The extension of the Northern Pacific across the Red River into North Dakota was partly responsible for this sudden increase in population. Immigrants found it easier to reach the lands which the Government offered them. The Northern Pacific had been given by Government grant alternate sections of land for a distance of 20 miles on each side of its right-of-way. The land between these sections was opened to homesteading; and since the free lands were just as desirable as its own, the railroad could find no market for its property. It was decided, therefore, that the only way to profit on its investment was to encourage settlement, so that there would be an increased need of transportation in and out of the new country. In lieu of its stocks, which had slumped in the panic of 1873, the road sold some of its enterprising stockholders large portions of its land grants for 40 and 50 cents an acre. Among those persuaded to invest were G. W. Cass, B. P. Cheney, and Oliver Dalrymple. The three formed a company and placed their 12,000 acres, in the vicinity of Fargo, under Dalrymple's management. Thus was formed the first bonanza farm, initiating an important era in the agricultural history of North Dakota. The chief purpose of the early bonanza farms was to demonstrate on a spectacular scale the potential wealth of the Red River Valley. The farms ranged in size from 3,000 acres to the 65,000-acre Grandin farm which covered more than 100 sections of land. Wheat was the sole crop. All operations were conducted on a large scale, with dozens of the most up-to-date farm machines working on the various divisions of the farms simultaneously, and huge crews of a hundred or more employed during the harvest season. Tales of the bumper crops were soon spread by the transient harvest "hands," and visitors and home seekers came from far and wide to see whether the stories of the fabulous crops were actually true. Two new inventions added to the success of the wheat-raising bonanza farms. The first of these was the purifier, which made it possible to produce a superior grade of white flour from spring wheat. The second was a roller simplifying the milling of hard wheat, with the result that this grain was placed at a premium. In a single year, the value of the farms was raised from the original 40 and 50 cents to $5 an acre, and by 1906 the lands were worth from $30 to $40. Because they raised a single crop, the managers of the bonanza farms found it easy to systematize and mechanize their work. The newest farm machines were common in this newly settled area long before they were introduced in the older States.