The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-05-24
lNDIANA's FREAK FARMS
Leeehes. weaseIs, Tomeats, skunks ant
Frogs Are some Of the Products.

Leeches, weaseIs, Tomcats, Skunks and
Frogs Are some Of the Products.
For freak farming Indiana certainly
takes the lead. Instead of depending
on corn, wheat, rye and the meinfold
~standbys, a great many farmers in
Indiana are devoting their time and
energy to raising other products, such
as skunks, weasels, rabbits, frogs, gin
seng, tomcats and noxious weeds. In
diana has six large skunk farms, and
the industry Is becoming so extensive
that recently a trust" has been formed
The pelts are very valuable, bringing
from $1.50 to So apiece. according to
the quality. The skunk farmers are
now raising the brutes by the thou
sands. The young are pretty and do
NOT demand much care, and are cheap
1y maintained and easily placed on
the market, and are profitable.
At New Harmony, Posey county.
there is a large family OF Angora cats.
Herman Eular, of that ctey, is a gem
uine farmer and tomeat jobber who
has made a fortune in handling of this
breed Of cats. He has sold over 5000
cats in the past year. He has sold
some as high as $50. and none for less
than SIS. 1t will readily be seen that
cats at $25. apiece will make a man
more money than any Of the many
cereals raised on the farm.
There is only one leech farm in In
diana, and that is probably the only
n in the whole country. The indus
try is carried on in moss-flled watts.
The breeding leeches are shipped from
Germany some years ago, and all Of
the product is thoroughbred. The
leech market is II ,thing compared with
what 1t formerly was when physicians
prescribed an application Of leeches
for everything, from cold feet to a
mand for them and they bring q fancy
price. Thc~ get plenty OF food and
will keep for an indefinite time.
There are four large rabbit farms
in Indiana. The largest one is located
at Wabash and covers sixty acres.
The company is headed by Nathan
Meyer and is known as the Wabash
Belgian Hare Breeding and Import
Ing Company. The company expects
to raise 1000, 600 hares this year. The
Dummies are fed on hay, and they con-
sumo about ESQ pounds of green grass
a day. Their peIts are in great de-
mand and the meat is edible. More
over, they sell as pets. From their
hair the finest crush hats are made.
Hares are easily handled and are pre-
feraDie to skunks, and there is no
danger of "off" year.
For many years the farmers thought
peppermint weeds obnoxious, and
grubbed them out. To-day there are
three big peppermint farms in Indiana.
The largest is located in st. Joseph
county, and is owned by Mark Beeger.
Another is on the Michigan-lndiana
line and is owned by some Poles, and
the other is in Lake county. Its uses
are numerous, but the greatest demand
comes from the manufacturers of print
fabrics, who use it to make the colors
more solid. The successful pepper
mint farmer can make from SIS to $3.50
an acre from his land.
The most freakish line of freak
farming is the new wrinkle in fatten-
ing the watermelon. Here the farmer
steals a march on Nature and fatten
them. They do it by performing q
surgical operation on the stem, insert,
ing a cotton fuse, which is passed
through the cork Of a bottle OF sugar
sweetened water.