The Pulaskian., 1920-08-26
ROMANCE ISLAND.
THE PULASKI COUNTY FAMILY
 CRUSOE.

-@@@@-A@~N~ Farmers at Houston while MT. Far ner was railroad agent there in 1918. 2 was so favorably impressed by MT. Farmers accommodating spirit and zsurteous treatment of the roads patrons that l made it a point to cul- tiHate his acquaintance and when I heard at Roland that he was to be aheir new agent l told the people khere that they were going to get the best agent on the road He proved Do be very popular with the people ahere. Later on heard that he was uuf of his job and on an island homesfaead. l heard enough about II fo want to see his island and when q saw him working the road I asked permission to go home with him to see it. received a cordial invita- stiOn to go along. l was surprised to see Mir. Farmer to be a small thin man and equally surprised to see Mrs. Farmer even thinner for when l asaw them last they were both lit. lie bit too fleshy MT. Farmer in. formed me that he had lost about thirty pounds and his wife about twenty. It was not lost all together from hard work, nor the lack of good food, but their strenuous enjoyment of their island Rirydom is the main srmIse. They work hard all week aong, work as long as they can see at evening and then go home and do up their evening chores and eat sup per by which time 1t Is bedtime
 They do not get up early in the mornig tho for Mir. Farmer will not go out in the heavy dews nor per mil his family to do so because 1t wonld probably cause sickness.
 He first got acquainted with his island when gathering dewberries last year, of which there were hund- reds of bushels going to waste. It looked so good he began to enquire around to find the owner. He learned that an old gentleman, a Mir. Boyles, had been living on it for about eight year during which time he had put about ten acres of the land in cultiva- sio and this notwithstanding he had about thee grown boys to help him. Further investigation in the govern. ment and state land offices showed ahe land to belong to the state, under a law passed in 1917. He proceed ed at once to obtain title to it and the total cost of obtaining it inculd- ing attorney, surveys and deed was S20O.l0 The surveyor found out that where the island now is was the south bank of the river when the government surveyed this country and inc island has been formed since thal time. The state would only sell him the timbered portion of the land, the other being accounted sand bars, so he only got a deed something less than fifty acres, tho sand bars and aH there Is about two hudred acres. lt looks much more extensive than it Is and had he told me that there was q thousand acres of it 1 could readily have beliyed him for it looks like 1t. Tho he only got deed for few acres he was informed that all the sand bars would be his also, for they would be accounted as accre- lions to his farm. These sand bars are forming on all sides and both ends of the island. Near the center of his field is a big cottonwood log which Mir. Boyle floated in there and anchored when that was a part of the xiyer ad that was only five years ago. As tsated before and bars are forming on all sides or edges of this island and extend far out into the river and at least one half mile be low the land he Is eultivating. Every big rise that comes along picks up one of these sand bars and lifts il bodily upon to some of the higher land near the main shore and when aha river goes down there is another good field added to the farm. That E the way the field was farmed five years ago where the cottonwood log n. You can see the old banks of ahe river on either side. A good deal of this land is grown up in cockel burs and is now ready for the plow and is as rich as any land on the island. All over the island are