Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 74, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1915 — A GOOD CROWD AT NEWLAND SATURDAY [ARTICLE]

A GOOD CROWD AT NEWLAND SATURDAY

Jasper County’s Onion Village Visited By Prof. Henry G. Bell— Planting Starts. Although only a few went from Rensselaer to Newland Saturday the town was the scene of considerable activity and good sized crowds heard two addresses at the school house by Prof. Henry G. Bell, agronomist and a lecturer for the Middle West Soil Improvement Committee of the National Fertilizer Asosciation. All the talks were interesting and large crowds gave Mr. Bell the closest attention mid after the second lecftire was finished went to the second floor of the big onion storage plant and witnessed a display of stereopticon pictures treating of fertilization. Prof. Bell answered many questions relating to the growing of crops on the soil at Newland and showed a wide range of knowledge in the growing, harvesting and marketing of crops. He expressed himself as confident that celery could be raised with great success in the muck soil, also that onions, potatoes, cabbage, asparagus and sweetcom would grow profitably there and that pickles can be grown on much of the sandy soil and sugar beets on the black and clay loam. Prof. Bell believes that with the proper railroad facilities Newland can be made an important center for canning factories, pickle vats and sauerkraut packing. The editor of The Republican attended the afternoon meetings, getting to Newland in time to eat with the Union Ladies’ Aid Society. They served a chicken dinner with all the good things that go in a land of plenty and about all the man whio gathered at Newland ate dinner with the ladies. The dinner was served at the home of Arthur Campbell. A bazaar of fancy work was held at the same time and many of the articles were sold. The ladies hope to erect a union church in Newland and expect to engage in a number of money making enterprises. The schoolhouse was far too small for the number who wished to hear Prof. Bell, in fact, only a small number could crowd into it. There will be fully as extensive onion cultivation at Newland this year as last and Ed Oliver, the man who put the “New” in Newland, says there will be 2,000 acres of onions planted there if the weather ip suitable. Already many are putting the lanft in condition and the two big oil pull tractors were drawing four-gang plows, while a number of others were plowing with teams. Frank H. Henley and James Mullady are the only ones who have planted so far. Mr. Henley put out an acre and a half and Mr. Mullady one acre. The earlier the better, providing weather conditions are right, according to some excellent authorities, i Louis Eisner, formerly a Gary policeman, raised some 2,000 bushels last year and is right back on the job. He says that growing onions suits him better than running in drunks and he believes that all that is necessary in the onion business is to stick with it. ,

Among the newcomers is J. W. Garao, who for twenty-five years had been a salemanager for the Bell Telephone Co. He came from Nova Scotia and purchased 123 acres. He will put out 35 acres of sugar beets and raise other crops but will not grow any onions this year. Two new families arrived Saturday, the Ihne and Hunter families from Oklahoma, they having purchased the Markus land. Many potatoes grown last year are still buried. They are selling at Newland for 30 cents a bushel, but some are expecting the price to raise. .They are just as good potatoes as the Michigan sand grown potatoes and are as clear and solid as any grown any place. The biggest boom for Newland this year will be the erection by Mr. Oliver of three big new storage plants, the same size as the one destroyed by fire recently. In it were 30,000 bushels of onions and they are still smouldering. The foundation of that building is apparently uninjured. Mr. Oliver expects a great <jrop this year and will be prepared to handle it in the way of storage. He will also build a storage house at the Springer ranch, some 5 miles north. There will not be much house building this spring at Newland, although there* will be same small shack-like habitats. All of the houses built last year will be occupied. Frank E. Lewis, of the , Gifford branch of the Monon, accompanied by his office man and Conductor Stephenson, of the branch, ate dinner with the ladies and Mr. Stephenson accused the clerk of eating eight pieces of pie. Mr. Lewis is greatly pleased with the progress the road is making under the ownership Of the Monon. Last year 14 miles of new 75-pound rails were laid north from McCoysburg to Laura and the roadbed? ini raised about three feet The bed wifi need' some leveling this spring

and the work of equipping it with steel rails on to Kersey and the north will continue. Mr. Lewis expects to go to Chicago this week to confer with the officials of the Monon about better train service. Mr. Oliver's beautiful new home and the bams and other buildings, a mile west of Newland, are probably the finest buildings on any farm in the county, and this year Mr. Oliver expects to equip the house and bams with electric lights. Probably twenty fertilizer men were at Newland to attend the meeting and were busy taking orders. They also wanted to get all the point*ers they could from Prof. Bell, whose knowledge of soil and his method of imparting it to others is extraordinaryy. Taken all in all the day was very much enjoyed and should prove quite profitable to the farmers in that locality, who must work together along the most modern lines if they wish to develop that country up to the possibilities. Railroad facilities, more diversified tracking, pickel vats, kraut factory, canning factory, and a big pull together movement should make Newland a mighty good town within a few years. The people there seem to be of the right kind and we expect to witness greater development this year than last.