Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-01-20
WHAT LAND CLEARING
CAMPAIGN RESULTS IN
Cooperation Will Attain Villas
County's Aim of 5000 Acres
In Coming Land Clear
ing Campaign

Picture a strip Of land 70 rods wide
and SO miles long from the northern
to the southern end of the county and
this is the sight that would greet you
if all the land cleared in Washburn
county in 1921 were placed in sin
gle strip Land enough to make 1875
eighty-acre farms. A total of 10000
acres in the county.
When Washburn county set out to
clear 10000 acres of land last year
under the impetus Of the land clear
ing association, the task seemed we'll
nigh impossible. Today the dream is
a reality, but it has been the cooper
alton of the farmers that has made it
possible
Last spring 1000 farmers pledged
themselves to clear on an average of
10 acres per farm in 1921. Many of
them have cleared four and five times
that amount and realized sufficient on
a crop to pay for the clearing.
Land that will grow IS bushels of
corn to the acre will pay for the clear
ing the first crop. 1 hope Washburn
county continues to clear as much
land every year as in 1921" says F.
P. O'Connor of Shell Lake. L. ]. Doty
of Brentwood, raised 1,700 bushels of
potatoes on four acres of new break
ing. c.. ]. Kopan of Madge, cleared SO
acres OF land this year, Is Of it in
time enough to plant No. % corn with
a yield of so bushels per acre. These
and many others have more than dou-
bled their efforts in the past year. AS
a result the rate of clearing has been
increased 80 per cent
Approximately eight carloads of ex-
plosives were placed in the county
this year. Caps, fuse and other blast
ing materials were also handled by
the land clearing association at to-
tai saving of over $4,000.
During the year total of II meet
ings were held, 81 of which were in
the nature of membership drive meet
ings. The activities of the association
also included the holding of nine land
clearing schools and 80 demonstra-
lions. These were for the purpose of
improving methods, and equipment US
ed in land clearing.
The land clearing project in Wash
burn county has been worth about
$2,000,000 according to figures com
piled by Lee Stewart, supervisor of
the association. In the first place, it
is a conservative estimate to say that
every acre of land cleared increases
the value OF that acre sos on an
average. Using this figure, the value
Of the project from this point of view
would be $657,S
Secondly. the value Of the crop on
new breaking would be worth on an
average $50 per acre. With half of
the land broken and in crop this
spring it would mean a crop worth
s25O,OOO.
A dollar doubles in value before it
leaves the community, statisticians
tell us. The money received by the
sale of this crop on new breakinge
would. therefore, then double itself
before leaving the community, increas-
ing the wealth of the community by
$25O,OOO
Furthermore, bankers will agree
that new clearing increases the value
of every other acre of land on that
farm A fair estimate of this increase
would be SIS per, acre. The total value
of the increase on 15S,7OO acres of
farm land then would be $793,5O0
Summing this up, it would mean that
the total value of the project to the
county would be $1,951, 800.
The work has been so successful