The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1908-08-27
Stephenson's snpaign Manager
Proves "UncIe Ike" TO Bea
Kenosha County Farmer
is MODEL FARM OF THE STATE
arm Purchased by the Senator Eigh-
teen Years Ago is Declared to be
the Finest Managed Farm
in This State


Your Uncle Ike Stephenson is using
his farm in the town Of Somers to show
| the farmers of the state that he is
just as much of a farmer and dairy
man as S. A. Cook of Neenah. The
|oGgan Of the senator on Monday con
tanned long account of the great farm
of the Junior Senator in Kenosha
county and it is not without interest
as it comes as a description of one Of
the model farms in Wisconsin. Sena-
tor Stephenson has been a Kenosha
county farmer for nearly Is years.
In 1890 he purchased the Wood farm,
FIVE miles from Kenosha on the plank
road for $50 an acre. The farm was
formerly owned by z. G. Simmons and
is about the highest land between Mil
waukee and Chicago The 889 acres
stretch east and west mile and half
on the north line and mile north and
south. The farm is called one Of the
very richest in the state
Fifty-two miles Of tile drain under
drain the land, the tile ranging from
three inch in some Of the laterals to
twelve-iuch in some of the main lines.
A driven well $50 feet deep supplies
water for the farm houses and extern
tive barns, windmill and gasoline
engine, ffteen-horse power, shreds the
fodder, fills the silos, saws wood and
bales hay. There are five windmills on
the farm and five wells, three of which
were dug in the usual manner.
James@P. Torrey, the superintendent
of this magnificent farm for the past
eleven years, is known as one Of the
best farmers in the state. He has had
/ extensive experience here and in the
west and has also had the benefit of the
course at the university
/ clarifying is what makes the farm
pay" he declares. GIVE have usually
/ had in the neighborhood Of $50 and 200
COWS OH the farm, but as we now keep
only tested cattle we find it difficult to
get pure bloods and are milking only
100, while we have twenty other cows
/ and sixty head of young cattle. We
Separate dDOuG udlI Vi OuI CISdul duQ
keep seventy-fve pure blooded Poland
Cbinas to feed up the skim milk. AS
usual with the dairying farmer, we buy
rrost of our butter"
''The herd is four-ffths Holsteins and
the other fifth Guernseys. We breed to
pure blooded sires in both cases and do
not mix the two breeds. We have been
doing this for the past ten years. About
three years ago we tested our herd for
the first time and discovered many
tubercular pninals. They were prompt
ly sent to Milwaukee, where they were
slaughtered by the state Since then
/ our cattle are tested regularly every six
months and we can show one Of the
few herds in Wisconsin which is alb
solutely free from tuberculosis
" We are below our regular number
because it is almost impossible to get
high bred cows which have stood the
tuberculosis test-such animals are
kept and not sold. "
In addition to its dairy the farm
is known far and wide for its rerchel-
ons. About fifty head Of horses ere
kept as a regular thing. Holt & Son Is
Percheron stallion, Royal Doc. has been
on this farm exclusively this season.
| The buildings on the farm are excel
lent. The hay barns have over 500
tons Of hay stored in them and between
100 and 800 tons are being stacked out
side for baling later 1t is timothy
mixed with clover which is the invaria-
BILE rule here.
! There are also twenty acres in al
fslfa which gives three crops aggregat-
ing between five and six tons to The
acre. Alfalfa, in Mr. Torrey's opinion,
is unsurpassed for dairy cattle, as it
equals one and half times as much
clover and when fed with ensilage re-
quires no mill feed whatever. Ensilage
il fed all the year except late in May
and during June.
| Corn is one of the principal crops, 14O
acres in one field being one of the
sights on the farm. Of this about
seventy acres will be cut up for the
silos, while the rest will ripen for
husking. The silos, with capacity of
275 and 300 tons respectively, are among
the oldest in Wisconsin. Two hundred
acres are in timothy and clover; TWEEN
weight acres in sugar beets. twenty
acres in cabbages and eighty acres in
oats, which will run between fifty and
sixty bushels to the acre this year.
Mr.. Torrey runs the farm on a five
year rotation of crops. Land seeded to
clover and timothy this year viii give
two crops and is then turned over to
the cattle as pasturage for season
1t is then broken and planted to corn,
oats, etc, and the fifth year is again
seeded.
The $50 acres were formerly divided
into forty-acre fields, but this made
trouble IN working 50 large a tract and
Supt. Torrey now has the land divided
into 120 to 40 acre lots, running fol
the extreme length of the farm, north
and south. This makes it easier to
reach the fields from the barns or vice
versa.