Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1897 — Man With His Eyes Open [ARTICLE]

Man With His Eyes Open

Tells What He Saw In a Trip Up North. A trip through the northern part of the county forces some facts upon the mind of a close observer, a few of which are noted below. , It is very dry, dusty and disagreeable driving over the county now. Pastures are brown and bare. The frost, or rather freeze, of last Monday night killed all the com that had escaped the August frost. The are some fields of good corn scattered through different sections and a good many fields that are no good

Another matter is the scarcity of live stock. A few years ago northern Jasper was full of cattle; now they are very scarce, and the few that are left are in poor condition. But there is plenty of hay; scads of hay; hay everywhere; a person cannot form a correct idea of the vast amount of hay without driving through the country and seeing it with his own eyes. And the quality is excellent. The season was very favorable for both the growth and curiujr > J *hr hajr; the price is very low }-..«rvv«>r and the demand anything but brisk. Parties living near Wheatfield

are running a curling and crimping press by which they prepare the hay for bed matresses arid for packing glass-ware and other fine packing. This is a new thing and at present the demand for curled hay greatly exceeds the supply. The flourishing town of Kniman is situated in the center of a fine farming, grazing and hay country, but at present it is the driest town in Northern Indiana. No saloon, not a water-melon, musk-melon or lemon to be found in the town. Plenty of good well water though.

The Coal road is too slow and uncertain for the hustling people of Kniman, so they get their mail by Star ro’ute from Wheatfield. Things in and about the town of Wheatfield indicate that the boast and claim of her citizens, “that Wheatfield is the banner town of Northern Jasper” is well founded. All around are evidences of push, 1 enterprise and public spirit. That lovely grove just north of the railroad ought to be secured and converted into a public park at once. The weeds, oh the weeds! what an eye sore. What a tiresome sight, all along the roads and in many of the fields. Thistles, burrs and noxious weeds of all kinds have gone to seed; acres of them, millions upon millions of weed seeds; enough in Northern Jasper to seed the whole United States and part of Canada. Farmers, this is wrong. The law allows you pay for cutting the weeds along the roads, and a few hours work with your mowers at the right time would save you weeks of hard labor, fighting weeds in time to come. Saw many ditches that had been or were being cleaned out. Keep up the good work, push it hard now before the fall rains come. Saw quite a number of fires along the Coal road. The farmers along that line say that their old scrappile engines are sure to set a fire about every | mile. The Three I. road has been fortunate thus far. They are taking extra precautions: have double screens on their engines, and besides pay every man good wages for plowing around and protecting his own hay stacks. The people up there fully appreciate the difference between a live, liberal railroad and a one horse concern that is too slow to even carry the U. S. mails. 5 Ex-Farmer.