Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-05-16
Corn Planting IS 81
No,D ii Progress ...
u, Northern Iotcd

II, Northerr, I0,Cd
| Special to Times -Republican.
Clear Lake. May 16.--Corn planting
in this part Of the country began the
latter part of last week with the
ground generally in good condition
| Unusual care has been exercised IN
the matter OF testing seed and q good
stand is generally expected. Small
grain is showing mp well and new
grass seeding here Ia exceptionally
promising. FL, &FE .a
Farm sales In this locality have
been few in number since last spring
but there has been no drop in the
price Of land. One we'll improved farm
near Clear Lake changed hands re-
Gently at s225 per acre making a rec
ord in this line. There never before has
been so much interest and activity IN
drainage in this section as Is appar-
emit this spring and the cultivatable
area OF western Cerro Gordo county
will in consequence be increased by
good many hundr acres this season.
Highway Improvement. too, is every
where not iceable. An eight-miie stretch
of road north from town Is to be put
to permanent grade and long strings
of big tile at the roadsides indicate
road draining activity in many places
where such work is needed. The town
of Clear Lake is paving its streets In
at least two cases, almost to the cor
poration limits. Most OF the wooden
bridges in this county have already
been replaced by cement structures
that have been put here to stay. This
community graveled several miles OF
road a few years ago and adj this Is
yet in first class shape With con-
tinued improvement the road system IN
this section will soon be an example
for other parts of the state.
80
One old farmer here finds that the
changes wrought since he located here
have resulted in pushing his farm two
miles farther than in the old days
from his county seat town. Away back
in 1859 Mr.. G. E. Tiff came into pos
session Of an eighty eight miles north
west from Mason City. this as the
crow flies" Land here cost $3.50 an
acre in those days and trails might be
made due southeast "a well as any
other way then for there were only
three houses between the Tiff farm
and town. Mr.. Tiff remembers that
his place could have been sold six
months after its purchase at an ad-
vance of 800 but the civil war put
temporary crimp in land dealing and a
little later the whole eighty couldn't
have been sold for 800. Ten years
later however. land had advanced
about 81 per acre so that a IS bill
would hardly purchase what men are
glad 10 pay Sf25 to $500 for today. Al
tho the modern right ar1gled roadways
have resulted in greater distances to
market than in former times no one
in the Tiff neighbor1ood would care
to return to conditions that involved q
two day trip to Charles City TO market
wheat that had to be sold as low as
80 cents per bushel. which was the
market price one year Mr.. Tiff and
H. H Shields, south of Hanlontown.
are said to be, the only. men Of the s.
land days who still live on the farms
they settled on in those days gone
half a century ago. -,. ss
Does it pay man to leave one part
of the country for another because OF
an opportunity TO rent land at lower
figure in the region TO which he emil
CRATES? The men who pass thru these
experiences have one of two answers
for the query. One is a positive yes, v
and the other an emphatic no The
other day a man said II came here
from a place between two and three
hundred miles south Of this latitude
and l wish had staid there and paid
the extra So an acre rent. The corn
there is a larger variety and heavier
in yield than here and six bushel more
than l raise here would pay the addi-
tional rent ! don't like 1t here and
I'm going back just as soon as I can
get there" Another man wouldn't
think Of returning to the old home
country He has a silo and milks cows
and his cream checks pay his rent
Thinks small grain and grass do better
here than farther south and besides IT
doesn't dry out here like II did al
home He always raised pretty g0oe
corn here, too, except last year anc
the old timers all tell him they never
saw anything like that before ant
never expect to again Then the listen.
err concludes that different plans Of
ia rming do best in different parts o.
the country. The corn growing farm
err where corn thrives best and thu
dairy farmer somewhere else. TELLING
| where the region Of greatest oppor.
tunity lies is like telling which is thu
best breed Of, cattle or chickens t.
raise. Can't he done off hand anG
| without qualifying clauses.
One Of the biggest silos In this par
| OF Iowa and possibly in the whole
state has been built on one OF the
| Grimm farms near Clear Lake. It Ii
| sixty-flve feet high and twenty feet IL
! diameter It Is built Of hollow bricl
| block and about thirty feet Of the low:
er part Is double walled. Its capacity
is 500 tons. 1t is said that an ever
| hundred acres Of corn was put Int
this enormous feed receptacle last yea
and fed to the hundreds of cattle thai
are kept on the farm.
G. f. WILSON.
| Boar Sells For 500.
Orange City Nav 1s-Pekar Manw