Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-03-21
coLoRED MAN AMONG THE PROS.
Porous FARMERS OF NORTH
ERIN IOWA.
AIDED IN EARLY DAY az
SOLDIER HE sEFRlENDEp
Has Two Sons Who Are Successful
Farmers-North lowa's Inducements
to Renters Of High Priced lands-
Haphazard Methods Of Road Making
&C. e. Wilson's Rural Observations.


between the federal! and confederate
forces in the civil war mounted union
officer named Nerbeck lost his horse as
d result OF a Well directed shot on the
part of some member of the opposing
force. The story is told that almost
as soon as the officer had eXtricated
himself from his fallen steed colored
lad WHO was on the ground had secured
another animal from somewhere and
promptly placed it at The. disposal OF the
soldier. Nerbeck was so pleased at
the performance that he kept the boy
with him when the struggle was over.
II appears 10 have been common
practice in those days for Illinois men
to invest occa sionally in Iowa land.
Il tendency which by the way is still
prevalent. Mr.. Nerbeck in time be-
came possessed of a tract OF Worth
county prairie. and he negotiated deal
with his colored protege whereby the
latter acquired an Iowa farm by right
of purchase. That happened more than
thirty years ago and Sol" Stratton,
one of the Very, very few northern
Iowa farmers with a strong predomin-
ance OF African blood in his veins. still
owns and lives on his farm. as prosper
Gus perhaps as the average man in the
thrifty community where he is located.
Two of his sons operate a farm in the
same neishborhood, one of them sold
a team of horses the other day Tor
nearly $500 They came 20 town one
day last week and took home a big load
OF mill feed for a bunch OF hogs they
own and they are kicking on the con-
d.tion of the Chicago stock market just
as hard as any stock raiser anywhere
can kick. which Is saying a good deal
at the present time.
A great deal of notice has been Civ
en- to the Purchasing of farms in
northern Iowa this year by men from
the central and southern parts OF the
state ard of their emigration 70 the
new possessions This however ac-
counts only in part for the northern
migration that has become q feature of
each springtt,ne One morning in the
early part OF this month a north bound
freight stopped at Hardin county
town and a man craWled out of his car
and explained matters 10 the bystand-
ers He was from Mahaska county.
and q rented farm. Four renters had
lived on adjoining places. Every one
was moving north whore he could rent
a good farm for from $3.50 to 81 per
acre instead of Sc. which had been de-
nanded as the price Of staying where
they had been. He told about land
owner who advertised his farm for
rent. An application asked for terms
and the owner named The figure. The
would be tenant replied that he didn't
want to buy the farm. he only wanted
to rent. Il is said that man living on
farm in the west part of Grundy
county. 240 acre place. pays sl,440
rent and pays il in advance He raises
corn oats and hogs, and thus far has
made some money. IF prices of farm
produce should drop materially" said
the man. who told about the case "he
wouldn't make a thing above expenses"
What that man ought TO do is to go
Where his s1,440 viii buy an eighty and
pay for it in full. Just what the owner
OF the high priced farm would do if
he had to rent it at old time figures
is another question.
"One Of the worst mistakes we are
making these days" said a wellknown
farmer of This section. is our present
system of making and maintaining our
public roads Not one road supervisor
in dozen is competent to fill the place.
We ought to have trained experts in
charge of this work instead of some
one who can be picked up because he
has nothing else to do or because he
will consent to neglect his own work
TO give a fragment of his time to the
public. What would be the result If
railway company would pursue such
policy for twelve months? The other
day | saw a place where a great eX-
cavation was made at the roadside to
obtain dirt for a grade. The water
gathering in that basin will undermine
the grade and the. road there will never
be good. We ought to train men for
the position Of road supervisor. at
Ames. He ought TO be a resident Of
some other township than that by
/ which he is employed. Sufficient sal
airy should be paid to make the job an
attractive one. The work ought to be
| done by contract under the direct SUI
pervision of the man responsible for
its performance. and we farmers in
stead of holding out for the privilege
of working out our road tax ought to
! attend to our crops and stock and let
somebody work on the roads who can
afford to do such work. When we go
! dC tile DuSIiIcSS OIL IDdu IidhlHS III d
modern way we can have good roads"
| One day recently a man passing the
farm of F. NJ Kenison near the little
town of Bolin happened to look out in
to the pasture and saw some cattle, a
dog and a boy. The boy was astride
the dog aIthc both boy and dog were
walking. Suddenly the kid settled
| himself lust back OF Towser's shoul-
ders and lifted his feet from the