The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-07-28
IMPORTANT TO
our READERS
Every Farmer Should Read the
Experiences OF This German
Tiller of the Soil.

| Iowa farmer contains more truth than
poetry, and shows the results of mail
order trading so ably and the future
outcome OF same. that it should be
carefully read and considered by all
those who possess property, real or
personal
we farmers need awakening to the
fact that we have unmistably reached
| the period when we must think and
plan. l am one of the slow German
farmers that had to be shown, and |
am now giving my experiences that
others may profit, for knowledge at
the school of experience is more ex-
peuslve now than ten years ago.
| Twenty-nine years ago / began my
farm career. / had an old team and
500. Our furniture was mostly home
| made-chairs, cupboards and lounge
made from drygoods boxes, neatly
| covered with ten cent cretonne by
| my girl wife, We rented eighty acres.
Being boy of good habits | got all
needed machinery and groceries of
our home merchants on credit, until
fall crops were sold The first year
L
enough to pay creditors. | went to
each on date of promise and explained
conditions, paying as much to each
| as possible, and they all carried the
balance over another year. They con-
| tinued to accommodate me until | was
| able to buy forty acre piece of my
own.
AS soon as / owned these few acres
| the mail order houses began sending
me catalogues, and gradually began
sending my loose change to them. let
ting my accounts stand in my home
town, where | had gotten my accomo-
daions when / need it.
We then had one of the thriftiest
little villages in the state-good line
OF business in all branches, mer-
chants who were willing to help an
honest fellow over a bad year, and a
town full of people who came twice a
week to trade and visit Our little
country town supported library, high
school, band, ball team and we had
big celebration every year. A farm
near live town soon doubles in
value. | sold my forty acres at big
advance and bought an eighty gradu-
ally adding to it until had 200 acres
OF the best land in Iowa. / then felt
no need of asking favors, and found
it easy to patronize the mail-order
iAgents that came almost weekly to
| teur,s r,sdcor. rregret 10 say sthat was
the first in the county to make up a
nelghborhood bill and send to the
mail-order house. Though we got bit
once in a while we got in the habit
of sending away for stuff
Gradually our merchants lessened
their stock of goods-for lack of pa
tronage. Finally we began to realize
that when we needed a bolt quickly
for machinery or clothing for sickness
or death, we had to wait and send
away for 1T, which wasn't so pleasant.
One by one our merchants moved to
places where they were appreciated
and men of less energy moved in
Gradually our town has gone down,
our business houses are "tacky" in
appearance, number are empty, our
schools, churches and walks are go
ing down, we have no band no Ii
brary, nor ball team. There is no
bushes done in the town and there
fore no taxes to keep things up. Hotel
is closed, for lack of travel. Go
down to the depot when the freight
pulls in and you see the sequel in
mail-order packages.
Nine years ago my farm was worth
$195 an acre, today I'd have a hard
matter to sell it at $167 an acre 1t is
too far from a live town"-so every
farmer tells me that wants to buy
He wants place near schools and
churches where his children can
have advantages. / have awakened
| to the fact that in helping to pull
down the town, it has cost me $4,000
| in nine years. Like the majority of
farmers, l didn't figure far enough
ahead.
This sort of business means the
doing away of country towns. What
will it mean to farmers to have only
| a few large cities at distance of 500
or 1000 miles? What are we going
| to do with our children, who are de
manding even better advantages than
1--WE had?
| Those cities we help, to build re-
| turn no favors, they take our money
| but offer no credit in time of need
| If we want high schools, ETC., we
] must raise the money and build near
! our farm homes, or send our boys and
| girls to the cities at great expenses,
amidst temptations of which the farm
has no equal. Neither am | the only
awakening farmer These mail-order
agents that come to our homes every
week are becoming a nuisance and
| making it unsafe to leave women and
children alone or the farm. With
| farm cordially we take these strang-
/ ers into our homes, often as one of
| the family and we are sOmtimes re-
| paid in having them entice our girls
to the city.
These are some facts that need con-
sideration, and I have decided that
| the safest proposition all around is
| for the country people to look after
their own country towns that bring
value to their farms. Let those who
want to patronize the city mail-order
house go there to live, getting their
living where they give their patron
age The remainder of my life will
| be given to building up the home town
that / helped to pull down. Brother
farmers you can take my advice or
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