The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-08-17
WINNING OF THE WILDERNESS
TRANSFORMING IT INTO FARMS
Romance Is Written Into History of North
ern Wisconsin; An Epoch of Trail
blazing Recalled
FIFTH CHAPTER

He owns 700 acres of land in the
county-and he is not & real estate
agent-but is farmer. He Is strong
for the dairy industry. He is encou-
aging the buying of purebred cattle.
Also he is an enemy OF nOXiOus;
weeds. He is using Biblical quota
tons in his efforts to convince the
farmers that weeds, the Canadian
thistle and it's like will ruin the
farms. Therefore, the thistle is
practically unknown in Rusk county
Mr.. Emmons is determined that the
menacin2 weeds shall not gain a
foothold on the farms in his county
This suggestion should apply to the
farm lands everywhere.
+ r 4
There are $4,000 head of cattle in
Rusk county. In 1901 there were but
1851. These figures, as well as those
following were taken from the spec
id edition of The Rusk County Jour
nal, edited by the Richardson's. There
are fifteen cheese factories and sew
en- creameries N the county. In 1921
the output of these institutions
amounted to 1857, 1892, and this
year will total much more because
the farmers are bringing to the
creameries and cheese factories
more cream and butterfat, and this
is not all, the canning factory at
Ladysmith pays a large sum to the
farmers for peas that grow in abund =
ance on Rusk county farms. Like
other farmers in Northern Wiscon
sin, those in Rusk county are raising
corn for their cattle and 1t can be
said that the feeds Of corn are
looking up fine. They remind one OF
Southern Minnesota's stands.
4 + +
The industries in Ladysmith aside
from the creameries have an annual
payroll of over a million dollars per
annum. Among the big plants is that
of the Great Western Pater com
pany, owned by the Western News
paper Union, headquarters in Oma-
ha. 1t is said that the two saw mills
will be kept in operation for at
least twenty years. as there Is pine
enough to keep the mills busy that
length of time. The canning factory
is good for over a million cans OF
peas per annum. Other plants are
sawmills, box factories etc. Thu out
put of these plants runs up into the
millions.
Once in awhile we encounter a
farmer who sees no future for him
He calls attention to the big wages
that the bricklayer and the carpen
ter receive-contending that the
farmer is not realizing those sti-
ponds from the soil. That argument
sounds reasonable, but all the while
the complaining farmer does not
seem to be aware of the fact that in
filling his farm and improving 1t he
is putting a higher and higher value
on it--that In the end he will have
something that he mechanic cannot
hope to get. AS an example, there
are farms in the neighborhood OF
Ladysmith and in other zones that
are valued at 5000 per-, acre. The
land was purchased originally for a
small sum.
Like their brethren in other
counties, the farmers Of RusB
county are taking to pure bred cat
tie. They do not want scrubs on their
premises. They rightly contend that
the big money is in pure breds. Also
these farmers are eliminating those
cattle that are afflicted with tuber-
culosis. They are strong for stock
that is free from disease. But il
must not be understood that the far
mers of Rusk county confine their
activities to stock alone. All kinds OF
farm produce are raised in large
quantities. The output amounts to a
considerable sum annually.