Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 18: Agriculture and Horticulture, 1912

Flagg Alton Horticultural Society - Organization of State Horticultural So¬ ciety Agricultural Progress Acreage and Crops - Dairy and Live-Stock Interests - A Model Dairy Farm - Agricultural Population Distinctively German.

The pursuit of agriculture in this county, as an occupation and means of development, dates back to about the year 1800, with the coming of the first American settlers, although there is evidence that some attempts were made in that direction by adventurous French pioneers who planted pear trees on a claim in section 6, township 3, range 9, near Nameoki, and on Chouteau island in the Mississippi im¬ mediately opposite section 6, about 1783. The claim was abandoned by these adventurers, but the pear trees remained as mute evidences of former occupancy by white men, and were found there by the first American settlers. Outside of this abandoned French settlement the beginnings of agriculture are noted in 1800, when Ephraim J. O'Connor ventured far in advance of other pioneers and located in the northern part of Collinsville township, some six miles southwest of Edwardsville, in a region called Goshen. It was so called by a missionary, Rev. David Badgley, who ex¬ plored it a year or two previous and gave it that name because he found it a land of mar¬ velous fertility, in scripture parlance "a land flowing with milk and honey." proved and cultivated it and remained on it until his death some forty years later, his be¬ ing the first farm opened and improved in the county. But notwithstanding the fertility of the soil, agriculture did not flourish in the early years. The country about Goshen, Gov. Reynolds writes, "was the most beautiful land I ever saw. I have spent hours on the bluff tanging my view up and down the American Bottom as far as the eye could extend. The freshness and beauty of nature reigned over it to give it the sweetest charm."

The reason agriculture did not flourish, not¬ withstanding favorable soil conditions, were various. There were no markets and no in¬ ducement to raise anything beyond the re¬ quirements of the farmer's family. Stock required little provision for winter. Hay grew luxuriantly on the prairie and could be had for the cutting. The forest abounded in mast where cattle and hogs could range al¬ most the winter through, requiring but little from the crop raised by the farmer. The land also abounded in game of many kinds and it was easier for the settler to supply the wants of his family with the rifle, or the trap, than with the plow. Farming implements were crude; the old "wooden-mold board plow" did little more than skim the surface of the ground and was a difficult implement to man- age on account of its clumsy make, so that the farmer did no more plowing than was neces¬ sary to insure enough wheat, corn and pota¬ toes tO' carry him through to the next season. There was little object in raising a surplus be¬ cause in a country without roads there was practically no market. Colonel Judy, how¬ ever, notwithstanding adverse conditions, in addition to field crops, raised large numbers of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Writing of these early conditions the late Hon. W. C. Flagg says: "With the organization of the ter¬ ritory as a State and the subsequent rapid in¬ crease in population from the older and more advanced states agricultural interests ad¬ vanced." It became profitable to raise crops for market with the demands of an increased number of inhabitants, the improvement of roadways and the advent of steamboats on the Mississippi. In the early days the wheat was cut with a sickle, threshed with a flail or by the tramping of horses and winnowed by a sheet, which last operation, Governor Rey¬ nolds tells us, was the hardest work he ever performed. No wonder he abandoned it to make office-holding and office-seeking his reg¬ ular occupation. The grain being cleaned it was necessary to grind it in a hand mill, if a band mill or grist mill was not accessible. And then came the laborious process of converting the meal or flour into bread in a day when stoves were unknown, or even baking pans or ovens.

In the period between 1818 and 1836, says Mr. Flagg, there was a marked improvement in agricultural conditions. Settlers ceased to live by hunting and applied themselves to' im¬ proving their farms and raising better crops. There were other farmers besides Colonel Judy and the famous Gillham family who made the fertile soil yield them rich returns. Captain Curtis Blakeman, of Marine settle¬ ment, records in 1820: "I gathered from nine and three-quarters acres 1,600 bushels of ear corn of a very superior quality." This was on new prairie land, planted in hills four feet apart and plowed three times. It would be difficult to equal this yield of over 160 bushels per acre even in this day of improved agricul¬ tural methods and scientific culture. Between 1820 and 1830, with the improvements in im¬ plements and methods of cultivation many other records almost as good as that of Cap¬ tain Blakeman are recorded, and it was a com¬ mon thing for wheat to run forty bushels to the acre, when now such a yield is considered almost phenomenal. The yield of oats was equally abundant. The pioneer farmers of the county raised cotton and flax which were worked up into home-made cloths. During 1831 an agricultural paper called the Ploughboy was published at Edwardsville by Hon. John York Sawyer, the first paper in the in¬ terest of the farmer published in the Missis¬ sippi valley. It gave renewed impetus to agri¬ cultural occupations. The editor of the Ploughboy enumerates corn, wheat, potatoes, turnips and buckwheat as among the products of the county. We also know that the castor bean was a profitable crop and that John Adams made 12,000 gallons of castor oil, at Edwardsville in 1831.

According to D. A. Lanterman's statement the ladies of those days wore gowns of home¬ made cotton, linen or woolen stuffs, and moc¬ casins on their feet, making exceptions in favor of leather shoes at their weddings. The men then wore leather shoes generally, when they wore any, with trousers of buckskin and a hunting shirt. These facts reveal at a glance that the pioneers were an independent class. The farm furnished them with practi¬ cally everything they needed in food supplies and the material for clothing as well. The farm produced the raw material and the home was the factory. What need had they of stores or of woolen or cotton mills?

During the period from 1818 to 1836 there were further advances in agriculture. The grain cradle and the fanning mill, Mr. Flagg says, were introduced, materially reducing the labor of harvesting wheat and preparing the grain for market. Steam flouring mills began to be erected in place of the old band mills and those run by water power. New appliances and implements enabled the farm¬ ers to greatly increase their acreage and mul¬ tiply the output at a saving of time and labor over former methods. The home became less of a factory and the ladies instead of being weavers of dress fabrics became patrons of the town merchants for their woolen, cotton and linen fabrics. And these changes caused others. Cotton ceased to be grown on the farm and the wool was taken to market. Prior to this period the farmer relied on corn fodder and native grasses to see his live-stock through the winter, but now timothy, red top and clover began to be grown. From 1836 to 1854 steam transportation on the Missis¬ sippi developed rapidly. New markets were opened to the south and east, and there was demand for all the varied products of the farm. Increased attention began to be paid to orcharding so that Madison county soon became noted for fruit culture. The grape was planted at Highland and along the Missis¬ sippi bluffs above Alton, one of the early vineyards being set out by Louis Steritz at Clifton, while wine was made at Highland by Solomon Koepfli over sixty years ago. The Swiss and German immigrants who were now coming in large numbers, introduced some European methods of culture which were an advance and also varied the products of agri¬ culture.

After 1854 the advancement was still more rapid. The grain drill was introduced which revived the sowing of wheat which had be¬ come a somewhat neglected crop. The build¬ ing of railroads throughout the state brought into cultivation immense areas of prairie land which had not heretofore been cultivated for the reason that means of transportation had been wholly inadequate. Live-stock growing rapidly developed with means of transporting cattle, sheep and hogs to market by other means than driving them over execrable roads on the hoof. Improved live-stock also began to appear. Colonel Buckmaster introduced the Alderneys in 1859 ar,d W. C. Flagg fol¬ lowed with the Devons in 1862. Other im¬ proved breeds followed these as wide-awake farmers began to realize that thoroughbreds were more profitable than scrub stock. The innovations also included better strains of horses, sheep and hogs.

As far back as 1822 an agricultural society had been formed at Edwardsville, of which Curtis Blakeman was the first president; Gov. Edward Coles and Isaac Ferguson, vice presi¬ dents; Abraham Prickett, treasurer; George Churchill, secretary; John Reynolds, Sr., Robert Reynolds, Sr., and John Murray, Cor. committee. It flourished for three years and then became extinct. In 1854 the Madison County Agricultural Association was organ¬ ized with Thos. Judy, president; J. J. Barnsback, vice president; John A. Prickett, secre¬ tary, and W. T. Brown, treasurer. Ten acres of ground (subsequently increased to fifteen) were purchased near Edwardsville, sheds, cattle pens and stalls were erected, and the first county fair and cattle show was held in September, 1855. These exhibitions, which offered liberal premiums to exhibitors, were held annually for some twenty years there¬ after and were of great value in stimulating and advancing the agricultural and horticult¬ ural interests of the county. The stock was held mainly by citizens of Edwardsville, Judge Joseph Gillespie being the largast stockholder.

The fourth annual fair of the Illinois State Agricultural Society was held near the city of Alton September 30, to Oct. 3, 1856. The grounds were located on upper State street. This is the only time the State Fair was ever held in Madison county. In those days the fair was a peripatetic institution. It remained so for many years thereafter until finally lo¬ cated permanently at Spring-field. The fol¬ lowing extract from the report of the secre¬ tary will be of interest : "The location on the Mississippi, at a point ordinarily accessible to the citizens of other states, induced the Exe¬ cutive committee to open the premium list of the society to all exhibitors alike.

"The preparations for this fair were lib¬ eral. The citizens of Alton through a spirited committee of arrangements, selected beauti¬ ful grounds, and their architect, J. A. Miller, displayed much taste in the formation of drives and the position and elevation of struc¬ tures. In every department except, perhaps, cattle and horses, the accommodations were ample, and all highly creditable to the citizens of Alton, and, notwithstanding the many fears on the subject, it is believed that visitors were reasonably well provided for, and that prep¬ aration was made for feeding and lodging many more than attended.

"This, again, was a great cattle show, and horses, mules, etc., were abundant. In sev¬ eral other departments the collection was highly creditable, and especially so in agri¬ cultural implements ; and, for the first time, there was a well-contested plowing match on the ground-s.

"As a whole the Alton fair was considered a good one; though, owing to the low stage of water in the rivers, and other causes need¬ less to name, the number of entries and visi¬ tors from abroad were not equal to our ex¬ pectations."

The exhibits at this exposition included 158 cattle; 218 horses, jacks and mules; 51 sheep; 25 swine; 12 poultry; 125 agricultural implements ; 203 farm products ; 30 fruits, flowers, etc. ; musical instruments, paintings, etc., 97; textile fabrics, needle work, etc., 188; natural history, etc., 27; plowing match, 5 contestants ; miscellaneous entries, 350.

The annual address before the State Agri¬ cultural Society, at the fair held in Chicago, Oct. 11,-1855, was delivered by Hon. David J. Baker, of Alton, former U. S. Senator.

The soil and climate of Madison county were early found to be peculiarly adapted to fruit culture. The oldest orchards in the state, planted by American settlers were located in this county. The first orchard was set out by Samuel Judy in Goshen about 1801, and some of the trees were still living in 1870. Another orchard was set out on claim 602 by Peter Cas¬ terline, or his successors, near Collinsville, and some of the trees were still bearing in 1870. These were mainly seedlings, but few grafted trees being planted prior to 1820.

Gershom Flagg, father of Hon. W. C. Flagg, in the spring of 1822 planted an ororchard was set out on claim 602 by Peter Ca'sr. 8, and in the autumn of the same year set out 200 grafted trees of the finest varieties then known. This farm is still the homestead of the Flagg family and is occupied by Hon. Norman Gershom Flagg, son of W. C. Flagg. In 1829 or 1830 Charles Howard planted peach seeds on Block 1 in Alton and after¬ wards transplanted trees that grew therefrom onto his farm near North Alton.

Alton Horticultural Society, says that in 1831, when he became a citizen of the state, there was not a grafted apple or pear tree within five miles of Alton, except a small orchard in township 6, range 10, upon land later owned by Dr. E. S. Hull. In the spring of 1832 Dr. Long received some scions from Bond county of the large and small Romanite apples which were inserted in trees on his premises in Upper Alton which was the first grafting done in the vicinity of Alton. In the summer of the same year, he commenced the budding of peach trees which was a novelty at that day. From that time the business of orcharding increased rap¬ idly and the best varieties of apple, peach, pear, plum and cherry trees were introduced, as well as all the leading small fruits.

Dwarf pears were said to have been first in¬ troduced by the late Dr. F. Humbert on his place at Upper Alton. In 1847 Joseph and Solomon Koepfli introduced the Catawba grape at Highland, and the vineyards in that vicinity soon became extensive and famous for the fine quality of their wines.

In 1847 Dr. E. S. Hull came to the county and settled on section 15, Godfrey township, and introduced many new and choice fruits not before known in this locality. Dr. Hull subsequently located on the bluffs, four miles above Alton, where for many years he fol¬ lowed horticulture as a science and produced the finest and rarest fruits ever seen in western markets. It was what would now be called an experimental farm where he originated many new varieties and became famous as a horti¬ culturist. Some of the trees of his planting are still in bearing though of venerable age.

But the man to whom the science of horti¬ culture is most indebted is the late Hon. W. C. Flagg, who by his studies, experiments and writings on the subject did more to encourage and advance fruit growing in Madison county

For many years after 1850 the peach and pear orchards in the vicinity of Alton, es¬ pecially on the river bluffs' and along the Graf¬ ton Road, were as prolific as they were fa¬ mous, but in later years there came a change, seemingly, in climatic conditions. Severe win¬ ters or late spring frosts affected the orchards unfavorably. Fruit failures became frequent. Fruit growers came to regard horticulture as an uncertain occupation. Then came hordes of insect pests which destroyed or damaged the fruit. This was owing mainly to the exter¬ mination of the birds by sportsmen and pot hunters. As the birds decreased the insects increased, and the game laws of the state served rather to exterminate the birds than to protect them as was their ostensible object. The result was that orchards were neglected or allowed to die out, sometimes cut down and the land put into staple crops, and but few new orchards were set out. Now, when the frosts spare the fruits buds the orchards can only produce marketable fruit by scientific spraying against the ravages of the San Jose scale and the numerous varieties of insect pests. Madison county has had to yield the supremacy as a fruit growing county to Cal¬ houn, now the greatest apple growing section of the state, and even there fruit growing is only made a success by the orchardists waging incessant war against diseases that afflict fruit trees and the insect pest which prey upon them.

Mr. Flagg, in his notes on fruit growing in Madison county, has this to say about the Al¬ ton Horticultural Society from its organiza¬ tion up to 1872, when he wrote: "The Alton Horticultural Society was organized in No- vember, 1853. Among its original members who have exerted an active influence in intro¬ ducing and cultivating good fruits were: John Atwood, M. G. Atwood, A. S. Barry, George Booth, S. R. Dolbee, E. S. Hull, B. K. Hart, Charles Howard, Frederick Humbert, Elias Hibbard, J. F. Hoffmeister, B. F. Long, H. G. McPike, James E. Starr, Thos. G. Starr and H. S. Spalding. Monthly meetings of the society were held subsequent to its organization and many fine fruits were exhibited. It is due to the energy and influence of this society that there is so much interest manifested in the in¬ troduction of the finer varieties of fruits adapted to this climate. The society, from some misunderstanding among its members, discontinued its meetings in 1857, but in May, 1863, it was revived and has since been in suc¬ cessful operation."

The above was written, as stated, in 1872. The society is still in existence, though all its original members have passed away. The last survivor of those named above was Hon. H. G. McPike, who died in 1910 at an advanced age. The society is the oldest horticultural or¬ ganization in the state, dating even from its last organization in 1863, and from its original organization it only lacks one of having three¬ score years of usefulness to its credit. At its monthly meetings valuable papers are read by practical men on topics of interest to fruit growers, discussions are held and experiences exchanged. The papers read before the soci¬ ety since its first organization to the present time, if collected, would form the best history of the progress and advancement of scientific and practical horticulture in Illinois, extant. It is the oldest and best exponent of the "art which doth mend nature" in the state. It also pays attention to floriculture and the adorn¬ ment and beautifying of the country home and the surrounding grounds. Its present officers are: E. H. Riehl, president; William Jackson and Wilmer Wescoat, vice presidents ; Miss

The following data are from the records of the society: A meeting of the friends of horti¬ culture was held at Alton November 12, 1853, and an organization effected by the election of Dr. E. S. Hull as president and James E. Starr, secretary. The name of Alton Horticultural Society was adopted and provision made for monthly meetings. A constitution and by-laws were adopted at a later meeting. The presi¬ dents of the society have been : Dr. E. S. Hull, r853-4; Henry Lea, 1854-5; Capt. James E. Starr, 1855-7; A. S. Barry, 1858. Reorgan¬ ized May 25, 1863. Presidents: B. F. Long, 1863; E. S. Hull, 1864-5; Willard C. Flagg, 1866; John M. Pearson, 1867; James E. Starr, 1868-9; Jonathan Huggins, 1870-2; David E. Brown, 1873-6. The following were presi¬ dents from 1876 to 1911 : H. G. McPike, E. A. Riehl, James E. Starr, J. M. Pearson, James Davis, W. E. Carlin, William Jackson, J. S. Browne, George A. Hilliard, Isaac D. Snedeker and E. H. Riehl (now serving his sixth term).

Pursuant to the call of a committee ap¬ pointed at the above meeting of the State Agricultural Society a meeting of the friends of Horticulture was held at Decatur December 26, 1856. There were thirty horticulturists present, ten of them from Madison county. Hon. B. J. Baker, of Alton, was chosen tem¬ porary chairman, and stated the object of the meeting was to organize a state society for the advancement of horticulture. A committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by¬ laws, and soon after reported to the meeting and their report was adopted.

The following Madison county horticult¬ urists were present at this organization meet¬ ing and constituted one-third of the member¬ ship : E. S. Hull, Frank Starr, B. F. Long, John Atwood, George Barry, A. S. Barry, James E. Starr, Elijah Frost and Joseph Mil¬ ler. Madison was at that time the most prom¬ inent county in the state in the raising of fine fruit and its supremacy was recognized at this meeting in the prominence given its horticul¬ turists.

The advancement in agriculture in Madison county has been greater than in horticulture. More attention is paid to the staple field crops and to live-stock raising than to the products of the orchards, the main reason therefor be¬ ing the greater reliability of the field crops and the fact that they are found more profit¬ able than either orchard or small fruits. Dur¬ ing the last thirty years the improvements in agricultural implements and machinery have been so numerous and of such vast impor¬ tance that the manual labor required on the farm has been reduced to the lowest point ever known. While larger areas are culti¬ vated and while the introduction of scientific methods of culture has increased the product, the number of hands necessary to raise and harvest the crops is less ; hence one cause for the trend of population to the cities. An¬ other cause is the higher wages now paid in the manufacturing centers and the attractions of city life, which, in spite of rural mail deliv¬ ery, the extension of the telephone system and interurban roads, still lure the young men and women of the rural districts to the city. Much is being done to counteract this move of population city-ward. Agricultural socie¬ ties, farmers' institutes, fruit and vegetable exhibitions, domestic science instruction, the art of rural adornment, better district schools, all are social and educational influences beck¬ oning back to the farm - where the self binder, the reaper and mower, the sulky plow, the steam thresher, gasoline engines, electric power and numerous other inventions and de¬ vices for reducing labor and adding to the ease and comfort of life, are in sharp contrast to the primitive existence and methods of cul¬ tivation known to the pioneer settlers of the county. Yet, with all this modernizing of rural life, the trend of farmers' boys to the cities is not wholly checked, for the reason that fewer hands are needed to do the work on the farm.

But another modern invention, the automo¬ bile, is doing missionary work in bringing country and city closer together. It is luring back - perhaps not to the farm but to country homes - the wearied denizens of cities in search of pure air and of sunshine unclouded by a pall of smoke. Not only that but the automo¬ bile is saving the farmers an immense amount of time in going to and from the cities, while the automobile truck is not only reducing ani¬ mal labor on the farms but on the roads in transferring products to market in a fraction of the time required by horse power. The great need of the county is better roads in the rural districts. The present road system, un¬ der road commissioners, has proven a costly failure. Under it the townships have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the roads with little appreciable improvement. In no department of progress has the county been as backward, during the past hundred years, as in road building on a permanent basis.

The State Board of Agriculture and the University of Illinois have worked wonders in the development of agriculture on scientific lines, and no farmers in the state have given these institutions more valuable reciprocal support than those of Madison county. Such men as Hon. D. B. Gillham of Upper Alton;

Hon. John M. Pearson, of Godfrey; Hon. W. C. Flagg, of Fort Russell, both practically at home in the halls of legislation where they served and from their connection with the State Board of Agriculture and the Univer¬ sity of Illinois, did much in their day for the advancement of the farming interests of the state, as did also Hon. J. C. Burroughs, of Edwardsville. The labors of these men in the past are now being supplemented by such pro¬ gressive men as E. W. Burroughs, of Ed¬ wardsville, president of the State Farmers' Institute; John S. Culp of Foster, vice presi¬ dent of the State Board for the Twentysecond district; Joel Williams, of Wood River, president of the Madison County Farmers' Institute; the officials of the High¬ land Fair; and Hon. N. G. Flagg, of Moro, chairman of the committee on agriculture in the state legislature.

The University of Illinois is also doing valuable work in advancing the cause of hor¬ ticulture, instructing farmers how to obtain better results from their orchards and the methods to pursue to exterminate insect pests and reduce their depredations. To this end they have established experimental stations where new varieties of fruits and vegetables are tested and their comparative value ascer¬ tained. One of these stations is on the Graf¬ ton road, four miles from Alton, conducted by E. H. Riehl, the Burbank of this county, who has, among other triumphs, perfected an ever-bearing strawberry that has made a sen¬ sation in the horticultural world.

The area of Madison county is 461,315 acres. Of this 67,767 acres were planted in corn in 1910; 65,100 in wheat; 38,174 acres were devoted to pastures and 7,233 acres to potatoes. The acreage in winter wheat is ex¬ ceeded only by two counties in the state, Pike and Randolph, and in pasture only by Effing¬ ham and Wayne, in southern Illinois. The acreage in potatoes in Madison is larger than that of any other county in the state. The re¬ maining agricultural acreage of the county is devoted to regular staple crops, such as oats, timothy, clover, Hungarian millet, orchard products, small fruits and vegetables of all kinds; asparagus, for instance, being one of the most profitable crops in western Madison.

The proximity to a great city makes truck gardening a specialty with many. The apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries and grapes of Madison are of the choicest varieties and ex¬ emplify not only the wisdom of the early set¬ tlers but the enterprise of those who have fol¬ lowed them. The finest water melons, nut¬ megs and musk melons raised in the west are grown on a section of the American Bottom called the Sand Ridge, lying five miles east of Alton. The conditions for successful melon rasing here seem perfect, soil and cli¬ mate being equally kindly and responsive. But great manufacturing interests are invad¬ ing this domain and the Sand Ridge now boasts the flourishing young city of Wood River, the growth of the last five years.

In pre-historic times this Ridge was a sand bar of the Mississippi river which then flowed over the entire district of the America Bot¬ tom to the bluffs on the eastern border. This Sand Ridge is very porous and rapidly ab¬ sorbs the heaviest rains. Water of the highest percentage of purity is found anywhere on the Ridge, a few feet below the surface. The immense western plant of the Standard Oil Company located here uses vast quantities of water daily in its refining processes, and ob¬ tains it on its own premises.

Madison county is rich in dairy products, but the statistics thereon are incomplete and unreliable and are therefore not given, but an idea of their volume may be obtained from the fact that the Helvetia Milk Condensing Com¬ pany at Highland, condenses an average of

Although Madison is not considered a live¬ stock county it raises more beef cattle and dairy cows than any other county in southern Illinois. It has the average proportion of horses, mules and hogs of other counties of diversified agriculture, but its proportion of sheep is below the average. There is much attention paid to the raising of thoroughbred live-stock and herds of fine cattle of the best strains are common, especially in the east end of the county and in the northwest section. For dairy purposes the Holsteins are the fav¬ orite breed.

Almost the entire area of Madison county may be said to be under cultivation. There is very little waste or swamp land, and of the native forest there is but little remaining, and that is mainly skirting the banks of streams. The agricultural interests are so diversified that the acreage devoted to any one staple is not as large as in some counties where farm¬ ing is confined almost to a single staple crop, as in the great section of northern and central Illinois known as "the corn belt," in many counties of which practically no wheat is grown.

Perhaps the best illustration of the progress of dairying in Madison county is afforded by Calla Lily farm at St. Jacob, of which L. A. Spies is the proprietor. This farm serves as a training school for more than 2,000 dairy¬ men and farmers in both Illinois and Mis¬ souri. The hobby of Mr. Spies for years has been the raising of blooded Holsteins and his farm has become known as the place where dairymen can replenish their herds with choice stock. Calla Lily farm has the advantage of the proprietor's thirty years' experience in the business combined with scientific knowl¬ edge and the latest sanitary methods. It is referred to by state officials as being all that a dairy farm should be. The cows at Calla Lily are given a thorough grooming twice a day, their coats being combed and brushed until they shine. Their feet are cleaned and their udders washed and dried with a towel before they are milked. The barn is of con¬ crete walls, floors and mangers with smooth ceilings having no place to catch dust or cob¬ webs. The walls and ceilings are cleaned frequently and the floors flushed daily. Win¬ dows all around give abundance of light and air. The cows roam in pastures all the year round , instead of being confined in stables. In the room where the cows are milked the floor is as clean and the air as sweet as in a hotel dining room. The milkers wear white suits and must wash their hands in hot water before milking and scrub them after each cow is milked. Special milk pails are used which let the stream pour through a cloth. After the milk is taken from the cow it is bottled at 50 degrees, every vessel being ster¬ ilized. The human hand never touches the milk during the whole process. The demand for Holstein stock is shown by the fact that during the past five years the Calla Lily farm has sold 1 12 carloads of cows to farmers in this and neighboring counties. Great care is taken with the food of Mr. Spies' pampered herd and the water they drink comes from an artesian well 250 feet deep and is pumped about the farm by gasoline engines. The cows on the farm give from 10,000 to 14,000 pounds of milk yearly. The cows are all tested regularly for tuberculosis and their general health looked after by a veterinary surgeon. Taken in all its completeness, Calla Lilly farm and the great milk-condensing fac¬ tory at Highland give the best illustrations possible of the wonderful progress of dairy¬ ing in Madison county.

The character of the agricultural popula¬ tion of the county has changed radically dur¬ ing the past two generations. The first tillers of the soil were Americans from the southern states. They were joined later by settlers from the eastern section of the country, and still later came the great German immigra¬ tion. After the second generation compara¬ tively few of the descendants of the early American settlers remained on the farms. Some of the old families died out; some moved away, while still others remained in the county but engaged in other occupations in the cities and towns. Their places on the farms have been filled by foreigners, or their descendants, mainly Germans, so that the ma¬ jority of the farmers of Madison county are now of that nationality or descent. They have introduced many valuable methods of inten¬ sive farming from' the old country and have also adopted such American methods as seemed of the greatest economic value, especially in the use of improved modern machinery and implements. The Germans have greatly aided in making rural Madison a vast and beautiful garden never so productive and desirable as now. "Tickle the soil with a hoe and it laughs with a harvest" must have been writ¬ ten specially of Madison county. Farm lands that were entered eighty years ago at two dol¬ lars per acre are now worth from one rundred to two hundred dollars per acre the county over.