with less grain. Fall plowing he considers essential 
 to keep down the weeds, and seeding as soon as the frost is out. By 
 this means a strong growth of root is secured during the cool spring 
 months. He instanced the crops of this year: the early planted 
 wheat .was filled and commencing to ripen before the extreme hot 
 ' weather; and the same with corn, which was hardening, while late 
 planted would fall far short of a full crop. Farmers generally were 
 doing better work, having found that a bushel of poor seed harrowed 
 in among corn stalks would not produce a crop. 
 
 The price or harvesting he stated was $ 1.25 to $ [.50 per acre, with a 
 V. self-binder, cutting about 15 acres per day. One dollar per acre for 
 cutting and stacking with a header, threshing 4 cents per bushel. 
 
 Near his house he has a thrifty grove of five acres, mostly cotton- 
 wood. This fall he will make a large addition of white ash. A 
 wind-mill pumps an abundant supply of water, the stream running 
 through the milk room, and thence to the cattle yards. It may be 
 interesting to state that this farm with its fine improvements was • 
 started five years ago on a capital 0I two-and-a-half Ao\\?iX?,. 
 
 Charles Erickson, near Mirage Postoffice, in Kearney County, com- 
 menced five years ago with a yoke of cattle bought on time, and a 
 homestead of bare prairie. He has now 320 acres, this year's crop 
 being 125 acres of wheat, 100 acres of corn, which is extra fine, and 
 fifteen acres of rye. He proposes to fence in sixty acres for pasture and 
 ^;aise stock in proportion to the crops he has to feed them on. He has. 
 now a good start of cattle and fine young Poland-China hogs. Now 
 more hogs are wanted to eat this big crop of corn, as it is cheaper to 
 drive fat cattle and hogs to the nearest railway station than to haul 
 
10 Wlstkrn jSebraska. 
 
 the grain, and the prices of ths former are not so fluctuating and un- 
 certain. As to varieties of wheat he puts Wliite Itahan first; next, 
 tea, and grass wheat third. The latter has always been popular, the 
 berry being small but weighing heavily. One objection to it is the 
 slow growth in the spring, and it takes longer time to mature. He 
 practices deep culture and early seeding, and approves of a frequent 
 •change of seed. 
 
 Thomat Boyer commenced farming here in 1875, on a homestead, 
 with three horses and a wagon, and some provisons, with twenty-five 
 cents in cash. He has now 800 acres of land: 235 acres improved, 
 and sixty fenced for pasture. Has eight horses, twenty-four head of 
 cattle and forty-seven hogs. Has sold this year 1,500 bushels of 
 wheat, and over $300 worth of hogs. This year his oat crop averaged 
 fifty bushels per acre; barley, forty-three, and some of his early 
 wheat twenty-seven bushels per acre. He is a strong advocate of 
 growing the coarse grains, fencing pasturage land and raising meat; 
 that it pays better than anything else to combine grain and stock. 
 
 Broom Corn. — A.J. Huxford, of* Central City, Meirick Co., has 
 raised broomcorn for seven years without the failure of a crop. 
 
 This year has had 30 acres. Ground prepared the same as for corn, 
 planted with 3i/^ qts. of seed to the acre, May 15, cultivated twice — 
 has planted as late as the loth of June and had a good crop. Its foli- 
 age being heavier it soon shades the ground and endures drouth better 
 than corn. The usual yield is one ton from three acres. Out of a lot 
 of 71^ tons shipped there were only 600 lbs. of crooked corn. Has 
 sheds for curing, and the brush has always ranked No. i. Sold this 
 year to a Chicago firm for ^72.50, loaded on the cars. He has always 
 found the crop profitable, and next vear will put in 40 acres. 
 
 The estimated crop this year, as delivered at Kearney station, is for 
 Phelps count}', 600 tons, Kearny county sixty, and Gqsper county fifty 
 tons. The average is a ton from three acres, and the price is increas- 
 ing with the yearly increasing demand. In 1S80 the price was $65, 
 while in Dec, iS8i,the price paid has been as high as $115, which 
 gives a return of over $38 per acre. This crop being planted closely 
 in rows is often cultivated but once. The foliage shades the ground, 
 and hence weeds do not grow. This year the crop has been handled 
 without the need of sheds, but still for safety they s'lould be built. 
 Sheds can be made at small expense, all the lumber needed being posts 
 •and rafters, the grass, which is six to eight feet long on the low 
 grounds, furnishes a material for roofing, which for durability will 
 outlast twice the time of pine shingles. The population of Phelps 
 
Western Nebraska. 11 
 
 county, three-fifths of whom are Swedes, know well how to use their 
 early experience in their own country in thatching roofs. 
 
 To show the western movement of agriculture in Nebraska, a letter 
 from Mr. Shortill, of Sidney, 415 miles west of the Missouri river, 
 tells what can be done on lands, which, to the traveler, would at first 
 sight be condemned. He says Mr. Kreuger. planted one pound of 
 Early Rose potatoes, with a product of thirty-six pounds, which 
 would be at the rate of 200 bushels per acre. He also sowed a half 
 pound of oats, which produced over thirty pounds, the straw three 
 feet high. Cabbage weighing twenty-five pounds, and potatoes two 
 pounds. He has strawberries, gooseberries, currants and raspberries 
 doing well. 
 
 Garden vegetables of all kinds have done well this year, only re- 
 quiring a little irrigation, and Mr. S. says that this sample of the pro- 
 ducts of the Lodge Pole Valley, only shows what can be done in all 
 the valleys of western Nebraska wherever there is water. The in- 
 crease year by year of the rainfall, as it seems to move westward, 
 brings into cultivation some of the best grain producing land of the 
 
 west. 
 
 PLATTE COUNTT. 
 
 Egyptian Corn. — Rev. J. C. Evans, of Duncan, in this county, 
 has this year 7 acres of this new grain, which has qualities which will 
 make it valuable for table food, for cattle and as a forage plant. The 
 ground was prepared as for corn, and planted the first week in June, 
 in hills two feet apart each way. A common corn planter was used, 
 arranging the seed boxes so that 3 to 5 seeds were dropped at once. 
 Sixty days after planting the large foliage covered the ground, and the 
 corn was in head, standing 4 to 5 feet high. Planted at that time 
 shows it had plenty of time to mature. Last year it withstood the un- 
 usual drought, yielded well. As to the quantity of forage, the amount 
 he set down at 6 tons per acre. He noticed that the sheep, when they 
 escaped, would pass the corn field to eat the Dourra. Some of the seed 
 ground into meal and made in bread in the same manner as corn meal 
 was decidedly superior. The white variety boiled was in ?very way 
 equal to rice. The large amount grown to the acre will furnish cheap 
 food for fattening cattle, combined with ground corn, oats, etc. 
 
 A NEBRASKA TIMBER CLAIM. 
 
 Kearney, Nkb., July 19,1881. — H. Roe says: I filed on the 
 claim in March, 1874, and had forty acres broken in June of same 
 year. 1875 T prepared ten acres of it for trees and tree seeds by ploW' 
 
12 W^ESIERN ]S^EBRASKA. 
 
 ing and harrowing it, and I planted about :,ooo seedling cottonwoods, 
 which are now thirty and thirty-five feet high, with a circumference 
 of twenty to thirty inches; also one-half bushel box elder seed, from 
 which there are in places dense masses of trees fifteen to twenty feet 
 high. They have borne seed now three years, and I expect forty 
 bushels of seed can be gathered from those trees this year. 
 
 I have been planting trees and tree seed on the claim every year 
 since 1S75 '^'•'"'til 18S0. Some years they have done poorly and in 
 others they have done well. I have planted soft maple, white ash, 
 Cottonwood, box elder, a few gray willows, some locust and 40 bush- 
 els of black walnuts. 1 have probably 45,000 trees of all kinds grow- 
 ing, o( all sizes up to thirty feet high and thirty inches in circumier- 
 ence. There will certainly be enough to cut out from now to keep 
 two or three families in wood if judiciously done. I can not say as to 
 the profitableness of raising timber in Nebraska, but in this case I get 
 the land by planting the trees, and Ihave the trees, which, I presume, 
 with the land, will be worth two or three times what it has cost me 
 to improve the claim and set the timber, and I have hired all my wcic 
 done. 
 
 PROFITS OF TIMBER GROWING. 
 
 An eastern man landing in a prairie country says at once, "why 
 yau have no timber here;" but if one of them had been wi'th the writer 
 yesterday he would have had a chance to be lost in the woods, and 
 that too, in a tract of cultivated timber in Douglas county. Mr. John 
 Hallenback, who has one of the fincbt farms in this section, had the 
 forethought to commence planting a forest in 1S61, and now has 160 
 acres ot timber. Every acre of this land is worth more to-day than if it 
 had cropped with grain for the crop of timber would sell for more in 
 market. 
 
 Tae first planting was the pioneer tree of the west, cottonwood, 
 then soft maples, walnuts and ash. Mr. H. said: "I have sold 150 
 cords of wood, besides every day neighbors are hauling away loads of 
 poles." A tract of forty acres of walnuts, which the writer had not 
 seen for ten years, is the most valuable. Nuts were planted in 1S64 
 where the trees now stand, and among them young cottonwoods 
 which have, as French growers say, answered as nurses to raise up the 
 tree until it has body. All these trees have a young sawlog twelve 
 to fifteen feet high, now thirty-four inches in circumference one foot 
 rom the ground. The great demand for walnut timber for cxpor 
 and what it will be ten years from to-day, tells the vajue of these 25,- 
 
Western JMebraska. 13 
 
 •ooo trees. The maples and cottonwoods, as fast as cut awa)% renew 
 their growth with new, strong shoots. A fine plantation of ash, some 
 which measured thirty inches, will furnish the best or manufocturing 
 timber. This growth of timber tells what can be done on prairie 
 farms in producing fuel and protection. We have to agree that corn 
 pork and cattle feeding belongs to eastern Nebraska. One- third of a 
 farm to corn, and the other two-thirds to timber and pasturao-e. The 
 protection afforded by the trees will largely increase the corn vield and 
 less feed will be needed for the stock. In this tract of timber is an 
 acre enclosed where Mr. B. is feeding a hundred head of cattle and 
 one hundred and fifty Berkshire hogs. One hundred of the latter are 
 brood sows. Western Nebraska with its great corn crop is asking for 
 young hogs — hence the profit of growing them here with a sure maa- 
 ket in view. One look at that solid quarfer section of forest is suffi- 
 cient to inspire any man with the belief that timber can be grown here 
 with success and great profit. 
 
 GROWTH OF TIMBER. 
 
 A row of cottonwoods planted around a block in Omaha, in iS6i 
 would now furnish forty saw logs, some of the trees measuring seven 
 and a-half feet. A soft maple planted in 1S64, now measures over 
 six feet. Some white pines in a tract of two acres, within sight of 
 Omaha, measures thirty inches at sixteen years old. 
 
 Timber. — C. H. Lee, Silver Creek, Merrick Co. Cottonwood 9 
 years, i foot above the ground (several specimens) 3 feet 7 inches. 
 
 Soft Maple, 9 years, 2 feet 2 inches. 
 
 Wm. Stolly, Grand Island, Hall Co. Cottonwood, 18 years, 7 feet 
 1 inch, 70 feet high. 
 
 Green Ash, 15 years, 2 feet 6 inches. 
 
 W^hite Ash, 6 years, 16 inches. 
 
 Honey Locusts, 5 years, 20 inches. 
 
 American Larch, 5 years, 20 inches. 
 
 Black Cherry (from seed) 4 years, 9 inches, 15 feet high. 
 
 Black Walnut, 16 years, 2 feet 6 inches. 
 
 White Elm, 6 years, 14 inches. 
 
 Nebraska Hay. — An examination of the statistics of the agri- 
 cultural department will show that hay is one of tte most prominent 
 crops in the United States, and this estimate is largely made from the 
 product of grass grown on high priced lands. It is a great advantage 
 to the poorest settler who locates on Nebraska lands to find an abund- 
 ance of feed for his stock at the cost of cutting. The lichness of 
 
14 Western N^ebraskA: 
 
 these grasses, it is claimed, cannot be surpassed by the tame varieties. 
 Horses heix never have the heaves, and those coming liere are soon 
 cured after feeding on this hay. The great and increasing demancJ 
 from the mountain region will always render this a profitable crop in 
 western Nebraska. A visit to the hay presses of Hon. J. T. Clark- 
 son, President of the State Board of Agriculture, located a short dis- 
 tance from the depot at this place, (Schuyler) showed a bushiess that is 
 surprising. 
 
 Here thirty-five men and fifteen teams are emjDloyed baling and 
 shipping in car.«, the market being mostly at Denver, from which 
 point it is shipped to the mountain towns as far as Leadville, and also 
 to towns along the main line of the Union Pacific. The baling house 
 is a substantial pine building, 40x80, and 16 feet high. The hay is 
 hauled from the stacks and^:lelivered on a floor level with the top of 
 the baling machines, two of which stand in the center of the build- 
 incr. It requires two men to feed each machine, and a hundred pound 
 bale of fresh green hay is rolled out of the door every minute. Three 
 wagons are 'kept busy hauling it to the cars. A steam engine in a 
 separate building supplies the power. Seven thousand tons were- 
 shipped during the past eighteen months. During the present rush 
 the buildings are lighted with lanterns at night and the machinery 
 runs till 10 o'clock. Fort}'^ tons a day is the capacity. At intervals , 
 along the track are four buildings for storage, 40x80 feet, perfectly 
 tight, with good Siiingle roof and tight floors. Here, when cars are 
 short, the h: v is stored and a supply kept on hand, so that an order 
 from any part of the country can be filled in a few hours notice. En- 
 tering one of the buildings the air is as fragrant as "new mown hay'' 
 of Lubin's best, from tier on tier of bales piled thirty feet high. A 
 car load was shipped to-day, Oct. 8, 1S81, to a horse railway company 
 in New Jersey, who wished to test the quality of western grass. Mr. 
 Dillon, of North Platte, who is giving attention to horse breeding, 
 says from his experience that horses raised there are superior in wind 
 and endurance to those fed in the east on clover. This abundance of 
 hay, which costs only the cutting, is one of the many advantages 
 which Nebraska oflfers to settlers, and a most important one. The 
 poorest homesteader has the benefit the first year. More stock can 
 be kept and at a very trifling cost, than would be possible with tame 
 hay, but to those who wish timothy, this year has demonstrated that it 
 is a success where sown, on those very lands where the wild grass 
 grows so abundantly. Each successive cutting renders the grass of ■ 
 finer quality and free from weeds. Hay has been put up this year, by , 
 
Westekn Nebraska. 15 
 
 contract, as low as one dollar per ton. Mr. Clarkson has earned the 
 title of the "Hay King of Nebraska," and opened up a market for a 
 valuable product which nature furnishes without cost. The amount 
 of money paid out for labor is no small benefit to that section of 
 country. 
 
 Crkamery. — Mr. C. H. Lee, of Silver Creek, Merrick County, 
 realizes the great wealth which lies in our native grasses and has sold 
 his store, doing a good business, to go into dairying, confident 
 of success. His first shipment to Denver realized thirty-five 
 cents, with a demand for all he could ship of such extra 
 butter. The coming year he will enlarge his business by the 
 addition of more milch cows. He remarked, it does not take a great- 
 capital at the start to go into the business of turning this grass into 
 beef^ mutton, butter, cheese and wool, and the demand for these arti- 
 cles is certain and increasing. To use up the skim milk he has a very 
 fine lot of Poland-China hogs. One litter of nine pigs, six months" 
 old, will weigh 300 pounds each. In all breeding, he says, raise the 
 standard up to the best. Butter made from our rich grasses cannot be 
 excelled, and the facilities open for its production should attract the 
 attention of eastern dairymen. 
 
 Grape Culture. — Wm. Stolly, of Grand Island, Hall Co., 150, 
 miles west of the Missouri River, besides cultivating for market, has. 
 experimented largely and has the following varieties in bearing this 
 year: Lady, Noah, Taylor, Elvira, Clinton, Cottage, Hartfoid, Cyn- 
 thiana, Herman^ Diana, North Carolina; Ives bearing heavy; Catawba 
 a great crop. Concord, the standard grape, as everywhere does well; 
 600 of the 800 in his vineyard are of this kind. He has great success 
 in grafting on wild roots. Delaware and Elvira 2 years grafted are 
 an inch'in diameter at the ground, and cover So square feet of trellis. 
 Most of these passed through the hard winter of last year without 
 protection. As wild grapes grow along all the streams the indication 
 is sure that cultivated varieties will -succeed in all parts of the state. 
 With grapes selling at 4 cents per pound, $165 have been realized 
 per acre, 
 
 H. Craig, of Washington county, has sold this year two and a-half 
 tons of grapes from one and one-half acres of "ground, and received 
 five cents per pound net. These were mostly Concoids, with some 
 Marthas, Cottage, and a number of other varieties familiar to eastern 
 growers. This is a return of $160 per acre. One thousand Concord 
 vines, to the acre will cost $30 for the best, and our western demand 
 is unlimited for the fruit. ♦ 
 
16 Western Nebraska. 
 
 Ensilage. — The preservation of green food for animals in winter 
 has attracted much attention in the Eastern States, and an experiment 
 with it hei'e proved a perfect success. There would be as much pro- 
 priety in using dried beans as the only vegetable at our daily meals, as 
 to feed animals entirely on dried grass. 
 
 We think it essential to have a supply of canned corn, tomatoes, 
 peas, fruits, etc., to be used as appetite suggests; why may not horses 
 and cattle relish green food in winter ? 
 
 When ensilage is properly made, a deep- walled and cemented cellar 
 is used, called a silo, and into this chopped corn-stalks, or other green 
 food, is closely packed and tightly covered until wanted in cold 
 weather. Mr. A. D. George, of Gibbon, Buffalo county, made an 
 experiment last year which was very satisfactory. An open, out- 
 door cellar was packed full of green cornstalks as they came from 
 the field; boards were spread over it, and a thick covering of earth. 
 This was opened in January, and found to have changed from alight to 
 a dark green color. Hoises, cattle and hogs ate it eagerly, and milch 
 cows increased one-third in. their milk. This year he has sown a field 
 with corn, and intends to repeat the trial of last year on a larger scale, 
 cutting up the stalks before packing. When we consider that 6 tons 
 of corn, or 4 tons of millet can be grown on an acre, the cost of ensi- 
 lage is very small compared with its value for winter food. 
 
THIE Xj^IsTXDS 
 
 05" TKCE 
 
 Union Pacific Railway Go. 
 
 ^VRE AMONG- XHK 
 
 BEST, CHEAPEST AND MOST DESIRABLE IN 
 
 NEBRASKA. 
 
 2,500,000 ACRES 
 
 STILL FCR SALE 
 
 ON LONG- TIME AND AT LOW BATES. 
 
 Information is always Cheerfully and Freely Given. 
 
 Address, 
 
 - LEAVITT BURNHAM, 
 
 Land Comijiissioner, 
 Q^'y OIVIAHA, NEB. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 016 086 173 3 4