Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1899-01-27

IL uld grow. tue clncn bugs destroyed II
before IT matured. And the timber
was superseded in its uses by wire, by
iron, by coal, and, lastly, by the groves
on the prairie.
Whole neighborhoods that were I'm.
able to adapt themselves to the chang
ed conditions, moved to other west
ern states in the hope of continuing
the policy which changing conditions
compelled them to abandon here. A
few remained, others took their places,
and corn and clover, and other grasses
took the place of wheat till we bought
all the bread we used. When this
change took place land was worth less
than in the palmy days of big wheat
crops and very much less than it is
to-day.
After the new order of farming was
established, the COW and the calf and
the mortgage lifting hog began to re-
store the fields made unproductive by
the wheat raising soil robber, and gave
value to our farms. Good houses and
good barns took the places of shan
ties and straw sheds, and new values
were created. With the COW and
grasses came the creamery and i'm
proved stock, better schools and
churches and roads, and bridges and
other things that go to make people
prosperous and contented. With this
added prosperity zane still greater di-
versity in the uses of soil, such as the
canning factory, the small fruit farm,
and the market garden. These have
all been factors in giving value to the
land, and as the years go by and a
new generation takes our places, there
will, no doubt, be large numbers of
other elements added to those which
have been mentioned. The day of the
very large farm is past so far as max
ing an equal net return determines the
value of all things, in time.
The tenant is here to stay, but every
year finds his lot harder and the nun
Der who have struggled along for a
number of years, paying large rent on
large farms. and who want to get rid
of it all by getting a little home of
their own, is yearly increasing. This
will compel the subdivision Of large
farms, even for tenants, and rhe con
ditlons are not likely to be favorable in
the future for the accumulation of
large tracts of land for renting pur.
poses. This condition of things has
made labor in the country scarce till
it is hard to hire a man, or woman
either, for help in the busy season.
What can't be done by machinery has
to go undone, and much is wasted and
left alone, because there are no hands
to do it.
The tendency, for years to come, so
far as they can be forseen, will be
higher prices, and this during the past
two years has been quite marked. For
the present style OF farming and the
present prices, farms may have reach
ed their full value but for the purpose
of making small homes and tue uses
to which they will be put under the
changed conditions will be added
largely to present prices. Changes
are slow in the habits and customs of
communities, as may be seen by the
time it has taken from wheat to the
present, and as they grow older these
changes will be slower, but they are
taking place. 1t is only for US to note
them and adapt ourselves to their con-
ditions and not become dissatisfied
and move on.
There is a constant trend, with the
increase of population, to a smaller
division of land, and the number of
people who are content to have a few
acres and a home are constantly grow
ing larger. The tendency to drift into
the towns, SO noticeable a few years
ago, is dying out, and the desire to
IA, .La.H -.
have a home of their own, paid for,
and on which they can make a living
ing. Small pieces of land which can
be had cheap, even among the hills
and bluffs OF the timber, are being
taken up and made into homes.
This is a distinct gain, not only to
those who build these homes, but to
the towns in which it is impossible for
all to find employment at living wages.
And this tendency to homes in the
country, away from the vices which
tempt the Young, and sometimes the
old, and which are always inviting IN
the city or town, is one of the most
encouraging signs of the times. Forty
years ago no one could have foreseen
the wide change from that time to
this, but we may rest assured that the
coming years will bring with them new
IDEAS, new methods, and new advan-
tages, and that the rich fields that