Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-04-26
NEBRAsKA LETTER.
Some Experiences of Former Iowa
Farmer.

Farmer.
Mr.. EDITOR: After farming in Iowa
twenty eight years, q portion of that
time on Bowen's Prairie, in Delaware
county, when its finest land would not
sell for $500 per acre, the failure of
bank forced me to rent or hunt home
stead. l choose the latter and on May
I'D, 1879, 1 babe my family goodbye
and drove west to find place where we
could build up home again. On June
in the southwestern part of the state,
wagon bows in the ground, stretched
on high prairie, but there was no house
or sign of habitation in sight; not a
furrOw broken out: no roads and not q
wagon track on the prairie except as 1
made it. saw but five men on this
prairie that summer. l went twenty
miles to town. 1t was 100 miles to
railroad. Money was scarce. One
period of five weeks l lived on $3.15;
sixty three cents week, and paid four
cents pound for flour and eighteen
cents pound for meat. l only had
two meals day. / had to 20 without
supper.
The first Sabbath here / organized
Sunday school. l was the only one
present, the nearest neighbor was five
miles away. That school is running yet
and has five classes, nearly all Iowa boys
and girls. 1t runs winter and summer
and has scarcely missed session in
fifteen years. 1t is held in q nice frame
school house now where there is regu-
lar preaching and large class
The first two and half years my
family were here we nad but three lady
visitors. A neighbor living six miles
away brought his wife and two girls
and spent the day. Now the prairie is
dotted with homes of prosperous
farmers, more of them from Iowa than
any other state. There aye over ninety
school houses in the county. Sunday
school and preaching is held In great
many of them and there are number of
country churches.
There are two railroads in the county.
The Burlington main line runs through
it. McCook, the county seal, with pop
ulation of over 5000 is but few miles
from my farm. 1t is division point
where $4,000 is paid monthly to the
company g employees 1t has water works
and electric lights.
| Since came seeding has commenced
in January or February every year but
one. Some wheat was sown in Febru-
airy this year, then it froze up for awhile.
This is the latest spring ever known
here. This is April 18th and some are
not done seeding. Some have 200 to 300
acres sown, are through and
blowing for corn. Inever saw soil pillow
nicer. Some spring wheat is two inches
high; fall wheat is fine; alfalfa is four
to six inches high; potatoes were planted
and garden made three weeks ago.
Roads are dry and smooth and Lave
been for three weeks; mud has not been
four inches deep this spring. Winters
are mild and short-more like Indian
summer than winter.
VI l own over 1000 acres. / have not
fed my stock two months in any win
ter. My doctor bill has not been dol
lar year. I have my regular three
meals day and weigh 223 pounds.
have apples, cherries, peaches and
other fruits canned and preserved in the
cellar and my latch string hangs out to
all old Iowa boys and girls. have
plowed corn fifty years and now some
one else may do it while rest year.
WIN. COLEMAN.
i NcCook, Neb., April Is, 1889.