The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1909-01-07

to find the means necessary to en-
able them to get away.
About a year ago ten or a dozen
families from this community emf
grated in body to an irrigated val
ley in western Colorado, where they
expected to engage in the fruit grow
ing business. Most of them disposed
Of all their property here except.house
hold belongings and nearly all Of the
party invested in small tracts Of very
high priced land soon after reaching
their destination. One Of the party, a
man who owned good farm near here
and who wisely decided to rent his
place here and investigate the new
country thoroughly before destroying
his cline of communication" is living
at present in house in Clarion and
making preparations to occupy his
farm again next spring. he knows and
can tell a great deal about the boom
ing of a fruit country. 1t is started
of course, by band of promoters.
Every one that can be induced to in
vest at once doubles the price of
what he bought, becomes himself a.
bonner and lays" for the next fellow
The real estate man is glad to turn
the prospective investor loose in the
community and let him listen to the
talk of the contented and prosperous
residents who, however, all have
something for sale. Actual results
of fruit raising are about as ca to-
obtain as the proverbial needle in the
haystack. When they are ascertained
the results indicate that somebody
either became confused in his calcula.
tons or else mistated facts Fruit
growing is found to be something of
science. Not everyone is adapted toI
the work. Bugs, beetles, and other
pests are quite bothersome. Frost
occurs at very inconvenient times and
often when prices are good there is
little to market. But there is some
prosperity everywhere. A few sell
portions Of their holdings at fancy
prices. They buy more property and
wait. They are pointed out to theI
new conner as examples of what may
be done by the investor there. Abil
ity and inclination to adapt ones self
to circumstances is the condition oil
success here just as in the case of
other places. There always has and
always will be both success and fail
ure, enthusiasm and disgust, in every
movement of the kind.
The owner of a farm in this county
had some cottonwood trees on his
land which he wanted removed. One
day a farmer of this vicinity offered
him $50 for them and the offer was
accepted as soon as made. The pur,
chaser had the logs sawed into boards |
and the result is good barn that cost |
its owner but a trifie in addition to his
labor Another instance illustratingl
the making of easy money on thei
farm is that of man who marketed
eight turkeys the other day at pre-
vailing quotations. The amount Of the
check he received was only two cents
short of $40, or an average of $3.50
apiece. |
A little two-roomed implanted house
stands in a grove a short distance
from here on what is the oldest farm |
in this part of the county. 1t was
built by a Mr.. Mccormick in 1862
from boards sawed in mill at Bel
mond. The land was homesteaded
and at the time there was not another |
house within ten miles of the place. |
In the course of years James McCOr-
mick, a son of the original owner of !
the place succeeded TO it's ownership
and added to its acreage. A modern
81 900 house stands near the humble
structure that was first erected on the !
place A motor car is housed in one
of the buildings and right here it
might be stated that there are four.
other vehicles of the kind on this mail !
route Instances of the kind more or
less frequent suggest as a modification
of the old saying Three generations
from shirt. sleeves to shirt sleeves |
another one fully as appropriate:
Two generations from OK teams to
automobiles"