Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-08-22
A LITTLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

In last weeks Osceola Democrat,
which, as its name implies, is Demo
cratic paper, appeared the following
editorial which gives little food for
thought. the more so that it comes
from a Democratic paper:
THE editor of this paper spends
much of his time in the country and
he speaks from what he actually OBJ
serves. There are thousands of acres
of Clarke county land which will this
year no every acre yield $40 worth of
corn.
There are hundreds of acres OF
wheat in Clarke county that have al
ready yielded their owners from SIS
to $25 per acre.
There are thousands of acres of
oats that have yielded their owners
from IS to SIG per acre and the straw
and fall pasture have still great value.
There are thousands of acres OF
timothy that have been headed and
will bring to their owners in the seed
crop alone from Sc to SIP per acre and
the hay is still left
Meadows have yielded from Sc to
500 an acre and a large area will be
cut again for hay and clover seed.
Pastures have put beef on cattle
which have grazed upon them worth
from Sc to s12 per acre.
''The thousands of growing colts
ranging upon the rich luxuriant pas
lures of the county are doubling in
value this year.
Eight brood sows will produce fifty
pigs and ten acres Of pasture with
water, will make those hogs worth
$3.50.
Thirty years ago we said to the
people of Clarke county, publicly and
privately that the next generation
would pay $50 and even $1OO an acre
for Clarke county farms. At that
time lands were selling for $40 and
even SIS an acre, and men took our
statements as the utterance of a young
enthusiast and laughed and ioked
about them. But we were right then.
Now with broader experience and
knowledge and we believe ripper judg-
ment we state as our deliberate judg-
ment that the generation which is
now born will pay $3.50 and 5000 an
acre for Clarke county farms, and they
will prove immensely profitable at
that price.
"You may go to Kansas, Nebraska
Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, Dakota,
Canada, Or where you please but no
place on this round globe where the
sun shines Or where the grass sprouts
is there a more inviting field for in
vestment in land than right here in
the county of Clarke. We predict
that one more decade will see its
present selling price doubled. It's in
trinsic and inherent value is here
now"
There is food for thought in this
editorial, not only for the readers of
the Osceola Democrat, but by the
reading public generally. The condi-
ton that exists in Clarke county, as
pointed out by the Democrat, is the
condition that exists in every county
in Iowa. Farm lands have advanced
in value, the crops are bountiful and
the farmer is receiving a big price
for his crops.
But in reviewing the progress of the
last thirty years, the Democrat does
not refer to the period a few years
ago when there was halt in this
march of progress. The crops then av-
eraged as large as the crops this year,
but this yield did not bring $40 IN
acre in corn, from SIS to s25 an acre
in wheat, and from So to SIG an acre
in oats.
This was the time when after years
of prosperity under succeeding Repub-
lican administrations the people voted
for change. They got the change.
The harvest was as bountiful as be-
fore, but corn was not bringing $40 to
the acre. This was the time of ten
and twelve cent corn, the time when
the mills must shut down and the fac
tories suspended. The farmer learned
then that it was burden to live on
high priced farm and labor indus
triously to raise low price crop.
The Osceola Democrats article is
tina1y