The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1863-11-04
farm aud 1tousrllule.
Largest Farm In the to,sntry

farmer wN'su soll.siirrlng, impromtu clo-
qucnce SO electrified the Illinois SCuatC last
winter. Tha, speech h;,s since lceu printed
in hundreds e newspapers, nrl tens oi
thousands of copics, ON cards gnd handbills
have been circulated ,il ever the country.
ami are yet rUstUi IN, iu thousands of shops,
east an well as west II did us good tu
grasp the haul Of the Kcutucky-horu farmer,
who, like President Lincoln. wandered III
early life to tao wild prartos Il Illinois,
there built up fortune, aud in these latter
days has gained wide reputation hy his
noble stand for tho preservation and per-
ret,rity ur orr glctoius Uuion Fortunately,
ns we set ont on the day. trip, wo met Mr..
hunk. Nv Bloomington bound humowarl,
and hal the pleasure of rilug wltb him ~
lis plain farm Wagon. IN the familiar CON
VIBRATION on the way, We leaned from BIN
the history of his early life. his glrugglrs
with poverty, and h4 gradual success, from
The time he cmi.ratrl t. Illinois nearly
forty years ago. with but few dcilars IN
his rocket. until now. whcu hja l,udci rs.
tato covers an area oI tull IyrV s5Vur
miles 1851 acres)
We have space but for a few oi the moro
interesting itema Ne Funk gFrivrB it
Illinois and commenced work IN l@3t IL
1926, he gathered mp lOcalllc. and started
with them for market in OHIO. about i10
miles distant, much ol the route throu IN
the wocds a Indiane aul Western nhio
fhov wcro thirty ono to thirty.twp dAvs ou
'tcroll The drivers ru To uu horseback
carrying their prov lslous and camping on
with the drove The irst price rcaI tc,
for the cattle was 50 % per holI, and after.
ward gradually rose tn Sl2 20, and then 4,
&lb, and the drovcR were increased tr from
zoo to $50 head To make up thcsc drovca
several settlers turned in their cattlo and
neceiVed an agreed price or a proportion oI
die sales, on the return Of the drovcr
Ns fast as the results of those enterprises
and of raising and feeding cattle, furnished
the means, Mr.. Funk purchased land at the
government price of 81 Is per acre, and
aNout onc-third of his present estate was
secured on these terms. The other two
thirds have been purchased Of others, At
prices ranging from 81 30 up to $50 per
acre. Mr.. +. has paid the Illinois Genital
u. D. Co. alone, some $4,000 for portions
OF their land lying adjacent TO his original
purchases. We entered upon the main farm
some six or seven miles southwest of Bloom
ington. This consists Of e, 800 acres. il
cSic tract longest from east to west with
several points. (Ihc balance, about = 00l
acres. il located few miles east and north
east of Bloomngtonl The general charar.
ter of the mhiu farm is prairie. bnt there i
abundant timber along Sugar Creek, which
rms tLrolgh the estate in a southwest di
rectou, and which, with its branches. fur
nishes an abundant supply of living water
for the stock. throughout the dricst SEASONS
The surface is slightly rolling, and the
sluugha pronounced sloos) are 80 located
That nearly the whole surface is naturally
drained. This feature, together wth the
woodland, tho running water, and the gen,
eral fertility, render the wholc tract ono OF
tho best in the State.
About 5000 acres arc devoted to corn
ond \ small portion to other crops, includ
ipS improved grasses; tho great bulk ia il
natural grasa pasture. The corn land is
mostly lot out on shares The cutivaturs
usually return two.6(ths of the crop and
certain othor privileges, and Mr.. Funk thcr
buys the threc-Gfths. A few average ahnckt
are selected by the two parties, and husliod
anil the whole number of shocks are the,
counted, aud rccknucl in bushels hv tn,
product as the huskc1 ones. The prrcc i,
fixed by the average price of corn in the
country for oght or ten miles around, OF at
two to three cents per hushel below the
value ot shcllcd corn at the nearest market
town.
Tho min business OF tho farm is the pas.
turagc and feeding OF ,Attle for beef. These
are purchased from tn surrounding Coun.
Try, pasturcd for u season fcd with corn in
the winter. and tho next season sold tu deal,
crs to 20 to distant markets usually tO
Scw York City. Mr.. Funk says he finds il
most profitable to buy only the best cattle
Generally, howovcr, he is obliged to take
them in lots. In this case, tho best arc fitted
for market FIRST, and the smaller and poorer
animals kept year longer. A few cattle
Hrc raised on the farm. Wcnoticcd one "lt-
tie bunch" Of ono hundred and fifty cows
with their calves. Tho calvcs run with
their dams, and have all tho milk, Only
good cows are used for this purpose; the
slres used are thrccfourths ard scven
eighths Durham tShorthorn) Generally
Mr., F. buys cattle tn use up most of his
pasturage, but sometimes, when cattle ar,
high, and the future prico OF beef quite un
certain, he takos IN n few hundred or thou
sand cattle 20 pasture, at thirty to fifty
cents per month. He keeps tour or FIVE
hundred hogs, or Just enough to eat up the
waste corn left by the cattlc, to which the
corn is fed on the stalks lie has only eight
OF ten hundred sheep at prcscut, and som,
three hundred horses and mules About
slNty mule colts are raised each year. The
breeding mares are not put into harness a
all. rho cattle are sorted into drovcs q
similar ages, about two hundred in eIut
drove. The pasture fields are so arranged
as 10 have running wator in each. The an
nfals are salted twice week, the salte
takes two or thrcc barrels upon wagon
drives ont to the herds, and scattcrs tn
salt upon the ground, spreading il 50 mucl
that the weaker animals shall have FREQ aC
eess 10 Il. Though we are accustomed t,
sec three or four thousand head OF cattlo il
tho yards on market day, we were much in
terosted in observing a herd of two "
three hundred como Scamporng across d
field at the familiar call OF "po-n.o, 20 90 =,
70 receive thoir expected salt rations. An,
sucH herds Five hundred acres in one
ono thousand acres in another, and twenty
five hundred acres two miles square, o
fonr square miles, in another single field
That Is certainly farming on large scale
As arulo, we believe in small Mrms--Rity 4
one hundred acres is as much as most mo
will or can cultivate with the highest profit
but II is gratifying 10, once in mans life
see farm like Isaac Funk's. Ii an agri
cnlturist himself, one feels that he belong
tn a class which number it's princes an,
Hagnates. Mr. Funk says hc has done buy
ing land feels that he has enoU1h} II
has eight sons amt one daughter To- shar
Ills, possessions. aud will lie able 10 riN
each one right smart" farm Two q
three OF these are erecting dwellings, on IN
T. - s