Random Lines from a Farmer's Notebook
In 1903 President Teddy Roosevelt reported to Congress that total government receipts were $560,396,674. Expenditures for the same period were $506,099,007. This left a surplus of over $54,000,000.
In 1982, the national debt was 2000 times greater than the money spent by the government in 1903!
In 1903, a man who owned one quarter of land decided to have it custom farmed for one year with the following results:
Expense Items
| Harrowing and plowing | $240.00 |
| Seeding | 40.00 |
| Cutting and shocking | 112.00 |
| Seed | 118.00 |
| Twine | 29.00 |
| Threshing and marketing | 202.00 |
| Taxes | 21.00 |
| $743.00 |
Income
| 1447 bu. wheat @ .69 | $1005.00 |
| 842 bu. winter rye @ .80 | 673.00 |
| 300 bu. oats @ .30 | 90.00 |
| Total Income | $1768.00 |
| Net Income | $1006.00 |
| Return on investment excluding land - 135% |
In 1883 there were 612 farms in Griggs County.
In 1894 the average wheat yield for the county was 12 bushels per acre.
In 1895 Griggs County had a total of 81,603 acres into crop:
| Wheat | 50,778 |
| Oats | 3,581 |
| Barley | 5,500 |
| Flax | 7,018 |
| Rye | 3,678 |
| Corn | 618 |
| Potatoes | 430 |
The value of the entire grain crop in 1895 was $1,160,591. This was an average gross return per farm of $1,896.
In 1901 a farmer reported his average wheat yield was 29 ½ bushels per acre. In 1891 another farmer reported a yield of 47 ½ bushels per acre on an 8-acre field.
As far back as 1882 there were traces of rust reported in wheat fields.
One farmer reported his total cost of heating for the winter of 1899-1900 at $37.00. In 1900-1901 the total was
The price paid to farmers for a bushel of wheat had a low of .38 on January 3, 1896 and a high of $1.42 in May of 1898.
In 1905 interest on an installment loan was 12%.
A 1905 recipe for hair tonic:
6 oz. bay rum
½ drachm of methol crystals
2 oz. bottle of lavona de compose mix and add to kalon
Let stand ½ hour.
1904 freckle remover:
2 drams oxide of zink
¼ dram subiodide of bismuth
1 ¾ drams dextron
1 ½ drams glycerine
Spread paste on the freckles at night before going to bed, in the morning remove what remains with powdered borax and almond oil.
1904 recipe for mince meat:
2# beef cooked by itself
1# suit
1# raisins
2# currants
1# citron peel
2# sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Juice and grated rind - 3 oranges
Juice and grated rind - 3 lemons
A 1903 advertisement
It behooves everyone to have a reliable salve handy and there is none better than Bucklin's Arnica Salve. Burns, cuts, sores, eczema and piles disappear quickly under its soothing effect. 25¢ at H.H. Bateman's Drug Store.
Source: Cooperstown, North Dakota 1882-1982 Centennial page 101
