Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1905-10-11
OBSERVATIONS OF LOCAL TRAVEL.
Comment on Country and City Surround
ings and General Conditions.

EDITOR CENSOR: Riding along the
highways from five TO seven miles ont of
town | observe few worn ont thresh.
ing machines few harvesters, mowers,
hay raKes and hay racks in the fields and
yards, road graders eft by the wayside.
Quite five per cent of grain artisticslly
stacked eighty per cert we'll stacked
and fifteen per cent fairly well ninety
per cent Of hay poorly stacked and ten
per cent only fairly thrown into heapa
Owing to the frequent showers corn on
ly fairly well worked. Some fields clean,
many fairly free from weeds, while some
are dirty.
'Fhe highways have not received much
attention, but considering the wet sea
son are in fair condition The road
down the Cook branch from the city Ii
mits to the church, johnson overseer,
and south from Carmichael's TO the ridge
highway shows good work. The valley
highway leading to Hunter bridge, with
few exceptions, is deserving of mention,
considering the road bed and available
property to tax. Had the overseer of
the Cook branch highway followed up
with filling low places, preventing chuck
holes, and throwing out some loose
stones the road would be the best The
hill at Arthur Rogers farm has been
improved by scraping dirt on rock. A
seeming fault in highways il failure TO
cut high places and fill low. The small
elevation near DIR. Porter's house. after
| fifty nine years travel, is few inches
higher than when the first wagon, Judge
DeFiees, drove over it in 1876 The
cutting of two inches, annually, at
George Nuzum's house would have made
q level grade instead of a hill
Farm work, considering the season,
having machinery, has been kept we'll in
hand. A few fields Of oats were late in
the stack John Norris farm and work
show he is a master of farm work and
drives instead of being pushed. Sam
Moore shows skill in farming, has the
neatest and best cultivation Of grounds
in the vicinity Sam works 1t makes
him tireu to lay of He can't sleep If
he has not toiled eighteen hours The
story is told tina: he borrowed one dollar
and a quarter from Captain McMich
del to start. Generally, the land be-
tweed the main travelled road and fence
/ is growing large crop of noxious weeds
prohibited by law. Dock, burdock, rag
weed, briars, thistlfs and shumac ar
too numerous. lc 1lany places the fence
posts are rotting, the wires loose, the
top wire resting on the ground. The
city Of Viroqua has not enforced the
noxious weed law; dock. thisiles and
ragweed are too plentiful in some places
The east street leading to the country
has lock and thistles ripeniug, seees
falling to be washed on the farms below
Many dead trees, planted cne year ago,
are still standing. Fall is the best time
to transplant trees, after the leaves have
fallen and before the ground freezes
Hard maple is not good tree to plant
after twenty-five years will die. Elm
is good.
The tobacco crop was generally well
cultivated, well hung up in sh de, the
harvest lasting from the Goth of August
90 the middle of September. Xye zen
and children have aided the farm " ork
| by bringing cream TO the factory Still
place Martin Roots farm one hpndred
plus for good fences, clean and free from
growth of weeds, the cultivation of corn
and tobacco, the gathering of grain and
good stacks, the clean lawn and general
good order in all things. Il r.