Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-07-20
A Coming Dairy Region,

Another element of modern progressive
farming that is following the settler into
the timber, and the value of which is
hard to overestimate. is the cooperative
creamery and the cheese factory. North
ern Wisconsin is especially adapted to
dairy farming and many Of the best au-
thorltles have long agreed that it will
some day be the richest dairying district
IN the state, rich as Wisconsin already Is
in achievement in this industry. All kinds
OF grasses grow here luxuriantly, and
white clover comes UP spontaneously
among tae stumps wherever the timber
ana underground are cleared away, fur
nlshlng excellent pasturage without cul-
tlvatlon; Red clover. timothy, blue grass,
rape, alfalfa, and other forage plants
yield abundantly. The demonstration Of
experience here is that stock needs no
more (often not as long, feeding in the
WINTER season than in more southern por-
tons OF the state. The soil map fur
nlshed by the Wisconsin geological sur
vey shows that the greater portion of
these north central sections of the state
mas sou very like and quite as good as
that found in Clark, Chippewa, Mara
thon and other counties below them.
People Must See to Believe.
1t is very natural for people who do
not 90 upon the ground themselves, to
underrate a region so near at hand
Ihose OF the older settlers of Wisconsin
VINO mad learned to regard northern Wis
consln as a wilderness, find it hard. m
less they visit it themselves. to realize
what has been and is being done by rail-
road building, and by individual and
corporate enterprise, to bring this rich
section into agricultural and manufac-
turing subsection. To some who have
never seen new farm hewn from the
wilderness, the task looks unattractivo
and dlscouraging, but men Of this sort
should inquire what had to be done dur
ing the early history of the older conn
ties to which have referred.
For one, have always thought that
the man who was in earnest and ready
to work, as one must work who makes
home anywhere, was foolish to at
tempt to do it in any prairie country,
when northern Wisconsin is so near at
hand: The man who goes into new
prairie country to make a home has, to
begin with, to take his home with him,
even to the roof that must shelter his
head. He must take or buy everything,
from food and fences to fuel. to develop
his land and support himself and family
farming, even in Minnesota and the Da-
kotas, that now, with many railroads,
seem very near at hand, has been one
of constant contest between man and
the elements. The prairie farmer has
had to contend with billiards, with fire.
with cyclones. and the history of all
prairie regions, as compared with the
climate of northern Wisconsin, is one
of uncertainty and often Of disaster.
Talking of this particular subject, re-
Gently, with man long resident in the
northern portion OF the state, he said
that but once in twenty-one years had
he known anything like a failure Of
crops Of any sort, for lack Of rain.
Opportunities Are Plenty
There has been great deal Of develop
ment in northern Wisconsin during the
past ten years, and yet, as one travels
over this part Of the state, he wonders
that it has not been much greater. For
the farmer living in the older portions Of
the state, who Is partly in debt for his
farm; for the prosperous farmer who has
to find opportunity; for the man who is
a tenant farmer; for the man who works
as a laborer for other farmers and yet
has ambition to own land himself and to
make for himself a home, northern Wis
consin offers opportunities that should
be thoroughly looked into before decid-
ing to locate elsewhere. For the resident
Of Wisconsin, especially, that is familiar
with the state and its institutions, and
has proper affection for his neighbors, his
friends, and commendable loyalty to his
commonwealth, there are many attrac-
tons in these opportunities so near at
home No business-like man should
chose a home except with great care,
and he should avail himself Of every op-
portunity to get his knowledge at first
hand No man should buy land, with
the view of using it, without first seeing
it, and understanding it's disadvantages
as well as it's advantages. For men who
are in earnesh who know what they
want and seeing, recognize it, there are
thousands Of desirable locations still open
throughout all northern Wisconsin and
especially throughout the region between
the Omaha and the Wisconsin Central
railways, from Clark and Jackson coun-
ties northward.