Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 230, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1915 — Says Jasper County Can Equal Any State in Wheat. [ARTICLE]

Says Jasper County Can Equal Any State in Wheat.

Editor Republican: Being engaged in the milling business in Jasper county, I am very much interested in Jasper county wheat, as I depend upon the local farms for my supply of wheat to manufacture into flour. I see by your paper where some of the farmers are getting yields as high as 51% bushels per acre. I don’t believe there is a state in the union that can beat that for a yield of winter wheat, 1915 crop. I have milled Turkey Red wheat grown in the western states for a number of years and I will say that if the Jasper county farmers will sow the Turkey Red wheat and renew his seed every three or four years, he can raise just as good wheat both in yield and quality, as can be raised in Kansas, Oklahoma or Nebraska. Just recently a Mr. Harry Sell, a farmer living near Brook, I think, delivered to the mill some wheat of the Turkey Red variety to exchange for flour. It was excellent and while Mr. Sell Is a stranger to me, I will venture to say that he is an up-to-date farmer and a good judge of wheat. As I become more acquainted with the farmers in Jasper county I find that about fifty per cent of them don’t know there is a soft and a hard winter wheat. For an example, last fall a farmer drove up to the mill with a load of wheat, 1914 crop. I looked at it and he began to apologize for the small berry and remarked • that he was going to change his seed and not sow any more of that kind. His wheat was the Turnkey Red and tested 62 pounds out of "the wagon, nice, plump, dark amber colored berry, strong in gluten, excellent quality. He was raising the wheat but he didn’t know it. • The Indiana mills are coming to the front. There is more flour consumed in Indiana today made by Indiana mills from Indiana wheat than ever before. In the schools all over the state where they "teach domestic science they are using Indiana flour. They are teaching the Indiana girls to use the product of their father’s farm. Why? Because it increases the value of your farms. It saves the farmer from taking the lowest price fo* his wheat and buying it back at a premium after it has been milled into flour. ■ U--In another column of your paper you spoke of a baking contest and that Jasper county wheat flour be used. That is all right as far as it goes. Why not make it free for all and not bar any flour, That will make it more interesting. I believe tßbt we can show you a loaf of bread made from Jasper county wheat milled in Jasper county" that will find a. place near the top.

R. SPRAGUE.