Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1915-03-31
THE EDITORS LETTER.
Manchester, Iowa.


''Eden spot of the world That may
be true but mantle of six or eight
inches of snow only gives one chance
to see the profile of the country. and to
Vermonter the profile of Iowa is not
very attractive Indeed it is very fiat
From Chicago here. 225 miles, one
sees nothing but a monotonous stretch
Of rolling farm land. with nere and
aHaya little towns with such common
names as Dyersvile. Freeport and
Blairsburg. The first thing that
greets the eye along any highway Or
railroad is a windmill. Drawing near,
one discovers a set Of farm buildings,
but nowhere have l seen such farm
buildings as Orleans county builds.
Through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and Iowa | have
looked for one good, red dairy barn
such as we have in Vermont but no.
where have | seen one. | am sick and
tired of seeing cattle, horses and sheep
out in the open, getting their living
from haystacks. Some half-doZen
scattered barns. leantos and shacks.
whitewashed over. constitute the farm
barns in most of the territory | have
seen. Here in Iowa there is an i'm
provement over the central states |
came through and real dairy farming
is carried on to quite an extent. Beef
breeds are favored to a greater extent,
however, than in Vermont and should
judge that there is great opportunity
for eastern farmers with their pure
bred stock to supply the demand here
as full-blood stock is being rapidly
introduced.
This county claims the distinction of
being the home of the first creamery
in the United States and the man who
made the first pound of butter in a
public creamery is now over 80 years
old and lives in this town.
Much of the grain fed the diaries
here is raised on the farm and they do
not run to cottonseed feed to any such
extent as 90 our farmers.
Beef and pork constitute the cash
crop for many farmers. One farmer
who milks 20 cows tells me he usually
turns off about 125 or $50 hogs every
year.
Formerly this was a great wheat
country and the land was considered
lneXhaustible but years of cropping
without fertilization depleted the sol
and much of the land is just getting
back to really good productiveness agar
after applying year after year quaint
ties of fertilizer. This explains The
trend to pure dairy farming where
stock-raising and the cropping Of
cereals for market were formerly the
agricultural business.
There are no gravity water systems
here. Windmills, artesan wells anc
pumping plants supply the water fol
farms and towns.
Manchester, the shire town Of Della
ware county, has about 1000 popula
ton. It is laid out like a checke
board and is about level A move
telephone system is in use here AM
rather makes one wonder about rate
for service at home. From your owl
phone here you call any one of the 6O
Manchester subscribers without ring
ing central. It is very simple. If tn
number wanted is listed as 721 yo
simply turn a little dial on the tele
phone box, first to seven, then to tw
and then one, press a button and
brings the party wanted. While yo
talk, no one can come in on the line
Every subscriber is on = one-party lin
SO goa have an absolutely private lin
while talking. A visit to the centrf
girls and quantity of the wonderfr
little machines that connect you wit
any subscriber automatically. It
marvel of simplicity and perfectio
and has been in use here some IL years
The cost of this one-party line, auto
matte telephone service is Sis per yea
yet we are told in our comparative
compact towns in Vermont that
party line cannot be operated at
profit for less than $18 per phone pe
year. net, with all the sweet cline
busy" thrown in.
Well. I must speak of somethin
besides Iowa towns and farms. Pc
haps Chicago deserves a paragraph
but to be perfectly frank with 20,
the day spent there was dark an
smoky. and slushy under foot. and di
not gain happy impression of til
place. Perhaps if / had liked it bette
/ would have stayed longer. and on tn
other hand. if i had stayed longer
might have liked it better. Chicago
quite city and enjoyed the movin