The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-08-29

I
bought up land and settled down
to farming, while people of other
nationalities are moving away. The
Hollanders take the raillery of the
and assert that if it were not for
the Hollanders, the land prices re
ally would not be so high, for they
are hard working, Industrious
and saving people.
Begins on Rented Land.
Usually the young Dutchman
comes over from the land of dykes,
works out as a hired hand for a
year or two and then begins. farm
ing for himself on a rented place,
If the crops are good, he generally
manages to get ahead, but it takes
a long time before he gets in a
position where he can, own the
land he farms. The man who, came
to this part of Iowa twenty or thir
>ty years ago or who already has a
big bank account is the one who
owns the laDd-not the newcomer.
In fact there are SO many Hol
landers in this part of Iowa that.
all general stores and. places of
business employ only those clerks
who can speak Dutch. 1t is said
that in the town of Hull, there are
only three or four American fam.
ilies
Comparatively little attention is.
paid to the raising of small grain,
although there is good acreage
of oats, wheat and barley. In
many places this year, however, the
oats were so short, the binder could
not cut close enough to the ground
70 get half of the grain. Corn is
king in this section OF Iowa, and
he Iowa farmer speaks in terms
Of corn. When he talks with
nerson from some other part of
the union. invariably the question
asked is, whether OF not that Sec
ion can grow good corn This
question was put to me time and
again.
Hogs at Nice Price.
With hogs selling at eight cents
l pound, the farmer cannot be
blamed for being interested in
swine above everything else on the
arm. One full blood breeder sold
,ver $7,c00 worth of hogs last year.
BESIDES what he made from other
ources On the farm. His swine.
Ill h.
rs for pig just weaned to $222
or big full blood SOW. Another
armer cleared nearly as much, by
selling hogs by weight alone, ship
ling several car loads to Sioux
ity and Chicago.
Although hogs receive the greater
ttention, there are many farms
there cattle, especially of the beef
ype, are raised. In Sioux county
slone there are quite number of
zig stock farms with full blooded
herds, and few that have a ma
,tional reputation for their cattle
Shipments are made as far east as
Buffalo, New York. The Holland
9rs are noted for their dairy cat
lie, but in Iowa, most farmers raise
merely enough dairy cows to salts
" their own needs and to get a
small cream check besides.
What impresses the visitor in
this part of Iowa is the use of the
most, modern methods in farming
and the big scale on which things
are done. Although not compared
With the bonanzas. of the Dakotas,
'et the farmer of Iowa works on a
big scale, But even here, they are
beginning to realize that it is better
o own a small piece of land, work
It well, than to scatter ones atten-
ion over too big farm and do
things by halves. In the past few
years. a large number of farms
have been divided up into smaller
racts. However, even this has not
served to hold the renters COM
9letely for landlords have had to
compete with the fine offers of Min,
rosetta land too.