The San Francisco call., 1899-03-05
Special to The Sunday Call.

TARKIO, Mo, Feb. 2S.-A millionaire
farmer is clearly to be reckoned sort
OF latter day miracle; all the more If he
lives in Missouri. and farms all-round,
and all the year round.
Tarkio, Atchison County, is his local
habitation, David Rankin his name. To
he strictly accurate, the Hon. David Ran
kin; he has served more than one term
in a State Legislature. He owns and
manages % 900 acres of land in Atchi-
son County worth from $50 TO 500 the
. acre, and not in the market even at those
figures. He has bought every acre OF II
since 1876 mostly from speculative East
ern holders, who were gleeful at getting
S. TO $40 an acre for their holdings be
cause the railway, you see, had passed
them by.
1t gives a new idea of magnificent west
ern distances to know that the RahkIh
lands are scattered over an area OF lortS
odd miles Yet their owner visits them
all every little while He lives IN hahu-
some house Just outside the town Oh Lar
kio. Five o'clock every fine morning mus
him in his buggy, WhlrAnG 10 MS Hlai!l man
office as fast as a spanking span ca4l D''i-
~ him. He finds q confidential SeCtelaiy
awaiting him. A brief interval OF ldIh,
clear and pointed instructions, a lew
notes, mental and written; then ne WHIPS
away for a round OF maybe half dozen
of his fourteen farms before ne thlilhs
of turning his horses heads home.
The farms run from coo to 5000 acres. To
work them requires between lS0 and loO
hands. 100 horses, more than 1oV wagons
plows. harrOws, planters, CuI-IN az! !!
and seeders innumerable Each ralCh Is
in charge of a competent foreman, VINO
gets $50 a month and board. Farm hands
are maid 500 a month and board. Usually
the foremans family runs the farm
boarding house. Besides the various lore
men there is a farm superintendent, at
salary many q bank official might envy.
II is questionable. however, If his best
endeavors are worth as much as the eye
of the master.
Never Sells His Corn.
All the land is arabic, yet but little more
than half goes yearly under plow. Per
haps 2OO0 acres are sOwn TO wheat. The
remainder is planted in corn, and yields,
in average years. 100000 bushels. Not a
grain of il is sold until it has been trans
formed into fat stock. In addition to his
own crop Mr. Rankin buys whatever corn
his neiEhbors have to sell. lie buys also
their stalk fields. after the corn is gath
cred. and turns into them herds of cat
tie. TO gather up their rich gleanings Be
sides all that, he buys ton upon ton of
cotton seed meal for feeding. Small Won
der that mis- lands grow and increase in
fertility under continuous cropping.
All land not under plow is laid down
in clover timothy and blue grass pas
lures. After standing four years they are
fallowed and put in grain, the grain fields
meantime going back into grass. Thus
part of the soil, originally as rich as any
in the world, is always resting.
Once at least his iTon-CIad rule against
the sale Of corn led him into a funny mis-
take II is, of course. quite impossible for
man who owns so many teams and hires
Il n n a
curately in mind. But there is an infal-
lible Rankin ear-mark-at least Mr.. Ran
kin himself thought so for a good while
1t is the wagon harness. He uses the
old fashioned trace chains, as being both
cheaper, handler and more lasting than
the new-fangled outfits of straps and
leather. So whenever he meets a team so
accoutered, he naturally sets it down as
part Of his property. Some little time
back he met a four-horse team. brave in
chain harness. drawing a big load of corn
through Tarkio streets. The sight Of it
set him wild. Thou shalt not sell corn."
was sort of eleventh commandment
with him.
A favorte expression with him. and one
that he uses TO give vent to his feelings,
IS "Set fire" repeated two or three times
quite. rapidly. On this occasion he COM
menced with "Set fire! Set fire., What
are you doing here with that corn?" The
driver calmly replied that he had brought
it TO town to sell. This gave rise to re-
newed storm of Set fires" but fortunate
ly some one who knew the man came
forward and explained matters. He was
q farmer who had adopted Mr.. Rankin's
style Of harness, and it was his own corn
that he had brought to town to SELL
Fattens Thousands of Cattle.
Mr.. Rankin fattens more cattle than
any other man in the world. Every year
he buys and fattens eight to ten thousand
head. The bulk of them come from Tex
as, though Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and
Missouri are fair sources of supply. He
has been known to buy 5000 head IN q
bunch, and pay on them freight bill of