Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1911 — IOWA LETTER. [ARTICLE]

IOWA LETTER.

Allen Louks Writes of Crops and Conditions About Maxwell. Maxwell, la., Nov. 21. Mr. Editor —I will write you how lowa is at the present. It has been upside down for a few days and the other morning I heard over the phone the themometer had ktruck just below the belt. But I read in your paper a few days ago of the damage did in Indiana and Barkley tp., and other places. * It has been pretty wet here this fall, too wet to go in the fields to gather corn for a short time. Corn is better than expected. Everybody was scared, but seed time and harvest came and pretty good corn, making from 35 to ,78 bushels per acre. Oats were very light. In places wheat was a good yield, from 27 to 42 bushels. I will send you a sample of my spring wheat to show the Hoosiers. I don’t think it can be beat. If any Hoosier says he has as good or better, tell him I want to know the color of his hair or for him to show up. I won’t say what it made per acre, but it is called good wheat. People in our neighborhood are most all done picking corn and now is the poultryman's time. We have two buyers in our town and it looks to me they handle more poultry than I ever saw handled in Indiana by any six poultrymen. Now I will speak of hogs; I see lots of fat hogs in lowa They are mostly the red hog, some Polands. They are all nearly ready for the market and a fair price. This evening I was offered $5.85 per hundred. Cattle are quite cheap and only butcher stuff that is a ready sale. It sells at 4 and 4 cents per pound. Horses are a drag unless fine roadsters or real heavy drafts. I attended one sale and saw two 7-year-old black mares sell at $290, two years ago I saw the same two sell at a sale for $475. I saw two yearling mare colts and I thought thwn pretty good chunks. They sold f<ny.s 10 4, the two. Good nfilkfcows sell at from SSO to $75. J Yes, 040 thing more that comes to my mind I would like to tell the Hoosiers, they have some few mulefoot hogs in lowa. One of my neighbors bought a pair and the neighbors roasted him over them so much because he had six work muiesf; that he sold tnem for $lO less than he gave. Well, in regard to the potato crop, the early ones , were very light, none to speak of, but the late potatoes are fine. Selling at 80 cents per bushel at present. than now they got as low as 60 cents and I bought 19 bushels at 75 cents. Speaking for myself, I am done picking corn. I had 3,612 bushels. New com is 53 cents. We are milking 5 cows, have a cream separator and are selling $3 and $4 worth of butter per week, so we are living pretty fine, and if any of the Hoosiers doubt my word in regard to what I say, let them come to lowa and put their feet under my table. We also have about three bushels of hickorynuts, a lot of butternuts, some walnuts and quite a few, apples, so if any of you come, we’ll have a cracking good time. When we get The Democrat it is a race to see who gets to read it first, for it is a welcome visitor in our home, just like getting a letter, only better, from home twice a week vi 1 ' Well, enough, I will close with best regards, ALLEN LOUKS