Blossoms on the Roof Read Online Free Page B

North Dakota. That’s why I went to La Grange County. Some families from there are starting off this month, and we plan to join them.”
    â€œNorth Dakota,” said Ben slowly, trying to get used to the idea. He studied the map again. “Why, that’s almost up in Canada!”
    Father nodded. “Right on the border.”
    â€œIt must be awfully cold in North Dakota,” Ben said. “Some people in Canada live in houses made of snow.”
    â€œYou must mean the Eskimos,” Father said with a chuckle. “They live much farther north than the border. Canada is a huge country.”
    â€œHow far away is North Dakota?” Polly asked in a small voice.
    â€œIt’s more than six hundred miles to the area where the other families have claimed homesteads.” Father pulled another paper from his pocket. “Now this shows you the area where we will live—Rolette County. Here’s therailroad going up to the town of Rolla. Here’s Island Lake. We plan to get a homestead in Island Lake Township.”
    â€œWill we be near the lake?” Ben asked eagerly.
    â€œMaybe. I won’t know exactly where our farm will be till we get to the land office,” answered Father.
    Ben was full of questions. “How big will the farm be?”
    â€œWe will be getting a hundred and sixty acres of free land. Well, almost free. We must pay sixteen dollars to the land office in order to stake the claim.”
    â€œImagine!” marveled Ben. “One hundred and sixty acres. We can grow bushels and bushels of grain.”
    â€œNot in the first year,” Father said.
    â€œWill we have to cut down a lot of trees the way Grandpa’s father did when he came to Indiana?” Ben asked while recalling Grandpa’s pioneering stories.
    This brought another chuckle from Father. “There are no trees in this part of North Dakota. It’s prairie! Acres and acres of flat land. No stones. No trees.”
    â€œThen why can’t we plant crops this spring?”
    â€œBecause the prairie is covered with tough, high grass. We will plow as much as we can to plant a garden and maybe some flax, but it won’t be much the first year,” he said again.
    Ben said soberly, “Plowing prairie grass will be hard work for Jasper and Rob.”
    â€œYes, I learned that many farmers use four-horse teams or oxen.”
    â€œWill there be a log house on our farm?” asked Polly.
    Father looked at her. “There will be no house at all, Polly. We will need to build one. That is another reason why we cannot plant many crops this spring.”
    â€œA sod house, Polly. We are going to build a sod house,” Mother told her.
    Polly’s eyes were round and questioning. “What is a sod house?”
    â€œWhy, we plow up the prairie grass to make strips of sod about five inches thick, and we pile up the strips like bricks to make the walls,” Father explained.
    Polly blinked. “The house will be made of dirt?”
    â€œEarth and grass and roots, all together in a nice solid strip,” said Father. “I’m told that sod houses are quite warm in the winter.”
    â€œBut,” said Ben, “what will we burn in our stove if there are no trees?”
    Father’s finger came down on the map of North Dakota again. “Do you see this funny-shaped area? That is a mountainous area where there are lots of trees. It’s called the Turtle Mountain Reserve because that’s where the Indians moved to when the white men began settling the land.”
    â€œIndians!” exclaimed Polly, her eyes growing wider still.
    Father patted her hand. “Friendly natives, Polly. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that we can fetch all the wood we want in those hills. Wood for burning and wood for building.”
    â€œYou said the house will be made of sod,” Ben said, reminding him.
    â€œYes, but we’ll use wood sooner or later.”