Grundy County, Missouri - Chapter 6: Resources, 1881

Chapter 6: Resources

Central Location - Surface - Coal - Building Stone - Timber and Prairie - Climate - Soil - Cereals - Tobacco - Average Crop - Fruits and Vegetables - Vintage - Grasses - Stock - Number of Head of Live Stock.

" The fatter earth by handling we may find, With ease dietingulBhed from the meager kind; Poor soil will crumble into dust; the rich Will to the fingers cleave like clammy pitch ."

Grundy county has a commanding and central location, in central north Missoui-i, and in the heart of tlie rich and prosperous valley of the Grand River. It is bounded on the north by Mercer county; on the east, by Sullivan and Linn ; south by Livingston, and on the west by Daviess and Harrison. Its northern border is about twenty-two miles south of the Iowa State line, on the fortieth parallel of latitude, and at an altitude of 900 feet above the water level.

In climate, soil, production and in the face of the country, it has no superior and few equals in the State of Missouri, and at this time presents to the eye a magnificent field of what can be accomplished by the earnest hearts and willing hands of an active, enterprising and educated people. The value of its location is further enhanced by the fact that the counties surrounding-^ are alike rich in the productiveness of their soil, the energy and culture of their people, and that this surrounding is tributary in a large degree to the prosperity of Grundy county and her chief city, Trenton.

The face of the country is gently undulating and is beautifully diversified by rolling prairie, timbered hills and valleys, with intervals of groves, giving the whole country the appearance of a grand park, especially adapted not only to the wants of man, but to his pleasures. Hills, and vales, and open prairies, here and there patches of woodland, running streams of pure water, springs bubbling up, cool and refreshing their liquid light, building sites with grand views, and mill sites with good water-power, all these tend not only to please the eye, but show ])lainly to the close observer, the fanner and the manufacturer, the fact that solid wealth, as well as pleasure, can be found within the borders of Grundy county. About two-thirds of the county is prairie, and the remainder woodland. Her prairies, as remarked before^ are high and rolling, while her timbered upland and the banks of her running streams are covered with groves of white, burr, red, spotted, pin, black and water oaks, hard and soft maple, white and black shell-bark hickory grey ash, walnut, elm, hackberry, sycamore, linden, mulberry and cotton- wood, and a largo variety of small orrowth. The Grand Kiver, the principal stream in the county, is formed by the junction of the Thompson River, coming in from the northwest section of the county until it meets the Weldon or east fork of the river which comes in from the north, about one and a half miles north of Trenton, the county seat, flowing southward, next westward, then curving and winding around the south of the city; thence southerly as far as Chillicothe. From that city it takes a southeasterly course through Livingston county, forming the dividing line between Carroll and Chariton counties, and empties into the waters of the Missouri near Brunswick. Among lesser streams are Big Muddy, Honey Creek and their numerous branches, No Creek and Medicine River, east of the Grand, with Gees, Hickory,Wolf, Coon, Sugar and Middle creeks,west, giving abundant water. This grand water supply is, and can be, supplemented by wells, where excellent water is reached at a depth of from fifteen to fifty feet. In Grand River and Thompson's Fork can be found an abundance of waterpower for milling purposes, and it is already utilized to a considerable extent by flouring and saw mills. Other streams have, also, power for milling purposes, and for the present and in the prospective wants of the future, the water-power of Grundy county is complete.'

Of other native resources of the county which are likely to have great bearing upon her future prosperity, and which will add largely to the wealth and population are the which cover a largo area, and are found in considerable quantities. Sandstone rock, a good building and macadamizing stone, is found in nearly every section of the county, and in quantity to meet all practical demands. Limestone is also found in large quantities; in fact Grundy county is underlaid with limestone, and the famous blue-grass, which has given Kentucky a world-wide fame, is indigenous to her soil, and has already given her the name of the blue-grass region of Missouri. She will, ere long, become the home of the race-horse and the blooded cattle of the State.

Coal underlies at least two-thirds of the county. Up to the present, little attention has been paid to coal mining. With the exception of the mines worked at the county seat this inexhaustible supply of wealth is yet to be developed.

We have thus placed on record that Grundy county is rich in timber, rich in her prairie lands, while the wealth of a State lies under her soil in limestone, in sandstone and her coal strata. Her water power can be utilized to add to this aggregate of productiveness, and yet not half has been told. We have spoken of her forests and streams, of the glorious beauty of her prairies and woodland, and the wealth of her mineral resources, but of her soil and its wonderful richness, of her health-giving climate, of her peo- pie, noted for their energy, enterprise and culture, we have yet to speak. There is beauty and life-giving health enough in her broad fields and boundless prairies to charm even the heart of an anchorite, and draw him from his life of solitude to the bright and charming light of a happier and more glorious day.

Mild And Healthful Climate

caused in a great measure by its splendid drainage system. You find no marshes or stagnant pools to breed malaria, but a climate that gives a spirit and a healthful tone to all forms of life, without- the bitter extremes of a northern temperature, and with that mildness wliich avoids the heat and humidity of the more southern latitudes. It has thus become well known that the valley of the Grand River has no superior in health-giving properties, and that nowhere in the Western States can be found a better or more salubrious climate.

The Soil

The soil of Grundy county can be divided into two parts. That is, the top soil and the subsoil. The quality ^of the soil, its depth; and the question of tillage are the primary questions which arise to those who make farming their profession. The soil of Grundy county is a rich, black loam, a vegetable mold, varying in depth from six to thirty-six inches on the upland prairies, and in the valleys of the rivers and creeks is an aggregation and deposit of earth, sand and other transported matter forming a rich alluvium, from three to five feet deep, and in its generating and life-giving properties, inexlmustible.

This soil, which has been chemically analyzed, is found to be composed of carbonate of lime, phosphate of lime, magnesia, and silicious matter, is easily worked, the plow and the harrow giving it the softness of an ash bed. This salubriousness of climate and richness of soil give a wide range of production, and all the cereals, vegetables and fruits of the temperate zone are easily and successfully raised. All seem to be indigenous to the soil. With care and cultivation ample crops are raised, and the husbandman finds no cause to complain. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, corn, hemp, tobacco, millet, sorghimi, broom-corn, etc., all of the vegetables, and grasses of which there are several hundred varieties, white and red top clover, all yield abundantly.

The principal crops grown in the county are wheat, corn, oats, rye and buckwheat, the latter but little sown, the crop of 18S0 being but 271 bushels. Corn, from the large quantity raised, is the leading crop, wheat in value comes next, yet oats exceed wheat in bushels by at least one hundred per cent. Tobacco is grown to the extent of from ten to twelve thousand pounds, the bottom and the uplands producing a good grade.

Corn

Corn may be considered the leading crop, both in value as well as production. The crop is enormous and taking the size of Grundy it leads in that staple over surrounding counti(?S, excepting Harrison. The crop of Indian corn for 1880 amounted to 1,963,523 bushels. The crop will be increased from year to year as the county becomes more thickly settled, as it is sure and always brings a fair price. Stock raising demands it, cheap corn makes stock raising profitable. There were 53,677 acres of corn planted yielding the above crop.

Wheat

Wheat follows corn as a valuable and important crop. The yield in 1880 was 138,440 bushels, and the number of acres sown, 10,329. It is not likely that the area devote'd to wheat will be very rapidly increased in this county. Stock raising, grass growing, and pasture and hay lands, will probably prevent any more than the natural increase which would be seeded for the usuals urplus over the home supply. The wheat crop is generally a pretty sure one, and the result is a steady showing from year to year, but not an increase that would prove it to have any particular run over other crops. It will always lead, next to corn, as a grain raising crop.

Oats are a staple crop and they return a handsome yield of from twentyfive to thirty bushels per acre. The crop of 1880 amounted to 302,806 bushels, an average, that year, of about twenty-nine bushels per acre. There were sown, for the year, 10,375 acres.

Rye And Buckwheat

There is not much attention paid to these crops. There seems to be but little demand for them. There is no question but what the people could do as well by raising a small patch of buckwheat as to buy it. The number of bushels raised in the county last year was only 271, and undoubtedly ten times that amount was used. It yields prolifically and one acre of buckwheat would supply a family, and, perhaps, as far as it goes it is the equal in value of any other cereal. Rye is also lightly invested in. It is not much used for bread, and the demand has therefore been light. The manufacturer of whisky is not making a very great demand for it in these parts. The crop of 1880 amounted to 11,434 bushels.

Tobacco

This is also a light crop in this county. Livingston, the count}' south, raised a crop last year of 305,073 pounds, while the yield of Grundy county was only 11,755 pounds. There is no question but what tobacco is easy of production, a most profitable plant, and why it should be a leading crop in Livingston and adjoining counties, and so little raised in Grundy, the writer has failed to learn. The crop of 1860 averaged 481-^ pounds of tobacco to the acre, which being a light yield may be the cause of so little being planted. It was also but a little over half the yield per acre of the crop in Livingston for the same year.

Average Crop

The average crop of the several products grown in Grundy county is a good and just criterion of her value as an agricultural county. There is no evidence that the average production of this county has fallen below the average crop of the State, since the report here printed, but enough is known to assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that the great average over that of the State, as published in the agricultural report of 1871, is still held by this county. The average of the four leading products in the State of Missouri for the year 1871 was: wheat, 13 4-100 b\ishels; rye, 17 1-100 bushels; oats, 26 17-100 bushels, and corn, 38 bushels per acre. Grundy county's average for the same year, taken from the same report, gave wheat at twenty bushels; rye, twenty-five; oats, twenty-nine, and corn, forty-five bushels, per acre. This gives wheat and rye an average over that of the State of nearly fifty per cent, while oats and corn were about twenty per cent better. This is sufficient evidence of the good quality and strength of the soil, and places Grundy in the front rank of agricultural counties in the State. In fact, the great excess over the average here shown was not excelled by a half dozen counties in the State. Agriculturally speaking, Grundy county ranks A 1, and this fact should be remembered.

Fruits And Vegetables

Of course it is to be supposed that a county so rich in soil, with a climate unsurpassed and producing such bountiful crops, would be equally fruitful in the yield of the numerous roots which compose the vegetable kingdom, and the supposition is correct. They are, one and all, you might say, natives of the soil, and their growth as prolific as desired. The mellowness of the ground makes cultivation easy, and while the farmer raises large crops of cereals the garden is not neglected. Still the crops of potatoes, turnips, beets, etc., are not confined to the garden, but are largely grown for use and profit, by sale. These all do well, give immense yields, and prove to be a first-class auxiliary for stock food. Peas, l)eans, carrots, parsnips, all find a natural home in the soil of this county. IIo])S do well, but the demand being light are not much planted. It is thus shown that there is nothing in the vegetable line but what, if planted, will yield an abundant return.

Fruits are -- natives and to the manor born"; the correct quotation should be "to the manner born," but it does not suit the writer, and it expresses what is meant as first written. The orchard product of Grundy county forms no mean part of her wealth. Nearly, or quite, every farmer has his orchard, and, besides being a paying investment it gives a great deal of pleasure and is very conducive to health. The hot summer season is gone through with a far greater degree of health by the use of fruits in season, and discarding meats, than if not used. The apple, in the State of Missouri, is the king of fruit, and it can be grown in no greater perfection than within the borders of this county. The varieties are numerous. There is the summer apple, the fall apple and the winter apple, and of each, especially the two last, there are a wonderful number of diflferent kinds, all having some special claim to the attention of the farmer. As a result of the examination into the merits of north central Missouri as a fruit-growing country, the remarks of a distinguished pomologist, in regard to the apple, are given. He said: "Tiie counties of north central Missouri, and in the valley of the Grand River, can show apples in as great a variety and excellence as any ten States outside of Missouri." This, coming from one who had made fruit-culture a study, is sufficient evidence of the value of this section in that line.

The orchard product is not confined, by any means, to the apple. Peaches, pears, plums, apricots, quinces, nectarines, etc., all grow well, and are equally at home with the apple in this soil and climate. Both peaches and pears have their seasons of failure, but there are always enough for home consumption, except in unprecedented bad years. A very fine peach is grown, and there are several kinds which are very palatable, being of a most delicious flavor. The pear grows io a large size, is very rich and luscious, and resembles the California pear in size and appearance. Neither the peach nor pear crop is as certain as the apple, still the peach is largely grown throughout the county. A good year for peaches is a good year for the farmer who has them for sale. Very few plums are raised, and why is an enigma. Wild plums, about the size of the common blue plum, grow abundantly in the woods and are brought to town for sale, but no other. There are a few trees in towns, grown in gardens, which yield largely, but as yet, like the apricot, nectarine and quince, cannot be called a product of

Cherries are indigenous to the soil and climate, and grow spontaneously. The county, and the town of Trenton, are full of cherry trees, and in an abundant season they are an absolute drug in the market. As nearly everybody raises them the demand is limited. They are " put up " by the housewife in quantities, and cherry wine might be made so as to fill an aching void in the list of temperance drinks.

Like chen-ies, are as plentiful as flies in summer. They can all be found in this section. Blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, currants, etc., etc., are to be found in all the gardens, and, with the exception of the currant, in the woods and the corners of the fences. While the market supply, in some years, exceeds the demand, there is no question but what the Grundy county people are a berry-loving and a berry-eating people. Farmers have been seen on the streets of Trenton eating- cherries which they had purchased, because they couldn't wait until they returned home, where they had plenty. They were simply hungry, and as every store in town held a supply they didn't propose to starve. They eat all kinds of fruit in season, morning, noon and night, before breakfast, after supper and between meals, and carry more sound health about with them, from one year's end to another, than any other people of any other State can boast. They live way up into the eighties and nineties, and many to a hundred years of age, and if they lived five centuries the people of Grundy would eat fruit and berries to their dying day.

Grape culture is in its infancy in the State of Missouri ; it is in still greater infancy in northern Missouri and in Grundy county. Yet the State is noted for its climate, soil and production as a grape growing State. When its vast resources in the growing of vineyards and in the making of wine shall become fully developed, Missouri, will become no more noted in any other branch of industry, nor receive a greater reward or profit from the investment, than in lier graperies.. The grape flourishes in this county, and a large number of farmers are giving attention to its culture. Both in town and country grape arbors are common, and very many raise enough for home use. The grape has proven so prolific in this county that there are few if any counties in the State that can be found its superior. The leading grape grown is the Concord variety, but the Elvira, Martha, Norton's Virginia Seedling, Cynthiana, Isabella, Clinton, etc., are all grown, and it is believed that tlie time cannot be far distant wlien the vineyards and the production of wine will become an important element in the productive wealth of the county. There are at present but few vinevards of a size that warrant the manufacture of wine, yet it is as evident to all observers as it is well known to all farmers, that grapes will fiourish here, and that there are few crops raised on any land planted which will show a better net yield to the acre than that set out in a vineyard, and it has astonished the writer somewhat to find a crop so certain, so prolific in its yield and so sure of remuneration, that has been so little cultivated for wine making and exportation. Take the Concord variety; the farmers of Grundy county have given it a preference because of its hardy nature, its great yield and the quality of the wine and quantity produced, yet there are other varieties which are as hardy and equal to the Concord in their rapid growth and which will yield more pounds of grapes to the acre and make a far superior wine. These are the Elvira, Martha, and Norton's Virginia Seedling. The largest vineyard in the county is that of Judge Valentine Breigel, of Lincoln townsiiip, to whom the writer is under obligations for much valuable information in regard to the grape crop, and which will be of great value to all those who propose making grape culture a part of their agricultural work. Judge Breigle has a vineyard of three acres in Concord, and one of two and a half acres in Elvira and Martha, about equally divided.

As it is the intention to make this work not only a history of Grundy county to date, but a valuable book of information and reference, the writer will give a short history of the grape, from the source spoken of above.

Judge Breigel has given several years of his time and a large amount of money in experimenting with no less than twenty-five different varieties of grapes. He has tested them by the light of experience, in regard to soil, climate, quality of grape, quality and quantity of wine, and the hardy nature of those kinds best adapted to the soil of Grundy county. His first choice for fine wines is the Elvira, next the Martha, then the Virginia Seedling and the Concord. Out of the twenty-five varieties, only five proved of value on the soil of this county. These five varieties the judge grows and has discarded all others. For common table wine the Concord leads, and yields on an average 7,500 pounds of grapes to the acre. The Elvira is his favorite, with the Martha a very close second, then comes the Seedling. The Elvira and Martha are the hardiest and the most prolific. They are planted in rows eight feet apart with a space of six feet separating the vines, but it has been found that equal intervals is preferable between rows and vines, and that eight feet is the proper distance, as it gives the vines more room and a freer circulation of air through them. This is what prevents mold or rot. Nine thousand pounds of this grape can be grown to the acre, and they make the best white wine of good body and splendid flavor. A trial of eiirlit years with tlie Clinton v^ariet}-- proved them a failure. Twelve to Hfteen pounds of these grapes will make a gallon of wine, Norton's Virginia Seedling, while making a rich wine, is not so profitable. It takes fifteen pounds or more to the gallon and requires more care. The Cynthiana will take the place of the Seedling, being both more hardy and prolific, and making a wine fully as marketable as the other.

The vineyard of Judge Breigel has a capacity of 5,000 gallons, and 2,000 gallons were manufactured last year. Miller Lewis, Jacob Mullen, Otto Gehlback and Jacob Breigel all make some wine, but not in large quantities.

We then have the Concord for a good common wine and a hardy grape, and the Elvira, Martha, Cynthiana and Norton's Virginia Seedling for a finer wine. The second and third varieties named are the best, being as hardy and more prolific than the Concord, and produce much richer wine than the two last. There is no trouble to raise these varieties and the profit of wine culture is enormous. Grundy county farmers have had the experiment tried and they now know the kinds best adapted to this climate. The United States is yet to furnish the wines for the world.

The meadow-lands of Grundy county are found wherever the bottomlands are, and the rest of the county will grow red and white top clover to perfection. Blue-grass, timothy, alfalfa, or orchard grass are all indigenous to the State and the lands of the county. Quite a large number of farmers have splendid pastures of blue-grass, and orchard, both the most nourishing grasses grown. Cattle not only improve but grow fat on it, and require little more grain than enough to harden the flesh to give it solidity, and make them fit for the market.

The hay crop of Grundy, county is a valuable one. Good meadow land will give from one and a half to three tons of hay per acre, and it brings good prices. Of course a country so rich in grasses is the one for stock, and that is why this county has already become noted as a splendid one for stockraisers. It has no superior in the State.

As we have just said, this county is already noted for its tine stock. Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and mules are not only numerous already, but are rapidly increasing. The stock men are taking especial pains to secure the best breeds to be found, and where purchased to give them every care and attention. The farmers have ffiven greater attention to draught horses and roadsters than to racing and trotting stock, but the latter is now being sought after, and it will not be long before the native blooded stock will be added to the record of fine horses. The high prices which good trotters always command in the market, should be an incentive to the farmers to look well afier their breed of horses, as well as of cattle, sheep and hogs. Of late the success upon the grounds of the agricultural and mechanical expositions, have brought more prominently before the farmers the value of blooded horses, and if tliey are wise they will give close attention to this branch of the farm business. It is as easy to raise a thorough-bred colt as a scrub, and when grown it is worth half a dozen of them.

The same grasses grow here and are as nourishing as the famed binegrass region of Kentucky, and it only requires some of the skill, judgment and care here to compete with that celebrated land of noble women, brave men and splended blooded stock. However, it will not be long before breeders of fine horses in this county will try the mettle of the racers and trotters of other States with the native trotters and racers, products of their own raising.

Cattle

Cattle raising has been the pride of the farmers of Grundy county, and they have given a good deal of care and spent considerable money to secure the best stock. It has paid them well, and even at this day they are embarking in it largely. The Short-Horn leads up to date; they have proven very profitable so that other breeds have found but little favor. The great superiority of the Short-Horn over the native strains, and the very excellent results in crossing shown, by the decided improvement exhibited in the latter, had satisfied the farmer that the heights of excellence had been obtained in securing the possession of the Short-Horn. This has caused very little desire to examine into the merits of other breeds which are now coming forward, such as the Hereford and the Jerseys.

These latter are quietly and gradually gaining a foothold. Whether the former of the two last mentioned will outstrip the Short-Horn is doubtful, but there is little question but that they will gain, and gain rapidly in the favor and good graces of the stock-raisers of Grundy. It is well known that at not a few of the best fairs and stock sales ever held in this country, the Short-Horn and the Hereford stand side by side competing, and none, possibly excepting the connoisseur of fine stock, could tell which possessed the is what is astonishing the natives, and what she is capable of doing on the soil of Grundy, this extract from, and comment of, the Trenton Repiihlicany fitting!}' decribes:

"Mr. P. H. Yakey informs us that his Jersey cattle, mention of which was made in these columns some time ago, are coming fully up to his expectations. In fact, he is more than pleased with his investment. He has furnished ns the following facts concerning his Jersey heifer, Amy Langdon, H. R., No. 10,656: She dropped calf May 23d, was 21 months and 3 days old. Milk weighed, first day it was saved, 27^ pounds. Again the 7th day it weighed 28 pounds, 5 ounces. She ran on pretty good pasture and was fed three quarts of ground feed night and morning, and was kept in the barn lot during the night. She made, during the seven days her milk was kept and churned by itself, 9 pounds and one ounce of butter. She will be two years old on the 20th of August next, having been dropped August 20th, 1879.

'-If she does that well before she is two years old, what will she do when she is five? Very few, if any cows of any other stock, when at their prime, can be found to do as well as she does now, and it is reasonable that she will double that amount before three years. There is no question but that the Jersey is the best stock for butter, and there is big money in butter-making. Why sliould not others imitate his example?"

The introduction of this strain of cattle will undoubtedly do much to turn the attention of the farmers to the dairy business, which can be made as profitable as any other business connected with the farm.

In this connection, it may be stated that a lot of fat cattle, purchased in Grundy county, for the Chicago market, by one of the local dealers, Oapt. H. F, Peery, were shipped to Chicago the last week in January, 1877, and numbered 110 head, and the entire lot averaged 2,000 pounds each. One car-load of the above averaged a little over 2,400 pounds each, one weighing 2,500 pounds and another 2,600. The question was very naturally asked, "who could beat it?" The response, if any, was not audible to the farmers of Grundy or the cattle-buyers. This item is sufiicient to convince the most skeptical that as a stock raising county Grundy has no superior and but few equals.

Sheep

Grundy county is preeminently a sheep county. "Water, grasses and corn are abundant, and farmers are paying a good deal of attention to sheep raising. In the last ten years sheep have wonderfully increased, both as regards number and quality. The Merino takes the lead, but the South- Downs and Cotswold are increasing in number. Grundy county is ahead of many counties in the State in regard to her sheep and wool production, and this branch of farming industry is likely to increase. One of her greatest resources in the future will prove to be sheep raising, and its productiveness will be found the equal of any of her many wondei-ful agricultural resources. The Merinos so far have proved profitable both for wool and mutton, but there is a belief that the South-Down and Cotswold are both hardier breeds. The Merinos need shelter and protection in winter, in fact so do all, but the Merinos, if too much exposed, are more apt to lose their lambs than the other breeds mentioned. In the early raising of sheep it was supposed they could take care of themselves, and little attention was paid them, but like all other domestic animals the sheep well repays good care, while a want of it is likely to be as costly to the farmer as any other stock. The South-Downs are a good mutton sheep, so, also, are the Cotswold, and their hardier nature will be likely to greatly increase their number in the near future. The Merino's wool is short and holds more dirt than the others; in fact, it makes the fleece quite heavy and the clipping is very often sold for less by the pound than the Cotswold or South-Down. The Cotswold, from what can be gathered from the farmer, is likely to become a prime favorite. The wool is long, of fine thread, and in size larger. They are, therefore, for mutton, superior to the Merino. Their clip will average from ten to ten and a half pounds. Some of this breed, oh account of size, have sold as high as eight dollars and the pelt was reserved, this too, at eiohteen months old. This gives the judgment of the farmer at this day as preferring the Cotswold and Merinos, and next to these the South-Down. As this judgment is founded upon actual tests of their value, the new settler in this county need try no experiments.

are a staple product, both for home consumption and for foreign export, and they form no inconsiderable revenue to the Rock Island Railroad in their transportation. The hog crop ranks among the best in the county, and its productiveness is sure and its profits for the last few years have been fair. There is nothing to prevent this stock from advancing rapidly, for the climate, soil and products are peculiarly fitted to make it a splendid and remunerating success. The manner in which the people have taken advantage of the rich and peculiar resources of the county has shown not only their hard practical sense and education, but that they, seeing the course which would lead to its greatest production, promptly and successfully adapted themselves to the work in hand. Swine breeding forms an interesting chapter in the farming interest of Grundy county. The common hog of the early day was known or called the '" Hazel Splitter." He was a long, lank animal, long in the legs as well as in body, and in early spring when the mast in the woods had become scarce he well represented his name. Putting up and feeding was not the fortune of the hog of the early settlers. A good year for mast was the hog's glory and he got fat, and man profited by killing him, but a failure of this wild crop of swine food changed all this, and man and hog both suffered in those early days accordingly. The race-horse style of hog, and they were almost as fleet, of the "Hazel Splitter," gave way at last to the breed known as the "Irish Granger," a hog imported from Illinois. This improved the original strain, giving more body, but not decreasing the legs or running gear much. The Grass breed or Suffolk, came next, a short stubby animal of early maturity, and nearly all fat. They failed to meet expectation, and so the "Chester White" was tried by a few, then came the Berkshire. These latter have proven good, but in the early days when allowed to roam in the woods in droves, got a little too wild; outside of this the farmers took to the Berkshire. The Poland-China came last, and of all the breeds introduced into Grundy county it probably stands the highest. It is a domestic animal and failed to catch any of the wild notions of the favorite Berkshire. It grows rapidly, gains flesh easily, and, in fact, is a hog all over. For the past few years the Poland and Berkshire have become the favorite and the standard breeds.

It has been only a few years back since attention has been given to raising mules for a market. Some very fine animals have been raised in this county, and the trafiic in these useful animals has largely increased the past few years. Why it has ,not been of large growth is hard to tell. Mule raising can be successfully prosecuted in Grundy county, and the only reason it has not been is probably' owing to the fact that there is nothing, in the agricultural or stock raising line that cannot be successfully carried on, and the farmer has not reached the mule department.

Miscellaneous

Not only is Grundy county well supplied with coal, and has fine quarries of building stone, and a plentiful supply of timber, but it has, also, potter's clay of a good quality, and probably it is known to but few that a pottery was in actual operation in this county in 1858, 1859 and 1860. The pottery was on Beckner's Creek in Marion township. The clay near the works on the creek was good and more was found on the farm of John Strickers, in Wilson township. This pottery was conducted by Mr. Couch, father of Fininan C. Couch, now of Deadwood, Dakota. There is considerable of this ware now in use in Grundy and adjoining counties. Whether a silver mine is one of the resources of Grundy county is yet to be solved, but in the settlement of Taylor township a furnace was found where mineral had been smelted, and from which Furnace Creek takes it name. Small particles of silver were found, but no further development has taken place.

In closing the chapter on Grundy county and its resources, and having given its crops of cereals, the number of its live stock is here added. This number is for the year 1880, "or ending April 1, 1881, having been taken in the spring assessment of the latter year. There were: hogs in Grundy count}', 24,761; sheep, 19,948; cattle, 16,874; horses, 5,716; mules, 746; asses and jennets, 29.