Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-08-18
MARATHON COUNTY'S
ULTOPIAN CONDITIONS
AS Seen by a Leading Agricultural Paper
in Recent Write-Up.


cine publication, in its last issue con-
tains the following excellent write-up
of Marathon county and its advantages,
from the pen of w. S. Guilford, who
| visited Waust.u recently:
A representative of the Agriculturist
recently made trip through Central
Wisconsin and does not know of a
nicer trip a farmer who lives in the
southern part of Wisconsin or in Illinois,
Iowa or Minnesota could take for a
little vacation and "change" from
the scenes and duties that are his, twelve
months in the year, and a trip that
would not only be change but an edu-
cational one in which he would learn
much of the resources of his own state,
than to go up into Central and Northern
Wisconsin and stay week or so. We
had the pleasure of looking around"
Wausau in Marathon county and some
of the adjoining territory. The "push"
and enterprise of the people up there
surprises one who is used to living in a
farming community in Southern Wis
consin or Northern Illinois. Everyone
is busy-the farmer, merchant, lumber
man-all, and all are making money
and are consequently happy. But with
all their business a more hospitable peo
pie it would be hard to find Nothing
| is done by halves there, and having
once been there creates desire to re-
turn. AS we have many times before
intimated, Wausau is very busy and
metropolitan town, one that any state
or county could we'll be proud of.
With Secretary l.. X. Wright and a
party of congenial friends we drove one
afternoon to the Marathon County
Agricultural society fair grounds
mention of which has been made else
where-visited a few of Wausau's many
industries and some fine farms and
gardens about town.
| Wausau is on the Wisconsin river
which furnishes power for many mills
and other industries, and as is the case
along many of the streams in this sec
ton, the land is more broken and not
so good as it is further back but on this
land that they admit is poor, we saw
some of the best corn, potatoes and
garden truck seen anywhere this year,
in spite of the very bad season.
Hon. Sam Quaw, president of the
Marathon County Agricultural society
has field of white dent corn that was
shoulder high on the 25th of July.
Many other fields were as good, and
such oats as would make fields we saw
a few days before in Racine county,
green with envy, are common. But hay
is the crop that causes the most trouble.
second demands attention, and such
crops! 1t does ones heart good to
drive in field where the crops are so
thick that you wonder where it all grew.
If anyone were to tell the writer of the
tremendous yields of hay that he actu-
ally saw he would be inclined to be-
lieve they had just returned from a
fishing trip and it is for that reason we
want to urge any farmer who is in
aeed of rest or who is going to take a
trip to go up there and see for himself
August Marquardt, ex-sheriff OF
Marathon county, had one of the finest
gardens in the state. His beets, car
rots, tomatoes, potatoes, and in short,
everything, we found in good shape
but nothing that it should be, he said,
on account of the very unfavorable
weather this year Besides being an
expert gardener he is an orchardist OF
ability, as the fine plantation on the
side hill, to the top of which we climbed
for view OF Wausau, shows. Most OF
the trees were literally loaded, so full
were some branches on the young trees
and so heavy the load that they were
propped up to prevent breaking.
While you realize that Wausau Is a
big place and that there is lots of busi-
ness there you do not fully appreciate
it until you get birds-eye view of it.
For over two miles along the river are
factories, saw mills and residences and
to all there is the substantial appear
ance that is indicative of healthy and
rapid growth.
The canning factory at Wausau is
putting up canned peas that almost
melt in the mouth, so tender and juicy
are they. The peas are sown in drills
very close together and cut with a
mower By means of specially pre-
pared and quite simple machinery, they
are taken from the vines and canned
ready for the table. The industry is the
source of a good revenue to the farmers
about Wausau.
An immense tannery, many saw and
planning mills, a sand paper factory
veneer factory and some of the best
pure bred live stock in the state have
+ their home in and about Wausau.
The Agriculturist receives many
letters from its subscribers in Central
and Northern Wisconsin, testifying to
the advantage of living in that region.
Among those that have lately come
from Marathon county, extracts from
which will be read with interest in con
nection with the above, is one received
8 few days ago from Mr. Frank A. Viii
cox, OF hnowlton, Wis. He says:
Ten years ago there lived in this
place man eighty years old and his
wife who was twenty years younger.
They were extremely poor and had
been so for a number of years. At that
time ten years ago the old man got
hold of piece of land, cleared it off,
and raised enough while doing so &c
support himself and his wife and buy
some stock. He sold out two years ago
making don't know just how much,
but he celebrated his golden wedding
in great style, hiring q hall, band and
giving 3 dinner to the large crowd ht