CHAPTER XIII CLARK COUNTY VITAL RURAL PROBLEMS One Clark County rural enthusiast said there is a progressive spirit among local agriculturists ; they are given to experiment, and apply the acid test to everything. Another declared they are conservative, and inclined to cling to time-tried methods of agriculture. Since livestock or animal husbandry go hand in hand with agriculture, some farm like the patriarchs, and the "cattle on a thousand hills" in this "neck o' the woods" belong to the hustling up-to-the-minute farmers ; they seek to maintain land fertility and the standard of productiveness, and the theory of crop rotation has been reduced to practice throughout Clark County. While Arbor day is observed there is also some inclination toward reforestation ; black locust and catalpa groves are not unusual, and living fence posts are seen here and there about the country. A staked-andridered fence is a rarity today, and where, or where, is the rail-splitter of yesterday ? While there are regulation fences in Clark County they are built of wire, and what does the youngster of today know about fence worms ? What does he know of the requisite skill in building a straight rail fence, the eye of the master-builder the only plumb bob or spirit level used in doing it? Who said anything about laying the fence worm in the light of the moon, or was it laid in the dark of the moon to keep the timber from sinking into the earth? The wire fence does not shelter the birds or the beasts in time of a storm, and lightning sometimes strikes them when they are near it ; the farmers of today would make slow progress with the implements of yesterday ; the reap hook, the scythe and b the cradle had their day in the harvest fields of Clark County as well as the rest of the world. The arm strong mower—Old Father Time—is always caricatured with the mowing scythe, but the Clark County farmer has all the advantages of labor-saving machinery; when in need, Springfield inventors and manufacturers take care of the situation for them. The modern hay loader—W. W. Hyslop using it first—combines so many of the old time operations that Maud Muller is dismissed from the meadow, although :   "Beneath her torn hat glowed the wealth, Of simple beauty and rustic health," which may still be acquired from raking hay. While "Early to bed and early to rise," takes care of the daylight saving question admirably, someone writes : "The murmuring grass and the waving trees— Their leafy harps sound unto the breeze— And water-tones and tinkle near, Blend their sweet music to my ear ; And by the changing shades alone, The passage of the hour is known," - 100 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 101 the most acceptable way of marking time in the world. The practical minded settler had a formula for a short winter—borrow money in the fall that comes due in the spring, in harmony with the Benjamin Franklin philosophy : "Whistle and hoe, sing as you go, Shorten your row by the songs you know," while many have adopted the Sunshine Philosophy of James Whitcomb Riley : "Whatever the weather may be, whatever the weather— It's the song ye sing and the smile ye wear, That's a makin' the sunshine everywhere." RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS The importance of agriculture in its relation to the problems of reconstruction, and as the principal foundation of real prosperity, is more fully recognized today by the nation as a whole, than since the middle of the last century. While the vanguards are crying: "Beware ! Watch your step," because every appliance is being utilized to supply the oil in toil, the country is far from making full use of machinery. While "Watch your step" may be timely admonition, the agricultural problem is deeper than is indicated by current discussions which treat it as an emergency ; when Secretary Wallace of the Department of Agriculture said that legislation in the interest of farmers is not class or group legislation, he was taking into consideration that agriculture is the industry that supports all other phases of development. Legislation in the interest of the farmer benefits the whole industrial group, and that describes the situation in Springfield most accurately, where the factories supply the needs of advanced agriculture. This understanding of legislative needs renders possible the solution of some of the farmers' problems, which hitherto have been understood only by those engaged in farming; the trouble is not with the argument, but with the application of it by politicians looking out for the farmer support. What the farmer needs is : adjusted freight rates, unrestricted markets, credits easily obtained and freedom to organize for marketing his products to the best advantage. While Secretary Wallace recognizes progress, he maintains that conditions are "out of balance," and recommends closer co-operation between individuals and groups in agriculture as well as in other industries. While there was rejoicing when the prices of farm products began to decline, the farmer continued paying the higher prices for his necessities, and thus the burden of reconstruction was shifted to agriculture. While the farmer had the alternative of buying less, when he withholds his patronage other lines of business and industry suffer from it. With the use of improved farming machinery, the acreage under cultivation steadily increased for many years, but with the decrease so noticeable under decline of prices, the question of food supply is being studied; there must be some method of providing a reserve of food- 102 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY stuffs, and under such system the farmer need not sell under the pressure of low prices ; there is need of a better system of marketing. In some of the older countries grain crops are not rushed to market, but are stacked or put under cover, and are threshed and marketed as there is • demand for them. THE ITEM OF TRANSPORTATION In 1921 farmers' purchases were below normal but prices are gradually coming to their standard except the rates of transportation ; this increased transportation cost decreases the price of what the farmer sells, as well as increasing the cost of what he must buy on the open market ; it catches him both ways, and while he has met the situation by buying less, he cannot escape the burden of fixed charges when he must realize on his own products. A dispatch from Columbus says : "A statewide agitation is being made by farmers to bring about freight rate reduction, and the movement has reached every county. One farmer sets forth his position and that of others who are dependent upon the soil by saying, 'It is difficult, under present conditions, to make the receipts from a farm meet the expenses ; with the prices that prevail for farm commodities, it is a matter requiring most careful financiering, and one of the agencies contributing to this condition is the excessive freight rates, affecting both the things we buy and the things we sell. It is the farmer who pays the freight, because with high rates he is obliged to accept lower prices in order to reach the consumer at all.' " President Homer L. Corry of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce had a request from the National Council Chamber of Commerce to send representatives to a conference held in Washington in February, 1922, and W. H. Stackhouse was asked to represent Clark County. There are two sides to the question, the railroads maintaining that they will be unable to continue the carrier business at a reduction of rates. Secretary Wallace cites world wide conditions as an inevitable result of the World war as at the bottom of the difficulty. He stresses the high freight rates, and the want of foreign markets, saying it would require some miraculous transformation for a period of adversity to be turned into an era of prosperity over night ; big crops produced at high cost, with unemployment in other industries which lessens the buying of foodstuffs, are the immediate causes for present conditions in the world of agriculture. It is an indictment of modern civilization when, with the unmarketed surplus in the United States because of prohibitive shipping rates, millions of people overseas are suffering for necessities, and others are starving. There is need of adjustment when the foodstuff production of 13,000,000 farmers is withheld because of transportation conditions, thus paralyzing conditions at home and abroad, and business men with leaders in agriculture are "putting their shoulders to the wheel to lift the farmer's wagon of state out of the economic mudhole," and thus restore rural prosperity. One economist said : "The plain facts are that the farmers in America are up against it. When they have asked for bread they have been given stones." There is a difference between promises and performances and the agencies that must work for the improving of conditions are those in the hands of the farmers themselves. In periods of depression they SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 103 have greater need of organization, and in the present hour of American agriculture's severest trial the farm organizations have an unlimited opportunity for service. The price the farmer receives for his commodities has little relation to that paid by the consumer, and more attention is being given to methods of distribution. When business manifests bad symptoms, the manager does not wait until it collapses to apply a remedy and students of the question recognize the need of the farmer for better organization for the purpose of marketing his product. He is too much at the beck and call of those who profit at his expense, and the chances of the middleman will be slim in future. THE FARMERS INSTITUTE A news item from Columbus reads : "Aiming toward a concentration of effort on the weak points of different communities, 352 farmers' institutes will be held throughout Ohio during the winter months, according to E. L. Allen, state leader of institutes." Farmers have shown greater interest, and perhaps because of adverse conditions confronting them. Applications were received by the department for 672 institutes, while only 352 were secured, although about 200 independent institutes were held, and Clark County had a number of institutes in different localities. The institute movement started in the '80s and this year (1922) Ohio has thirty-eight men and fifteen women going about as institute instructors. Ninety-one percent of these "preachers of scientific agriculture" are from farms and return to them when they finish the course as instructors. The attendance of Clark County farmers at the Farmers' Week meeting at Ohio State University indicates their interest, the enrollment from the entire state reaching more than 6,000 in the tenth annual session. In welcoming the visitors, President W. 0. Thompson of the university said : "The hope of today lies in the fact that the American farmer is more intelligent than ever before," and the fact develops that Ohio's rural population has made more progress with its problems of illiteracy in the last decade than have the cities and towns. Beside the program of lectures, visitors to the university saw exhibits of livestock, grain and other farm products, beside witnessing the demonstration of farm implements. While Ohio farmers are using more implements and machinery than they did ten years ago when the Farmer Week was instituted, the country is far from making full use of available machinery. The 1920 valuation of implements and machinery was $146,575,269, which was an advance of 186.2 per cent in ten years. In 1921, on the farms of the United States there were 134,169 trucks in use ; there were 246,139 tractors, and still there were 17,000,000 horses, showing that "horseless" does not yet describe the age. However, it is predicted that in time the horse will be as unusual in farming as the bow and arrow in hunting. When farmers realize the possibilities of machinery the horse will vanish from the fields. Why, at the Farmer Week a mechanical cow was shown eating silage from a bin, and giving milk in a continuous stream, and it attracted much attention. Mechanical mannikins proclaimed the food value of milk and in the future little will be required of the farmer himself only to foot the bills. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 105 COUNTRY LIFE COMMISSION It was President Theodore Roosevelt who established the Country Life Commission of which Secretary of Agriculture Wallace was named as a member, and its inquiries sent a wave of amusement broadcast, and the fourth annual conference of the American Country Life Association held in New Orleans in November took up similar questions. It discussed the age-old rivalry between town and country which has long ago been consigned to oblivion in Clark County. What town gent remarks about the country jake on the streets of Springfield, or what gutter-snipe offers to whip the boy from the farm who shows himself in town? Why are all the doctors located in towns? Do juvenile courts and other child welfare agencies handle country problems on a par with those in town? Such imaginary differences do not exist in Clark County. A student of the farm problem says: "Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that our agricultural problem will be solved if the farmer is restored to the relative position he occupied bef ore the war. The farmer cannot hope through future years to obtain in the enhanced value of farm lands the reward for his heavy toil," and the future control of the market seems to be the solution. It is reported that American farmers are leaving the United States for countries where land is cheaper,. just as there was a time when settlers were attracted to Mad River. The government land at pre-emption prices has all been taken up, and with the advantages known today few would want to overcome wilderness conditions in Clark County again. The stories of John Paul, David Lowry, Jonathan Donnel, Simon Kenton—why read fiction when such real life stories are a possibility? THE CHANGING WORLD While there used to be corn shocks standing in some of the fields until corn planting time again, where there are twin-cribs and silos that rule no longer holds in Clark County. In February, A. D. 1922, there were corn shocks but silos were minus, and it does seem like double trouble at planting time to have to remove the last crop from the field. A recent writer declares that the novelist is sure of the reader's tears when he describes the farm hand who pitches hay all day long under the hot sun, or the woman who is compelled to mend her children's clothes, wash the dishes and make the beds—nothing to do but work—but the fact remains that the happiest folk in the world are those who work, and the twentieth century gentry who breakfast in bed and work only when they feel like it, are designated by "trouble shooters" as the bane of society. The Clark County pioneers were busy folk—busy all day long—and while there may be advantages in poverty and deceitfulness in riches, most men and women of today make some effort to accumulate property, and it is said that whenever a man is born into the world there is a job awaiting him. The owner always has a job on the farm—is never out of employment, but with the decline in price of farm products the wages paid for farm labor declined with it. While there are apprentices in factories, the story of the "bound boy" belongs 106 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY to the past, and the man who receives $10 a month with "board and washing" and worked for his board in winter—what did become of him? When the United States went into the world war it seemed to mean ruin for the farms. The boys and girls rushed to the cities, attracted by the alluring wages, many of them commanding more than wages, designating it as salaries. They liked the city with its diversions and comradeships. They were lifted out of the atmosphere of the farm, the humdrum of milking cows, planting seeds and doing chores. The farm house was supplanted by the boarding house. But when the armistice ended the war and labor was not in demand, when jobs were at a premium, it changed the picture. When the swivel chair jobs vanished from the earth, the migration was toward the country again. CHAPTER XIV FORWARD MOVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE While the first man in the world was placed in a garden, there was no hoe awaiting him on the fence, and there is no account extant that he labored until after he had eaten an apple at the hand of the woman God had given to him. When knowledge between good and evil was thus imparted to them, Adam and Eve began hustling for their own livelihood, and it seems that they turned their attention to agriculture. From that time on until within the memory of men and women still living, there was little connected with agriculture beyond the mere humdrum existence. The log rollings and the raisings were all that brought people into social intercourse at all. While the premium list of the Clark County Fair of 1921 designates it as the sixty-ninth annual event, there is mention of a fair held in South Charleston in 1850, which seems to have been the first rural display in Clark County. At that time Jonathan Peirce specialized in raising mules and Shorthorn cattle, and he was the only exhibitor of thoroughbred livestock. The stalls for livestock were the fence corners, and that was two years before there was a fair in Springfield. Another account says that at the first fair held in South Charleston in 1852, Mr. Foos of Springfield exhibited trained hogs in a side show. The local fair secretary, Elmer Jones, has no record further than the annual catalogue, and if the fair began in 1852, and did not miss any years, 1921 would be its sixty-ninth annual session. When the first fair was held in Springfield, a platform was erected and prominent men entertained the visitors. At this meeting Judge Harrold advocated better farm improvements, better livestock, and: more grain, saying that Clark should be one of the greatest Ohio counties. Threescore and ten years later the same ideas are being promulgated before the farmers of Clark County. When the 1921 annual report was read it showed revenues amounting to $24,599.37 and passed the board with expenses aggregating $24,410.70, leaving a balance of $188.67, showing that, as president for the last four years, Wilbur J. Myers of Moorefield Township had kept the finances on the right side of the account—a surplus rather than a deficit. At the reorganization meeting W. W. Hyslop of German Township was elected president ; vice president, Van C. Tullis of Pleasant Township ; treasurer, J. R. Durst of Mad River Township, and secretary, Elmer Jones of Springfield Township. The reorganization meeting was held the last day of December. All departments of the fair were to be placed under the management of competent men at a later meeting. The Clark County Fair Association owns a forty-nine acre tract that blocks city residence improvements along Yellow Springs Street. It was acquired many years ago and has advanced in value. It is looked upon as an excellent building site, but while the association maintains the grounds in such excellent order it serves as a park for the residents of that community. There are good buildings, a good race track and a cinder path for use when racing stock must be kept off the speed track. There is enough shade, and there are shelter facilities so that many horses are - 107 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 109 wintered there. The stake events attract good horses. In 1921 there were six stake races and seven class events, but a reduction of speed events was under consideration by the new .board. The Clark County Fair rivals the Ohio State Fair in its stock exhibits and race events. In 1921 there were 105 exhibitors of Duroc Jersey hogs, and 122 exhibitors of Hampshire hogs, with other branches of livestock equally well represented. In seasonable years there are fine exhibits of fruits and grains and vegetables. Both agriculturists and horticulturists contribute to the display. The Farmers' Institute, the Grange, Farm Bureau and Horticultural Society all promote the success of the Clark County Fair. The livestock breeders' associations contribute,and again the fair contributes to them. There are feeders and breeders, and when one fair is over they begin planning for another. There are organizations among thoroughbred livestock men except Shorthorn cattle. Only a few Clark County men specialize with this beef cattle type, and W. W. Hyslop who introduced the use of ensilage as a feed for beef cattle, belongs to a Shorthorn association in Greene County. Clark County farmers have thoroughbred animals of the dairy type, and wherever there is a dairy there is a silo. While the hog raising industry seems to be overshadowed by the dairy interests in Clark County, local farmers sold 61,723 hogs through the Springfield Stock Yards in 1921, and that means more than $1,000,000 revenue from swine. A newspaper squib says : "The farmer needs more dollars for his hog, the consumer wants more hog for his dollar, and the real hog is the in-between —the middle-man." There is a story told that in the '40s—and that means early history—when Paist & Company packed pork at South Charleston, they only paid $2 to $2.50 a hundred for "hogs on foot." and John Hedrick who was inclined to speculation bought a quantity of packed pork, and "wagoned" to Columbus with it, losing money in the venture. His profit did not pay the expense of it. Another speculator of that period, Seth Smith, brought sixty head of cattle from Highland County to Greene Township, but he was unable to get more than $7 and $8 for good milch cows, and lost money. It has not been a losing venture at all, as Clark is rated as a foremost livestock county. A number of local farmers are studying the comparative economy in the different methods of feeding, and some are bringing feeders from the Chicago Stock Yards. Those cooperating through the extension service of Ohio State University in the study of feeds are : C. A. Steele, A. E. Wildman, M. J. Baird, Lewis McDorman, C. R. Crabill, John German, E. E. Clark & Comapny, and William Roberts. It is said that 120 Ohio farmers are feeding under Ohio State University supervision, and results will be reported from the experiment. CLARK COUNTY LIVESTOCK LEGISLATION It is of interest to know that in 1832, when James Foley of Moorefield Township represented Clark County in the Ohio Legislature, he introduced a measure to "prevent unsound cattle from running at large." Mr. Foley lived many years in Moorefield Township, and honor is due him because of his public spirit in protecting the owners of livestock ; that long ago cattle run in the woods outside, and cow bells were a necessity. A shortage in the number of young men enrolling as students in the veterinary colleges is reported, and an alarming shortage of veterinaries 110 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY is prophesied. A veterinary always does a good business in Springfield. There are about 10,000 veterinarians engaged in practice in the United States and Canada, and fewer students enroll than die of old age. It is said that when normal conditions prevail again, more young men will be attracted to the study of veterinary science. While motors and tractors are supplanting horses, livestock is not yet eliminated from Clark County. There are breeders of Percheron and Belgian horses, and all kinds of track horses are bred within Clark County. While track horses are seldom seen on the roads they are produced for the races, and now and then a carriage team is seen in Springfield. Pedestrians turn and look after a team of carriage horses now as they used to turn and look after automobiles. There are still a number of hitching posts in front of modern homes in Springfield. In 1921 W. L. Snyder sold a horse for $20,000 that was shipped to Italy. It was Mohawk, Jr., bred by James Clark of Moorefield Township, the farm known as Mohawk because of the sire that was kept there many years. Binland, with a trotting record of 2.38, was the fastest horse ever bred in Clark County. In 1918 he won the Transylvania classic at Lexington. He was once owned by Mr. Snyder, but bef ore the record was established. Mabrina Gift, owned by John Monohan, was the first stallion to trot a mile in 2.20, after being sold to Buffalo parties. There are horses in constant training at the local fair grounds, and horsemen are urging fair managers to offer better inducements for speed. STATE FAIR IN SPRINGFIELD Before the Ohio State Board of Agriculture had acquired a permanent fair grounds at Columbus, the state fair was held in different counties, always holding the second session in order to induce local boards to make necessary improvements, and in the '70s it was held in Springfield. While W. W. Hyslop said it was in 1869 the first session was held in Clark County, others say it was 1870, but the concensus of opinion favored 1871-2 as the years. Clark County had to provide additional ground to accommodate the fair, and after the two years in Springfield it was held in Dayton. By that time the permanent grounds were acquired in Columbus, and the state fair was no longer held in different counties. Clark is one of the exhibiting counties in the state fair at Columbus, and it is announced from the Department of Agriculture that it ranks ninth in the number and value of premiums won in 1921. While Ohio has eighty-eight counties, only seventy-five of them made any exhibit. There were sixteen exhibitors from Clark County, and they were awarded a total of $1,995.23 in premiums classed as follows : Sheep, $213 ; dairy, $73 ; poultry, $486.50 ; farm products, $591 ; horticulture, $25.50 ; women's work, $61; horses, $120 ; swine, $399, and cattle, $26.63, showing that all kinds of livestock were shown from Clark County. G. W. Wildman was the largest individual premium winner, and second place was taken by Wilson Brothers. Other Clark County winners at Columbus were: Howard Gerlaugh, Chandler Raup, Laura Larkin, Springfield Dairy Products Company, Forest M. Baker, Charles F. Hauck, William Fox, George Grube, Charles Mauneng, Mrs. R. C. Hensel, Howard Scarf, Mrs. A. A. Gray, M. E. Roberts, S. C. Bell, Chinchinna Stock Farm, Peter Knott and W. W. Hyslop. It is estimated that approximately 3,000,000 people attended the different fairs in Ohio in 1921, and since the fair is primarily an educational SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 111 institution, it is deemed advisable to eliminate some of the questionable concessions. It is said that the judging teams sent out from Ohio State University College of Agriculture to attend fairs made an excellent record, winning first honors at the International Livestock Show and the National Dairy Show, and second at the National Swine Show. The dairy products team won f our out of five cups offered, including sweepstakes, and it was placed first, second and third in individual ratings for judging butter, milk and cheese, thereby winning eight out of thirteen medals offered, and Clark County is usually well represented in the student body there. INTERNATIONAL STOCK SHOW Clark County is well represented both in exhibits and attendance at the International Fat Stock Show in Chicago, the 1921 visitors reported being : Clarence Laybourne, Howard Smith, Merritt Roberts, C. R. Crabill and Howard Gerlaugh. Some years there are Clark County corn exhibits in Chicago. The international competitive spirit was apparent in the intercollegiate livestock judging contest where students from Canada and the United States were rivals in the arena. It was a close race between representatives of the two countries, Ohio's team of five student judges winning 4,178 out of a possible 5,000 points, the Ontarian Agricultural College with 4,164 points taking second place in the contest. It was in the horse and sheep classes that Ohio made the best showing with 1,075 tallies on horses, and 1,164 on sheep. The distance to Columbus renders it an easy matter for Clark County citizens to attend the state fair, and they are thus familiar with events there. With Farmers' Week at the University and a week at the fair, in addition to the Clark County Fair, Clark County farmers are abreast of the times in the world of agriculture. POMONA GRANGE At the annual meeting of the Clark County Pomona Grange, the officers chosen were : C. E. Jones, master ; C. E. Roller, overseer ; Mrs. Catherine Koontz, lecturer ; Elmer Sigler, steward ; Mrs. Agnes Swallow, secretary-treasurer ; Mrs. Rathburn, chaplain.; Russel Ream, assistant steward ; Mrs. C. A. Phares, Ceres ; Mrs. Roberts, Pomona, and Mrs. Weaver, Flora. The Clark County Pomona Grange dates back to the '70s, and the first organization was at Donnelsville. Among the leaders in the Grange movement were Samuel Deitrich, J. B. Trumbo, J. B. Patton, J. B. Crane, R. L. Holman and Rei Rathburn. Cooperative buying was the underlying principle in the beginning, but gradually the plan drifted away from business to social features, and the Clark County Granges at Fremont, Beech Grove, Pitchin, Rockway, South Vienna, Olive Branch and Lawrenceville are now all community centers of social activities. The Grange as organized in the '70s was simultaneous in many Ohio counties—a farmer's business organization, and as such it was conducted for years, building halls and thus owning its own property, and there are a number of Grange halls in Clark County. Since the consolidation of schools providing better auditoriums in the different townships, the Granges are inclined to use them as their meeting places, thereby allowing the school property to serve the whole community. When the Grange became a social center more people were attracted to it. It is understood 112 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY that the idea of creating an organization limited to those engaged in the pursuits of agriculture originated with Oliver Hudson Kelley of Massachusetts. In the early '50s Mr. Kelley entered a farm near Itasca, Minnesota, but in 1864 he was appointed to a clerkship in the Department of Agriculture at Washington. In 1866 he was constituted agent of the department to investigate farming conditions in the southern states just beginning reconstruction after the Civil war, and he reported : "I find there is great lack of interest on the part of farmers," and being brought face to face with the conditions he resolved to institute something to change them. Mr. Kelley said : "Where we find one who reads agricultural books and papers, there are ten who consider 'book farming' as nonsense. Af ter making a general investigation, I found the circulation of purely agricultural papers was but one to every 230 inhabitants. Their system of farming was the same as that handed down by the generations gone by ; of the science of agriculture, the natural laws that govern the growth of plants, there were ninety per cent who were totally ignorant. There is nothing now that binds the farmers together, and I think such an order (The Grange) would act with the most cheerful results." The Hon. John W. Stokes, acting commissioner of agriculture, very heartily endorsed Mr. Kelley's plan, and in 1868, backed by a few prominent farmers he commenced the organization in the different states of subordinate lodges of the Patrons of Husbandry, now known as the Grange. In January, 1873, the National Grange was organized in Georgetown, District of Columbia, with Dudley W. Adams of Iowa as master, and from that time forth the Grange has been a factor in all the efforts launched to better the condition of the agriculturist. "Father Kelley" died in 1913, after the success of his labors were a demonstrated certainty. He saw accomplished by the Grange many things of untold value to the people, the recognition of the equality of women in all walks of life—they were admitted to the Grange on the same basis as men. The enactment of laws for the creation of farming experiment stations which now dot every state in the Union is an outgrowth of the Grange. The rural free delivery of mail service, the teaching of agriculture in the public schools, and the encouragement of the system of farmers' institutes—in short, many advances in rural life are due directly to the efforts of the National Grange. The Grange is non-partisan, non-sectarian, and open to all rural families. It is the rural community center. The members meet and discuss issues, formulate petitions and when necessary ask for favors. When farmers band themselves together and ask for a measure, it means more than individual effort. The Clark County Pomona Grange has accomplished much through cooperation. While there are but seven active Grange organizations in Clark County, there are 878 subordinate Granges in Ohio, with 102,159 members. CLARK COUNTY FARM BUREAU The Farm Bureau office is a clearing house for all Clark County farm problems. It is a community center for a great many citizens. The American Farm Bureau Federation grew out of the war time necessity of speeding production, and in 1916, the bureau was organized in Clark County. When the United States Government laid its hand on Clark County, and asked for greater production, W. N. Scarff and others SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 113 became interested in the Smith-Hughes Vocational Law recognizing the county agent plan, and cooperating with the Council of Defense in an effort to place town boys on farms, the initial steps were taken, the state would give $1,500 toward such an organization. From the beginning Mr. Scarff had been president. At the recent election C. A. Steele became vice president, succeeding Howard Smith ; Albert Hayes succeeded Stanley Laybourne as secretary, and Asa Hodge succeeded himself as treasurer. The first farm agent was W. E. McCoy who remained until February 1, 1920, being succeeded by E. W. Hawkins. On December 31, 1921, there were 952 members with the number increasing rapidly. While each township is organized the membership in some is greater than in others, ranging from sixty-three in Pleasant to .132 in Bethel. These two townships represent the extremes both in geographical and agricultural conditions. Dean C. G. Shatzer of Wittenberg College defines geography as including everything connected with the lives and occupations of men. While Pleasant is in the hill country, Bethel is in the valley of Mad River. While the farm bureau membership fee was $1, there were 450 members. In 1920 the fee was changed to $10 and the membership has more than doubled itself. Each township has its local organization, that cooperates with the county board, as the county organization is amenable to the state bureau. The state farm bureau is controlled from the Department of Agriculture of Ohio State University, and the farm agent is an extension member of the university faculty. It is the comment universal that one engaged in doing research work in local history would cultivate the acquaintance of the pioneers in order to gain the necessary information. There is a saying, "Reading makes a ready man while writing makes an exact man," and Mr. Hawkins comes into personal contact with many, and since he keeps an accurate record of his transactions, he is an authority. He has an unfailing fund of historical information. The future of agriculture is well taken care of through the Farm Bureau, Mr. Hawkins coming into personal relation with the boys and girls through the corn and pig clubs. When he visits a farmstead it is usually for a conference with the boy, and proprietary interest is thus fostered in the farmer of the future—he has his corn plot and his brood sow, and someone is taking note of his operations. A number of Clark County boys have won special honors both in the county and state, Charles Cauliflower and Amy Nicklin representing the boys and girls' pig and food clubs, enjoying a week at the university at the expense of the Clark County Agricultural Society. John Prosser, Jr., won first place in a corn show recently held in Columbus, and Paul Sherrin has been proclaimed the boy champion corn grower of Clark County, with a yield of 118.5 bushels, while his brother Cleon Sherrin produced 113 bushels of corn to the acre. The Springfield banks financed both the corn and pig clubs, Paul Sherrin receiving $25 and his brother $15, and first and second prizes were awarded in each township additional to the county winners. In 1921 there were 134 boys and girls enrolled in the various competitive clubs in Clark County and it is recognized as the outstanding corn club county in Ohio, said Guy Dowdy of the Boys' and Girls' Club Department of the University. The winners were given a banquet by the bankers' group who pledged the $400 given in prize money, the spread being laid at the Chamber of Commerce banquet rooms. The speaker, Vol. I-8 114 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Mr. Dowdy, said : "If you are going to build the right sort of boy for farming he must have a good foundation, and it is best made by carrying out some scientific methods of agriculture. That is what corn club work does for him. Farming requires the best brain and brawn," and statement was made that the Clark County Boys' Corn Club average production was eighty-six bushels, which is twice the average yield in the state. Speaking for the bankers who provided the banquet, George W. Winger commended the boys, assuring those who did not win prizes that their efforts had not been in vain, and Gen. J. Warren Keifer gave a reminiscent story of his own farming experiences, saying his knowledge of agriculture had been to his advantage. Paul Sherrin and Jack Drake, representing the boys of .the club, told how they raised their corn and spoke of the benefits a boy receives who engages in the competitive work, and they thanked the bankers and the Farm Bureau for their efforts. Each year brings forth new winners, and in 1920 Edwin Lohnes of Mad River Township, who produced a fraction more than 118 bushels to an acre, was state champion, that honor going to Montgomery County in 1921, with a yield of 126 bushels. The picture of Edwin Lohnes, whose success stimulated a number of Clark County boys to enter the 1921 contest, is ,shown. Each boy does all the work himself in producing his plat of corn. The corn show has become an annual feature in some of the townships, and it is said visitors frequently remark about better corn at home, but it is only the exhibitor who wins. A careful selection of the prize-winning ears is urged, as sometimes the carefully selected sample wins over a better field of corn. There are domestic and household exhibits, and boys and girls are in an atmosphere of advancement in everything. While the Clark County Farm Bureau uses the basement of the Mad River Bank, when the court house is rebuilt it will be sheltered there again. The eighty-eight counties of Ohio are divided into twenty-two four-county groups, and Clark is in group fourteen, associated with Miami, Champaign and Darke counties, and meetings are held in the different centers, these counties co-operating in movements in which they have thutual interests. The State of Ohio appropriates $800,000 for the Farm Bureau extension, and the returns are from improved methods and better citizenship. On Washington's birthday, .1922, the Clark County Farm Bureau invited the farmers of the county to witness moving pictures, two films, -"Spring Valley" and "Homestead" being shown, throwing light on some of the problems of country life, the entertainment given them in the Fairbanks Theater. The attendance indicated that the effort of the bureau was appreciated and the social side of rural life is considered in Farm Bureau activities. The census report shows 11,000,000 boys and girls on farms in the United States, and the Farm Bureau aids in the club work now being carried on by the federal department of agriculture and by the colleges of agriculture. REVIEW OF THE MARKETS While an optimistic tone is noted in recent business surveys, Clark County farmers know all about fluctuating markets. Along in the '30s, when a farmer was coming to Springfield or going to Dayton or Cincinnati, he would tramp out sufficient oats to fill all the linen bags he 116 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY had and he would collect the vegetables and apples and what butter his wife had ready, and all was in readiness. It required several days when the trip was extended to Cincinnati. Before there were railroads drovers went to Cincinnati with livestock, even driving turkeys from the vicinity of Springfield. When night came. on, the turkeys roosted in the trees, but they were on the ground early in the morning. David Lowry's experience shipping venison hams by water via Mad River and the Miami did not prove a success, and livestock was driven to market. In that period cows sold for $5 and $10 payable in trade, and $40 was a good price for. a horse; trained oxen' were from $25 to $30 a yoke, and dressed hogs brought from $1.25 to $1.50 in Cincinnati. A veal brought 75 cents, and wheat from the granary brought 35 and 40 cents. The hams of deer brought 25 cents each and the settler generally sold the hide in Cincinnati. Deer hides were used for patches in the days when buckskin breeches admitted men to the best society. When a man cut a bee tree in the woods he was sure of 25 cents a gallon for the honey. Shelled corn 'brought 50 cents a barrel, and when men went out among farmers they received from 25 to 50 cents a day and their board. The clearing and the harvest field afforded labor and the sons' often went out among their neighbors, and the scale of wages in war times makes it seem an incredible story. When farmers wagoned to Cincinnati they planned to haul something both ways, and when the Indians were intimidating the settlers the story is told that Andrew McBeth and Jeremiah Reese brought a four-horse load of powder from Cincinnati for Moorefield Township farmers. Although the Indians did not use guns, they respected them, and Moorefield Township settlers were taking time by the forelock—in time of peace they made ready for war. In the early days the distilleries along Mad River gave the Clark County farmers a market for their corn. While other mills and distilleries changed hands often, the Snyder distillery was in operation through many years. It is described as a hip roof frame with cog wheels on the roof, ,and for many years it was the workshop of James Leffel, who invented the famous turbine water wheel and who is credited by S. S. Miller as having coined the expression "It is better to wear out than to rust out," heard so frequently. In the days of the Snyder distillery, there was a Snyder cooper shop, where many "old timers" used hoop poles and staves in making barrels. How could the "wee goods" be marketed only in barrels? There were by-products then as now, and the slops were used by farmers who furnished cheap pork on the market. When the Snyder distillery was in operation, whisky was on the market at 15 cents a gallon. When capitalists began. investing more money in breweries, rye was used in the manufacture of whisky and the price. was higher, whatever the quality. When the mast was ripe in the forests the settlers would round up their. hogs and mark them, each settler having his separate identification and then it was "root hog or die" until butchering time, and they would round up the stock again, each settler taking any animal bearing his private mark. They would pen the hogs and cornfeed them to improve the quality of the lard, and that casts some light on the low prices. The pork was on. the market without much expense, hogs selling by the head without the trouble SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 117 of weighing them. Live chickens were sold at $2 and $3 a dozen and turkeys at 30 to 50 cents apieces ; ducks at 25 cents and geese at from 25 to 50 cents. Butter was 7 and 8 cents, and beefsteak was 6 and 7 cents, but who has benefited from it ? The best paid labor was 50 cents except in harvest, when it reached 75 cents. There was a gradual increase until the breaking out of the Civil war, when there was an advance because of the withdrawal of large numbers of able-bodied men from productive industries, and who will say that history did not repeat itself in that respect when the United States entered the World war ? Between 1840-50 f arm labor reached $16 a month without board and $12 with board, but in 1862 it had advanced to $18 and $14, or 90 cents a day without and 75 cents a day with board, and by '65 the scale was $26 and $20. with transient labor in harvest at $1.50 without and $1.25 with board, and some fabulous prices were recently paid, many farmers unable to secure labor. One of the diaries consulted says that when 50 cents was the maximum daily wage men worked from sunrise till sunset, but when wages advanced to $1.50 ten hours constituted the day. The hours of labor are shorter in the towns and that explains the exodus. When a factory man engages.to work on a farm he still wants to regulate his hours by the whistle at the factory. Springfield and Clark County folk encountered the profiteer while the United States was at war and they are assured that pre-war prices will never prevail again. While eggs were 3 cents a dozen in reconstruction following the Civil war, eggs and butter are two commodities that still command war-time prices. People have heard of the difference between the high cost of living and the cost of high living and that it is the consumer who pays the freight—the high cost of everything. While it is said there was an agricultural society organized in Clark County in 1840, it did not accomplish as much in the way of controlling the markets as is accomplished by the farm organizations of today. The society of that period accommodated both Clark and Madison counties, but there is little known about it. The Institute, Grange and Farm Bureau have all advanced the interests of agriculture in Clark County. GAME-WILD LIFE IN CLARK COUNTY FORESTS On January 23, 1910, the Springfield News carried a feature story, "Trapping in Clark County an Established Industry," and "once upon a time" the Fountain Avenue and Main Street crossing was designated at Trappers' Corner because of the number of skins handled by Springfield merchants. The newspaper article begins : "If some of the conquerors of the air now making such spectacular flights would fly above the fields of Clark County just at daybreak some morning, rather an unusual sight would greet their downward gaze. They would see the frozen and snow-covered areas dotted here and there with trappers as they made the early morning rounds of their traps. Few except those who do the trapping realize the scale on which the fur business is carried on, nor do they realize the amount of trapping done, hundreds of men and boys making good livelihoods by trapping skunk, mink, muskrat and raccoon. One man in Harmony Township has realized over $100 every month this winter." On November 15, 1844, Walter Smallwood killed a deer along Buck 118 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Creek, which was the last one seen in Springfield. George Bennett had deer hunting dogs that would catch a deer and hold it until. he could "stick it." Once when he had shot a deer and was ready to cut its throat, it attacked him. One time Ephraim Vance of South Charleston, who was a celebrated hunter, was in the woods at night when a pack of wolves were howling on his trail. He knew they would tear, him to shreds and started to run for a tree in an open field. Seeing a haystack, he climbed it, not having time to reach the tree. Driven by hunger, the wolves were desperate. They surrounded the haystack growling and fighting through the night, but when daylight came they sneaked away to their dens in the forest. It was a cold night and Mr. Vance was almost frozen when he slid off of the stack and went home for breakfast. When game was plentiful about South Charleston, the settlers would send rabbit hams to Cincinnati by Nat Moss, who drove the stage. They would salt the rabbit hams and pack them in barrels, and Moss, who was a mulatto, would market them in. Cincinnati or Columbus. One night he was burned to death in Columbus. Albert Reeder relates that one time when the squirrels were migrating across Lisbon Creek, the settlers caught them on the water gate. They stood there with clubs and killed all they could carry home. A squirrel is a timid creature and it is an unusual story. When wild turkeys were plentiful, men and dogs would round them up over the open fields. The dogs were trained to stay under them and keep them on the wing until they were exhausted and when they would drop the settlers rescued them .from the dogs without apparent injury. MIGRATION OF WILD PIGEONS While the Smithsonian Institute now offers a premium for wild pigeons, there was a time when they flew across Clark County in such numbers as 'to darken the sky. They would form figures and fly in military precision. A flock of wild pigeons in .transit made more noise than a flock of aeroplanes today. Because of the encroachments of civilization they have no place to rear their young and they are almost extinct. There is no rendezvous—the wire fence does not afford a friendly shelter. While pigeons are domesticated and squabs are on the market, there was a time when wild pigeons were numerous where livestock was fed for the market. Even the wild geese and ducks do not migrate in such numbers as when there were friendly shelters en route. There used to be cranes along Mad River and the' smaller streams. When R. Q. King, who was an out-of-door man, lived, he wanted to have a farm with nothing but cranes on it and there used to be both white and blue cranes in the forest now Snyder Park. There was a time when all kinds of wild animals were found along Lagonda Creek at the mouth of Mill Run. There was a thick growth of trees and underbrush and the holes in the rocks forming the cliffs afforded hiding places and everything known to the forest was found within the area now covered by Springfield. It was always the hunting grounds of the Shawnees. Who would not like to return to the halcyon days of nature in Clark County? Even the stork does not make many visits in some households. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 119 An old account says : "Turkeys were seldom shot, as the ammunition was too valuable to waste upon them. They were generally caught in traps or pens, with the lower part or one side left open. Corn was strewn around and inside the pen and they became easy prisoners. If the turkey was young it was skinned and roasted on a spit, the grease being caught in a dripping pan. Stoves were unknown and all cooking was done on the hearth or over fires kindled out of doors. In the scarcity of other game, opossums were used for food—the dish in special favor among the negroes. The skins were prepared for use by the hunters, and a mark of the cabin was the hides stretched to dry outside of it. How about the traveler who asked if there were any Lutherans in the community, and the woman of the cabin, said there were all kinds of skins on the mill—they might be Lutherans. Deer skins were tanned by Clark County settlers. The hair was first removed by ashes and water and the skins were then rubbed with soft soap, lye and the brains of the deer, all these substances containing alkali. After lying a few days in a steeping vat or trough, the deer skins were stretched over a smooth, round log from which the bark was removed and scraped with a graining knife. Such dressing rendered them soft and pliable, and many of the settlers were skillful curriers. Bear skins were dressed with the hair on, and they were-used for robes, carpets or bed clothing. While wolves were numerous and panther screams occasionally pierced the forest, domestic animals were seldom destroyed by them. Fish were plentiful and were caught in different ways—hook and line and sometimes with a gig. This is a game for the boys in boats. Quails came later—seemed to follow civilization. The department of fish and game reports that deer are still at large in portions of Ohio, and the biological survey under the. United States Department of Agriculture reports that following two recent mild winters there are thousands of coveys of bob white, Ohio listed among the states where they have multiplied rapidly, and it is said that Ohio is soon to have a forest reserve game sanctuary and public hunting grounds comprising 10,000 acres along the Scioto. The State Department of Agriculture has been instructed to acquire it. It is an unpro• ductive area and hunters and fishermen are promoting the scheme and doing much to perpetuate nature conditions. Within the last year 140,000,000 fish were produced in hatcheries and distributed in the rivers and lakes of, Ohio. The game conservation and propogation system established several years ago is yielding returns already, as indicated in the survey made by the United States Department of Agriculture. On November 15, 1921, a news item in Springfield papers read : "Hundreds of Clark County hunters will journey to -the field today in search of rabbits. The season closes January 1," and 2,410 hunting licenses had been issued to date, hunters having prepared in advance for the opening of the season, and for six weeks all farms that are not posted against them will be the mecca of hunters. In a desultory article published January 8, 1922, Dr. J. W. Gunn of Springfield says that Nimrod has sold his shooting irons, and invested the whole proceeds in golf stocks, and he quotes : "Behold the f owls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather .into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them," but, like the parable of the sower, that Bible assertion was made under different conditions in the world. 120 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY THE RECENT FOX DRIVES The first and second annual fox drives in many localities were announced in the winter of 1921-22, and while Reynards galore would be rounded up they usually escaped except one or two unfortunates, the people in automobiles watching the drives not rendering effective service when the foxes wanted to go through the lines. The fox drives were social affairs, the women serving sandwich lunches and the proceeds being used in community work. There were two sides to the question, some commending and others condemning it. When the fox was auctioned off, the churches received the proceeds, and people thus patronized the fox drives who would not sanction the bull fight. Along this line of defense one comment was that Clark County was overrun with ravenous foxes raiding hen roosts and carrying off children. The, menace does not seem to warrant such defense. The .'f ox drive' was supplemented in some communities by raids on rodents, and this seems warranted, since in Clark County alone thousands of dollars worth of grain is destroyed every year by rats. The settlers sometimes took the puncheon floors out •of their cabins in breaking up the rendezvous of rodents. When driven by hunger .they would attack the sleeping family. While trapping seems to belong to the pioneer period in the history of Clark County, it is said that the knobs bounded by South Vienna, Catawba and New Moorefield—the highest portion of the whole county —still afford good trapping, and hundreds of traps may be seen along Sinking and Beaver creeks and in the fields of that locality. It is nothing unusual for one man to look after fifty traps covering an area of 500 acres. If along the streams alone that number of traps would cover the distance of two miles, four hours will be spent in visiting them. The genuine trapper may be seen trudging through the snow with his gun and the traps thrown over his shoulder. He goes alone long before the sun rises, and if he meets .with success he has a busy day skinning the animals and stretching the pelts to dry so that he can dispose of them in Springfield. It is reported that "Bully" Harrington and David Cuddy of the Knobs secured eleven skunks from one hole, receiving $30 for the pelts. Muskrats 'are found along the stream while mink are found in hollow trees.. Both traps and dogs are used in catching the mink and raccoons are caught at night with "hound dogs." When a dog strikes the scent of the raccoon, he soon "trees" it, and many trees have fallen because of wild animals sheltered in them. Men would chop down trees for the "coons," who would not do it for the firewood in them. Opossums are found in hollow logs and are trapped or hunted with dogs. High water is welcomed by trappers as it drives the animals out of their hiding places, and when there is snow on the ground any kind of an animal may be caught more readily. Trapping is good while snow lasts, the mink being the first animal in and the last out, in the trapper's parlance with reference to the condition of the fur. When the snow leaves it loses its gloss, and the pelts are not worth the trouble of catching the animals. The skunk ranks second and both are best in the months of. January and February. While boys used to be given guns and told to kill the birds, a different idea. now , influences the farmer. A recent bulletin says the SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 121 breakfasts, luncheons and dinners of Ohio's feathered folk consists of about 3,000,000 pounds of weed seeds and other things, and the farmers of the state will be saved $3,000,000 because of their appetites. The bulletin is issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. It is estimated that twenty pounds of weed seed will cover an acre, and with the seeds and worms consumed by the birds they are an advantage rather than a menace to agriculture. With f our quails on each square mile in Ohio, 600 tons of weed seeds are consumed in the winter months, and the reports of the biological survey indicate that quails consume 130 different kinds of weed seeds, but, like sin, weeds are not eradicated without continual watchfulness on the part of the husbandman and farmer. CLARK COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY The last word is not written about agriculture until horticulture is given its relative place in farm economics. The Clark County Horticultural Society was organized February 15, 1896, for the promotion of horticulture and relative industries. It meets the first Wednesday of each month, and a basket dinner is a feature of each meeting. W. N. Scarf of White Oaks farm and nursery has been its president from the beginning and the present roster is : Vice president, Dr. P. E. Cromer, with Mrs. Cromer as secretary-treasurer. N. E. Deaton and Mrs. Scarff are in charge of the musical features. The fruit growers of Ohio are well organized and the Clark County horticulturists rank foremost among them. America has given to the world its principal food plants and long before the white man came the Indians were engaged in intensive agriculture. They made use of nuts and berries, particularly the hickory nut, walnut and black haw and the cranberry was also used by them. While the Indians used these things in their wild state, the white man has cultivated and improved the varieties. The man who plants a fruit tree is a benefactor, doing something for those who come after him, and in 1800 James Galloway planted an orchard on Mad River, being contemporary with Johnny Appleseed, whom tradition says, once visited Clark County. There is a Chapman Creek and his name was John Chapman. He was born in 1775 at Boston and died in 1847 at Fort Wayne. An article in The Survey says : "The tale of John Chapman or Johnny Appleseed is already taking its place among the folklore stories of the continent. For fifty years he went barefoot through the wilderness, clothed only in an old coffee sack with holes for his head and arms. He sowed orchards. To the Indians he was a great medicine man. He made his medicine with the first west-flying bees and the first of the west-blowing wheat." Vachel Lindsay, who affects something of the Johnny Appleseed character, writes : "J. Appleseed swept on Every shackle gone Loving every slashy brake Loving every skunk and snake, Loving every little weed, J. Appleseed—J. Appleseed." 122 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY The story goes that Johnny Appleseed visited cider mills in Pennsylvania and collected the seeds which he distributed throughout Ohio and Indiana. When he entered a home he would lie on the floor and ask if the family wanted a blessing from heaven, and sometimes he planted the seeds .in alluvial soil, returning years later and asking remuneration when someone had located there. He was spoken of as a Christian going to heaven through the Northwest Territory. Were he going through today a lunacy commission would investigate him. In the reminiscent notes of S. S. Miller is found the statement that the .berry or small fruit industry in Clark County began at Husted, which draws from Mad River and Greene townships. Berries thrived in that locality, many growing raspberries, blackberries and strawberries as a source of revenue finding a market for them in Springfield. They were not cultivated at all by the pioneers. The tomato is another delicacy not used for food among the settlers. Clark County farmers who study the adaptability of the soil, find that undulating land allows of both agriculture and horticulture, and it is said that the Scarf nursery has put New Carlisle on the map of the world. While there are other nurseries, the one at White Oaks is the oldest in Clark County. Ohio ranks sixteenth as an apple-producing state and plans are under way among orchardists to perfect an organization for marketing apples. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is the slogan of the Apple Growers League, and The Ohio Farmer suggests the slogan, "Sell Ohio Apples in Ohio." In past years good apples have decayed in the orchards because dealers were considering quantity instead of quality. When there were more Clark County forests there was better protection for the orchards, and half a century ago apples were plentiful and there were many cider mills in operation.. The apple-cutting afforded the social opportunity, the young people of the community meeting to peel and core apples, and apple butter was made as regularly in the same kettle that was used for soap-making or butchering. Sometimes there was a brass kettle used in "stirring off" apple butter. In "them days" a barrel of cider would be supplied to the town family who wanted it for $1.25 a barrel, and they would be furnished home-grown apples for their own apple butter. The children on the farms knew what it meant to pick up apples for making cider. The load of apples and the cider barrel were taken to the mill and the, farmers ground their own apples and squeezed them into pumice in the press, coming home at night with sweet cider in barrels. It is related that Frederick Funston, whose grandson became the famous Gen. Frederick Funston, was killed in an accident at a a Donnelsville cider press. The Clark County Horticultural Society makes a study of pruning, spraying and all that is connected with fruit culture. What has happened to all the old-time rambo, pippin, winesap and russet apple trees? Those names were household words years ago. MILLIONS OF ROSES Springfield is known as the greatest plant-growing center in the world. It is the greatest producing center for roses and, small shrubbery that may be sent by mail or shipped by express. While there are 124 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Clark County nurseries that ship their products to all parts of the world. Millions of roses are shipped from Springfield. The Innesfallen Greenhouse established by Charles A. Reeser in 1877 and since operated by the George H. Mellen Company was the first mail order house in the world to ship rooted plants, although catalogue houses are numerous now in Springfield. Mr. Reeser learned the florist business with Peter Henderson, who deals in seeds, and urged him to propogate roses and ship the rooted plants. Mr. Reeser later came to Springfield and demonstrated the possibilities, conducting the business for several years and making a success of it. While there are now half a dozen big mail order houses shipping rooted roses to all parts of the world, using catalogues to secure the patronage, there are about thirty smaller growers who wholesale their product to the mail order houses—and thus millions of roses are grown in Springfield. In the mail order greenhouses very little comes to maturity ; it is the stock they produce, leaving their customers to produce the roses. At the Innesfallen greenhouses there are 110,000 square feet under glass, and many people are employed in conducting the ever-expanding business. Some of the other greenhouses are as large as the Innesfallen, which happens to be the oldest in the world specializing on rooted roses. Sphagnum moss is used in wrapping the roots. It is a Wisconsin product that holds moisture, and much care is exercised in preparing stock for shipment. Roses and ferns are rooted and shipped in quantities from Springfield. While much of the rose culture is under roof, hardy varieties are propagated and they are also grown in the open field. Roses and ferns predominate in the rooted mail order plants, and the American Rose Company originated the Teddy Roosevelt, which is a spore from the Roosevelt fern. While ferns grow wild, the Boston fern is the first improved variety. Hybridizing is a science in both rose and fern culture, and thus new varieties are placed on the market. There are "infinitessimal nothings" to watch in the life of the florist, and that is one job in which "eternal vigilance is the price of success." Springfield is the city of roses—the best 60,000 population city in the world. The sale of rooted roses has given the city its appellation and few exhibition roses are shown in local greenhouses that cater to the mail order patronage. The growers do not allow their stock to bloom, but hold it back to vigorous growth, leaving the customer the pleasure of having the roses. While they are grown under glass, many roses are produced without artificial heat and they do not suffer from being transplanted to the lawns and gardens. Each mail order house has its list of customers, but at the Innesfallen greenhouses when customers do not respond for two years their names are omitted. The list of names remains in fireproof vaults only when in use, trucks being provided so that heavy books are pushed in and out with the minimum of labor, women being employed in the mailing department. The florist is authority on the chemistry of soils and compost is always in process. While rotation does not solve the problem, a change of earth is necessary. When greenhouse dirt roes back to the garden and undergoes the freezing and thawing process, it may be used again. Commerial fertilizers and insect destroyers are all familiar topics to