Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1900-05-15
IMP ROVED FARMS,
What a Few Years Have Done for
Marathon County.
GREAT AGRICULTURAL COUNTY.
Our Farmers Behind the Times on
Cattle.

A few years ago, only the most san
guine of our people could see the
great possibilities of Marathon county,
as an agricultural county. We re-
member how it was predicted that
Wausau would run down hill when the
pine was gone. Later on the pessimists
allowed few years more of prosperity
because of the hardwood industry, but
it was only a year or two ago, that it
began to be generally admitted that
this was to be a great agricultural
county. No doubt there are still skep-
tics in our midst on this subject To
them, we recommend drive, through
the country, that they may become part
of the majority, who see great future
in store for us. 70 west on the old
Marathon road; see how settlers are
coming in on the sand lands, west of
Little Rib, this alone will surprise you
and you may wonder how they will
make living in the sand, don't lose
any sleep about this, these farmers
know what potato crop will bring;
but keep right on going west, don't let
the mile or two of sandy roads turn
you back, you will soon strike as good
a road as horse ever put foot on, it is
rotten granite from the hill south of the
road and some day the farmers will
wake up and fix that stretch of two
miles of sand with the same material.
You are glad you drove out just to see
that bit of good road, even if the news
paper did fool you about an agricul-
tural county. But keep right on going
west, until you get over the hill just
ahead you are now six miles from
Wausau, and see good farming
country and the further you 90 the
better it gets; farm after farm, with big
fields where you can't see a stump and
where you can speculate what kind of
crop that is, which is coming up so
vigorously; then you commence to
notice what fine barns the farmers have
and by that time some one looks off
north across the country and you notice
about a mile away, other strips Of cleared
fields, perhaps bigger than the ones
near you, and on nearly every farm the
same good buildings, between the two
strips of cleared farms down in the
hollow where the creek seems to be are
the familiar woods, here and there
trimmed out, as the farmer has cut a
few thousand feet of logs to build the
new barn. The story gets to be an old
one but you can see the same sights all
through the county. You will also
notice that every little while you come
to creamery or cheese factory and
that most of the towns are putting in
good road machinery.
But there is an "if" to the story All
the farmers seem to have learned that
the sheep crop is good one to have,
every farm seems to have big crop of
spring lambs. If they only had good
cattle, our farmers would compare fav
dUlJ VIII SOuhOJ IL CliS oottbSs
The farm teams are all right, but for an
''onery" lot of ood-for-nothing scrub
cattle we can't be beat We know
there are few farmers who have good
stock but they are lost in the multitude.
They have still to learn thatit costs just
as much to keep scrubs as it does thor
oughbreds, and that you can't get good
results in either beef or butter from the
scrubs.
Money invested in hundred thor
oughbred bulls would pay larger divi-
dends than any investment our farmers
could make. Think this matter over
you Marathon county farmers. There
will be chance to buy some thorough
bred short horn and red Poll bull calves
at the county fair this year. You won't
have to order by letter and take what
you get, but can see what you are buy
ing Industry and improved machln-
cry has worked wonders on your farms
and we congratulate you. Try some
new machinery in your cattle herds.