Marshall County, Indiana - Chapter 2: By Alexander C. Thompson. |, 1890

A Garden Spot

AGRICULTURE - CONTRAST BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW METHODS - FARMING IN THE WILDERNESS - TERRORS THAT BESET THE PIONEERS - THE "jumping shovel-plow" AND THE SURLY OX-TEAM - DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS OLD-TIME IMPLEMENTS - MODERN DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVED PROCESSES - MARSHALL COUNTY NOW A GARDEN SPOT.

'ARSHALL COUNTY, for agricultural purposes, is excelled by but few counties in the state, and her productiveness is being increased each year as the work of clearing up the higher, and the drainage of the lower, lands progresses; and, considering the many and radical changes that have been wrought in the pursuit of agriculture in our midst, since the organization of our county, which took place July 20, 1836, a brief contrast between the methods then and now employed in this most ancient, honorable and important vocation, might be interesting to the present and future readers of a work like this.

In its natural state much the greater portion of our county was covered with a splendid growth of timber that had to be cleared away and destroyed before any crops could be raised, and this "clearing" process was one that put to the severest test the wind, muscle and perseverance of those engaged in it. To clear even one acre of land that had enough large trees on it to make from fifty to 100 saw-logs, and smaller timber and grubs in proportion, and make it ready for the jumping-shovel or the breaking-plow, was no small undertaking, and one that most of the young men of to-day would shrink from in despair; but one by one the magnificent monarchs of the forest were felled, and one by one the acres were cleared by our fathers and grandfathers until they had made the large, beautiful and productive farms now owned and occupied by their not always appreciative posterity; for, those who were not residents of Marshall county from forty to fifty-five years ago, know but little of the hardships and privations of our pioneer settlers, to whom their latest generations should never cease to accord greatest honor, praise and gratitude.

As indicated in the paragraph above, the first plowing of the newly cleared land was done with what was called a "jumpingshovel" plow, or the "breaking plow." The former was made and stocked after the plan of the single shovel plow of to-day, but was, of course, very much heavier and stronger. It had a strong, sharp " cutter," fastened firmly to the beam that came down just in front of the point of the shovel. To this was hitched oxen or a horse or horses - most always oxen (for in those days there were but few horses in the country) - and then the tussle began with the roots, stumps and stones, and if the plowman succeeded in stirring up enough loose earth to cover the seed corn or the potatoes to be planted, he declared himself the champion, although he may have come out of the contest with his "shins" skinned, his spine nearly disjointed and his arms almost torn from his shoulders. This was the plow used in the heavier timbered land for breaking the ground and tending the crops, but a large, heavy and stout hoe was used generally, to cut down and knock off the grubs and sprouts that grew luxuriantly, and it was also indispensable in digging up enough of dirt to keep the crop in growing condition.

The ground for wheat was plowed in the same manner as above described, and then thoroughly harrowed with an old-fashioned "A" harrow. The wheat was then sown broadcast, and as thoroughly dragged in as possible, the farmer often using a "brush drag," consisting of a small tree top properly weighted down, to give the finishing touch to the sowing of the crop; but, after all this work and worry the "yield" was, for several years, as much, and often more than half weeds and sprouts.' The breaking plow was used in lands that had fewer stumps and trees. It was drawn by from seven to ten "yoke of oxen," and the team was driven by some agile and talented expert in the business, who had long sinewy arms hung on loose and powerful shoulders, and who was noted for "saying his prayers backward" when the plow got "stuck on a big grub." So well did the oxen get to understand their driver that they appeared to guess to an inch the size of the grub they were stuck on by the language he used, and they put forth their strength and energy accordingly, having learned from experience that if they were found "shirking" they would be most severely punished. The ox that had earned the reputation of being a "skirk" was a most unfortunate and pitiable creature.

The model breaking-team whip consisted of a growth of ironwood or water-beech, twelve or thirteen feet long and tapering from but to tip very like a first-class fishing rod, and to the tip was neatly fastened a well proportioned buckskin lash about ten feet long with a "cracker" of the very best buckskin, about nine inches in length attached. They are a symmetrical and infatu- 6 - B.

ating implement to those who have ever used them in their younger days, and in our mature or even declining years we often dream of them, but the memory of them is undoubtedly more pleasant to the driver than it is to the memory of the driven (if they have any memory) , more pleasant to him who handles the "stalk" than they who received the " lash."

The breaking-plow was a ponderous implement, the mouldboard being of cast-iron and the share and cutter or "colter" being of the best cast-steel and had to be kept as sharp as possible to cut the roots and grubs they came in contact with. The plow turned a furrow of from twenty to twenty-four inches, owing to the size of the pattern, and was, including the beam and handles, from twelve to fifteen feet in length and weighed ' from 400 to 600 pounds. A good one ran very level and steady, not requiring much effort on the part of the holder in smooth ground, but requiring the strength of a Hercules when in contact with large grubs, roots and stumps. There is probably not even the castings of one of these plows in the county at the date of writing this chapter, i8go, and there are but comparatively few citizens yet living who either " handled the whip" or " held the plow," in our pioneer days.

We must not forget or omit to mention the old " bull plow" or wooden mould-board plow, as probably the most ancient type of plow used in this county, or in the state, either, so far as that is concerned. It had a beam and handles similar to our modern mould-board plow, but the shin or front piece was made of iron or steel and was fastened to the beam by a strong bolt with a nut on the top of the beam. The share was of steel and the blacksmith had to often be consulted to keep it in proper condition. The mould-board was made of wood and its shape and efficiency in turning the ground " up-side-down" depended somewhat upon the fancy or genius of the maker, but more largely upon the frequent and vigorous use of the wooden paddle, that was always kept hanging by a string, on the plow handle, which paddle was used to free the mould-board when the plow gave positive indications of "jumping the job." The plow, in design, was well enough, but the material out of which it was made and the way it was put together, made it a most bungling and inefficient implement, doing but little better work in the way of cultivating the soil than would have been attained by dragging a sharpened log or chunk of wood over the ground. The foregoing list comprises nearly all the implements used for clearing the ground and putting in the crops in our county in its earlier days, except the all-important axe, upon which but little, if any, improvement has been made in the last half century.

each cutting their " land " through and then hanging their sickle over their shoulder they would turn and " bind back," thus putting, commonly, into the neatest of sheaves the swath of " land " they had just cut through. In those days there was scarcely a "harvest hand" but that had one or more scars on his left hand from wounds inflicted by the sickle, and it was not uncommon to see men with permanently crippled hands, some having even lost an entire finger or the thumb on the left hand. But this tedious and wicked little implement, in a few years after the organization and settlement of the county, gave way entirely to the " grain cradle," which was a vast improVement on the sickle, both for speed in cutting the grain and safety to the manipulator. The only advantage the sickle had over the cradle was that the reaper could pick the "wheat" out from among the " tares," weeds and sprouts, while the cradler had to cut everything before him, and the green weeds and leaves when bound in with the wheat made the sheaves very heavy and liable to mould.

For as many as fifteen years after the first settlement of the county there was but little, if any, " tame " hay made, the farmers depending almost entirely, for "roughness" for their stock, upon marsh or wild hay and corn fodder, and when both these were e.xhausted the farmer, in the timbered portion of the county, resorted to the cutting of bass-wood trees, off of the buds and twigs of which, his cattle would often subsist for weeks in late winter and early spring, the cattle often being joined by the deer that were then more numerous than were the cattle in the county, and like the cattle they were almost and sometimes quite "starved to death" by the long and hard winters. One of the earlier recollections of the writer and compiler of this chapter, is seeing his father and older brother starting to the woods with their axes on their shoulders, calling the herd of almost starved cattle, which readily learned to follow without calling.

The marsh haj^ was cut with the common scythe, upon which little changes (and surel}' none for the better), have been made since those days. The forks used in hay-making and for pitching sheaves of grain and handling straw, were made commonly of an ash sapling of the proper crook or shape, and the prongs or tines were made by sawing into the stick lengthwise far enough to make the desired length of the tines and far enough apart to make the desired number. A band of iron was put around the stick to keep it from splitting, and then wedges were driven in to spread the tines which were then shaven down to the desired size and shape. On this implement some improvement has surely been made, as every farmer of the earlier days of the county will testify.

the writer remembers of seeing. Both as a reaper and mower it was a ponderous and heavy running machine as compared with the improved McCormick, and scores of other makes of machines now in use by our farmers, but it embodied the principle, and all new implements have been but inventions to lighten the machine and the draft; and, in this matter many makers have been most successful, and it is an exception to the rule now to see any wellto-do farmer who has not both a first-class reaper and mower, many of the reapers or harvesters being self-binders. In addition to the mowers every well regulated farm is provided with hay-rakes and hay-forks all run or worked by horse-power, and, by using these improved implements, a farm hand can do as inuch in one day as he could in a week, before their invention.

The first crops of small grain raised in Marshall county were threshed with the flail, an implement so simple and cheap in its -construction and cost that the young farmers of to-day would not, on inspection, take it to be a "threshing machine," but such it was and the most primitive, too, known to the historic period, so far as the writer knows. It consisted of a pole about as long and as large as the wooden pitch-fork handle, and had a club or chunk of wood somewhat thicker than the handle and about two feet Jong, tied with a strong and durable thong, to the pole or handle. It was run b}^ the " one-man power," and its use was a literal fulfillment of the decree that " in the sweat of thy face shalt thou <eat bread." The sheaves of wheat were commonly thrown on a platform of fence rails raised slightly above the ground, and under the platform was drawn a strong linen sheet, such as were made by our mothers in those days, and after a certain amount o" wheat had been " thumped " out the rails were temporarily re moved and the cleaning process was begun. This was done by some one holding a portion of the threshed grain in a half bushel measure above another sheet prepared to receive it, as high as .possible, and to get the required fall the one holding the measure was usually elevated b}' standing on a chair or something higher. The grain was then gradually and slowly turned out of the measure in order that the chaff might be blown away, while the grain fell straight down. The wind was " raised " by two of the strongest muscled and best winded men engaged in the business, taking a strong sheet by the ends and swinging it in such a manner as to cause the strongest possible breeze or current of air where the wheat was being poured down. This operation was repeated until the crop was thought to be sufficiently cleaned for market or for the mill. Wheat in those days was worth forty cents in Michigan City - over forty miles from Plymouth - and the first breadstuff used by the earlier settlers was ground in Delphi, over sixty-five miles from our county seat.

zens of the county know what the generation before them had to endure and perform for their children and their children's children in order that they might finally enjoy all the blessings and conveniences of wealth and civilization.

After there were a sufficient number of horses to be had in a neighborhood, wheat was "tramped out" by throwing the sheaves on an earthen or out-door floor, usually about forty feet in diameter, the floor being round, like a circus ring. The heads of the sheaves were all laid one way, so that the horses' feet, in turning to the left, came constantly in contact with the head of the sheaves, which were, of course, unbound before the horses were put on the floor. A small boy usually rode one horse and lead three, one at the side and two behind the one he rode, while an experienced man, with a pitch fork in hand, presided as " ringmaster," in the center of the circle, making himself useful, as well as ornamental, by stirring the wheat and doing other things "too tedious to mention."

The first real threshing machine that was introduced into the county, was what was called the "Traveling Threshing Machine."' It was mounted on four wheels, after the style of a common wagon, but the hind wheels were much larger and heavier, especially the right one, was made heavy with a tire about ten inches wide and on the inner side of this tire was a lesser wheel that had cogs on it, which when thrown in "gear," or contact with the pinion that projects from the body of the machine, communicated the power to the thresher as it was being drawn about over the field, by from four to six horses. The " track " selected in a field was, as a matter of course, the most accessible to the wheat shocks, and on the most level and solid ground. The feeder stood in the front part of the machine and the sheaves were laid on a table to his right hand where the bands were cut. The greatest thing for the feeder was to feed according to the power at his command, and be careful and not "choke down," for this would necessitate a full stop of everything, and a general " cleaning out " of the apparatus. The straw was carried out at the rear of the machine, and in large fields, would get so deep that the " track " would have to be changed, as the " power wheel " would slip or slide on the straw, and consequently the power or motion would cease.

The sheaves were thrown on the front part of the machine, while in motion, by men, boys and sometimes women, stationed around the track. When the machine first started in a field it was easy enough to keep it supplied with wheat, but when it came to bringing it in from the " four corners " it was a different thing, and the men, women, children and teams all had to "get a hustle " on them, and the machine would often have to be stopped while the wheat would be brought nearer the track. To this, the

The grain was carried down into a box between the hind wheels and on its way there it was subjected to a fanning mill process, which was a great improvement on the first manner heretofore described. The " grain box," as it was called, held eight bushels of wheat and whenever it was full the machine was stopped and the box emptied. The straw was commonly burnt off of the track to "get it out of the-way." Two hundred bushels was a good day's threshing and more than was commonly done. The machine cost about $250. Like nearly all the implements so far described in this chapter, these old "traveling threshing machines" are extinct; but, if some speculative genius had one intact and would keep it properly "blanketed" and concealed and charge ten cents admission, he would have a " bigger " and better paying " show " than old "Jumbo " ever was.

Next came the stationary thresher, which was only a " huller," as it had no separator nor vibrator, and the straw was taken from the " dump " of the machine by hand labor, and after the two men who did this work had been engaged in it for an hour their rnost intimate friends and acquaintances would not have recognized them after the most critical inspection, so dusted and smutted were they.

In a few years these crude " huUers" were superseded by the " separator," whose inner gear had a vibrating motion, the under part of which was a screen work through which the grain passed after being separated from the straw, and then " down and out" of the machine after having also passed through the " cleaning" process of a "fanning mill" that constituted a portion of said inner gear of the machine. Here we will leave the threshers until later on in this chapter, when an attempt will be made to contrast the efficiency of the implements of the early days in Marshall county with those of to-day - the thc7i and 7iow of our history.

In the sowing, harvesting and threshing of the smaller grains we have apparently lost sight of the planting, "tending" and gathering of the corn crop, but the writer could no more forget this staple product than he could one of his nearest friends in time of need, for on this he and his early associates in this county, subsisted mainly for many years.

For this crop the ground was prepared much the same as for a wheat crop, and when too rough to be marked out by a shovel plow it was planted hy stakes, and when it was up, then the fight began and the strife was, which should have the supremacy, the weeds and sprouts or the corn, and as to how this contest came out, it depended upon the sand and brawn of the proprietor of the " ranch." Then game was plenty and those who liked hunting better than work, would often fool their time away in the crop season and then come and borrow or beg from their more industrious neighbors, before the winter was over.

For several years after the first settlement of the county, each farmer " tended " his crop with his " best ox," the old heavy hoe ever being called into requisition to give the " finishing touch." The crop was gathered then as now by hand and the oxen, hitched to an old Pennsylvania wagon, were muzzled to keep them from foundering themselves and eating up the crop. The corn when gathered was commonly thrown into rail pens and sometimes in log cribs that were usually a part of a log barn.

Corn-shellers were not used in this county until as late as 1855 or 1S56, and in the olden time when we wanted to "go to mill," a large, strong quilt was commonly spread on the " puncheon " floor in front of the fire-place and the desired amount of corn was piled in the middle, and around this pile and just on the edge of the quilt, sat the members of the family shelling by hand until the whole grist was ready to be taken to the mill.

For many years after the organization and settlement of the county, flax was raised in considerable quantities and manufactured into linen, out of which our shirts and trousers were made. The ground was prepared about the same as for oats, and the cleaner the field was of weeds and sprouts the better. The flax, when in condition, was pulled and taken care of until the proper time when it was spread on the ground to " rot" or bleach. It was then gathered up and while very dry, "broke " on a " breaking horse " or "flax-break," which was a wooden bench about two and a half feet high with four sharp rails or slats set up edgewise and about two and a half or three inches apart. Above these four were three like slats that were fastened in together and arranged to mash in between the lower rails. These last, or three slats, were so arranged that they were raised up and down with the right hand of the operator on the machine, who took large handfuls of the dry and bleached flax and placing it crosswise on the brake would triphammer it until but little was left except the film that covered the original stem. In this condition the " broke flax" was taken and "scutched" over the end of a wide, thin and hard board with a " scutching knife," which was a wooden knife about thirty inches long and two and a half inches wide and made of the best of hard timber. By this operation the woody or chaff-like part of the stem was separated from the fiber of the plant. The flax was then drawn over and through a "hackle" or hatchel, which consisted of a board about eight by twenty inches in size, in the middle of which were arragned probably over 100 sharp steel teeth, about as long as a common ten-penny nail, but much more slender. Through this machine (if it deserves the cognomen) the hatcheled flax was drawn until the film or fiber was nearly as fine as silk. The tow that was hatcheled from the dressed flax was, a portion of it, spun into thread for "filling" in the coarser linen, and the flax proper was spun into finer thread for chain and for the filling also of the finer linens manufactured. The flax was spun on a little spinning wheel that was turned by a treadle, the operator sitting down and working the treadle with the foot. The flax was loosely looped around and on a "distaff" which was commonly made, in this county, of the center part or stem of a dog-wood bush, of one year's growth, which most always had four branches at equal distance apart around the main stem of the bush. These branches were cut off at about ten inches in length and were all tied together at the top around the main branch, and when this was covered with the flax it looked very much like a hornet's nest. Enough of the lower part of the main branch was left to make a staff of, and that was fastened in the bench of the wheel, at a convenient height to be reached by the spinner. The "fliers" and the spool on which the thread was twisted and wound was run bj- two bands made of cord. On this kind of wheel was spun the thread out of which was made our " linen breeches " and shirts of half a century ago, the fabric being woven on an old hand loom which we will not attempt to describe here, nor will we attempt to describe the "reeling" and "warping" of the thread, as it would be too tedious for this work, but we will simply say that the whole process was in keeping with that of the spinning.

No one can fully comprehend or appreciate the changes made in the appearance of the count}-, nor the difference in the implements used fifty 3-ears ago and now, unless he was one of the very earliest settlers of the county. Where dense forests then stood there is not even a stump to he seen now. Instead of the "jumping shovel " plow and the unwieldy " breaking plow," with the long line of oxen hitched to it, we have the neat chilled or caststeel plow, or even the " riding plow," on which the farm hand can comfortably ride all the day instead of having his arms almost torn from his shoulders and his legs almost broken with flying roots. Instead of the vexatious and unrul}' o.x team the farmer has his well bred and broke team of horses, using two or three of them as he may choose, to make the work easy and to plow the ground any desired depth. Instead of the old fashioned " A harrow," we have the efficient and neat " spring-tooth'' harrow that thoroughly stirs and levels the ground, preparing it as nicely as a garden for the sowing of the seed which is not done any more by hand, but by drills of various makes and designs, there being, however, but two kinds of drills so far as the principle is concerned, the hose drills and the roller dill. Of those made on the former principle there are many makes, each maker claiming for liis implement superiority over anything of the kind ever manufactured. Of the "roller drills" the writer has never seen but one make. The superiority claimed for this drill is that the grain is deposited in thoroughly rolled or pulverized ground. Any of these machines are a vast improvement on the old way of swinging half a bushel of wheat, in a two bushel sack, over your shoulder and starting on an eighty rod " round " or " bout," sowing the seed broadcast as you went along, keeping your eye on the stake at the farther or opposite side of the field, for, if the sower got out of line the wheat field would be " spotted," some places the seed being too thick and others there being none; and the difference between tramping all day over the plowed ground with a heavy weight on your shoulders and riding as comfortably as if you were in a road sulky, is a consideration that is not forgotten by those who have tried both methods of " sowing the seed."

The old fashioned sickle is entirely ignored and the graincradle is only used in more recently cleared ground where there are too many stumps to run a reaper with profit, and without danger of breaking it, but probably nine-tenths of the crops of the small grains in the county are now cut by self-binders, which relieves the farm laborer from the terribly hot, unpleasant and exhausting task of binding the harvest by hand; and, with the aid of one of these self-binders and team, two hands will cut and shock up as much grain in one day as they could put up in a whole week by the old methods.

Now-a-days the crops of small grain are either " mowed away" in capacious barns or stacked in convenient position to be run through the separator, after the crop has " gone through with the sweat." These separators are in strange contrast with the " flail," the horse-tramping process, the old " traveling threshing machine" and the " huller," the last of which was run by "horsepower," and has been seen by most of the citizens of the county who are living to-day and who have paid any attention to agriculture. The older threshers were hauled over the country and run by horse-power, but the separator of to-day is drawn over the country and run by a " traction engine" that under the hand of an intelligent engineer, travels over our thoroughfares hauling its burdens, pufiing, blowing and screaming, as if it were a real, live monster of the animal kingdom, who by some freak had resolved to donate his power to the good of the human kind, " so called." Had one of these engines, with the modern separator attached, dropped suddenly down among us, even thirty-five years ago, and been found on one of our highways wending its way to some large farm to do a job of threshing, the inhabitants hereabouts would have thought that either the millennium, or his Satanic majesty, had come. Truly it has been vouchsafed to those who have lived the last fifty years, especially in our wild and rude but progressive country, to see more improvements, more inventions and more discoveries, for the benefit of our kind, than has ever been made and recorded in any two centuries that have preceded us in the world's progress, and no other calling in life has received greater benefits from the inventive genius of our country than has the vocation of agriculture, for were it not for these labor saving and time-saving machines our farmers could neither sow, harvest or thresh the crops they now raise on their extensive farms.

The ground for the corn crop is now plowed with the latest improved plow of a pattern that suits the fancy or prejudice of the respective farmer. It is dragged with the modern springtooth harrow, and in case the ground gets beaten down with heavy rains, it is livened up with the cultivator. It is then marked off one way with a " marker," and then planted with a cornplanter, by going crosswise over the furrows made by the marker. With one of these planters, two hands and a team can plant fifteen acres in one day. This not only facilitates the operation of planting but puts the crop in in much better and more regular manner than when done by the old method of dropping by hand and covering with a hoe, and consequently the crop is much more easily tended than when the hills stand in an irregular or zig-zag shape in the rows. The crop is now commonly tended with a walking or riding corn plow that plows both sides of the corn at the same time, instead of the old method of plowing one side of the row at a time with the single shovel plow, and later on Avith the double shovel.

As stated previously in this chapter, corn is now gathered as it always has been, by hand, the farmers now using horse teams instead of oxen. The crop is now universally shelled with cornshellers of various patterns, sizes and capacities and they are run by hand, horse and steam power, and the greater portion of the crop is shelled before it is taken to market now-a-days.

The kinds of produce or crops raised in this county in the earlier days of its history and organization was corn, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, beans, and a few other minor kinds of produce such as cabbage, turnips and rutabagas, which were used for culinary purposes and also for food for stock but not for market, for there was no market for them. These crops grow abundantly here.

The corn crop would run from twenty-five to fifty bushels to the acre, owing to the condition and kind of ground, the manner of tending it and the favorableness of the season. The average on the wheat crop would be a difficult thing to even approximate, the farmer sometimes getting not much more than his "seed back," and again, on ground in good condition (for those days).

and a favorable season, he would get from fifteen to eighteen bushels per acre. Oats has never been raised in the county for a paying crop, for our soil and the average seasons are not adapted to its culture, and some seasons it is almost an entire failure, and others the yield is from forty to fifty bushels per acre, but the latter turn out is very unusual and the season has to be extraordinary indeed. This crop was usually sowed to make feed for the horses after the corn crop of the previous season had been exhausted, and before the new crop came on, and the rule was to sow the ground to wheat in the fall. Rye was also raised almost entirely for feed and pasture and was scarcely ever threshed, being fed out in the sheaf, and as the writer never saw five acres of it threshed as far back as forty years ago from this date, iSgo, he could make no reliable estimate of the average crop in those days, but, like oats, it was not raised for market purposes until later years, and the average now is about fifteen bushels to the acre. Potatoes, years ago, gave not only a bigger yield but a better quality of the crop than is now raised. The seasons appeared to be more favorable to their growth, and the new sandy loam produced the soundest, sweetest and "mealiest" potatoes that were ever dug from the earth, and we will undoubtedly never see their equal again raised in this or any other county or country. In those days there were no "potato bugs" to devour the vines as soon as they are out of the ground, nor grubs to bore, eat and destroy the roots as there is to-day, andtheidea of saturating the vines with a solution of poisonous Paris green, would have been entertained with "holy horror" by our fathers. Beans were little grown for market. The yield was good if the season was favorable, but the crop was often injured by rains between the time of "pulling" and threshing. The threshing was commonly done with the flail in the manner already described for threshing wheat. Never having seen nor heard of an acre of beans being raised and threshed in this county we would not attempt to make a reliable estimate of the crop. Our soil is commonly too rich to raise beans upon.

Clover was not raised to any extent for many years after the settling and clearing up of a large portion of our county, in fact, not until the farmers began to discover that their land had been over-drawn upon by a bad rotation and rapid succession of crops and that it needed rest and recuperation. Since its general introduction, which was about thirty years ago, it has been largely and extensively grown for hay - its seed for market and as a restorer of the lost crop-giving properties of the over-run lands. Our farmers would not know how to get along now without this valuable crop and great fertilizer and invigorator.

farmers are draining and reclaiming their low, rich lands that are admirablj' adapted to the growth of this, the best grass that grows, for hay. These rich lands often produce from two and a half to three tons of hay to the acre, and are the most valuable lands, when so reclaimed, that is owned by the farmers of the count}', as it produces most abundantly and will probably never need rest or enriching.

As to the best methods of cultivating the leading grains and other products of the county the compiler of this chapter cannot do better for the farm readers of, and patrons of, this volume than to adopt and endorse the following address by John O. A. Seig, delivered before the state board of agriculture of the state of Indiana for the year 1888, as it contains many practical suggestions which if adopted and enlarged upon, as they will be by the intelligent farmer, will be of great benefit to the agricultural interests of the county.

" This is a question as old as agriculture itself. Men have been working at this problem ever since the creation of man, and yet they differ as much in opinion now as they did when Cain and Abel were the only leaders in agriculture. Then one thought the raising of cereals and fruit was the thing to do, the other thought stock-raising was best, hence they divided, and murder followed on account of jealousy and difference of opinion as to the best mode of farming. Now, if two men living in the same locality, with the same market, could not agree as to the best mode of farming, how can we expect the millions of farmers of to-day, living under such a variety of circumstances and in so many different localities to agree? This is a question every farmer in his own locality will have to determine for himself. But there are some general principles underlying this problem that hold good in ever}' locality, and unless some attention is given to these general features the farmer will in a few j-ears fail to farm profitably. One of the greatest of these general principles is the retention of the fertilit}' of the soil; this is the crowning idea of successful farming. The banker who is continually drawing on his principal soon finds his doors closed; and if when he draws on his principal he puts it into merchandise or speculation he soon finds whatever he has left, if he has anything, transferred into other channels, and his bank a thing of the past. So it is with farming, it does not matter where situated or what is grown upon the farm, if by the mode pursued there is a constant drain upon the soil and nothing replaced, it is only a question of time, and usually a very short time, Avhen such a farmer will be farming without profit. Therefore the true idea is, as with the bank, to so manage as to keep the principal invio- late, and then If there is a surplus to put it where it will do the most good. Now how to do this is not a question that can be solved by the exercise of the muscle or manual labor; but it is a question for thought and deep consideration; for the man that fails to think in this day and age of the world, on the farm, is lost in the fog; his farm soon passes into other and more intelligent hands and he becomes a day laborer, and frequently an object of charity; for a man who has inherited a farm and fails is the most pitialale of .all failures, he being entirely unsuited for any of the other avocations of life. Therefore, this proposition in every locality holds good, that in order to farm profitably the fertility of the soil must be retained; even better, that it should be increased. To do this we will have to look elsewhere than to barn-yard manures, for no farmer can begin to make enough of this best of all fertilizers to supply the drain on his soil caused by the constant growing of crops. Farmers used to think that fallowing and cropping alternate years was the thing to do, but to-day all posted farmers know that if there never had been a fallow in the state of Indiana the farms would be more productive, and that nothing so injures the soil as laying bare without any protection from the heat of the sun in the months of July and August. This being the case, there should be such a rotation of crops adopted as to insure shade and protection to the soil during the heated part of the season; say the following rotation: Clover - I begin with clover, because I think any rotation without clover a failure. I turn under in September or October and plant to corn in spring. The reasons I would turn under in these months are: You put under plenty of seed for future seeding, and you also get rid of the cutworm in the spring, which is frequently worth a good deal in a single crop. Let your corn get pretty well matured. By this means you get much better corn and better fodder. Then cut it up. If your corn has been well cultivated, cut one way with a Stoddard's harrow, cross with a good steel-tooth harrow, then drill in one and one-half bushels of wheat, with 200 pounds of phosphate or bone meal - which ever does the best on your land - to the acre. By managing this way you will find in the spring that you have a better stand of clover, and it will stand the summer drouth better than if seeded by hand in the spring, and without any extra expense. Mow or pasture first year. Better mow. Let grow second year and turn under as before for corn,^nd so on. The farmer that will follow up this plan will not only retain the fertility of his soil, but he will find that land that brought ten bushels of wheat and twenty bushels of corn to the acre will in a few years produce thirty bushels of wheat and fifty bushels of corn to the acre. You also by this mode keep your land at good, profitable work, and not wasting its energies in the production of weeds, which are more injurious to the soil than the cultivatian and growing of crops. In planting and sowing it is very necessary to have and use the best and most vigorous seeds. No one has any idea how much is lost to the farmers each year by using imperfect and weakly seed. It can only be guessed at by comparing it with the loss sustained by the breeding of poorly fed, feeble and ill-formed animals. Therefore, the second great principle in successful farming is to produce the best of its kind of everything you raise. If your farm is not rich enough in plant food to produce the very best of grain or produce, feed it until it will produce the best. It will not be money thrown away. It will be depositing it where cashiers can not run away with it, nor where you will have to take a mortgage to secure the payment of it, but it will be there subject to come forth at your intelligent command. "The soil, in order to respond profitably, must be thoroughly, systematically and economicall}' cultivated. A good warm mellow seed bed is just as necessary as a fertile soil, for the remunerative production of a crop. It never has, nor never will pay to plant seed among the clods to be starved in the start. For, like everything else, the young plant needs to be nursed and fed with the choicest of plant food when it is young. Therefore it is necessary to so pulverize the soil as to make it light and compact. Shut out the cold winds, for plants suffer more from cold feet than most any other one thing, and put in such a condition as to furnish plenty of food from the start. For plants, like animals, if well fed, suffer but little from the cold. Now how to do this, and do it economically, is that to which the average farmer gives too little attention. While his hands are busy, his mind is not working out the economic problem. He plows without thinking until the field is plowed. Then, when the hands are done, the mind says you must plant, but the soil has become so drj' and cloddy that there is not sufficient fine soil with which to cover the grain. Then the mind says to him, you must pulverize. He sends one hand with a team and roller; he goes with another team and harrow bumping and thumping all day over tne clods, and at night, all the way he can tell that he has been doing anything is by the jaded condition of his team and by the feeling that he has, tired and sore, that he has been stumbling over clods the livelong day to no purpose or advantage. Now, the mind should have worked in the first place as well as the hands. It should have told him that at night they should have rolled and harrowed all the soil that had been plowed during the day. To have managed economically he should had his harrow and roller in the field ready, the harrow hitched or fastened behind the roller. Then, at the proper time, he should have hitched both teams to the roller, mounted his hand and let him do the work of both, while he went and gave such attention to things about the house as they might need. To do all this successfully you must secure intelligent and interested assistance. The ordinary farm hand cares but little what the results from his labor amounts to. It is but little to him whether it is ten bushels of wheat or thirty bushels per acre. If any difference he would rather see the ten, for then there would not be so much to handle and less labor to perform. Then the question arises, what are we farmers to do ? Our boys are leaving us and we are getting old and unable to work, and we must have labor on the farm and consequently have to take such as we can get. I would suggest that the boys on the farm be taken into partnership; that they be made interested partners in all that is done or undertaken; that they be consulted in every matter of importance. Give their brains plenty of work to do. Show them that it requires more intelligence to farm successfully than it does for almost any other vocation. Help them to surround themselves with such labor-saving machinery as will develop brain as well as muscle. Give them to see that out of the soil, well managed, they can produce almost any living thing necessary for man's comfort. And above all, if your boy wants a dollar, don't have him come begging for it like a tramp or a pauper. But what he needs, let him take, feeling that he is like the partner that he is or should be. In this way make him feel all the responsibility of the situation. For this is the crowning joy of a boy's life. They want to shoulder responsibility and know that somebody trusts them.

"Then again the wife, the mother, the one above every other we can so illy afford to leave out of the partnership, is so generally ignorant of what is going on on the farm. How often I have called at a farm house and asked what the man of the house was doing. The answer from the lady of the house would be: "Well, I don't know. He went off this morning and I have not seen him since. He hardly ever tells me where he is going or what he is doing." Shame on such a man. If you had taken as little interest in telling her what you was and what you intended doing when you were courting her you never would have won her. If it was necessary then to tell her all about yourself when you were two, how much more necessary and sensible it is after she becomes the mother of your children and is so interested in the success of your every undertaking that she should not only be made a confidant, but should be consulted in all matters pertaining to what you are, what you have and what you intend to do.

" In conclusion, if you have so farmed as not only to retain, but to increase the fertility of the soil, have made good and intelligent farmers of your boys, such as will be an honor to their profession and a comfort to their parents; if you have made the wife, the companion of your youth, your happy partner and con- fidant; if by your example you have been the means of improving the condition of farming in your community, you have not lived in vain, and your soil has been very profitalaly cultivated."

Equally appropriate are the suggestions made by Hon. W. B. Seward, of Bloomington, Ind., in an address delivered before the Marion County Agricultural society, in i88S. Under the heading of " How to Secure Better Results in Farming," the Hon. Mr. Seward spoke as follows:

" The topic for discussion is, ' How to Secure Better Results in Farming.' It would afford me pleasure to give you a complete and satisfactory answer to this great question, if I could. The question is such a large one, has a bearing in so many different directions, that I could not hope in the short time I shall occupy, to follow all these various directions, even if I knew them, which I am certain I do not, so I feel at liberty to take any of the roads that seems to lead in the direction we wish to go, that happens to suit my fancy.

" An old English cook book in giving direction how to cook a rabbit, started out by saying first procure the rabbit. Now my first and main receipt for how to secure better results in farming, is to first procure a farmer. The man or woman who succeeds in any business, must thoroughly understand that business, and be fully satisfied to follow it. If a man follows the plow only to get a little money so that he can move to town and set up a corner grocery, you may depend upon it that he will never be a successful farmer, for the reason that his heart is not in the business. He has other aims in life and will not give the devotion to the business necessary to success. The man who follows farming, or any other business, and makes a success of it, must put his whole heart and soul in the business. There must be no reservation, mental or otherwise, that so soon as he accumulates a certain amount he will abandon farming for some other calling. He must be in love with his business and think only of how he can improve his mode of cultivation, and some day be the model farmer, owning the model farm in his neighborhood. It is a pride worthy of any man to strive to be a model farmer, owning a model farm. How many have we who are working with this end in view, and striving to dignify and honor the business of farming.

" It is an unfortunate fact that we have many unsuccessful farmers, as well as man}' unsuccessful men in all other avocations, and that the fault is oftener with the men than the business. It should be distinctly understood that it is not the business that makes the man, but the man that makes the business. This rule must never be lost sight of if we expect to succeed in any of our business efforts. Some persons will make a grand success where others under similar circumstances make an entire failure. Some years ago I knew a farmer who owned a good farm, which he received as a portion with his wife. He was raised on a farm, and had never attempted any other business. He had a ' hired' man working for $20 per month. Time wore on, and after some ten years, the hired man owned the farm, had money in bank, and the farmer owned nothing. In this case one had a capacity for business, the other had not, and so according to that invariable and unchanging law that the fittest shall survive, the one without capacity had to give way.

" Then, to succeed, we must first procure a farmer. He must be a real farmer, fully imbued with the dignity and nobility of the calling, and willing to endure the hardships incident to the business for the pleasure and profit it will bring him. When you have a man of this kind, he will make a success of the business, because it is his business and aim in life to make the business a success. He has gain and pride as an incentive to extra exertion. He wants to be the model farmer owning the model farm in his neighborhood, and I glory in his pride and spunk. It is a worthy pride, and if more farmers were filled chuck full of it, we would have a better supply of successful farmers. There are many who trj' the business of farming that fail even with their best efforts, but this is no fault of the business, it is for lack of capacity on the part of those making the trial. It is not every one that has the brains, industry and economy to make a successful farmer, yet this is no reason why the business may not be highly successful to those that have the capacity to manage it. Many will try in the future, as in the past, and fail, but we can shift this class off and let them become lawyers and politicians, and if they fail again, it is no harm to the country, as we don't depend upon them for anything, any way. But a failure in farming, while but a small loss to each individual farmer, is a calamity to our country, and it is this broad, patriotic view that we should take of the subject. What it pays this man or that man as an individual to follow the business of farming is of little moment compared to the wholesale interest our country has in successful farming. Our nation's wealth and prosperity hinges so largely on successful farming, that vast sums of money are now being directed by our national as well as state governments for a more thorough education in the various branches of husbandry, and from this source must come in the near future, results that will prove the wisdom of devoting time and money from the public treasury for the promulgation of knowledge on a subject of such vital interest to us as a nation. But knowledge and education if not intelligently and industriously applied, is of no value. The measure of success or failure in any business, may be accurately determined by the amount of brains and industry used in conducting the business. This is a rule without an exception in 7-B.

every business, and to none does it apply with more force than to farming. The same care, devotion and economy, that makes a manufacturer succeed in business will make a farmer succeed also.

" It was popularly supposed in times past by many, and by some at the present time, and perhaps not without a shade of truth behind it, that farmers are slow, plodding, ignorant beings, that consent to live for a time that they may bear the burdens of their betters, and then considerately die to make room for others of the same kind. We may have had too many of this kind of farmers in times past, but they are rapidly becoming things of the past. Universal education is producing a revolution in the ranks of this class where they exist, and is the lever that is elevating the farmer to a proper knowledge of the importance and dignity of his calling. On the floor above our heads are one hundred gentlemen, gathered from all parts of our state to legislate for us. It is a fair average body of men, for legislators, and equal, perhaps, in point of education and intelligence to any legislature we ever had. The same week the legislature convened there was a meeting in this room of the delegate state board of agriculture, gentlemen gathered from all parts of our state as is the legislature. Each gathering consisted of about the same number of men. I took a look at both bodies of men, heard speeches from each, looked them all square in the face, and applied every rule of measurement within my knowledge to try to determine fairly and honestly as I would in awarding a premium, which was the most intelligent, best educated and progressive body of men, and I say to you frankly that I was unable to decide the matter. In no respect could I see that the legislature was superior to the body of men meeting in this room, that were selected almost wholly from farm- i ers. This is not an insidious comparison, and is only made to show the progress of education, and illustrate the fact that we now have farmers in all parts of our state capable of successfully managing a farm or a state legislature if need be, and in fact part of those making up the meeting in this room spoken of were members elect of the present legislature, and many others were ex-members. The delegate state board of agriculture is made up of representative farmers in their respective neighborhoods, and are enthusiastic enough and successful enough in the management of their business to spare the time and the money to attend meetings like that one and this one to-day, with the hope of learning something that will help to secure better results in farming.

" It is by this class of men that we are to be taught how to secure better results in farming. They are all teachers as well as students, and all candidates for model farmers. Now, the model farmer is no more like the ignorant, plodding being that we heard of than is the poorest scrub cow to the finest specimen of blooded stock ever seen. One of the first and most important lessons learned by the model farmer is nature's law of compensation. He is too liberal in soul after he has become a model farmer to expect something for nothing. You will never hear him grumlDling at nature and claiming that we are all going to starve because he can't count eggs by the dozen year in and year out from the same basket and never put any eggs in the basket. He recognizes the fact that nature doesn't work this way, and that he is powerless to change nature's laws of compensation, and would certainly make a great botch of it even if he could; so he adapts himself and his business to these unchanging laws as he finds them. The model farmer does not expect to take tons of wheat, corn, haj', etc., from the field and pay that field nothing for it. He may have tried before he became a model farmer to work the field on credit, merely giving it a promise that if prices for its products are good and taxes not too high, that by and by he will pay something to the field that has been so liberal with him, but the field won't work this way, as it does not do a credit business. It pays promptly with double compound interest for all that is deposited with it, but the little it asks in return for all that it gives must be promptly paid.

" Now, to sum the whole matter up as to how to secure better results in farming, I would sa}^ that we must have first-class, industrious, economical, educated men in the business, the same as in any other business that succeeds. A man in becominga model farmer has mastered all the details of plowing, rotation of crops, use of fertilizers, under drainage and hundreds of other details that are useful."

The following paper, read by the Hon. Robert Mitchell, of Princeton, Gibson county, before the agricultural society of this state for i8S8, may be read with interest and profit by the practical farmer, the subject being: " Is there enough stock kept on the farms of Indiana to keep up the fertility of the soil?"

" The question of fertility of the soil is one that needs careful consideration at the hands of the farmers of the state. The wealth of the coal fields of any state is estimated b}^ its output of coal in manufacturing cities. The wealth of such manufactories is measured by their output of manufactured articles. The agricultural wealth of a state is estimated by the output of wheat, corn, oats, pork, beef, wool, poultry, fruit and vegetables. Now, the question is, can Mother Earth continue on giving to the husbandman such lavish gifts without being reimbursed in a substantial way. So I come now to the subject, is there enough stock kept on the farms of our state to make manure sufficient to keep up the fertility of the soil? The answer to the question may be put down, No, not one-half ! Then, if there is not barnyard manure enough, resort must be had to other ways of keeping up the fertility of the soil. Among the best and cheapest fertilizers for the farms, none is better than red clover. When clover seed is selling at $4.00 per bushel, it will cost fifty cents an acre to seed your wheat fields. A common practice with the best farmers of southern Indiana is to sow all the wheat fields to clover, and if the season is favorable to the growth of clover, by the time the fall plowing begins a rank growth of clover is ready to be turned under for fall seeding for wheat. The heavy growth of clover thus turned under each year for a few years will increase the fertility of the soil much cheaper and the benefits will be almost equal to a good spread of barn-yard manure. The next best way of keeping up the fertility of the soil is by a rotating system of crops, say corn after clover pasture, wheat after corn, and clover again after wheat. If this system of rotating crops is adopted by the farmer, his lands will improve in fertility. A third plan of keeping up the fertility of the soil is by the use of active fertilizers, such as lime, bone-dust, dried blood, and other chemical preparations. These active fertilizers are for the immediate wants and benefits of the crops thej' are sowed upon, and will give good crops, but as a rule do not contribute a lasting benefit to the soil such as clover or barn-yard manure. Well do I recollect when a boy on my father's farm in Scotland, how he would make us hustle around and gather together all of the droppings of the stock about the barn-yard, and carefully pile it up for future use. The Scotch farmer looked upon the size of his manure pile with as much pleasure as a good bank account on the credit side of the ledger. I also recollect when I came to Indiana, thirty-seven years ago, and it amused me ver}' much to see the average Hoosier farmer at that time, when his horses could no longer get into the stables for the manure pile, go to work and tear down the old log stable and build anew, rather than clean the manure out of the stable. Quite a change, however, is come about now in Indiana. The old log stable is replaced by substantial barns, and the thrifty farmers can be seen at all seasons of the year, not only saving all the manure carefully, produced on the farm, but at leisure times his teams are busy hauling all the manure he can get, for well he knows now that a liberal supply of good manure is the farmer's best friend." It is to be said, to the shame and disgrace of our count3\ that owing to bickerings, selfishness and jealousies, which never ought to exist in any community, that Marshall county now has no agricultural society. Concerning the defunct society of this county, the following, in quotation marks, is taken from the history of Marshall county, written by Hon. Daniel McDonald, and is about all that can be said of it: " IMarshall Cmiiitv A^ricul- tural Society. - This society was organized in 1855, with James A. Corse, president; G. O. Pomeroy, treasurer; Samuel B. Corbaley, secretary. It was organized under the law authorizing the formation of voluntary associations, and its permanent members were those who paid $3 or more. The first fair was held in the old court-house, the live stock being corraled in the court yard. It wasn't much of a fair, to be sure, but then it was creditable as a beginning, taking into consideration the fact that the society owned no property and had no money of consequence to pay premiums, and its officers totally inexperienced in the business. The condition of the society for the year ending 1856, was shown to be as follows:

" Deficit, $g. 37, which was made up by donations as follows: A. L. Wheeler, $3; D. S. Conger, $5; Joel Parker, $3; D. L. Gibson, $2; John Cleaveland, $1; A. G. Armstrong, $1 ; J. Brownlee, $1; R. Hewitt, $1; J. B. Halsey, 50 cents; W. J. Hand, 36 cents; G. O. Pomeroy, $5; total, $26.36, leaving a balance of $13.49 in the treasury. The officers for 1857 were then elected, as follows: D. S. Conger, president; J. B. Halsey, vice president; D. Vinnedge, treasurer; S. B. Corbaley, secretary; I. Mattingly and Thomas McDonald (editors of the Republican and Dc»iocrat) were constituted honorary members. Some time afterward the society purchased from David Vinnedge what is now known as the fair grounds, adjoining Plymouth on the north. The society labored faithfully for a period of fifteen years to build up first-class exhibitions, but met with indifferent success."

About 1873, the society was organized on the joint-stock plan, purchased additional grounds, made a new time track and established the organization on a strictly business basis. There was some opposition to the plan of organization, but notwithstanding this, the second year the fair proved the most successful, financially, of any previously held, and the society closed the year with the floating debt and premium list fully paid and some money in the treasury. A change of officers brought a change of management and the people failing to give it that support it deserved, the officers were unable to pay the interest on the mortgage of the grounds, held by the school fund of the state, and therefore the lands were forfeited and sold by the county auditor, to William Scofield and John Seltenright, the present owners. " These gentlemen held fairs on their own account in October, 1879 and iSSo. The exhibitions were about up to the average of those before held, and the receipts fell a few dollars short of the expenditures on the first, and a few dollars more on the last."

Since the last above given date, 1SS9, up to the writing of this i8qo, no fairs have been held by the owners of the grounds. The time track has been kept up by a number of horse-raisers and trainers in the city of Plymouth, and is now in better condition for speeding horses than ever before. The grove and grounds generally, are in good condition, and admirably adapted to the holding of agricultural and other fairs. These grounds would also make a splendid park for the city, and if bought by the county, as a county fair grounds, as provided by our statutes, or by the city as a park, the investment would prove to be a good and paying one in the near future, provided they can be obtained on reasonable terms, and it is generally understood that the present owners will sell very cheap if the grounds are to be used for either of the purposes above named.

It does seem that our good citizens of both the county and the county seat, who are interested in the welfare and development of the whole county, and who have some pride as citizens of one of the very best agricultural counties in our state, and also residents of the finest located county seat almost anywhere to be found in the country, should come to some amicable understanding and do that which would enhance the interests of all concerned and place our county where it deserves to be, so far as its fertility is concerned, among the first counties in Indiana. With the proper citizens, both in the country and the city, to take hold of the matter; men who would make reasonable concessions and agree to arrangements that would give every class of citizens a day on the programme, Marshall county could have one of the best agricultural societies in the state.

The way matters now are, our county has no respectable showing in the agricultural reports of our state, while counties that are vastly inferior to ours in agricultural resources, have full and creditable reports concerning their crops, stock, etc. This is our own fault, sin and shame, and the citizens of Marshall county, alone, can right the wrong they are committing j^ear after year, against themselves and their best interests.

The Bremen Ag'n'eiil/ural Soeiefy. - The Bremen Agricultural society was organized June 28, 1S89, under the statutes of the state, approved March 6, 1SS9. Its objects are the promotion of the agricultural and mechanical interests of Bremen and German townships. The first officers elected were as follows: Morgan D. Fink, president; John Huff, vice president; H. H. Miller, secretary; John R. Dietrich, treasurer. Directors: Jacob Carbiner, Jacob VoUmer, Jacob C. Kauffmann, E. J. Thompson, P. E. Dietrich, A. H. Fries, and Samuel Leeper.

Under the above management a fair was held during the fall of 1 889, which was an entire success, the receipts, entries and attendance being much greater than was anticipated by the most sanguine members and friends of the organization. The society owns real estate valued at $2,500, and the improvements on the grounds are estimated at fully $1,500. The future prospects of the society are very flattering and the intention of its founders is to make it one of the permanent institutions of the county. Its financial condition is sound, being entirely out of debt at the close of the society's first exhibition.

The officers and directors elected for the second or present year are very nearlv the same as those who so successfully and satisfactorily managed the business of the society for the first year, being as follows: John Huff, president; John L. Wesler, vice president; H. H. Miller, secretary; John R. Dietrich, treasurer. Directors: Jacob Carbiner, Jacob Vollmer, Jacob C. Kauffmann, E. J. Thompson, P. E. Dietrich, E. H. Miller, James B. Synder.

Pioneer Fainners Chcb. - The Pioneer Farmers' club was organized in 1 87 1. The first officers were: W. H. Sparrow, president; Washington Iden, secretary; Aaron Armantrout, treasurer. It was organized on the basis of free exhibition of stock, machinery, agricultural products, etc. No money premiums were to be awarded, and no entrance or admission fees were to be charged. The first exhibition was considered a grand success - so much so that the association has continued to give exhibitions on the same general plan up to the present time. In 1873, the club unanimously passed the following resolution:

Rcso/vee/, That the members of the Pioneer club stand pledged not to support any candidates for office who are not pledged against all railroad monopolies.

The club has been holding annual fairs up to 1889, with but moderate success. The compiler of this chapter has been unable to get any reliable information from the parties concerned, as to what the financial condition of the club is.

Maxiukuckec Agricidtural Association. - The farmers of Union pnd adjoining townships have organized themselves into an association for the furtherance of the interests of agricultural and social intercourse. The society was first mutually formed in 1882, under the auspices of the grangers, and legally organized under the statutes of the state, in 1884. After organization the association leased four acres of ground from David R. Voreis for a term of six years. Their first exhibition was held in Mr. Voreis' barn, which was large enough to hold all their articles on exhibition, but the interest in the society has grown so that even the four acres was not large enough to accommodate the association and its patrons, and in the spring of the present year, 1890, the society re-leased the four acres and had added to it eight more acres, the lease to run six years more. This shows the growth of the association and the high esteem it is held in by the surrounding community.

The association has good buildings and improvements generally, all of which are paid for, the society being entirely out of debt. The first officers were - President, John Lowry; vice president, Barnet Adamson; secretary, James L. Mosher; treasurer, William Dinsmore. The present officers are - President, Martin Lowry; vice president, Eli Parker; secretary, Lewis C. Zechiel; treasurer, Jacob Zumbaugh. No games of any kind nor intoxicants are allowed on the grounds. The association has been agriculturally, socially and intellectually an entire success, so far.