The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-14

where he has made such big fort, no
IL IS probable that the political bee IS
sui Duzz1ng about his head In spita
oI the TACT that he has been twice de-
Ieated as candidate for governor he
may De laying wires to try it again.
But, II Mr.. Wheeler has been unfor-
tunate In politics, he has certainly
made remarkable success of farming.
Early in the '7Os Mr.. Wheeler owned a
5OO-acre farm in Lake county, Illinois.
He had made money there, but wanted
more elbow room. He was progressive
He believed that farming done on
large scale and done right would pay
as well as any other business. So af-
ter much looking around he went to
Sac county, Iowa, then a wilderness,
and bought 600 acres of fertile aIluviaI
soil from a railroad company at $3.50
an acre.
Then he went to work to organize his
ideal farm. Dividing his farm into three
ranches, he hired a small army Of
laborers and put each division in
charge of a competent superintendent.
He had no intention of doing any
manual labor himself He did not see
why he should handle plow any more
than a city merchant would be expect
ed to drive his own drays. He UNDER
took the head work, and as he was
deeply Interested party he performed
his task well. He watched the prod
uce market as closely as broker
watches the stock ticker. He read the
agricultural reports He established a
corps of confidential agents in various
q
pended on to give him accurate infor-
nation about crops.
He went on the theory that a glutted
market was almost certain to be follow
ed by a short crop the next year. One
instance of his sagacity was shown the
year he raised SO much popcorn that he
was laughed at all over Iowa. There
had been glut Of popcorn the year be-
fore, and every farmer had resolved to
let it alone the next year. Mr.. Wheeler
thought it would Pe a good year for
him to raise it. He went to New York
and looked at the market. One day he
telegraphed to his manager, PLANT 240
acres of popcorn" He made a profit
that year of $1,000 on popcorn alone,
and then it was his turn to laugh
A dozen years ago Iowa people snlil-
ingly told the story of 1.-The man in Sac
county who runs his farm by tele-
section Of his big farm was connected
by telephone with the managers office.
Perhaps the people thought the man .,
ager ought to spend his time trotting
around over a farm that was three
miles square. Mr.. Wheeler had no
idea Of wasting the time he paid for
In any such way.
He had many ether labor saving de-
vices. He bought the latest reapers,
the most improved feed cutters and
other patented implements. He spent
a small fortune in machinery, but his
crops were gathered with a swiftness
that astonished his neighbors, and his
books showed that the machines paid
for themselves He introduced a sys-
tenn of promotions which secured for
him the best farm hands in the country.
He paid good wages, too, and there are
several farmers in that section of the
state today who bought their homes
with the savings from their salaries
after a season or two as foremen for
Mr. Wheeler.
After he had been raising immense
crops of corn, wheat and other grains
he went into stock raising. Finding
that there was a steady demand for
heavy draft horses, he sent agents to
Europe and had them bring over a lot
of Shire and Percheron horses. At one
time he was the largest breeder and
and his agents have brought over as
many as so in a lot About four years
ago he foresaW that there was to be a
decline in horse values, so he began to
dispose of his stock. Next he turned his
attention to dairying, but he had not
got fairly launched in this branch be-
fore he decided to change his scene OF
operations. He sold his entire farm a
short time ago, but is to retain possess
sion until spring.
In the meantime he has been buying
land in Jefferson county, Tex, and he
now owns about 10000 acres about 80
miles northeast of Galveston along the
line Of a proposed railroad. This big
tract he is going to turn into a dairy
farm, and he will keep 1000 cows for
the purpose of supplying the Galveston
district with milk and butter. His son,
a young man of about twerfty-four
will have charge of the farm, while Mr.
himself will retain his resi-
dencC in Iowa. IS. G.. Schenck