History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 24

Author: Edwards, Lewis C
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1742

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Allan Franklin, of Barada, established a splendid orchard in Barada precinct and the work is carried on by his sons, who are thorough-going fruit men and orchardists who have made a pronounced and well-paying

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success of the orchard business. The Franklin orchards present a splendid appearance at all seasons of the year and the crop outlook in this year (1917) is gratifying. The fruit from the Franklin orchards commands a ready sale at high prices.

In 1896 Henry C. Smith established an orchard which has been a pro- nounced success. Napoleon DeMers has a fine small orchard in the north- east section of Falls City-and there are many well kept small orchards scattered about the eastern part of the county. However, it has been dem- onstrated that the large, scientifically-kept commercial orchard pays best.

Weaver Brothers, A. J. and Paul B. Weaver, have two hundred acres of bearing orchard, the output of which is sold to the same buyers year in and year out at top prices. Weaver Brothers planted their first commercial orchard in 1893 and their success has been well merited. Both A. J. and Paul B. Weaver are recognized authorities on apple growing in this section of the country and there is published in connection with this chapter an address delivered by A. J. Weaver upon fruit growing at the Missouri Valley Industrial and Farmers Congress in December, 1914, which is a classic in itself and ably portrays the methods used and necessary for the successful cultivation of apple orchards. There is shipped from the Weaver Brothers' orchards each year from fifty to seventy-five cars of select fruit to Minnesota buyers in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Chicago. The fruit produced in these orchards each year from fifty to seventy-five cars of select fruit to the famous orchard country of the Northwest and brings equally high prices. The value of the orchard products produced in the Weaver Brothers' orchards will range from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars annually, and a force of skilled workers are constantly engaged in the orchards which received the direct supervision of the owners.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Henry C. Smith was instrumental in organizing the first Horticultural Society in the county as early as 1872. The first meeting of the society, with Mr. Smith as secretary, was held in the city hall on September 18 and 19 of that year. A fine exhibit of fruits, jellies and flowers was made by the different fruit growers in the county and it was decided to hold quarterly meetings of the society.

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DAIRYING, LIVE STOCK AND POULTRY.

Dairying is receiving increased attention. Most of the farmers keep dairy cows, chiefly Shorthorn grades. The number of cows per farmi varies from three to ten, with upward of forty on the dairy farms in the vicinity of Falls City. A few farmers keep no dairy cows. Most of the dairying is carried on during the summer months, and in the winter not enough milk and butter is produced for home use. Most of the cream is separated on the farm. The surplus cream is shipped mainly to St. Joseph, and some is sent to Lin -. coln, Omaha, and Kansas City. The local creamery at Falls City handles a small part of the cream. Some butter is made on the farms and sold at local markets. The average price obtained for butterfat in the summer is twenty-five to twenty-eight cents per pound, and in the winter thirty to thirty- two cents. The 1910 census reports the total value of all dairy products, excluding home use, as $124,021. The number of dairy cows on farms re- porting dairy products is 6,726.

There are some herds of beef cattle, mostly on the farms in the south- western part of the county, on areas of Rough stony land. The cattle are mainly of Shorthorn and Hereford breeding, though there are some herds of Polled Durham. A number of farmers feed one or two carloads of cattle, obtained from stockyards, with good returns. In other cases a few head are fattened on the farm each year, and sold when prices are most favorable. Most of the beef cattle are marketed in St. Joseph and Kansas City. The 1910 census reports 19,246 other cattle and 1,219 calves sold or slaughtered.

Considerable attention is being paid to the breeding of farm and draft horses. Nearly every farmer raises one or two colts each year, and some as many as six. In this way the farmers supply their own work stock, and occasionally have a team to sell. The Percheron and Clydesdale are the fav- orite breeds. About one-fourth to one-fifth of the colts are mules. The census of 1910 reports a total of 1,848 horses and mules sold.

There are only a few flocks of sheep in the county, though some sheep are shipped in from Kansas City for feeding. There is one large goat ranch, carrying about one thousand head, in the northeastern part of the county, on the Knox silt loam. The 1910 census reports 6,960 sheep and goats sold or slaughtered.

The raising of hogs is the most important live-stock industry. Nearly every farmer fattens from twenty-five to thirty hogs each year, and some as

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many as one hundred and fifty. On tenant farms not nearly so many hogs are kept, which is also true of other live stock. Pork production is profitable. though cholera is prevalent and reduces the profits considerably. Most of the hiogs are marketed in St. Joseph and Kansas City, and some in Omaha. Nearly every farmer butchers enough hogs to supply the home with meat the year round. Poland China. Duroc-Jersey, and Berkshire are the leading breeds, though there are very few registered herds. According to the 1910 census 46.982 hogs were sold or slaughtered in 1909. The total value of all animals sold and slaughtered is reported in the 1910 census as $1,875.319.

According to the same authority the total value of poultry and eggs is $240.815. Practically every farmer keeps a small flock of chickens, rang- ing from forty to one hundred and fifty. Most of the eggs and poultry are handled by the two poultry establishments at Falls City. The dressed chickens are shipped mainly to Buffalo and New York. About thirty-two carloads of chickens and ninety carloads of eggs are shipped out of Falls City each year.

METHODS OF AGRICULTURE.

Considerably more attention is paid to the adaptation of crops to the different soils than ten years ago. The farmers realize that the Marshall silt loam and Carrington silt loam are best suited to corns, wheat, oats and grass. They recognize that the Knox silt loam and steep slopes of the Shelby loam are best suited to alfalfa and for use as pasture. The Wabash soils are generally recognized as well adapted to corn and less well suited to the small grains, and the same is known to be true of the other bottom- land types. The topography of the Rough stony land makes it suitable only for grazing.

The stubble land generally is plowed in the fall, either for winter wheat or corn. Corn land usually is listed and sometimes double listed where the crop succeeds itself. If the field is put in oats. it is either double disked or the oats are sowed broadcast between the rows of corn. Varia- tions and modifications of the above practices are common. It is necessary to exercise considerably greater care in the preparation of the seed beds on the heavier types of the county. A little barnyard manure is used. It is applied to corn or as a topdressing for winter wheat. As a rule the barnyard is cleaned twice a year, but on many farms a large part of the manure is wasted. Green manuring is not practiced and scarcely any com- mercial fertilizers are used. According to the census of 1910, the total ex-

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penditure for fertilizers in this county in 1909 was only six hundred and twenty-six dollars, only six farms reporting their use.

The farm buildings, especially the houses, usually are well painted and kept in good repair. There are many large, modern houses in the county. The barns are usually sniall, but as a rule are substantial and well kept. Hedge fences, established before the introduction of barbed wire, are com- mon. Most of these consist of Osage orange. Most of the cross fences and some boundary fences are of barbed wire, though woven wire is coming into more general use.

The work stock consists mainly of medium-weight draft horses and mules. There are only a few gasoline tractors in the county. On most farms the four-horse hitch is used. The farm equipment consists of gang or sulky plows, disk harrows, straight-tooth harrows, drills, listers, corn planters, mowing machines, cultivators, rakes, hay loaders, stackers, binders, and wagons. Thrashing-machines are favorably distributed for use by the farmers in all sections immediately after harvest.

Definite systems of rotation are followed by only a few progressive farmers. The general tendency is to keep the land in corn two or three years or even longer, following with one year of oats, and from one to three years of wheat. Occasionally the wheat land is seeded to clover for two or three years, and then planted to corn. Of late alfalfa is taking the place of clover, and occupies the land from seven to ten years, or longer. On farms where there is no permanent pasture, clover and timothy fields usually are pastured the second year.

There is an adequate supply of farm labor, but it is rather difficult to secure efficient help. The usual wage paid is twenty to thirty-five dollars a month with board and washing. Most of the laborers are hired from March I to October I or December I, though a few farmers employ labor by the year, because it is easier in this way to get efficient men. Where they are hired only to October I the laborers are paid additional rates of three to three and one-half cents a bushel for husking corn. The daily wage for transient labor during harvest time ranges from two to three dollars per day, with board. The farmers are beginning to hire married men with their families, and the owners furnish them with tenant houses, milch cows. chickens, gardens, and fruit. Under this plan the wages range from thirty to forty dollars a month. Most of the farm work in the county, however. is performed by the farmers and their families. The expenditure for labor in 1909 was $314.735-

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AVERAGE SIZE AND VALUE OF FARMS.

Most of the farms in Richardson county contain one hundred and sixty acres. There are a few as small as eighty acres, and several ranging from four hundred to several thousand acres. According to the 1910 census, about ninety-five per cent. of the area of the county is in farms, and of the land in farms eighty-six per cent. is improved. The average size of the farms is 157.9 acres. About fifty-three per cent. of the farms are oper- ated by the owners and practically all the remainder by tenants. Both the cash and share systems of renting, as well as a combination of the two, are practiced, the share system being most popular. Cash rents vary from three to six dollars an acre for general-farm land, depending largely on the char- acter of the soil. Under the share system the owner receives two-fifths to one-half the products of the farm when the tenant furnishes all imple- ments and stock. Where the land is not so productive the owner furnishes one-half the work stock and tools and there is an equal division of crops. In the combination system of cash and share renting the permanent pastures and lands not used for crops are rented for cash.

The value of farm land in Richardson county ranges from twenty to two hundred dollars an acre, depending on the nature of the soil, the topog- raphy, improvements, and distance from railroad points. The lowest-priced land is in the bluff zone of the Missouri river, and the highest-priced in the vicinity of Falls City. In the 1910 census the average value of farm land is reported as $80.71.

While there are many large farms in Richardson county and some extensive land holdings the large estates which are farmed under the direct supervision of their owners are small in number. Among the largest in- dividual farmers of the county is Weaver Brothers, A. J. and P. B. Weaver. who own and farm directly over three thousand acres of land located in Richardson county. The land is farmed according to the latest scientific agricultural methods adapted to the land cultivated. A small army of men is employed in the farm work and in this year ( 1917) sixty men are on the pay roll, which will exceed $40,000 annually. Weaver Brothers market from fifteen hundred to two thousand head of hogs annually and produce and feed for the market over five hundred head of cattle each year.

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THE MILES RANCH.

The Miles ranch, located in the vicinity of Dawson, in a southerly di- rection, embraces a total of five thousand acres of land operated in a body as one great farm. This famous ranch was established by the late Col. Stephen B. Miles in 1856 as a place to recuperate the hundreds of horses and mules used in the mail and stage-route traffic conducted by Mr. Miles for years by contract with the United States government. It was the first of the great ranches established west of the Missouri river and is now owned by Joseph H. Miles, son of the founder.

The Miles ranch house is one of the best-built farm houses in this section of Nebraska and the materials which went into the making of the residence were obtained from the forests along the banks of the Nemaha river by the builder. The Miles house is built entirely of native lumber, cut and finished on the place; and everything about the construction of the residence is of native materials, even to the stair rails, the newel posts and the inside woodwork, which is of native hardwood. At the time this residence was completed, in 1867, there were no railroads for transportating material, and the windows, doors and shingles of the building were transported from St. Louis by boat and then hauled to the ranch.

One of the finest barns in the country, built entirely of native lumber and stone obtained on the ranch is found on the Miles ranch. This barn is modeled after the famous Pennsylvania type of bank-barn and 110 nails whatever are used in its construction. The timbers are morticed and fastened together with wooden pins. The barn is in a remarkable state of preserva- tion, notwithstanding the fact that it was built in 1861 by the late S. B. Miles.

Twelve ranch or tenant houses are located on the farm for the housing of the present tenants, and which were used up to three years ago (1914), for the housing of the many hands who were employed in doing the ranch work. The ranch is equipped with its own private grain elevators and water system, a stand pipe having been erected which would do credit to a small town, and gives sufficient pressure to reach the tops of the highest build- ings. The water supply is obtained from wells and an immense cistern, having a capacity of two thousand barrels.

Since 1914 the ranch has been in charge of . Stephen Miles, son of the owner and the farm lands which are cultivated for the raising of

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grain crops have been farmed on the share system. Prior to 1914, the ranch was operated in an entire body by Joseph H. Miles, the owner.

The ranch proper consists of five thousand acres in all, although Mr. Miles's holdings in the county total fifteen thousand acres in all. Fifteen hundred acres of the land is planted yearly to corn and produce from forty to sixty bushels of corn to the acre, making an average total of over seventy- five thousand bushels yearly. This year (1917) there has been harvested five hundred acres of wheat, which produced from twenty to forty-eight bushels of grain to the acre, or an average of thirty-five bushels to the acre, making a total of seventeen thousand five hundred bushels of wheat. Three hundred acres were sown to oats, which produced from forty to sixty bushels to the acre. One hundred acres of barley were harvested, which gave a good yield. Four hundred acres of tame hay or timothy were cut, which yielded fifteen hundred tons. The ranch has over three hundred acres of natural growth timber, which furnishes all the lumber used in erecting new buildings or sheds and making repairs. There are fifteen hundred acres of pasture land. The ranch is bisected by the south fork of the Nemaha river, which causes the only waste land in the entire ranch. The private Miles drainage ditch was only recently completed (in July, 1917), for a distance of three miles through the ranch bottom lands, at a cost of nearly twenty thousand dollars.

Three hundred head of fine fat cattle are marketed yearly from the ranch, all of which are thoroughbred stock such as Hereford, Shorthorn and Angus breeds. From one thousand to fifteen hundred hogs of the Poland China and Duroc-Jersey breeds are marketed annually. The ranch has always prided itself in producing only pure bred stock.

THE MARGRAVE RANCH.

The Margrave ranch, consisting of several thousand acres of land in the southeastern part of the county and in Brown county, Kansas, was established by the late W. A. Margrave and is operated by the Margrave Corporation, under the direct supervision of William A. and James Mar- grave. The shipping headquarters of the ranch are located at Preston and the ranch proper is located a few miles east and south of Preston.

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ORCHARDING.

Address made by Hon. A. J. Weaver, of Falls City, before the Missouri Valley Industrial and Farmers' Congress, held at St. Joseph, Missouri, in December, 1914, and later given before the State Horticultural Association at Lincoln, Nebraska, and printed in Horticultural journals and widely published as the best article on scientific apple growing ever presented in the middle west.

Ladies and Gentlemen : Bill Nye once said that he was not much of a speaker, himself, but that he was a good extemporaneous listener, and after the interesting and instructive addresses already made to this congress, I would prefer to continue as a good listener; aud I feel that in attempting your further instruction I am but illustrating Joseph's dream, that after the feast came the famine. However, as one deeply inter- ested in the purposes of this congress, I am glad to join in this wonderful conservation movement, and today I want to congratulate St. Joseph upon placing at the head of this movement Col. R. M. Bacheler, who is a real benefactor of your city. For months, when he should have been thinking of his own business, his own pleasure and comfort, he has been spending weary hours for the success of this congress. Such men are never repaid, only in the consciousness of a public duty well performed. How well Colonel Bacheler's duty has been performed toward St. Joseph, and the great country tributary to it, the success of this meeting attests.

CONGRESS REPRESENTATIVE IN CHARACTER.

There is in attendance here, and upon this program, representatives of every impor- taut business and industry in the Missouri valley, from high railroad officials to bankers and farmers. And we are particularly pleased to learn that the great railroad systems in the Middle West are interested in the work of this congress. A few years ago these railroads were in politics, and at this time of the year were guardians of our Legislatures and were electing our United States senators, Today they are strictly in legitimate busi- ness. They are sending ont demonstration trains for better grain, grasses and live stock, promoting good roads and assisting materially in the uplift of agriculture, and in extend- ing the limits of this empire of wealth and prosperity. The attendance of W. C. Brown. ex-president of the New York Central Railroad, and the trained experts of the different railroads, clearly demonstrate that we are entering upon a new era.

ST. JOSEPH, THE NATURAL CENTER.

Repeating what I said to this congress last year, it is proper that St. Joseph, Mis- souri, should be the center of this new movement in the Missouri valley; St. Joseph, the inspiration and life of the early history of the Middle West, where the first pony express started blazing the trail westward across the continent; St. Joseph, the stay and support of this great valley when reverses and set-backs came, and now the leader and first on the firing line of this new movement; St. Joseph, full of romance and his- tory, full of wealth and conservatism, yet as full of real men and progress, combining enough of the New England spirit. the old life of the South, the newer life of the free West, and the real spirit of the age, to make it the magnificent center of this great agri- cultural empire. St. Joseph, our banking. live-stock and mercantile center, we thank you for this congress and for the hospitality extended to us.

NATURE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD KIN.

It has been beautifully said that "Nature makes the whole world kin," and not long ago, as I looked out of my window from the eighth story of your beautiful hotel, I

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thought how true this was. 1 saw the smoke rising from a hundred smokestacks, repre- senting the industrial life of this city. I saw the smoke from the railroad yards and the great packing plants of South St. Joseph. I looked back of these and saw nestling in the wooded slopes churches and school houses and homes. Back of these, for hun- dreds of miles, I knew extended fertile farms, the basis of all our wealth; and 1 thought how everything went back to nature and the soil and how all these things were dependent one upon the other. Your industries would be silent, your railroads would become dis- used streaks of rust if it were not for these farms surrounding you. On the other hand. without these great railroads, which are the arteries of commerce and trade, and these packing plants, which are the farmers market, agriculture would stagnate, in fact it would never have been born upou these prairies.

AMERICAN PEACE AND EUROPEAN WAR.

Then I contrasted all this peace and progress and prosperity with the conditions across the water, where half the world is at war, where nation grapples at the throat of nation, where men are mere pawns of monarchs and where human life and property, by the thousands and tens of thousands, are being daily swallowed up in the terrible vortex of war.

It is said that Confucius, the great Chinese statesman, once traveled in a distant part of the empire which was infested with ferocious wild beasts. One day he came upon a woman weeping bitterly and stopping to inquire the cause of her grief. learned that her husband had recently been killed by a tiger. "Why," asked the Chinaman, "do you remain in a province infested with such danger?" "We have a good government here." was the woman's reply. "Behold," exclaimed the sage, "a bad government is more to be feared than the rapacious tiger." Today in peaceful and prosperous America we can exclaim with the Chinese sage: "A bad government is more to be feared than the rapacious tiger." For fifty years every farmer in Europe has carried a soldier on his back. Today he struggles with the weight of two or three, and next year, or the next, when this cruel war is over, and the terrible and appalling cost in men and treasure is reckoned, the load will be intolerable; for his nation, whether victor or vanquished. will be hopelessly in debt and its citizen, nominally free, will be a tax vassal for a hundred years to come.

AMERICA FORTUNATE IN HER ISOLATION.

America, fortunate in her isolation, doubly fortunate in her form of government and the genius of her people, thrice fortunate in her wonderful resources of mines and forests and fields; practically free from debt, with the wholesome inclination to spend her resources for better homes and better food, for agricultural and other colleges, for better roads and the hundreds of other things conducing to her happiness and prosperity. rather than upon vast armaments and navies! America, wonderful America! We, a handful of your peaceful citizens, engaged today in St. Joseph, in quiet conference con- cerning the pursuits of peace, salute you as truly the "Land of the free and home of the brave.". The land of the free, because we are free from the military systems of the old world, and because we, the people, are the real sovereigns, and our public officials our servants, and not our masters. The land of the brave, because we are brave enough to be just to every man beneath our flag, and every nation on earth. Our flag has floated over Cuba and Mexico, but not for conquest. It is the emblem of peace on earth and good will to men, and when its mission in foreign lands is performed, it comes home with all the honor and dignity and justice which it took away.

My friends, you will pardon this digression from the subject assigned me, but I have

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merely mentioned these things to emphasize the tranquility and prosperity, which we as a uation are enjoying, and for which we should be thankful. In this connection I might add that this conference represents a territory which in size and wealth would be an empire in Europe. Each of its magnificent counties would be a principality. In fertility of soil, in climate, in the character and intelligence of its people, the Missouri Valley country is the equal of the best of Europe. In population we are deficient, but popula- tion is fast increasing and to meet this added responsibility we are in conference today as an intelligent citizenship, to devise the best ways and means for the future of our industrial and. farming activities.

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 24

Author: Edwards, Lewis C Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1742

Author: Edwards, Lewis C
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1742