USA > Missouri > Livingston County > Past and present of Livingston County, Missouri : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
145
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
their mistake until no longer able to buy back the old home place. Were statistics available, it would probably be found that more former Missourians had actually died of homesick- ness in other parts of the country than ever failed to make money here at home.
Happily, the Missourians of today are coming more and more to appreciate the advantages offered in a state in which there are no sandy wind-swept wastes, no abandoned farms, no need of irrigation, no long and rigorous winters, no sum- mers of such excessive heat as to take from the people their energy and enterprise, and where no system of one-crop farm- ing has robbed the fields of their fertility. Go to our own State Fair, any industrial congress or land show within the state, and we note that Missouri farmers no longer crowd the tents or booths in which are shown some exceptional products -and paper profits-of a Garden-of-Eden-that-is-to-be, lo- cated perhaps in some sun-scorched or snow-clad country. Instead, we find Missourians "pointing with pride" to the products of a state, their own, whose fields are ever filled with fatness.
Everybody knows of Missouri's high rank in corn, wheat, hay, oats and other important crops, but not everybody likes to stick to these staples. Some prefer the agricultural side lines. Well may these folks stay within the state. Here al- most every kind of farming may be successfully followed. True, oranges, for instance, cannot be profitably grown in Missouri, but a case of eggs, produced without a labor prob- lem, is worth more than a box of oranges-and Missouri is the leading poultry state of the Union.
No attempt has here been made to touch upon all the agri- cultural side lines or minor crops of Missouri. Many, among them some of the most important, have not been mentioned. Sorghum, for instance, is one of our more-than-a-million-dol- lar crops, yet this, with others of equal value, has been omitted under the crop captions.
Fortunate is the Missouri farmer. Not only may he grow rich from the products of his fields, many of them fabulously fertile, but from his own "vine and fig tree" he may have food Vol. I-10
146
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
and drink such as the money of the millionaire cannot buy. Only a fortunate few, other than Missouri farmers and their friends, really know of the indescribable sweetness and never- to-be-forgotten flavor of a real country-cured ham. Meat is but one of many good things. If the corn grown in one Mis- souri county were made into meal and cooked into cakes all the maple syrup of New England would not supply sufficient "spread." Then, there is Missouri apple butter, a real appe- tite agitator and as genuine a "love potion" as ever came from a black kettle stirred by a black "mammy." And what shall be said of Missouri sorghum, which from its golden depths seems to catch the finest of the fall flavors and even the rich- ness of the autumn colors. When the work of the day is done the Missouri farmer may smoke a home-grown "pipe of peace," one of the millions of "Missouri meerschaums" made from the lowly corncob. Later, when he lies down to rest, it matters not whether he chooses to lose himself in the friendly depths of a feather bed or to enjoy the "mellowness" of a mat- tress he may sleep on a product of his own state-for here is the Missouri goose and here the Missouri cotton patch.
Missouri offers to her farmer citizens choice of many crops, and never fails to reward the laborer. To be a real Missouri farmer is to enjoy a close partnership with "The Master of the Vineyard."
Missouri is a state of wonderfully diversified crops. No other state grows so many crops so well. Nowhere are the returns from labor expended in agricultural pursuits more certain. If occasionally one crop shows a shortage, another always proves more prolific and profitable. No soil-exhaust- ing system of successive seeding to some one crop has robbed our fields of their fertility. It matters not from what state the prospective settler may come or what method of farming he may prefer to pursue, he will find growing in Missouri crops with which he is familiar and conditions conducive to comfort and contentment. Semi-tropical plants or those that require more than an average amount of moisture are suc- cessfully grown in one section, while such as demand a higher altitude and a lower temperature and that thrive with only
147
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
an average amount of moisture do equally well in other parts. Missouri is not a one-crop, a two-crop, nor a three-crop state.
Strawberries to the amount of more than 800 carloads have been shipped in a single season from a group of less than a dozen counties of this state. Ordinarily the strawberry sea- son is short-from about May 15th to June 20th. Shipments are made to Denver, Salt Lake City, Duluth, St. Paul, Min- neapolis, Sioux City, Des Moines, Kansas City, Chicago and other points within the United States. Some shipments also go to Canada. Practically all shipments are made in refrig- erator cars, which are carefully iced and cooled several hours before being loaded. Entire trainloads of berries are often shipped from Sarcoxie, Neosho, Anderson and other centers. These "strawberries specials" make rapid runs to distant cities, where the berries are delivered in perfect condition. A car- load of berries is worth approximately $1,000. Growers get from $1.75 to $2.00 per crate. An ordinary yield is from 100 to 200 crates per acre, but very much larger yields are not uncommon. From one fourteen acre field near Anderson there were harvested in 1908 berries to the reported value of $5,148. The cost to the grower of a crate is figured at eighty- five cents.
Tobacco growing in Missouri is as old as the history of the state. The pioneer had his patch for home consumption, and later factories were operated at Boonville, Brunswick, Chillicothe, Liberty and many other points. Following the freeing of the slaves, the industry became less important. Only within the last few years has there been any marked revival in tobacco growing in Missouri. This revival is doubtless due in part to the "tobacco war" in Kentucky. Three or four years ago representatives of "Big Business" in the tobacco buying world offered to Missouri farmers free seeds and free advice-and these same farmers took both and got busy. The result was the making of the thousands of new tobacco beds in the early spring and the building of scores of tobacco barns in the early fall.
The peanut is another of the leguminous crops that may
148
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
be grown in Missouri, for the southern half of the state is in the "peanut belt" of the United States. Botanically, the peanut belongs to the same group of plants as the beans and peas, and is a great soil builder. In common with other plants of this class, it is able to collect the free nitrogen of the atmos- phere and store it in the nodules upon its roots.
FARM CROPS AND LIVE STOCK
From the Hon. T. C. Wilson, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture at Columbia, we learn that a statistical report of the various crops of the several counties cannot be accu- rately presented for the fact that the Legislature has refused to appropriate money to gather the necessary information. Each biennial period the secretary has sought to have an appropriation for the work but has failed to get favorable action by the Legislature. However, through various sources we have succeeded in compiling a fairly accurate report of the products for the years 1911-12. We present both years for the purpose of reaching an average production.
In this connection it will be noted that every important field crop in the United States except winter wheat and cot- ton, is larger for the year 1912 than in 1911. New high rec- ords are made for corn, oats, spring wheat, rye, barley, flax- seed, hay, potatoes and apples.
The principal cereals and the aggregate production of corn, oats, wheat and barley, together with potatoes, is 5,778,000,000 bushels, or 1,251,000,000 bushels more than the yield of similar products in the year 1911, an increase of 26 per cent.
Winter wheat, however, is 100,000,000 bushels short of the high record of 1906, and 31,000,000 bushels below the crop of 1911, but this deficiency is more than made up when we com- bine the spring and winter wheat crops, which gives us a total of 99,000,000 bushels greater than in 1911 and the largest on record with two exceptions, 735,000,000 bushels in 1906 and 748,000,000 bushels in the year 1901.
The preliminary estimate in the production of cereals
149
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
follows: All wheat, 720,333,000; corn, 3,016,000,000; oats, 1,417,172,000; barley, 224,619,000; rye, 35,422,000; buck- wheat, 18,000,000; potatoes, 401,000,000; flax, 29,325,000; rice, 23,727,000; tobacco, pounds, 974,000,000; hay, 72,425,- 000. These preliminary estimates were made by the Depart- ment of Agriculture in October, 1912, and it is not believed the final reports will materially change these figures.
The usual experience is for crops to start with high prom- ise and gradually decline in condition during the season, un- der the influence of adverse weather or insect damage, but this has been a season of steadily expanding estimates. The spring wheat crop of 1912 was 65,000,000 bushels larger than the official indication in June, the winter wheat crop 27,- 000,000 bushels larger, the oats crop 308,000,000 bushels larger, and the corn crop exceeds by 205,000,000 bushels.
For the purpose of comparing Missouri's yield of corn with that of other states for the year 1912, as carefully esti- mated by the Department of Agriculture, we present the fol- lowing figures :
Illinois, 375,000,000; Iowa, 365,000,000; Missouri, 245,- 000,000; Kansas, 212,000,000; Nebraska, 230,000,000; Texas, 1 55,000,000; Oklahoma, 108,000,000; Indiana, 173,000,000; Ohio, 150,000,000; South Dakota, 75,000,000; Minnesota, 71,000,000; all others, 857,000,000.
This places Missouri third in the galaxy of corn-produc- ing states, a position she will maintain until she moves up to second place. It is a matter for gratification and pride and a high compliment to the intelligent and persistent effort of Missouri farmers.
The last decade has been one of magnificent progress in agriculture and in no state in the Union is this more thor- oughly exemplified than in Missouri, where, during the last season, a corn crop of fair proportions was grown as the result of the application of scientific methods, with an admixture of "elbow grease," brain and brawn.
The average value of forage crops in the state for the year 19II, was $4,500,000. For the year 1912 the yield in value is 26 per cent greater, of which Livingston county is credited
150
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
with having planted in 1911, 124,637 acres, which produced 3,988,384 bushels. Of hay and forage 34,246 acres, produc- ing 41,095 tons. Few counties in the state exceeded this average.
Of wheat and oats Livingston county had a wheat acreage of 11,672, with an average yield of 18 bushels per acre in 1911, making a total of 210,096 bushels, while the acreage in oats was 11,043 with an average yield of 22 bushels per acre, with a total yield of 242,946 bushels. The year 1912 showed an increase average over that of 1911, according to the best au- thenticated reports, of 26 per cent, or exceeding one-fourth more than the production of 1911. Weather conditions and the magnificent progress in agriculture by scientific methods of farming is practically the result of this increased produc- tion.
Of rye, buckwheat, broom corn, potatoes, tobacco, sorghum seed, and syrup, clover seed, timothy seed, kaffir corn, millet, cowpeas, castor beans and miscellaneous vegetables, Living- ston county has produced bumper crops for 1912.
The average price for the products of Livingston county has been, corn, 57 cents per bushel ; wheat, 87; oats, 41 ; flax, seed, $1.90; timothy seed, $6.00; clover seed, $10.50; cow- peas, $2.20; sorghum seed, $1.00; kaffir corn, $1.15; rye, 87 cents; buckwheat, $1.00; potatoes, 75 cents ; sweet potatoes, $1.25; winter apples, 60 cents; timothy hay, per ton, $10.00; clover hay, $10.50; alfalfa, $12.75; prairie hay, $6.25; broom corn, per ton, $112.50; leaf tobacco, per pound, 15 cents ; wool, 18 cents.
The average farm price for live stock per head for the same period-Horses : spring colts, $53; yearlings, $75; two years and over, $103; three years and over, $124. Mules : spring colts, $66.50; yearlings, $90; two years old, $114; three years and over, $144. Cattle: steer calves, $17.50; heifer calves, $14.75; yearling steers, $28.75; yearling heifers, $23.50; steers two years and over, $40.25; cows two years and over, $47. Sheep : lambs under one year, $3.70; all other sheep, $4.35. According to the assessor's reports for the year 1910 there was 10,467 horses in Livingston county; 2,055 mules and
151
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
asses; for the year 1911, the assessor's report shows 10,026 horses, 2, 1 10 mules and 106 asses. For 1912 the reports show 10, 135 horses, 2,121 mules and 107 asses. The assessed valu- ation for the three years averaged $35.50 for horses; $39.15 for mules and $48.45 for asses.
The number of hogs in Livingston county as reported by the assessor's returns for the year 1911, and carefully com- piled by the auditor of the state, was 19,843, which were val- ued at $67,662, or an average of $3.41. For the year 1912, there was a slight falling off in numbers, while the total as- sessed valuation exceeded that of 1911 by about $7,305. The actual market value, however, would probably approximate $135,000.
Missouri ranks at the head of the column in poultry and the production of eggs. The average price for chickens for the year 1912 was 8 cents per pound, while eggs averaged 16 cents per dozen. For the years 1910, 1911 and 1912, live turkeys averaged 13 cents per pound. For the same period butter sold for 21 cents per pound.
According to the last census report Missouri is second in the number of colonies of bees, Texas being first. Of the num- ber of farms reporting bees Missouri stands first, and fourth in the point of value. The last census gave Missouri credit for 203,569 colonies. These figures do not include the bees kept in cities and towns by individuals who are not farmers. Added to the number of colonies kept by farmers this would give approximately 217,000 colonies and their value $651,000. Then if we add the value of honey and wax produced, the state's wealth in this production alone is worth considering.
The supply of honey is inadequate to meet the demand, while the production of beeswax is so far below that the im- portation to the United States for the year 1910 amounted to almost 1,000,000 pounds. While considering the commer- cial value of the agriculture and by-products, we should re- member that the bees are partners in the production of some of the seed and fruit crops. In red clover the work of pollen- ization is accomplished by the bumblebee, the tubes of the corolla being too deep for the common honey bee to reach the
152
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
nectar. The number of colonies in Livingston county and the number of pounds of honey produced cannot be accurately approximated, but the product averages well with the other honey-producing counties in this state.
SUMMARY OF CROPS FOR 1912
A summary of Missouri farm products for the year 1912, as officially reported, will prove a surprise to the world at large. Not so, however, with the people of this common- wealth, who are familiar with the capacity and productive- ness of Missouri soils. Including live stock, which by the way is short for 1912, the total value of all productions of the farm reaches the enormous sum of $750,000,000.
The corn crop for 1912 is approximately one-fourth bil- lion bushels, 243,042,951. This exceeds the corn crop of 1911 by more than 50,000,000 bushels. The value of the corn grown in Missouri this year, figured at the average state farm price of 43 cents a bushel, is $104,517,350. The average yield for the 7,610,988 acres is 31.9 bushels an acre.
Only Iowa and Illinois grew as much corn in 1912 as did Missouri. Kansas fell almost one hundred million bushels short of Missouri's total.
Of the Missouri corn crop for the present year 72 per cent is now in cribs, so favorable has been the season.
The winter of 1911-12 was unfavorable for wheat in Mis- souri. In many counties, especially in the northeast, much wheat was winter killed, so that the acreage harvested was only about 75 per cent of that seeded. The crop for the pres- ent year, harvested from 1,708,999 acres, totaled 21,546,720 bushels, worth, at 90 to 92 cents a bushel, $19,441,869. The state yield was 12.6 bushels an acre.
The present wheat acreage is 2,023,330. That is only 93.2 per cent of original acreage seeded in the fall of 1911, but is considerably larger than the acreage actually harvested in 1912.
The Missouri oats crop for 1912 was good. The total yield from 940,314 acres was 29,488,490 bushels, an average
153
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
of 32.8 bushels an acre. The oats crop, at 32.8 cents a bushel, represents a value of $9,632,205. Audrain county, with 1,135,650 bushels, was first in oats production.
The tame hay and forage crop totals 3,333,862 tons for 1912 and represents a value of $33,323, 119. In 1911 the yield was 1,968,332 tons, or .83 tons an acre, as compared with 1.3 tons this year when the acreage was 2,414,889. The preced- ing figures do not include the value of bluegrass.
Prairie hay represents a value of $1,400,701. The yield was 167,090 tons, the average acre yield being .85 tons for the state. More than half of the prairie hay in Missouri is grown in the southwest section of the state.
The average yield in value of other crops entering into the total value of $188, 129,550 follows :
Flax, the total yield from 10,153 acres is 71,071 bushels, valued at $113,714.
Rye, acreage 7,435, yield 102,603 bushels, value $84, 134.
Buckwheat, acreage 1,203, yield 30,075 bushels, value $29,173.
Barley, acreage 729, yield 30,412 bushels, value $13,268.
. Broom corn, acreage, 3,433, yield 1,750,830 pounds, value $69, 125.
Cotton, acreage 59,805, yield 25,357,320 pounds, value $2,916,092.
Potatoes, acreage 51,233, yield 4,149,873 bushels, value $2,614,420.
Tobacco, acreage 5,174, yield 4,894,600 pounds, value $587,352.
Sorghum seed, acreage 19,470, yield 408,870 bushels, value $396,604.
Sorghum syrup, acreage 19,470, yield 1,693,890 gallons, value $880,832.
Clover seed, acreage threshed 14,854, yield 29,700 bushels, value $264,400.
Timothy seed, acreage threshed, 18,609, yield 74,436, value $171,200.
Kaffir corn, cow peas, castor beans, etc., $4,440,000.
Miscellaneous vegetables, $7,325,000.
154
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
With yields of all crops aggregating more than 60,000,000 bushels and almost 2,000,000 tons more than in 1911, the value of Missouri field crops, owing to reduced prices, is practically the same as last year.
A general shortage of live stock is reported throughout the entire state. Number of hogs of all ages is 70 per cent of normal and the number on feed 66 per cent. The decrease in numbers is due largely to losses from cholera.
SURPLUS SHIPMENTS FROM LIVINGSTON COUNTY
In the following table is shown the commodities produced in the county and shipped out by freight and express. No effort has been made to estimate the local consumption, as it would at best be only an estimate, with no assurance of abso- lute accuracy.
Live stock : Cattle, 15,216 head ; hogs, 69,316 head ; horses and mules, 1,816 head ; sheep, 10,257 head.
Farmyard products : Poultry, live, 573,899 pounds; poul- try, dressed, 675,570 pounds ; eggs, 1,337,670 dozen ; feathers, 36,910 pounds.
Apiary and cane products : Honey, 960 pounds ; sorghum molasses, 113 gallons.
Farm crops: Wheat, 193,631 bushels; corn, 260,238; oats, 78,305; rye, 5,659; timothy seed, 25; flaxseed, 45; clover seed, 73; millet seed, 32; cane seed, 114; hay, 3,158 tons; to- bacco, 258 pounds; buckwheat, 68 bushels; nuts, 2,244 pounds ; miscellaneous products, 559,607 pounds.
Vegetables : Potatoes, 24 bushels; vegetables, 3,107 pounds; tomatoes, 2 bushels; canned vegetables and fruits, 84,146 pounds.
Fruit: Miscellaneous fresh fruit, 1,150 pounds; melons, 15; strawberries, 17 crates; dried fruit, 114 pounds; apples, 89,739 barrels; raspberries, 23 crates; blackberries, 7 crates ; peaches, 44 bushels ; pears, 804 bushels.
Medicinal products : Roots and herbs, 289 pounds; gin- seng, 15 pounds.
155
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
Flowers, nursery products : Nursery stock, 8,703 pounds ; cut flowers, 1,537 pounds.
Wool: Wool, 126,938 pounds.
Dairy products : Butter, 264,832 pounds; ice cream, 4,575 gallons ; milk and cream, 11,026 gallons; cheese, (chiefly cot- tage), 179 pounds.
Forest products : Lumber, 221,576 feet; cordwood, 180 cords ; cooperage, I car.
Fish and game products: Game, 14,214 pounds; fish, 6,468 pounds ; furs, 10,983 pounds ; frogs, 50 pounds.
Mine and quarry products : Gravel and ballast, 4 cars.
Mill products : Flour, 6,266 barrels; corn meal, 13,519 pounds; bran, shipstuff, 36,181 pounds; feed, chops, 100,680 pounds.
Liquid products : Wine, 16,653 gallons; cider, 16,017 gal- lons ; natural mineral water, 50 gallons.
Packing house products: Hides and pelts, 104,714 pounds ; lard, 362 pounds; dressed meats, 26,366 pounds ; tal- low, 359 pounds.
Stone and Clay : Brick, common, 5 cars.
Unclassified products : Junk, 26 cars; ice, 113 cars.
THE FLOOD OF JULY, 1909
It is not deemed good policy to advertise great calamities and dire disasters, but the historian who neglects to record the mysteries of creative forces would be remiss in the per- formance of his duty. History, past and present, includes all things miraculous and considered worthy of compilation. The historian is a chronicler of events. Holmes says history without chronology is dark and confused and chronology without history is dry and insipid. The grandest history ever written tells us in the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters of Genesis of a great flood, the rain falling forty days and forty nights, and in which "every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only remained alive,
156
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters pre- vailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days."
Not so serious by far and not so destructive and far-reach- ing, was the great local flood that visited North Missouri and many other sections of the country in July, 1909.
The author is indebted to Col. Harry W. Graham, Live stock editor of the Missouri Ruralist, for the following report of the great flood that visited North Missouri and other sec- tions of the country in July, 1909:
To a progressive, in matters of occurrences that pertain to state, home and the church, it is not a pleasant task to talk or write about things destructive. Such things, we try to forget, and yet I am requested to write something historical of the damage and destruction of the great flood of 1909 in Livingston county. I do not remember much about it. I have tried to forget it and therefore my mind does not bring much to me in detail of that great overflow in our Grand river valley lands.
I remember being called at 2 o'clock in the morning from my slumbers, by our city marshal, Maurice Dorney, over the telephone, requesting that I get word to every person in my immediate vicinity who had interests in the bottom lands, that a great cloud burst had broken over the country in the northwest between here and the Iowa line. That a bank of water several feet high was tearing its way down through the country, traversed by Grand river, carrying everything before it. It was on the morning of July 6, 1909, and I remember I stood at the telephone for over an hour sending out the word of warning. It was a difficult task to get people at that hour in the morning awakened and a more difficult problem to make them understand that you were telling them the truth, and there was a tendency on the part of some to argue the matter. The news was so sudden, they could not realize the danger.
Knowing those who had relatives or friends living in the low lands, I first gave the warning to them to rush to the assistance. Then I took up those I knew who had live stock grazing on the lowland pastures. When I had finished, I
A SECTION OF THE WABASH TRACK AFTER THE FLOOD, JULY, 1909
THE WABASH TRACK NEAR GRAND RIVER BRIDGE, AFTER THE FLOOD OF JULY, 1909
157
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
hastily dressed and started for the river but immediately I got out on the sidewalk, I heard a great roaring noise, as a long freight train crossing a trestle work on a frosty morning. My first thought was a railroad train. The distance was per- haps a mile or a little over. I rushed forward and the terri- ble noise increased with a fierceness and velocity that fore- told of something terrible to happen. I shall never forget that sound on that dark early morning. It was the sound of many mighty waters, six miles in breadth, with a crest nine feet high, trying to force its way through the Wabash, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railways' big steel bridges and iron and cement culverts that were erected in conjunction with the high em- bankments that stretched for miles across the lowlands of this great valley.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.