American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-02-26
HOW PETER HOPLEY MADE A
= MILLION FROM THE SOIL

battle fields Of Europe TO face the Pc {
riod OF reconstruction that must fol-
low In the wake Of the war many OF
thcm will have been inOculated with
he germ Of the open" Even those
who have not been drawn 10 far places
by the spirit Of adventure or the call OF
he wild Will feel the lure Of Out-Of-
doors stirring In their blood, and the
book keepers and clerks OF the old
DAVIS before the war war" will look
askance al books and desks. stuffy Of
fees. and-should such things also
return after the war-steam-heated
flats. Il is suggested that. for future
reference, they paste in their service
hats the story Of Peter Hopley, who
made a million dollars by farming.
For ~war-ravaged Europe's call upon
America for products OF the soil VIII
not end with the coming Of peace, and
a correspondent of the New York Times
writes.
The present agitation on the high
cost Of living and scarcity OF proyis-
ions In all lines brings us face to face
with the question: Why is there not
more produced on the farm; also why
are there SO many abandoned farms
throughout the country-land that Is
pronounced useless, but which could
be cultivated TO be of great value to
the country in the present food crisis?
And so II becomes worth while to
consider Mr.. Hopley's experience, for
although he Is seventy now he says
that II he were twenty-five he would
start right In and duplicate that mil
lion In the same way. He declares
that the opportunities for the farmer
are greater today than ever before
He was nineteen when he left his faith
er's home In Iowa to push farther
west. and of this period Of his life he
, writes in the Farm and Fireside:
For fear any one may think that ]
? started out in life with an inheritance
or did not make every cent | own by
my own unaided efforts. | will say that
the first winter / was in the west |
worked for ny board. / worked out
= west for five years. They were five
y years OF the very formative period of
my life. The gold excitement was at
y It's height. Men were driving daily
over the richest soil the sun ever
shone on. to seek "A rocky soil where
: they hoped. often against hope. TO
strike It rich in gold.
They passed up gold mines in the
fertile fields of Iowa. Missouri. Kan
sas. and Nebraska. to starve and die
IN the rocky fastness of Colorado and
Nevada. But the rush was on and !
Joined In viii the rest. | became a
freighter There rs nothing that
a haven't driven. from a Concord coach
10 q pack mule
When / came back form the west
had a little money. every cent earned
boy myself What | have today is IN,
- Increase of that money Men will tel
YOU that the first thousand dollars i,
=, the hardest 10 earn. / can't say: they
~ were all hard 10 earn. never worked
M SO hard In my life as 1 worked after
= had my first $4,000.
Young Hopley invested his Colorado
40 savings In a piece OF land in Cass oun
AZ Ity eighty acres-for which he pale
Il S25 an acre. lie still owns the Ian,
r and says he would not sell 1t for S26I
am acre. Hut he contends that thu
NJ price of land does not determine IL
,s productiveness. II il can be made t,
an pay the price lis immaterial. Iii
,y father bought his first land-a quar-
IA ter section from the government a
is Sl25 per acre. but. writes Mr. Hopley
Ne lie could not make the payments
an even az that price. SO the land revert
of ed to the United States. They Nigh
as we'll have asked 500 or 5000. II 20
can not pay 10 or earn Il the price
mmaterial -Four years ago l hougi
.er land without even a fence around
20 for $3.50 an acre that I had seen IN
az owner buy for SO an acre. or cOurs
I'm that had been forty Years before. Bt
/ am earning more of that land az SIS
an acre than he did when it was StO
I contend that the man who pay
S20e an acre is getting 10 cheaper tina
my father did at Sl26 and I at So
Not only are crops greater and wort
more. but money Is plentiful now
days Back In the old days we saw bt
little OF %. My father had farmed thg
his family might eat he knew moth
lux about markets or grain prices. an
worried less about farm values. WIS
hc did know vas that wheat and cor
could be ground at the mill to max
bread for the family.
When Hopley had accumulated $50,
he branched out into the cattle bus
ness with his brother. but after thre
years he pulled out. as he expresst
it. He has conducted his buslne,
alone ever since. except for his fir.
venture in horse-importing. in whiC
line be VAS one OF the pioneers. n
first overseas venture was made