Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-11-17
Prof. Henry on Farming in Northern
Wisconsin.

Wisconsin.
The northern part of our state is
now settling up rapidly with thrifty
progressive class of people. If these
settlers will only from the beginning
direct their attention to the right
lines Of industry, there will be pros
perity and contentment from the
start; if they choose the wrong lines,
they will not succeed. Northern Wis
consin is pre-eminently grass and
clover country, and this fact is the
basis of its prosperity. Kentucky
bluegrass, timothy, orchard grass and
red top flourish in an amazing album
dances Red clover, aslike and white
clover grow as freely as they do in
tine southern part of the state and red
ard asike clover do not kill out nearly
so frequently as with us because the
norto snow more uniformly covers
the ground and there is less freezing
and thawing during the winter sea-
son. Let the settler begin to rely
upon the grass and clover as one of
his first aids as soon as he begins
farming. Oats and rye are good
grain crops for the north. No farmer
should think of regularly growing
timothy for sale, although it is we'll
enough to part with some timothy
hay for cash when prices are good.
! However, the farmer who follows up
hay growing as business will some
day make failure of farming in the
end. He should raise hay to feed his
cattle and sell their products, and
not sell hay directly.
Dairying is found to be the leader
in Northern Wisconsin. This is made
possible because of the great abun
dant grasses and clover, cheap build
ing material, pure. cool water in
abundance, and a climate which
makes certain the highest grade of
dairy products where the intelligent
management prevails. While both
butter and cheese can be made most
advantageously in our New North, l
urge cheese production as q speciality.
1t requires better and purer milk to
m Ike high grade butter, and the higl"
est grades of cheese will command re- !
latively more money than butter be-
cause of the more limited area in
which such cheese can be successfully |
manufactured. Every time hear of
cheese factory being built in our
New North, feel assured that the |
farmers in that region will in time
take out tens of thousands-yes, |
hundreds of thousands-ot dollars I
from this undertaking. 1t means d
cash income month after month |
throughout all the growing season to
tle farmers who patronize such an in
stitution. Let the Northern Wiscon-
sin farmer determine at once that he |
will keep COWS and have cash in
come every month in the year. This
will enable him to meet all the ordi-
nary expenses of his farm.
Root crops flourish to an amazing
degree in the New North. This is be-
cause of the excrllent combination Of
favorable soil and climate conditions.
Potatoes will always be the leading
money crop in the north. Let the
farmer arrange to plant given area
of potatoes each year. regardless OF
whether the market for that crop be
high or low. Occasionally the crop
will have to be sold for less than cost
of production, generally it will bring
more money than it costs to produce,
and occasionally there will be extra
large returns. But the potato grower
must be clover grower, and keeper
of cattle, in order that the fertility of
the farm may be maintained and
large crops of potatoes produced
The writer is often asked if Indian
corn can ever be grown in our New
North proftably. The time was when
the early settlers of Grant and Ke-
nosha counties discussed the same
question. The early settlers wonder
ID whether or not corn could be sue
cessfully grown in Southern Wiscon-
sin. Later the same question was
discussed in Dodge and Calumet
counties. Now it is going on further
north, with probably the same result
as in the past. The writer has in his
office ears of well ripened corn grown
nv the Indians in Forest county.