Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-09-09
CON SERVING OF
SOIL FERTILITY
PROBLEM OF COS
Rotation of Wheat In Early
Days of Farming Depict
ed Essential Elements.

AS in all the frontier states, wheat
was king in the pioneer days of Wis
consin. In 1860 the yield was almost
30,000,000 bushels, and Wisconsin was
second only to Illinois in wheat pro-
ductiOn.
Toward the close of the sixties the
farmers of Wisconsin were forced by
q continuous short wheat crop to set
about developing another type Of
farming which would conserve the fer
tiylity of the soil. Then began what
is without doubt one of the most re-
markable agricultural developments
in Americas history, the movement
which made Wisconsin the foremost
dairy state in the Union.
Sturdy Settlers Important.
This was aided largely by four fac
tors. The first was the fact that the
soil and climate of Wisconsin were
we'll fitted to dairying. The second
factor was the character of the for
eign immigration which had begun to
pour into the state beginning in the
soc and running into the Civil War
period.
This was largely German-the orig
inal impulse to this immigration be-
ing the German revolution of 1848.
The German knew the value of land,
how to conserve the soil, and was ac-
customed to careful farming. To this
element was added the Swiss who set
tied in the southern part of the state
and were expert cheese makers. By
this time also had begun the original
influx of Scandinavian farmers, hard
working, rugged and Industrious.
The third factor was the great work
done by the dairy school, of the Col
lege of Agriculture at the University
of Wisconsin. The final element in
developing the great dairy movement
especially in the earlier period was
the splendid type of personal leader
ship which rose to the opportunity
Leaders Blazed the Trail.
Foremost among those leaders was
William Dempster Hoard, afterward
governor of the state, to whose far
sighted vision appeared the disaster
ahead of WiscOnsin'S agriculture I'M
: less new methods were pursued, whose
sound Judgment and wise leadership
led the way in her wonderful develop
ment and achievement as dairy
state Governor Hoard has often been
compared to Abraham Lincoln and in
many traits the resemblance was strik-
ing Tall and gaunt, he had an I'M
limited fund of stories to illustrate
every point he wished to drive home;
withal he was grave and dignified in
manner and gifted with a compelling
and trenchant English style.
The slogan went forth that we must
substitute "The Cow for the PlOw."
The factory system of dairying, which
had revolutionized agriculture in the
great dairy state of New York, was
introduced into Wisconsin in 1854
when Chester Hazon, an immigrant
from New York state, established the
first cheese factory in Wisconsin. AT
the close of the Civil War there were
80 cheese factories in operation in the
state. In 1870 the first creamery in
the west was established at Elgin, Hi
nois, south of the Wisconsin border,
and soon creameTies began to spring
up in Illinois.
New Markets Open.
Numerous obstacles thwarted pro-
gress at the beginning New York was
the great dairy state and the East was
the dairy market Wisconsin products
were regarded as inferior In order to
open the market it was necessary to
improve and standardize the quality
of Wisconsin dairy products and to
study marketing methods and condi-
tions, task of education and cooper