Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1915 — BRIGHTEST FUTURE FOR JASPER COUNTY [ARTICLE]

BRIGHTEST FUTURE FOR JASPER COUNTY

J. H. Uphoff, of Illinois, Who Owns Farm in Milroy, Says We Need Paint and Drainage. « J. H. Uphoff, who some time ago secured the K&nne property west of town in a trade and later traded it to D. S. Makeever and Edd J. Randle for a farm in Milroy township, is enthusiastic about the future of Jasper county. He is doing a lot of drainage on his farm. The Howe ditch furnishes a fine outlet and he says that the section of the country where his farm is can be advanced in value remarkably by drainage. He has 240 acres in section 13 and intends to improve it not only by drainage but by a liberal use of paint on the house and barn and other outbuildings. Mr.' Uphoff says he can not see why farmers on the high-priced Illinois land do not sell it and come to Jasper county, where land practically as good can be purchased at prices ranging from $75 to S2OO, the latter representing land in this county that is equal to the best land in Illinois, while the location is near some good town and the improved roads offer an advantage that they do not have in Illinois. Mr. Uphoff made one criticism that we are afraid is all too true. He stated that our farmers are mighty careless or mighty indifferent about the appearance of the home surroundings, that they permit the houses and barns to go unpainted, the fences to run down, the grass to grow tall and the gates to sag. Mr. Uphoff does not want to offend any of the good people of Jasper county but he does feel that if there was more pride in this direction there would be better prices and that better tenants or more progressive farm owners*would come here. He said that he saw more lopsided gates than he had seen for a long time and that some of them looked as though they had been doing service since Cain killed Abel. He truthfully said that the whole country suffers because a few farmers let their premises run into decay. He complimented the city of Rensselaer because of its fine appearance and said he could not understand why the desire for tidy surroundings was not felt in the country just the same as it is in town. He is a farmer himself and talked with considerable freedom. He said that there was no reason why the home surroundings in the country should not be just as inviting and just as tidy as they are in town. He said that he knows well enough that many farmers plead that they do not have time enough to keep their lawns mowed, but he says that excuse won’t do because businessmen could offer it just as well as farmers. He said that painted buildings and good fences and gates and a clean barnlot and a mowed lawn added many more dollars to the value of a farm than they cost in money and effort and that the satisfaction felt is worth the cost over and over. If persons who are in the habit of permitting their properties to become unkempt could realize the error there would be a determined effort to bring the country homes up to the standard of the city homes. We are glad Mr. Uphoff called at The Republican office and expressed himself -this way. If it has the effect of helping in this much needed reform it will be the result of adding thousands of dollars to the value of Jasper county real estate.