6. Descriptions of the Collections


profitable to devote thousands of acres to wheat. "Bonanza farms" flourished in the Red River Valley
where as many as forty plows in a row would turn the soil and a dozen reapers work the same field--until
the gradual exhaustion and erosion of soil caught up with farmers. This era is detailed in works such as
The Wheat Market and the Farmer in Minnesota (1926), by Henrietta M. Larson.

As soil was depleted, the wheat frontier moved west and farmers turned their attention to other crops. In
the 1880s, dairy products took the lead in the state's agricultural economy--enhanced by the invention of
the cream separator in 1878. Other advances, such as the discovery of the Babcock test for butterfat,
improvements in refrigeration, and better methods of stock feeding* made dairy industries profitable.
Within a few years, butter and cheese factories, both privately and cooperatively owned, appeared in most
of the communities of southern Minnesota. Along with the growth of dairying came an increased
emphasis on stock raising. Large packing plants were built in South St. Paul, Austin, and Albert Lee.
Stock raising and dairying necessitated greater attention to the growth of forage crops, including corn.

The literature of agriculture documents a gradual shift as farmers embraced crop diversification and soil
conservation to make it possible to continue to raise big crops on acres worn out by wheat.
Diversification was encouraged by scientists at the College of Agriculture and Minnesota farmers
displayed a readiness to change to new crops. Wheat hit its peak in 1898 and was surpassed by oats in
1902. Corn surpassed wheat in 1905 and oats in 1941. Soybeans, first introduced in 1934, have risen
phenomenally. University extension services established county agents, sponsored institutes, conducted
farm management demonstrations, and helped organize 4-H clubs. In 1888, the University opened the
School of Agriculture, a two-year agricultural high school in St. Paul. In 1894, its doors were opened to
women--under pressure from farmers who saw no reason why women should not be admitted.

By 1900--under the leadership of Theophilus Haecker in dairying, Willet M. Mays in crop science, and
other great teachers of diversification and improved farming--Minnesota agriculture swung toward a
balanced crop program. Research conducted and published at the University experiment station included
the development of crops resistant to cold and disease such as Thatcher spring wheat, stiff-strawed
varieties of oats and barleys that do well in heavy soil, and the many hybrids of the corn family. In 1920,
Elvin Stackman began to chart the trails of all the wheat rusts from Minnesota to Mexico, documenting
how the fungi are propagated and suggesting how they could be controlled. New techniques were
promoted by county and extension agents and the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation created by the
Minnesota Department of Agriculture in 1919 published its Minnesota Farm Bureau News (1922-1946),
to help spread the word.

Minnesota railroads developed in large part to meet the needs of agriculture and lumbering. Before
1862, transport depended on the river, which was frozen out in the winter months and hampered by low
water during some summers. By the end of the decade, more than 1,000 miles of railroad track had been
built in the state and by 1867, Minnesota wheat could be shipped by rail to primary markets such as
Milwaukee and Chicago. Railroad companies became land offices to encourage settlement, promoting
the rich farmland and ease of transport. The Northern Pacific, for example, had local agents in England,
Wales, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden to sell land and promote immigration. The
1862 Homestead Act was a major impetus to settlement, and in 1867 Minnesota established a State Board
of Immigration to persuade potential settlers. Both the Board and the railroads published pamphlets in
many languages to promote farm land and the quality of life in Minnesota.

With the coming of the railroads, the Minnesota lumber industry developed rapidly. Major sawmills were
built at Stillwater on the St. Croix River and at the Falls of St. Anthony on the Mississippi River in the
1860s. However, lumbering quickly depleted the pine forests and the natural regrowth of birch and
aspen were not commercially viable. Concern about the decline (and its effect on railroads and the
economy) led Leonard B. Hodges of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad to establish the Minnesota State
Forestry Association in 1876, the first such organization in the United States. The association's founders-