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Show 384 WESTERN WILDS. when the'repair is made. Upon a large wheat field, in 1876, six self-binding reapers worked in like order. But there are other novel features. The northern boundary is the forty- ninth parallel. Hence the days in summer are noticeably long, and the twilight in proportion, so that at Pembina, June 20, it is not entirely dark much before 10 P. M., and early dawn begins but little later than 2 A. M. People who desire to sleep long retire while it is yet light, and darken the windows, very much as they do in Norway or Iceland. But winter presents a sharp contrast. Daylight delays till half- past nine, and dark comes soon after three. At Pembina one is on the 49th degree north, while the sun in December is 23 south of the equator total 72, which from 90 leaves 18, tlie height of the sun above the horizon at noon. The sky is often brilliantly clear for weeks at a time, but there is not warmth enough in the sun to loosen an icicle on the south side of the house. But it is warm enough in summer. The winter before I was there, " Wright County enjoyed four months continuous sleighing. The next June a pumpkin- vine I measured grew four and a half inches in twenty- four hours. The snow is usually gone by the 10th of April; the ground dries rapidly, and farmers often plow upon the south slope while the snow still lies on the north slope. The soil has a mixture of black sand, and freezes so hard in winter that it never clods or " bakes" in summer. The local records show that the year should be divided thus: Winter, five months; spring, one month; summer, four months; autumn, two months. The summer heat would be very op-pressive but for the breeze which is almost constant from the west and south- west. If it changes to the east, there is apt to be a cold, chilly rain ; if it ceases, which is rare, the heat is so great the natives can scarcely work. A suggestion to tourists is in order. Through the lakes to Duluth, thence by the Northern Pacific Railroad to Fargo, thence down the Red River on which steamers ply all summer to Winnipeg and Garry, is a summer excursion yielding more variety in men and man-ners than any that can be taken in the West. The scenery is often sublime, though not equal to that of the Rocky Mountains, and al-ways beautiful. The lakes are alive with fish ; water- fowl are abun-dant. Here is a highway northward into the heart of the upper coun-try, all the way easy of passage, and much cheaper than the trip to California, or even to Colorado. There are splendid hotels at Duluth, Brainard, Moorehead, Fargo and Glyndon, and tolerably good living all the way from there down. " Barring" the mosquitoes, which you |
