The producers news., 1936-02-07

Central collected much, both prln- |
ciple and interest, and they now
had the farms themselves, too.
NO HOLIDAY
IN THOSE DAYS
There was no Holiday in those
days, and no Holiday spirit. The
system worked its cruel and ter
rible havoc without organized re-
sistance.
In the early twenties during
the time of the spain in the north
west" so flippantly described by
Garrett Garrett in the Saturday
/ Evening Post, after the hard
years of '18, 10, go and '21, re-
sulting from the drouth and the
low prices and high war produc-
ton costs, the economic collapse,
and the wholesale foreclosures,
farms were cheap, and there were
no buyers. The gilt had faded
from the edges of farm mortgage
securities. Hundreds and hundreds
of the dispossessed pioneers had
left the country. Farms were fall
low and begging for tenants.
IDLE FARMS
PRODUCE NO CROPS
Idle farms make no money for
mortgage companies. Farms do
not farm themselves even when it
rains. It takes labor to make crops
most of the time, unrequitted
labor. The Union Central was anx-
ious to get these old homesteads
redeemed from the wilderness by
the homesteaders, into production
again, producings incomes-rents,
interests, profits-for their pluto
cratic stockholders, and to recover
as much of its investment from
time to time as possible. Because
of the lack of tenants able to op-
crate, and the expansion of farm
units due to improved farm mach
inery, there was a consolidation of
these half section farm units into
section, two section, three section
and more, farm units. One man,
with boys and girls, and thrifty
wife, with new tractors, drags,
cultivators, and combines, could
farm the enlarged units easier and
more economically, than the cid
homesteader with his horses and
binders could farm his half sec
tion, considered a large farm unit
when the dryland farm homestead
act was passed.
1 UNION CENTRAL
FINDS CALLAHAN
The Union Central heard Of
Hurshel Callahan, the ace farmer,
the hard worker, who had held
onto his farm and made
some money during the hard
years on his reservation home
I stead south of Redstone. They
! learned of his large family of hus-
: ky boys and girls, and the thrifty,
, hardworking wife. Here was just
: the farmer to operate one of their
consolidated units. Callahan had
the labor to operate one, and the
' machinery and was a good farmer
r A lot of money might be made out
J, of that family. So the Union Cen
? trail made Callahan a generous, il
seemed on the face of things then
S proposition, crop payment propo
n sition. It would do some financing
n the first year in order to get farm
t ing of the tract under way. +
8 would cooperate in every way t,
h make things easy.
y CALLAHAN BUYS
Y BIG FARM
! Callahan talked the matter owe
with the family. They were IA
= away from the railroad, and tn
/ homestead was not such bi,
piece of land. The BOYS wer
growing up and would soon be
r lot of help. They had a fairl
d good outfit. It would be mucI
/ more economical to be closed t
= the elevators and to town, SO tn
" children could go to high schoo
g and the land was purchased, with
le out a cent down, on crop paw
Id ment contract, the contracts be
S, ing signed February "a, an
d March 1, 1923, covering the ol
ir Chance, Whitney and Youn
Is homesteads, about 960 acres or
le section and half, and the -Calls
n hans left the old homestead on th
Of reservation, and moved north clio.
as er to Redstone, and went to wor
W preparing the new land for Gro
Id as well as continuing the worlzin
rs Of their homestead lands.
al The old homesteads were ri
ra | dorrr1. and fr,II of fo,.I rr-n.Ir !.