Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-12-03
Crop Greatly Lacking in Feed
ing Quality and Farmers Are
Beginning to Worry
OLD CORN is BEING HELD.
Those Fortunate Enough to Have
Some of Last Years Crop Waiting
for Higher Prices-Lishtning Rod
Mon Now WeIcomed-Much Building
in country-WiIson's Observations.
special to T,mes-Republican.


true that a large percentage OF the
| farmers of this part Of the state are
, wondering what effect the present day
financial conditions and an approach
ing presidential campaign will exert on
the prosperity of the farmer and stock
raiser in the near future, observation
of what is being done in the way OF
farm improvement would seem to IN
| dictate that no one concerned is wor-
rying much over the outcome. Locai
carpenters and contractors are picking
up help wherever they can find 1t IN
order to finish work they have prom
Used to do before winter puts an end
to building operations. New houses,
barns and other outbuildings are ey-
erywhere in evidence and many farm
/ yards contain the concrete founda-
| tons that the owners of the places
have erected themselves so as to be
ready for the first carpenter that can
/ be found when the building season
opens in the spring.
Not few of the new barns that
have lately been erected, however, are
the successors of others which were
destroyed last summer by fire or light
, ming. The past season was without
doubt the worst on record In this re-
gard. In the matter of rebuilding
barns, 1t is a fact which no one seems
able to explain, that when large
barn goes up in smoke almost invari
ably a much smaller one is erected in
its place. Larger and more expensive
business blocks nearly always replace
those destroyed by fire in towns, ana
even in the country the farmer gen.
orally puts up better residence than
the one he lost in this manner, but in
the case Of the barn it is different. An
other feature noticeable in this line is
that the new barn is hardly finished
befor the lightning rod man has Dccn
called upon to furnish his part of the
equipment. Nobody seems to remem-
Der Of case where barn was struck
by lightning when properly rodded,"
and nothing recent IN the way of ac-
counts Of farmers chasing rascally
| lightning rod men off their premises
with pitchforks, cross logs or shot
guns are being circulated to any great
extent.
The farmer whose condition Is most
envied these days is the one who
still has part of last years corn in
his crib. Everywhere the story is the
same: There is not much feeding
value in the new corn" Liverymen
/, especially declare their horses lose
| flesh in spite of the extra care and in
| creased quantity of feed given the an
finals when fed from the new crop.
| That the fortunate possessor of old
corn is fully. aware Of his advantage
is proven by the way he promptly
| turns down tempting offers of Is cents
or more above the market price for
any amount that he would SELL He
generally answers the Would-be pur-
chaser with the statement that he
isn't ready to sell yet One farmer
near here who has always taken
special pride in keeping his horses in
the best possible condition changed
recently to a new corn ration, mean
while using his horses to pillow a four
| teen-acre field. One day while pass
| ing the house on his way to work
his wife came running out Of the
house and demanded to know VIVA:
he had been doing with those horses
to make them look SO thin. This man
is trying to figure out way to finish
bunch of hogs he would like to
market some time during the coming
winter.
One day last week I drove thru
school district thickly settled with
people, all of foreign descent. Many
Of those living there were hardly able
to read English. Unusually large
families seemed to be the rule ard
| groups of children were noticed at
every place. Inquiring as to why these
were not at school it was learned that
nobody living within the district would
board a teacher consequently there
| was no school, Driving from a town
a few days before, several vehicles
were to be seen on every road each
morning, all containing children at
| tending the town school. In that com
| munity one man related with pride
that his children had Travelled more
than 1000 miles in the past three
| years going to and from school,
| The two localities present strong
| contrast in the ideals of rural res
idents and the children affected will
later on afford one much more
marked. C. E. WILSON.