History of Barron County Wisconsin, Part 175

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1922
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1767

USA > Wisconsin > Barron County > History of Barron County Wisconsin > Part 175

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).

In closing the account of dairying and breeders' associations it will not be amiss to mention a few who were pioneers in the introduction of high bred dairy cattle. Among the Guernsey fanciers, John E. Bowen should be men- tioned as one of the first to bring in a thoroughbred sire to head his herd. Early in 1907, three other registered sires were brought into the neighborhood of Barron. These were purchased by William Bartlett, C. J. Orn and Jacob Kohten, and Dickson Brothers. In October of the same year, C. J. Orn pur- chased and brought to Barron the first registered female Guernsey introduced into the county. This was Tessie of Pinehurst, purchased from Mrs. E. W. Strawbridge of Moorestown, N. J. A few outstanding herds of this breed are those of the William Bartlett estate, Barron; Frank D. Stout, at Mikana; Hal- vorson Brothers, at Canton; F. W. Meyer, of Barron; and C. J. Orn, of Barron. The present State Champion Guernsey heifer in production, Bessie of Orndale, was bred by Mr. Orn; and sold by him at eighteen months of age.

Early herds of grade Holsteins in the county were those of W. H. Bond and D. Rollin Kline. In the early months of 1907, F. J. Krahenbuhl and G. J. Gleiter purchased registered sires to head their herds. In a few months sev- eral additional registered sires were brought into different parts of the county. Some fine herds of Holsteins now in the county are the Knight Meyer herd of New Auburn; the F. J. Krahenbuhl herd of Barron; that of G. J. Gleiter of Hillsdale; the John Le Jeune herd of Bear Lake, and the C. A. Ness & Son herd of Cumberland.

As nearly as can now be ascertained the first pure-bred dairy cattle to be brought into Barron County were Jerseys. Several were in the vicinity of Prairie Farm, which is now the Jersey center of the county.

Charles Taylor, as already mentioned, early saw the dairy possibilities of the county and took an active interest in trying to get the industry started. To aid in this work he bought and brought to Barron, about 1895, a registered sire. This was the first pure-bred Jersey sire brought into the county. About the same time, Mr. Taylor bought several young Jersey animals which later were scattered to various farmers about the county. For many years the W. H. Clark Jersey herd of Rice Lake was one of the choice Jersey herds of the state. This herd has furnished some exceptionally fine individuals, including one or two state champions. Other good herds now around in the county are those of Frank N. Roemheld, Henry Roemheld and Mrs. August Miller.

As the years passed, after the organization of the Dairy Breeders' Asso- ciations, the herds of pure-bred or high-grade cows had increased in numbers and size to such an extent that some organized agency for the disposal of

Digitized by Google

1043

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

surplus stock appeared desirable. Consequently, members of the different breeders' associations and others who are interested conceived the plan of a "Sales Association" to advertise and hold public auction sales of high-grade and pure-bred animals of the various standard dairy breeds. This association decided to build a modern sales pavilion at Barron, provided with ample stab- ling room and a commodious sales room. The pavilion was completed in 1921. Already hundreds of pure-bred and high-grade animals have been handled for individual breeders through the sales association. A very large percentage of these were pure-bred animals subject to registry. The public sales conducted by this association have attracted buyers from distant parts of the country.

There are Co-operative Live Stock Shipping Associations at Cameron, Bar- ron, Poskin, Almena, Turtle Lake, Hillsdale, Dallas, Ridgeland, Cumberland, and Comstock, and one is being organized at Rice Lake. These are connected with the Central Selling Agency of South St. Paul. There is an Equity Live Stock Shipping Association at Chetek, which ships to Milwaukee.

In the effort to improve the dairy cattle of the county, the first big step was the use of pure-bred sires to head herds. The importance of this was made prominent in all the early work of the different breeders' associations and was urged by all progressive dairymen.

The three men who have served the county as Agricultural Agent have all been untiring in their efforts to make this a one hundred per cent county of pure-bred sires. R. L. Cuff made a special compaign for this purpose.

However, such movements have to come slowly if the result is to be perma- nent. Dairymen of the county are no longer content with simply a pure-bred animal. They want to know about his particular strain of breeding, and the records of his ancestors. In short, they are now looking for the best. The last ten years have made a wonderful change in the number of such animals and on the farms of the county. Ten years ago from eight to ten per cent of the dairymen owned pure-bred sires, while at the present time it is safe to say that more than fifty per cent of the cattle breeders of the county own pure-bred sires and an additional five to ten per cent use such. The goal of the county is, "Nothing but pure-bred sires used," and it bids fair to be reached at no distant day.

Under the terms of a state law whenever 60 per cent or more of the cattle owners of any county in the state file the proper petitions with the state depart- ment of agriculture this department is authorized to test all cattle within such county for tuberculosis without expense to the owners. Just as soon as it be- came known to cattle owners of Barron County that they could have this work done for them, a concerted effort was made to have such a test made. County Agent R. L. Cuff took hold of the matter and pushed it energetically. Petitions were circulated and the signatures of more than 70 per cent of the Barron County cattle owners secured.

Active work on the list was begun in February, 1920. With Dr. J. P. West in charge. The actual testing work was done by Drs. A. T. Olson, W. R. John- son, J. B. Collins, J. D. Eastwold, C. B. Lord, Charles Secoy and R. C. Coulson. The work was completed December 23, 1920, and with its completion, Barron County became the first county in the state and the largest tubercular tested area in the world. Between 67,000 and 68,000 animals had been tested with less than 1 per cent of infected animals found. A result of this work is that sixty counties in the United States have since taken up the work.

About six months later a retest of the area was begun and carried through to completion by Dr. R. C. Coulson. This retest was of herds that contained re- actors in the first test. It was practically completed before the following win- ter. A small fraction of one per cent of reactors was found. When the work of testing this first county was completed, proper regulations to maintain the tubercular free condition of the area were worked out and established by the State Live Stock Sanitary Board, and Dr. Coulson was assigned to Barron County as inspector in charge and is now serving in that capacity.

Digitized by Google

1044

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

Provision has been made by properly constituted authorities that when- ever a herd of cattle has been tuberculin tested and certified as free from tuber- culosis, the individual animals of such may be shipped to other parts of the state or county without further investigation for tuberculosis.

The method employed in the Barron County area test proved so satisfac- tory that the federal authorities accepted, without hesitation, the work done as a part of the required test for admitting herds to the accredited list and in July of 1921 sent a corps of federal veterinarians into the county to complete the test of individual herds upon application of the owners for accreditation. This work has resulted, up to date, in having more than five hundred herds- more than 10,000 cattle put on the accredited list.

In 1910, D. B. Searles, who was employed by the State Dairymen's Asso- ciation, came to Barron to look over the ground with a view to getting the dairymen of the county to organize and have a butterfat test of their cows made; that the poor producers might be eliminated and only the paying ani- mals retained. The editor of the News, N. S. Gordon, traveled with Mr. Searles and worked with him in securing members for a testing association. As soon as sufficient signers had been secured the organization was completed with William Bartlett as chairman and N. S. Gordon as secretary-treasurer. This association continued about a year, when it ceased operation. After the lapse of a few months, cow testing was revived in the county and soon there were four flourishing associations. Interest in these associations has gradually in- creased until at present there are more cow testing associations in the county than ever before. The first tester in the county was John H. Clark.

There are now cow testing associations at Cumberland, Turtle Lake, Al- mena, Comstock, Chetek, Prairie Farm, Barron and Rice Lake.

There are three swine breeders' organizations in the county: the Duroc- Jersey Clubs of Chetek and Haugen, and the Poland-China Club of Brill.

Among the leading swine breeders of the county may be mentioned F. H. Hembrook, A. G. Churchward and E. G. Patchin, of Chetek; William Bartlett, of Barron; Fred Nelson, of Haugen; Andrew Amdall, of Cumberland; F. L. Stout, of Mikana; H. W. Ferguson & Son, Cumberland; and Lloyd Nesbit, Barron.

From the earliest days, settlers in Barron County found that potatoes of the finest quality grew from our soil, but it was not until in the late eighties that potatoes were grown on a large commercial scale. For many years, how- ever, no efforts were made to combine for the production of standard strains of potatoes on a large scale. When F. D. Otis, the first County Agent, came to the county, a campaign was made to induce the potato growers of the county to unite on a few of the better strains of potato, such as Rural New Yorkers, Bur- banks, Green Mountains, and Bliss Triumphs. This work was continued by Mr. Cuff, who organized several local potato growers' clubs, and began the agitation for growing pure, certified seed potatoes. During several years of his stay, many fields of Rurals, Green Mountains, Burbanks and Triumphs were certified. Since Mr. Duffy came he has planned and perfected a strong central- ized certified seed Potato Growers' Association. This association will devote its energies to the production of three strains, Rurals, Green Mountains and Triumphs. The officers of this association are: Charles Ness of Cumberland, president; Gus Kringle of Rice Lake, vice-president; Peter Helgeland of Brill, secretary.

The Barron County Certified Seed Growers' Association is composed of small growers, planting an average of about ten acres, and is organized for the purpose of furnishing to the seed trade a product noted for vigor, high pro- duction and quality. Charles Ness, of Cumberland, is the president; Gust Kringle, of Rice Lake, the vice-president; and Peter Helgeland, of Brill, the secretary.

The members are as follows: Rice Lake, Gust Kringle, Ed. Kringle, Ralph McDonald, J. S. Gabriel, Peter Schneider, William H. Cockerill, Frank Ebel and

Digitized by Google

1045

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

A. M. Chrislaw. Almena, Fred Bender, Dickson & Kettleson, C. H. Becker, F. Hotwagner, William H. Miller and Louis Hemaver. Angus, Ole J. Johnson, A. T. Johnson and George Gould. Barron, J. Gould, Albert Bergeson, Clifford H. Meyer, Jos. Mikulanee, Ed. A. Erickson, Gunder Ostenson, B. H. Ellis and Oscar C. Johnson. Barronett, Oscar Okerson, J. C. Frerck and Charles Pier- son. Cumberland, Arthur M. Eide and Charles A. Ness. Dallas, Ernest Rogers, And. Stoll and Gil. Gilbertson. Mikana, Louis Frosli and J. A. Harlow. Turtle Lake, E. Pfeifer. Brill, George M. Keesey, Gust. Gagner, Albert Johnson, P. A. Helgeland, Gilbert Dahl and Daniel Dinga. Cameron, L. M. Bergess. Haugen, George Sanders. Birchwood, Jay Jones and R. Hanson.

The Kringle Brothers originated the strain of New York Rurals known as the Kringle strain. This seed has attracted attention through the Rural grow- ing belt. All certified Rurals from Barron county are of the Kringle strain.

The story of Barron County potato development carries with it many an in- teresting story of successful farming.

The story of the Kringle Brothers is perhaps first in line. Gust. and Ed. Kringle settled on hardwood lands in what is now Cedar Lake Township, with the virgin timber standing, about twenty years ago. They "batched" it for many years, working in the lumber camps some of the winters, and doing their own logging and clearing at other times. The clearings opened, they began real farming. As time went on, each brother married, and built a home for himself and family. About twelve years ago they began the development of a special strain of Rural New York variety of potato. This strain of Rural soon began to attract attention. It is noted for vigor, for freedom from disease, for being true to type, and for productiveness. The Kringle strain of Rurals be- came well known throughout the United States and Kringle Brothers became noted as potato growers. The Kringle Brothers are more than "Potato Kings"; they are successful dairy farmers, and have fine farms and thriving herds of Holstein cattle which help to keep the lands in the ideal condition for success- ful potato production.

The Mikana Potato Growers' Association, on Dec. 4, 1920, received from the Milwaukee Association of Commerce, a certificate of appreciation, which reads in part as follows :

"The Milwaukee Association of Commerce in consideration of the gratitude of the people of the State of Wisconsin, in particular, and of the United States of America in general, who realize great benefits as a result of the activities of your Association, desires that you accept this missive as a sincere apprecia- tion of your splendid work in the development of a superior strain of the Rural New York variety of potato. Your work has been recommended to us by the Wisconsin Potato Growers' Association, and we congratulate you as an organ- ization of helpful and progressive Wisconsin citizens."

Among the special crops grown in Barron County, mention must be made of sugar beets. In the year 1904, F. J. Krahenbuhl, grew several acres of beets and shipped them to Chippewa Falls, where a beet sugar factory had recently been built. In the following years many farmers went into beet cultivation. Shipping points for the roots have been, Barron, Cumberland, Campia, Hills- dale, Almena, Cameron and Rice Lake. The average in favorable years has run into the hundreds of acres. For many years F. J. Krahenbuhl, while grow- ing beets on his own farm, worked with the sugar factory people in securing acreage contracts and superintending the planting, growing and shipping the beets.

Peter A. Hong grew a small plot, one-third to one-half acre, of tobacco on his farm, northwest of Barron, several seasons. He was doing this as early as 1902. He appears to have been the first to try tobacco. He came to Barron County from the neighborhood of Viroqua, Wis., where tobacco had been grown for several years. The Tvedt Brothers came in shortly after Mr. Hong and at once began the growing of this crop. They likewise came from a tobacco grow-

Digitized by Google

1046

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

ing region, Stoughton, Wis. The acreage of this crop usually runs from fifty to one hundred.

Almost as soon as people began to settle on the land in Barron County, they brought in a few colonies of bees to help supply the home tables with sweets, but at this date it is a hopeless task to find out who brought in the first bees. However, a few of the old beekeepers are known. Rasman Kellogg was one of the first to introduce them in the vicinity of Prairie Farm. J. P. Carl- son and Magnus Olson were other old time bee keepers near Prairie Farm. A little farther to the north, on Dority Creek, was Frank Millard, who produced honey on a large scale. Not far from him was Frank Hall, another large keeper.

D. C. Carsley settled early in the territory west of Comstock and has had a large apiary ever since. D. G. Harris was one of the first bee keepers at Barron. L. C. Knutson of Cumberland and Martin Stephenson on Dority Creek were extensively engaged in honey production fairly early. Among the present- day bee keepers of the county the following are prominent: George Stowell has the largest apiary and is the largest honey producer. Others are L. C. Knutson and L. W. Knutson of Cumberland. D. C. Carsley and daughter, Isa- belle Carsley, of Comstock; Carlson Sisters of Prairie Farm; W. C. White of Canton; Stout Farm of Mikana; Pearl White of Barron; and Frank Garner of Chetek.

On October 4, 1918, a few bee keepers near Barron organized the Barron County Bee Keepers' Association with seven charter members as follows: George Stowell, Pearl White, George A. Garrett, D. G. Harris, Martin Stephen- son, H. H. Chapman, and C. J. Nelson. The officers elected at this time were: George Stowell, president; Pearl White, vice-president; and George A. Gar- rett, secretary-treasurer. With one exception, these officers are still serving. At the annual meeting held in January, 1921, Mr. Stowell declined a re-elec- tion as president and L. S. Cheney was chosen for the place. At the present time there are 20 members.

Early settlers soon learned that garden and field peas grew and pro- duced remarkably well in this north country, yielding peas for the table or for stock feed, of a very superior quality. About 1900 a few of the citizens of Bar- ron conceived the idea of establishing a canning plant which should handle peas and possibly sweet corn. To put the plan into execution a company was formed early in 1901 and capital stock of $15,000 subscribed and paid. A fac-' tory was constructed and operated during the seasons of 1901 and 1902. Four hundred acres of land in two tracts was purchased by the company early in 1902 to insure a fair amount of acreage for growing peas. Unlooked for diffi- culties in harvesting and canning arose, and it was soon realized that such a plant must be handled by people experienced in the work to make it a paying venture. At the close of the season of 1902 the company sold the factory to the Waukesha Canning Co. This company enlarged and remodeled the plant and operated it until the spring of 1912, when it passed into the hands of the present owners, the Inderreiden Canning Co.

The original stockholders in this concern were C. S. Taylor, George Parr, Coe Brothers, T. W. Borum, Geo. R. Borum, C. J. Borum, William Simpson, A. E. Hedback, E. McKinny, J. E. McKinny, Henry Radermacher and Mrs. J. F. Coe. The officers were: C. S. Taylor, president; William Simpson, secretary; and C. J. Borum, treasurer. These stockholders made no money in this un- dertaking, on the contrary, they suffered considerable loss; but they set in motion an enterprise which has spread to all parts of the county and became a fixed and profitable feature of the agriculture of the county. Since the estab- lishment of the plant at Barron, similar ones have been established at Rice Lake, Cumberland, Chetek and Turtle Lake, with vining stations at Floans Farm, Town of Stanfold, Almena, Besslerton and Hillsdale. A factory at Clear Lake and vining station at Clayton, both outside the county, secure a large part of their peas from Barron County farms. At times some of these concerns

Digitized by Google

1047

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

have tried canning corn and string beans, but at the present time practically nothing but peas are canned. The Barron factory in 1921 put out 60,000 cases, the Rice Lake factory between 90,000 and 100,000 cases.

There are several flourishing community clubs in the county, these at Prairie Farm, that in Vance Creek Township, centering at Reeve, and that at Arland Township, as well as one of unusual importance embracing the people of Chetek and the surrounding county.

Late in the summer of 1911, Dean H. L. Russell of the Wisconsin Agricul- tural College was visiting friends at Barron, and in conversation with L. S. Cheney, made the statement that the College of Agriculture was then making arrangements to provide for agricultural representatives for two counties. Mr. Cheney requested Dean Russell to give Barron County a chance to secure one of the two representatives. During the next few weeks, some members of the County Board and other influential men were consulted concerning the matter. Most of these were in favor of requesting the state to send a represen- tative to Barron County. One of these, Clarence C. Coe, wrote to Dean Russell, asking if the University of Wisconsin could not arrange for county agents in Wisconsin. He had done this without knowledge that the matter was already being arranged.

When the County Board met in November, Mr. Cheney talked with Super- visor Simon S. Berg, a progressive man. He at once fell in with the plan and offered to introduce a resolution to carry the plan into effect. Mr. Cheney formulated and drafted the resolution which Mr. Berg introduced. The reso- lution was adopted and the necessary funds appropriated. Mr. Cheney, as a member of the Training School Board, which was to have general supervision of the activities of the County Representative, was then sent to Madison to con- fer with the college authorities concerning the man to be sent to Barron County. As a result of this conference, Frank D. Otis was decided upon for the place. Thus, Barron County became the second county of the state to provide for a county agent or representative, Oneida County having had the first the pre- ceding year. Mr. Otis did not get onto the ground until August 15, 1912, and for something over two years he did the experimental, pioneering work which must always be done for any new enterprise.

At the annual meeting of the County Board in November, 1914 (Nov. 13), it was voted to discontinue the work, but at a special meeting of the board, held January 5 and 6, 1915, it was decided to continue the work until the fol- lowing August. Mr. Otis resigned in February, 1915, and was transferred to Madison. At this time the County Board appointed a special committee to look after the work of the County Agent. About March, R. L. Cuff came to the county as representative. He continued in the work until September 28, 1920. In the fall of 1919 the County Superintendent was added to the committee and the committee empowered to elect County Agent. On October 2, 1920, the com- mittee held a conference with W. A. Duffy, at which time he was appointed County Agent. He is still serving the county in this position. An excellent ac- count of his progressive work is to be found in the Annual Report of the Board of County Supervisors for 1921. From the first, the county agents have been a chief factor in the advancement along all lines of agricultural endeavor in the county.

The story of the modern agricultural progress of Barron County as here related deals with the strictly local aspects. It should be noted, also, that in a general way, Barron County has kept pace, or just a little ahead of the agri- cultural progress of Wisconsin and the United States, in methods, implements, tools and equipment. Modern machinery is to be found on every farm, modern conveniences in many homes, modern equipment and appliances in many barns. Homes are comfortable and well furnished, barns are large and well arranged, lawns are well kept, fields well tilled, well fenced and well rotated. Silos dot the landscape everywhere. The story of the individual farms, and their devel-

Digitized by Google

1048

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY

opment from a little clearing among the stumps to the rich farms of today, is to be found in the story of the individual settlers found in this volume.

The Barron County Farm Bureau came into existence as a temporary or- ganization on March 4, 1921. The organization and election of officers took place in the court house in Barron. The election of officers resulted in making Karl T. Hazelberg temporary county chairman, and Fred M. Arndt, temporary county secretary.

The temporary officers at once began the organization of the township bureaus. April 30, 1921, a permanent organization of the county bureau was per- fected, the officers being as follows: President, Karl T. Hazelberg; vice-presi- dent, William Bartlett; secretary, Fred M. Arndt; treasurer, E. J. Mckinney.

The Farm Bureau was created by the farmers and is an organization of themselves. It consists of the individual farmer and his family as the founda- tion. It is an institution brought into existence, managed and supported by farm people.

Farmers in their respective townships meet, elect president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer and one co-operator for each school district, thus creating the township bureau.

The objects of the town units are: (1) To build up and maintain agri- culture in the township. (2) To give opportunity for individual members to express their views on all questions which affect their interests. (3) To unite the strength of all the farmers to obtain sufficient power to carry out the pro- gram of greatest value.

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.

History of Barron County Wisconsin, Part 175

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1767

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1922
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1767