Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-09-07
WASTE ON The farm
The Average Iowa Farmer
Wastes 9Th to Make
Careful Man Rich
RURAL ROUTE OBSERVATIONS
The New Road Law Not Practical
Success and Not Popular With the
Farmer-LesisIation for Road I'M
provement Notwithstanding About
Crop Stories.
Special to Times Republican.

| A
Special to Times Republican.
4 Sheffield, Sept. 1.-THE wastefulness
of the average Iowa farmer is nowhere
more apparent than on the public high
ways. AS one drives along the roads
at this season OF the year he is re-
minded of the story of the Iowa farm
er who while on visit to Connecticut,
| remarked to resident of that state,
that there was more hay wasted on
I the roadsides OF Iowa than was raised
IN the whole state of Connecticut.
Yes. remarked the eastern farmer,
that is true, and it accounts for our
holding mortgages on your farms"
| The highways of the state of Iowa ara
grown high with weeds, notwithstand-
! ing the fact that there is a law which
requires that all weeds must be cut
before they go to seed II the farmer
fails to do duty In this respect, 1t may
be done by the county and the expense
be taxed to the property. 1t should not
be necessary that force be required to
perform duty, but 1t seems to be in
this case. The weeds should be cut
for two reasons. The first and best
reason is that after the weeds are cut
say two times, blue grass and clover
Will kill out the weeds and the hay
raised is profit One farmer here cut
and sold SIC worth of hay from the
public roads adjoining his land. An
other reason is that the weeds hold
the moisture and mud holes are an
accompaniment OF the weeds.
The new road law has been in effect
now long enough SO that a practical
working has been shown and from ev-
cry side comes the remarks, Il told you
so,'' knew 1t would not work. and like
expressions.
That it is not a success is certain.
1t never was and never will be popular
With the farmer. So that instead OF
trying to help 1t along, everything has
been done to show 1t up in poor light.
The amount of work for one man to
look after is too large. The amount of
money to work with is too small.
Hence there Is a general skipping over
of the territory and in most places
roads are no better than before.
Seventy miles OF road is too much
for any one person to look after In
many places roads have been aband-
oned, simply because no one fixes them
up except as necessity. In many
places bridges are out and at others
where the bridge is intact the APP
proach is gone. From personal exper-I
fence think the roads are unsafe to
travel over after dark. When the leg
islature meets this winter. there Will
be or should be some action taken along
the line of providing for road improve
ment.
There is talk of renewing the visit
of the legislature in body to our state
institutions. 1t would be more profit
able should they spend a week driving
over the roads and talking to farmers.
We had poor roads under the old ar
rangement,. we have poorer roads now.
Who will come forward and suggest a
plan whereby roads can be made pass !
able the year round. 1t is too much to
ask each farmer to keep up the roads
by his land. This was suggested, but
in talking with a man in town who
rents his farm he says that 1t would
take all the rent to do it. So the sug-
gestion was lost. The farmer claims,
and perhaps justly, that the bowling
for good roads comes from people who
don't pay for it and simply use roads for
pleasure and that If left alone the far
mer will see that the roads are so that
he can market his crops.
Can one believe half the reports
about crops? In talking with farmers
here I find that it is most always his
neighbors who has the poor crops, but
when you get there 1t Is further down
the road. One mans oats runs 80
hounds to bushel and yields the usual
of bushels. Another farmer
saws: II have 200 acres of the finest
corn I ever raised" And so 1t goes
ona thing is certain that the Iowa far
,oer always has money with which to
purchase the necessities of life, go to
the county fairs, sometimes to state
fairs. ETC., Notwithstanding poor
crops. This cry Of poor crops goes UP
each and every year from some part OF
tho state. and is literally true, for there
arc some who never get their crops IN
On time and then kick because the
weather is against them. From what
seq when travel l find as rule that
The man who gets his crops in early
has rood crops, while the other fellows
does the kicking.
GEORGE f. TIiAYER.