Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-02-15
NOTICEABLE MOVEMENT FROM
IOWA TOWNS TO AGRICULTURE
Al PURSUITS.
CITIES SUPPLYING TENANTS
FOR FARMS BEING VACATED
Retired Farmers, Farmers Sons and
Former Tenants Who Have Tried
Something Else Decide to Till Soil
Again - Something New in si!os -
Wilson's Observations.
Special to Tim


Clarion, Feb. 15.-Anyone caring
enough about the matter to investigate
a little can find an answer. in part, to
the question, who is to take possess
sion of all the Iowa farms that will
within a few days be vacated by those
now preparing to become residents of
| other states?" in a movement, much
more noticeable than common, that is
going on in every locality. perhaps in
the state. Ask anyone we'll informed
on the subject; in any town or village
if he knows of any families preparing
to move from town to a farm and he
Will tell you that more Of this kind of
moving will be done this year than he
ever knew of before. Men who left
their farms years ago, expecting never
to return to them, sons of retired farm
ers, tenant farmers who have tried liv-
ing in town for the past few years, 9TH
ers who never tried farming but who
for some time have longed to try the
experiment, representatives of all these
classes are attending auction sales,
signing orders for farm machinery,
hunting up seed corn, and making 9TH
er energetic preparations to begin till
ing the soil when the season arrives
that men go forth to plow and plant.
If it were possible for an enumeration
of the inhabitants both of country and
town to be made at once and another
one month later the result would GER
tainly surprise those who have not been
In position to observe what is now oc-
curing in this direction. Indeed the
Vxyhn
answer to the oft heard challenge, eff
you think the farmer is having the best
of 1t these years get out and try farm
ing yourself"
Out in a thirty-acre corn field one
day last week was a man picking corn.
He had detached the front bobs of his
sled, fastened on box with a capacity
OF about five bushels and wading round
in snow which reached to above his
knees he was going after what was in
sight with all his might. At p. m. he
had nearly load" when this snow
goes off," he said, call corn that touches
the ground will begin to spoil in a way
that won't be slow and I'm going to get
what's above the snow line so that I
can get after that on the ground in
way that won't give it time to do any
more rotting than is absolutely neces-
sary." "Never had such an experience
as this but once before" he continued,
shat was about twenty-fi five years ago.
I used a handsled and basket that
time.''
Silos are becoming rather a common
institution the country over but L. E.
Spencer has one on his farm northeast
of here that is perhaps unlike any 9TH
er in this part of the state. It is made
Of hollow building brick SKIS inches
in size and nine inches thick. Strong
cement columns REINFORCED with nu-
merous iron rods form a frame work
for the doors and the roof is of cement.
The capacity Of the silo is $50 tons.
The cost totaled about $780, Not so
cheap as the wooden ones but another
farmer in an adjoining community dis
covered five openings in his cypress
silo. which he never intended should
be there. Some woodpeckers had found
out something about the cypress that
the farmer had failed to notice. The
high-priced structure may prove, in the
end, to be cheaper than the other. In
one community north Of Thornton silos
are numerous and are regarded this
winter as godsend by their owners.
One Of these declares that his silo,
which cost him $500 last fall already
owes him nothing and that he is win
tering several head of cattle in good
shape for the insignificant sum of 5
cents per head day.
There's a horse barn standing on a
farm near the station of Solberg, a
few miles from Clarion that represents
the ideas of man who wanted the
best that could be had with the ex-
penditure of some $4,000. Mr.. O. r.
Myers, an all-round pure-bred stock
man, is the owner of the place and
the barn was put up last summer for
the protection of his fine herd of Per-
cheron horses 1t is 40x60 feet in size
and twenty-five feet to the caves. The
lower eight feet of the walls are of ce-
ment blocks nine inches thick and the
lumber used is yellow pine. 1t will hold
twenty horses and 1000 bushels of
grain, together with seventy-five tons
of hay. All of the floor space except
that of three box stalls is covered by
a one &c four mixture nfsce,,aent The
driveway is unlike those of other
BARNS. several feet higher on one side
the building than the other. This per-
mits of driving in with a load of hay,
it to the NOV, dropping
the ladder of the rack and passing
out on the lower side.
c. E. WILSON.