Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-12-22

adopting plan ClaC mas Deen tried III
other states with successful results.
But in such an a ertising campaign
whom does Iowa expect to interest? Is
it the man in the cities, the man on
the sterile eastern farm, or the immi.
grant? And what will Iowa offer?
Will it expect the Immigrant or the
eastern farmer to come to Iowa with
enough money to buy one of Iowa s
overgrown farms at from 500 to $3.50
an acre, or enough money to operate
one Of these big farms as tenant, or
does it expect these settlers to come
to Iowa to work as farm hands? If it's
appeal is to the man in the big cities,
will it attract him to the cities of
Iowa, or to the farm, and If it brings
him to the farm does it believe a city
man without experience is capable of
making success of farming enter
prise in which he wi. be asked to in.
vest from $4,000 to $4,000?
1t seems to us that what Iowa must
do before a statewide publicity cam
paign will be effective lis to get people
to put into effect plan or plans to
cut down some Of our big farms into
small tracts for intensified farming.
offer the settler, something within the
reach Of his purse and something
that insures him better returns, even
though larger investment is required
than any farming proposition that any
other state can offer.
There Is hardly an acre Of Iowa
land that is not adapted to intensive
farming. Iowa's soil IL unsurpassed
and Iowa never has known crop
failure. Iowa is so situated that 1t
will become the garden spot of the
world If it lives up to its great pos
sibilities. Iowa is closer to more mar
kets than any other state. On the
west there Is Omaha, Council Bluffs
and Sioux City. On the north there is
Minneapolis and st. Paul. On the east
there are the hundreds Of thousands
of people in the Iowa and Illinois cities
along the Mississippi river, besides
Chicago, Springfield, Peoria and the
Illinois cities. On the south there are
Hannibal, st. Louis, Kansas City and
st. Joe. In addition to this there are
Des Moines and the interior Iowa
cities. Here are millions of mouths
to be fed-millions of consumers.
i
soil and the short seasons, Minnesota
and the Dakotas will continue to be
used for big wheat fields. For many
years to come the farms Of Kansas and
Nebraska will be Of big acreage, be-
cause these states are not completely
settled Much Of Missouris land is
hilly and not adapted to cultivation.
Illinois has gone in for intensive farm
ing on a small scale, but its farms, as
rule, are Of big acreage as in Iowa.
Iowa's fertile soil, its abundant rain
fall, supplemented by well water for
irrigation, when necessary for in
tensified production, and its proximity
to the market centers makes it the
ideal garden spot. But field of from
160 to a thousand acres cannot be sue
cessfully operated by one family as a
garden There is need for smaller
tracts Of ten, twenty and forty acres,
and Iowa should set about interesting
some one in providing small tracts Of
this size to offer to the men 1t seeks
to induce to settle in Iowa
1t can be done as it has been done in
other states. In Colorado and other
western states syndicates have ac-
4ulI Cu sidi 60 oSIOcSoCS, WoICl GU lASul
by irrigation and then placed them on
the market in small tracts. Many
young men have gone from Iowa to
take up these small farms who might
have been kept at home If the same
opportunity had been given them
here This plan has been worked sue
cessfully in many Iowa cities In open
ing up city additions. Large tracts In
the suburbs of the cities have been
secured, cut UP into city lots and inn
proved and in this way the cities have
taken care of their increased popula-
ton.
The trend in the country has been
the other way. The farms have been
consolidated and made larger. Instead
of caring for an increased farm popula-
ton, this consolidation has aided in de-
creasing the rural population of the
state.
The Increased prices of food pro-
ducts has made it plain that there are