USA > Iowa > Marshall County > The History of Marshall County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men etc > Part 52
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The officers elected for 1860, were C. C. Brown, President ; Thomas Swearingen, Vice President ; William Bremner, Secretary ; John Utz, Treas- urer. The fair for 1860, was held at Marietta, Sept. 19th, 20th and 21st. In the ladies' department there was a much better exhibition than in the agricultural.
Messrs. Currens, Botson and Wickersham exhibited some fine blooded cat- tle. There were also some fine specimens of horses, sheep and hogs. The fair did not prove much of a success this year. There seemed to have been a lack of energy on the part of the people to push it through.
A meeting was held on the 25th of September, 1860, when a final effort was made to get the Society into better working order. A committee of one from each township was appointed to canvass his own town, and secure as many members as possible by the 1st of January. 1861. Three propositions were received relative to the donating of grounds on certain conditions. The Board held another meeting November 10, when it was decided to accept the proposi- tion of Norilla Gillespie, that the society could have the use of ten acres of land on condition that the Society would fence it. The land was then three- quarters of a mile northwest of Marshalltown: it is now inclosed in what is
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
known as Gillespie's First and Second Additions to Marshalltown. The Times says of the location, that no better place could have been found, it being on high ground and near to Marshalltown. A large number became members this year, and the people gave the project their hearty support. The fourth annual fair of the county. and the second ever held in Marshalltown, commenced Septem- ber 11th and lasted two days. There were 727 entries ; attendance, fair. The total receipts were $224. The fair continued to be held here until 1864, meeting with only partial success. The Society re-organized this year as a stock company, with shares of $10 each, and over two thousand dollars was soon paid. The object of the Society was to associate together for mutual improve- ment to farmers, stock raisers, mechanics, fruit growers, artisans, florists, and any and all persons engaged in any active pursuit or profession. Under this new organization, the Society purchased twenty acres of land, of Chester Clark, two miles east of the Court House, partly inclosed the same with a tight board fence, and erected temporary sheds. The premium list was enlarged, and the fair held October 6 and 7, 1864, and, with all the imperfections and the nour- ing rains, the show of live stock was better than ever before; and the receipts. after paving premiums and expenses-the premiums amounting to nearly eight hundred dollars-showed a surplus of a good sum. The Society continued to hold their fairs at this place until Angust 7, 1870, when they purchased forty acres of land of Mrs. Webster, for $1833 per acre, directly east of Marshall about half a mile. The Society found itself unable to pay for the ground. when twenty of the citizens came to the rescue and issued $10,000 worth of preferred stock. Nearly all the money thus raised was devoted to repairing the grounds and making necessary improvements. The conditions of the issuance of this preferred stock were that " it should receive in dividends, 10 per cent., after which the common or old stock should share alike in all property."
When the payments matured, the Society was unable to meet them, and Mrs. Webster proceeded against the Society and legally foreclosed her mort- gage, and the property, including all apparatus appertaining thereto, was bid in by Mrs. Webster, April 23, 1875. This proceeding in law of course closed out all the interest of the original and preferred stockholders alike. making the title perfect in Mrs. Webster.
Mrs. Webster deeded the property and all its appartenances to the Marshall County Fair Grounds Company, September 7, 1875, who are the owners of the Fair Ground. The condition of the agricultural association is steadily improv- ing, and the management hope to make it the best in Iowa.
THE DAIRY.
This chapter will be far more suggestive and prophetic than historic, and might be introduced into some current publication with more propriety, perhaps, than into the pages of a work of permanent value. But we give place to this article for the sake of the prediction implied or expressed.
At the present time, one of the greatest industries within the reach of the people is almost untouched. The region is designed by nature for a dairy country. There is an abundance of everything needed in a crude state to intro- duce and conduct this important business. But in spite of all the advantages of soil, water and climate, there have been but two or three attempts to carry on dairying here, and those, for obvious reasons, proved only moderately successful.
In the first place, let us consider the question in a practical manner, and judge by the prosperity of other localities whether Marshall County can safely invest in the manufacture of butter and cheese.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
What are the primary requisites in the case ? First, a fertile soil, which will produced a perennial sod, from which hay can be cut for winter use, and also which will furnish proper green pasturage during the out-door feeding sea- son. Second, a soil and climate which will produce corn and small grains. artichokes, pease, etc. Third, good water, and a cheap and abundant ice crop.
These may be regarded as the fundamental conditions necessary to the economic manufacture of dairy products. There are others which may be sug- gested to the minds of practical dairymen, but surely these are the first and most important points to be considered. Has Marshall County these advan- tages ? Yes. There is no longer a doubt as to the quality and durability of her sod ; the adundance and richness of her grasses, of her hay crop. She has a climate between that of Minnesota and Kansas-an intermediate grade which enables her to raise luxuriant corn, and at the same time reap rich harvests of small grains. It may be said that no country surpasses this for diversity and quantity of yield of crops. Others are better exclusive corn regions or wheat regions, but none combine wheat, oats, corn, and the small grains in the same degree. Therefore, we say that this county is adapted by natural productive- ness for dairying.
Can cattle thrive here? Yes. A grade of common stock crossed with blood of pure strain, are hearty, strong in flesh and rich milkers. We doubt if pure bloods do as well as coarser textures ; but mixed stock is suited to the climate in admirable degree.
Is the water and ice supply ample ? Yes. In quality and quantity there is sufficient water to warrant the erection of many creameries in the county.
If these statements are true, why is it that so few good butter makers are found in the county ? We are not speaking of private dairying, but of the introduction of skilled men and approved machinery. Private butter making has no more comparison to creamery business than hand spinning has to the power loom.
In 1866, this county produced 273,254 pounds of butter and 21,291 pounds of cheese ; and in 1874, 625,418 pounds of butter and 5,083 pounds of cheese. This exhibit shows that no systematic attention is paid to the work, but that the natural increase forces people into a greater production. At the same time. the quality ranks only as " grease " in the Eastern market, except in the few rare cases of choice butter makers among the farmers' wives. This is not intended as a reflection upon the women of the county, for it is true that the fault lies fully as much at the men's door as theirs. The men have not pre- pared suitable places in which to make and preserve the butter that is made. and, consequently, the most careful products deteriorate because of lack of ice and dairy-rooms. We do not blame the women for not working with better heart, under such circumstances. Dairying is laborious in the extreme and scarcely worth the time expended on it, if the butter so made is salable only at third rate or as grease.
This article is designed to benefit both men and women It is intended to point out a way by which the men can effect a revenue 365 days in the year, instead of having two seasons of hurry and distraction and then an idle time, so far as pro- duction goes ; and it is also intended to indicate this desirable improvement in a way to relieve the hard-worked women of a portion of their task.
As we have said, the present system of farming furnishes a time of bustle and expense at secding season, and another when harvest approaches. The profit rests almost entirely upon the profit of one crop. If wheat runs light. the net result of all that year's labor is most discouraging. Between harvest and
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
harvest there is work enough to do, but it does not bring in money. The farmer feels depressed over the hazard of his main crop, and loses half the comfort of living.
Suppose the system is slightly changed. The farmer increases his past- urage and meadow lands, and puts more stock on his farm. He hires men to milk his cows, and twice a day places 300 or 500 pounds of milk on the plat- form near his barns. The teamster employed in the neighborhood drives by and carries the milk to the creamery, a mile or two distant. When he returns, he deposits the cans filled with buttermilk on the platform, and the men care for them.
Thus, day after day, an income is derived from the herd. The labor on the farm is not increased, for men perform the work that once so dragged upon the mothers and daughters.
The milk is not the only product of the herd. There is the increase of the stock. In Linn County, one man who milked a herd of sixty crossed breeds, told the writer that those cows netted him $48 per head, the year before, in milk and calves, without counting the original herd. They more than paid for themselves in one year. This is not an isolated case. All over Linn County the farmers are going into dairying. They milk from ten to seventy-five cows each. Many of them still cling to the common stock, but the more careful find that the value of calves is greater with better grades, and that the weight and quality of blooded milk is more profitable, while the cost of keeping is but little increased.
Linn County has been in the creamery business but four years, and most of the factories have been going but one year ; but already there are 6,000 cows milked for them, or about three-quarters as many as are milked in this entire county. We predict that Linn County will use the milk of 50,000 cows before another century begins.
But Linn is cited merely incidentally. Delaware County holds the prize. From the history of Delaware, prepared by the Western Historical Company, we make the following selection, which explains itself and our motive in using it :
" About twenty years ago, the farmers of Delaware began to turn their atten- tion to the dairy, and gradually the industries of the county have changed, until now (1878), it has become one of the leading dairy counties in the State, and the manufacture of butter, cheese and raising pork have been its leading agricultural interests.
" Delaware butter commands the highest price in Eastern markets. Man- chester has become the great butter market of Iowa, rivaling that of any other State in the Northwest, and immense quantities of the dairy products of the county are shipped every week.
. In 1858 or 1859, George Acres and Watson Childs, of Delaware Town- ship, began the manufacture of cheese, and, in 1862, Mr. Acres was working up the milk of about thirty cows.
" In a public address, delivered last Winter. before the Dairymen's Association. Mr. Childs stated that he was obliged to peddle out his cheese for two or three years, when he first commenced, and used to realize 8 or 10 cents a pound. mainly in trade.
" Asa C. Bowen, who began cheese making in 1858, just south of the county line, says that while in the mercantile business in Hopkinton, in 1856, he brought butter to that town from Albany, selling it at 33} cents a pound, and A. R. Loomis brought butter to Manchester from Marengo, Ill .. about the same
(DECEASED) MARSHALLTOWN
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
time. The introduction of the cheese vat, Mr. Bowen says, made the handling of large quantities of milk comparatively easy, and he was among the first to bring the improved plan into use in Iowa.
"In June, 1866, the Delaware Cheese Company was organised at Delaware ; Wm. H. Hefner, President, and K. W. Kingsley, Secretary. A building was erected there 24x40 feet, two and a half stories, and an experienced cheese maker from Madison County, New York, engaged to take charge of the factory. which commenced operations during the month of June. It continued in opera- tion until about 1872, when it suspended, and the building was converted into a stable.
" A cheese factory was established at Almoral in 1870, which had a remu- nerative run until 1875, when cheese making was given up and butter only manufactured ; which was kept open but two seasons, but with indifferent suc- cess. Soon after, R. L. and O. E. Taylor built a cheese factory in Milo Town- ship, which was very skillfully managed, but, in 1877, cheese making was given up and butter made instead. It was found that making butter was more profit- able than making cheese, and now comparatively little cheese is manufact- ured.
"The first stimulus to the butter industry was given by L. A. Loomis, of Manchester, who made a contract in 1862 with the Northwestern Packet Com- pany to supply its boats with butter. Buying for cash only, although at the low rate of eight or nine cents a pound, he became master of the situation, and would take only the best offered. Mr. Loomis bought butter without opposi- tion until 1864, when W. G. Kenyon began to buy, followed, in 1867, by Percival & Ayers, which made competition quite sharp.
" The manufacture of butter increased steadily until 1872, when the cream- ery system was introduced by Mr. John Stewart, and gave the dairy business of the county a powerful impetus. Mr. Stewart had been dealing in dairy products for several years, when, in 1872, he built the first creamery or butter factory in the county, and, it is thought, the first in the State, on Spring Branch, near E. Packer's, three or four miles east of Manchester. Here he commenced buving milk of the surrounding farmers, and making the cream into butter, according to the most approved method practiced by Eastern dairymen. His business in- creased, and the following year he established similar " creameries " at Yankee Settlement, Forestville, Ward's Corners and other places.
"A. C. Clark & Company started a creamery at Manchester in 1874, and at Masonville in 1875.
" Having obtained the first premium for butter for several years at St. Louis, in 1876, Mr. Stewart determined to compete for the golden prize offered at the International Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia, and received the gold medal for the best butter in the world. His success removed the prejudice existing in New York and other Eastern markets against Western, and especially lowa, butter, and placed Delaware butter very high in the estimation of dealers and consumers, and the best grades soon commanded a higher price than the best New York creamery butter.
" The award of this medal to Delaware and Iowa was of almost incalculable benefit to the county and State, and is worth to the farmers of the State many hundred thousand dollars annually. Mr. Stewart is of the opinion that this region possesses certain peculiarities of climate and soil that give it superiority over other dairy districts.
" An association of the dairymen was formed at Manchester, in February, 1877, under the name of "Northwestern Dairymen's Association." The meet-
Ī
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
ing continued two days, and much instruction was given and received. John Stewart was elected President, and Col. R. M. Littler, of Davenport, was chosen Secretary. The Association met at Manchester in February, 1878, with added numbers and increased interest.
"From abroad came Messrs. Folsom, J. N. Reall and Francis D. Moulton, of New York ; Mr. McGlincey, Secretary of the Dairy Board of Trade, Elgin, Ill .; and A. Ondesleys, Baltimore. The subjects discussed covered the whole business of dairying, from raising grass to shipping butter and cheese to market. "Mr. L. O. Stevens furnished a description of the creamery at Almoral, which will answer, in a general way, to describe the system pursued :
"'The Almoral Creamery was established in 1876, under the name of " The Almoral Dairymen's Company." It is an incorporated company, with a capi- tal stock not exceeding $10,000. Farmers are the stockholders. Farmers, not stockholders, patronize the institution, receiving for their milk, or rather the butter product-for butter entirely is made at this creamery-their pro rata share of the net sale in market of the butter, deducting all expenses, viz .: rents, ice, marketing, commissions, brokerage, etc. The butter is shipped weekly, and, in warm weather, in a refrigerator car, from Manchester to New York. The Company's works are equal to 500 cows. Our building is thoroughly fitted, with flagstones laid in cement as the groundwork, with all needful tanks, ventilation, etc., and with all requisites for sweetness and neat- ness. We require the manufacturer of the butter to be scrupulously tidy in all branches of the business, and also all packages of butter to be placed on the track free from all stains and carelessness ; the milk to be delivered in first- class condition, as respects neatness in milking and proper care as to cleanli- ness of cans and cooling of the milk. We propose at this creamery never to make either skim butter or skim cheese; but to ever make the best article possible of cream butter, and to continue to fight it out, steadily and protract- edly, " on that line."
"'We regard the sour milk returned to the patrons of the creamery worth a very large per cent. in the raising of calves to replenish the dairy, and young stock hogs. Whey is comparatively valueless, compared with sour milk, and there exists no substitute for sour milk for calves and pigs. As we run our creamery, we find it profitable, and are contented to run it in our (the farmers') best interest.'
"There are now in successful operation in the county thirty-three creamer- ies. The production for 1877 was largely in excess of any previous year, and the value of butter and cheese shipped was not far from half a million of dollars. Over twelve hundred thousand pounds of butter were sent from Manchester. The product is shipped in refrigerator cars twice a week, and most of it goes to New York. Manufacturers estimate that the dairy product of the county for 1878 will be materially greater than in 1877. Mr. Stewart thinks the ship- ments of butter for Manchester alone, this year, will reach the enormous quan- tity of 1,500,000 pounds."
SWINE CULTURE.
A controlling factor in the question of profitable dairying is the raising of hogs. If the products of a region are not suited to the growth of swine, the scheme might better be abandoned before much money is wasted in experiment. Here the advantages of the climate stand out bold and enticing. The cultiva- tion of the cereals necessary to hog culture is one of the established facts. Corn, Brazilian artichokes, pease, and all vegetables-roots or grains-needed by the hog raiser, here grow in great abundance and with certainty of yield.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
There is a feature of this business that has not been sufficiently enlarged upon, as yet, by the agriculturists of Marshall County. Attention has not been bestowed upon the breed of hogs raised, nor has the subject been consid- ered in a scientific manner. Farming, log raising and dairying are as suscept- ible of scientific analysis as are any of the several branches of trade and industry. Fixed laws govern them, and these rules cannot be deviated from one iota without hazard to the enterprise.
For example, if a farmer insists that coarse stock will breed as well and sell as readily as fine strains ; if he insists that care is not required to fatten pork and place it in marketable condition, he will surely find that his neighbor, who differs from him in theory and practice, wins the prize away from him in every case.
The statistics show that, in 1866, there were 19,959 hogs of all ages returned in the county ; but the grades are not named. In 1874, the total number shown was 56,553, of which 2,592 were Berkshire and 3,318 were Poland-Chinas. Only a little more than ten per cent. of the entire hog crop was blooded ; while the long-nosed, thin-flanked animal was pushed upon the market, bringing less in price per pound and a less number of pounds in weight than better animals would have done with the same care and feeding.
The premium car of hogs last year was sent to Chicago from the County Farm, in this county. The average weight in Lamoille, the shipping point, after a drive of perhaps two miles, was 518 pounds; in Chicago, the average weight was 516 pounds. The hogs were Poland-Chinas. The Superintendent of the farm believes in clean pens, pure water and proper protection from weather. The facts above cited bear him out in his theory-a theory entertained by the best breeders in the country, and sustained by common sense.
There is no animal so exceedingly sensitive to climatic changes as a hog. The best of care should be bestowed upon it. Bushes or low sheds should be furnished for protection against sharp winds or scorching sun, while stagnant pools are as injurious to a hog as they are to a man. Pens should be kept dry and clean, deodorized and disinfected several times each week by the use of car- bolic acid and water. The too prevalent typhoid fever, which infects the air and the wells of so many farm homes, arises from the filthy sty or the uncared- for barnyard.
Man and animal alike demand cleanliness, or disease will surely follow the violation of natural laws.
SHEEP CULTURE.
Although the culture of sheep does not properly belong to this chapter, we introduce it here in order that our prediction may be comprehensive.
This is a grand region for sheep, when the proper grades are decided upon and necessary preparations made. The flock numbered only 13,249 in 1874, but the farmers are becoming satisfied that there is money in sheep-raising. The best-informed men agree with this statement.
At present, there is little or nothing done in the way of sheep, but the product will be greatly increased during the next decade.
A PREDICTION.
On the strength of the reasonings briefly outlined herein, we feel safe in prophesying that Marshall County is destined to become one of the richest and most profitable dairying regions in the State.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
That it is destined to become one of the greatest hog-raising counties of the State.
That is destined to become one of the most noted sheep-growing regions of the State.
The county is new, and men have not determined what branches of industry to pursue ; but nature will settle the problem for them, and bear us out in our assertions. The historian who takes up our work fifty years from to- day will refer to this prediction, and admit that it was based on solid calcula tion.
FRUIT CULTURE.
The first obstacle in the way of successful fruit-growing here is an igno- rance of the varieties which can be grown in this climate. This difficulty can be obviated only by careful and intelligent experiment.
When the pioneers first settled on the prairies of Marshall County, they gave neither thought nor labor to the planting of fruit trees. The wild crab- apple, the wild grape and the prolific small fruits which filled wood and marsh, were sufficient to satisfy a taste for variety of diet.
It was several years before trees were set out in any numbers, and then a majority of the farmers merely stuck small trees into the ground, and expected that the marvelous stories told by traveling venders would prove true, without care on the part of the farmer.
The result of such orcharding was naturally very discouraging. If the trees were not killed during the first Winter, they were so stunted by trans- planting in unsuitable soil and climate that years of patient nursing alone could save them or make them profitable. As no such attention was given them. they struggled into a blighted life and proved barren.
In 1866, there were ont 4,366 fruit trees in bearing, while 61,205 were un- productive. Only 963 pounds of grapes were gathered in all the county. This was at a time when the fruit crop should have been abundant, but the causes as- signed were too powerful to be overcome by a mere desire on the part of the farmers.
In 1875, there were 25,810 apple trees, 10,725 cherry trees, 5.498 plum trees, 364 pear trees and 2,718 other varieties of fruits, all in bearing. The number of trees not in bearing aggregated 170.754, but these included young orchards.
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