B E N T O N.
Benton is one of the upper Mississippi counties. About five-sixths of its surface
is flat, and the rest diversified with meadow and timber lands. The soil is mostly sandy in the prairie districts and in the
lumber districts is loam with a clay subsoil. A large amount of livestock is raised in the county, and there are many creameries.
As yet it is largely undeveloped, less than one-fourth of its area being cultivated. In addition to its agricultural
industries it is noted for its fine granite. The Sauk Rapids granite is already famous outside of Minnesota as well as
at home. The quarry a short distance from that city employs five hundred men. There is an inexhaustible supply of this
gray and red granite, which is largely used in some of the handsomest buildings of Minnesota's cities. The population
numbers 6,264, and the people are fairly prosperous. There are thirty-three schoolhouses in the county, and fine opportunities
are offered to newcomers. Three thousand eight hundred acres of public school lands are yet to be disposed of, and a
few acres of government lands. The railroads have thirty-seven thousand five hundred acres for sale. Land ranges in price from
five dollars to fifty dollars per acre, according to location and improvements. The farms are mostly small, as farms go in the West,
averaging say one hundred and sixty acres. Representative Hunck, speaking of the progress made by Benton county during
the past two yeaars, says the settlers are taking advantage of the fine haylands and natural meadows to go into the stock raising
business and dairying. Many elevators and grain warehouses have been erected since 1890, and the shipping and railroad
facilities are unequaled. The county is settled by a mixed population, consisting of Germans, Poles, Irish and
Americans. (p. 79)
Carver is one of the oldest counties in the state, having been settled
nearly thirty years ago, mainly by Germans, who took up government lands. Some of them sold part of their farms, and other
estates have been divided among children, so that the average size of a farm today is about eighty acres. The county was
originally heavily timbered, but most of the forest have been cut away, exposing for tillage a very rich soil. The
lumber is now so valuable that it will pay the cost of clearing. The entire county is good farming land. All small grains
are raised and over seven hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat is produced annually. Stock raising is becoming
important, special attention being given to the fattening of hogs for market. A crop failure is practially unknown.
Brick making is an important industry in the county, Chaska brick being well and favorably known throughout the state. The
hard woods of this county are among the finest in the state, and its remaining timber is becoming very valuable for furniture
manufacture. Land values vary according to improvements, a fair average being thirty dollars per acre. Population is
16,532. The county is distant about twenty-three miles from the Minneapolis market. There is little school land
remaining in Carver county, and a railroad company has less than one hundred and fifty acres of its grant remaining.
(p. 82)
