VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MARCH 30, 1895.
NO. 13.
Agricultural and Other Resources
-OF-
FAYETTE   COUNTY,   INDIANA.
This is among the older counties of the
State, having been organizid in 1819. It
has 212 square miles, and with water areas
and aU, 135,680 acres. There are 135,184
acres of arable farm and pasture lands
which, with the improvements, are valued
at f4,144,685. This is exclusive of olty and
town property. The population of the
county is 12,630 and ranks' high in its
wealth ppr capita. Conneravllle,the county
seat, was founded in 1813, six years prior
to the organization of the county, and now
has a population of above 6,000 and takes
high rank among the manufacturing cities
of the State.
The greatest altitudes above sea level in
this county are due to the upheaval at the
close of the Hudson River peiiad in the
Silurian age. The highest points are on
the crest of the Cincinnati arch, Longwood
being 1,111 feet and Connersville 881 feet
above the level of the sea.
The western part of the county is level to
undulating, and though lying high, was
onoe quite wet and swampy, bat under a
system of drainage has been reclaimed to a
Ugh state of cultivation. East of White
Water river the surface has ridges and is
more or less roUing. The valley lands
along the river, with an average width of
about three miles, are exceeding rich and
productive. For centuries prior to settlement great wealths of fertility were poured
into this valley, making it inexhaustible in
fertility with proper management in cultivation.
Great forests once covered this whole
region. Yellow poplar, walnut, hard
maple, oak, ash, elm, beech and hickory
abounded, with some other varieties. The
large timber has been removed, but there
is considerable area of smaller kinds, there
b.lng 23,000 acres of timber, including that
under fence and partly in pasturage.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.
The black and mulatto or mixed dark
lands are the most productive. The high
tablelands to the west since drainage, with
the heavy clay sub-soils aerated with complete systems of tile drainage, have bee arne
very productive. Where tile drainage is
supplemented in these heavy dry soils by
the sub-soiling plow it makes very complete aeration, admitting the moisture of
the atmosphere in dry seasons through the
tile percolations, and produces fine crops.
The following figures from official sources
give the high level of the productiveness
of this county on the staple crops grown:
Bn. per     Total
acre, bushels. Value.
20 482,400 1337,680
35 67 J 375 351,750
40 200, CO 90,000
produced from 14,000
acres of clover two tons per acre, or 28,000
tons, valued at f 200,000, and timothy hay
one and three-fourths tons peracre, valued
at 1110,000. The minor crops are not so
largely grown, bat the yield of these is also
good.
LIVE STOCK INDUSTRY.      *
The county grows blue grass most luxuriantly, which is the basis of its live stock
and dairy industry. There are over 12,000
acres in blue grass pastures. The figures
given here are those of a prosperous year
of this industry.
Horsea ani mnles. ___....__.„__..  4,7,6
Cattle ol all classes  r™..'..™_.._  9,754
Bhe*p ot all bretds  .....  _..  6116
Hogs   ;  _..29,3.9
There are several valuable dairy herds In
the county, the surplus produot of which
Is shipped to Cincinnati, and upon which
good profits are realized. We have reports
from several of the best farmers in the
Acres.
Wheat „___.24,120
Corn  ,2n,125
Oats  5,000-
The county h.s
county who • make from 1,000 to 2,000
pounds of butter a year and sell it at 25 to
30 cents a pound. One of these has Shorthorn cits and several others Jersey dairy
/
culture, the county could be made to about
double Its productions. At present there
are about 130,000 rods of tile drains ln the
county and the the.work is still proceeding
on clay lands.
ANNUAL SUMMARY.
The following table shows a year of full
orops, with prices as they prevailed in a
recent normal year, on January, 1892.
Wheat, value _„ J3'7,680
Com,'value _. ..„._. 35l,7;0
Oats value   9.,COO
Live stock, value.. S30,0C0
Rye, barlev, buckwheat and llaxseed...............    5,100
Timothy and clover hay and seed 520.450
Sweet and Irish potatces.   35,610
Horses, mules and ca'.tle. « 982,400
Hogs and sh ep ™. 2C0.3C0
Milk, but er and cheese _ 2_O,C00
Wool, poultry a**d eggs. «...  85,cco
Green and canned fruits.. _   ".. 0**0
Bees, honey and other lt-ins.....   22,0C0
Total    |3,916 320
The items not inoluded in this summary
are 'he fioe blooded stock, the small fruits,
Faykttb County lies entirely within the ltme_*one area.   The connty has nearly fifty miles of rail,
way.  The large circles shown in ConnersvI'le and Columbia townships represent *.eveloped limestone
areas.   Dash lines represent gravel rf ads.   Every part of the county is well watered, as shown by
the river and its trlbntar'es.
herds. These are farmers in mixed husbandry, the dairy business being a profitable part of the farm Industry. Most of
these have regular customers in the city
for every pound of batter they sell, and it
is a gilt edged product commanding top
prices. There are several silos in the
county from which the corn product Is fed
with profit, and there are butter creameries in successful operation.
SOME HIGH LEVELS OF PRODUCTION.
We have several reports on wheat growing which show a production of from 30 to
41 bushels per aore. Some of these are
bottom lands and others on the tablelands
well tile dra'ned, and where fertilizers
were drilled with the seeding in September.
There are also quite a number reporting
50 and more bushels of corn per acre, on
the same qualities of lat d, and one making
92 bushels to the acre, who used a commercial fertilizer on ten acres of his land.
The best cats yields run from 40 to 82
bushels per acre, the latter being produced
on land with fertilizers sown with the
grain.
All of the best crors on land with clay
sub-soils were well tile drained. Fields
not so drained, and yet the same quality
of land, grew one-third to one half less
yields. Here, as elsewhere, the reports go
to illustrate the fact that if agriculture was
put upon the highest plane of intelligent
field and garden vegetables and seeds, and
other products of the farm, would very
considerably increase these figures.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
Mr. W. T. Edwards has a high average
yield of wheat and has grown as much as
40 bushels per acre. His corn average is
also high, reaching 50 bushels peracre. He
seeds wheat September 20th to the last of
that month and cultivates his oorn shallow, growing both on tile drained land.
Wm Kobinson averages between 20 and
30 bushels of wheat per acre and 50 bushels
of corn, and seeds wheat September 15th to
20th and his first corn cultivation is deep,
afterwards to the last shallow. He grows
about 100 head of Poland China hogs, and
finds ground wheat and whole oorn mixed
an excellent feed for them.
T, J. Custer has 932 apple trees and 2,500
peach trees on his farm and will this season
plant 1,000 more fruit trees of various
kinds. He also has several acres of raspberries.
G. W. Eddy finds his land finely adapted
to growing strawberries and while he has
several acres of this fruit, will this season
set several acres more to strawberries, currants and other small fruits. He fit ds that
these p»y him better than growing grain.
W. B. Lambert grows 25 to 40 buohels of
wheat and 60 bushels of corn on an average
per acre. September 10.h to 20th is the
date of seeding wheat and he follows shal
low corn cultivation.   He has a good herd
of Jersey cows.
Ellas Scholl grows 20 to 28 bushels of
wheat per acre and 45 to 50 bushels of corn.
He has an orchard of about 100 apple and
50 peach trees, and from his Jersey cows
makes nearly 1.200 pounds of butter to sell.
Jonas Scholl lie Jt bees and honey a great
success, produces 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of
honey some seasons and has 58 colonies of
bees. He also grows much small fruit of
various kinds.
Otto Utter averages 18 to 25 bushels wheat
and 50 bnshels corn per acre. Wheat is
seeded about Oct. 1st and he follows shallow corn cultivation.
S. E. Thomas finds Duroo-Jersey swine
a very satisfactory breed. He uses 150
pounds of fertilizers per aore, growing 30
to 40 bushels of wheat and 40 to 50 of corn
per acre. Seeds September 15th to20.hand
cultivates corn shallow. ■
James Henry uses 110 pounds fertilizers
per acre and has yields of wheat of 30 to 83
bushels, and corn 45 to 50 bushels peracre.
He has an apple and peach orchard of 550
trees and 100 of other kinds. His orchard
land Is all well tile drained. From his
Jersey oows he makes and sells about 1,000
pounds of butter annually.
THE MANUFACIURING
Connersville is a most important manufacturing center and has been so for many
years. Some of the largest ot these are
f nrniture factories. The abundance of raw
material and the White Water canal for
shipment, long before railroads, were the
chief motives leading to their location here,
That whole region of country then abounded in the finest timber and woods for this
business. These great factories were modest enough in their beginnings with a few
hundred dollars as capital and half a dozen
employes. They grew as all great establishments grow and now employ many
hundreds of thousands of dollars capital,
with hundreds of men on their pay rolls.
There are many smaller manufacturing
concerns here and in other sections of the
county, including flour and saw mills and
various other kinds working up raw materials, Including the whole county the
manufacturing of every kind stands as
follows:
Number of establishments.  150
Capital Invested ; | 900,f00
Value of annual product .'. ___.„ 11,780,000
Annual wages paid.. f 235,000
Nnmber of persons employed.         620
With those dependent upon the employed, there are about 3,000 persons consuming the products of agriculture in the
county due to the manufacturing industries. Among the leading factories we
mention the following:
The Connersvllle Buggy Co,, which
wholesales Its output, employs a large
force of skilled workmen, building from
2.500 to 3,000 buggies, phaetons, surreys,
etc, annually. Their product bears a high
reputation all over the West, as the material used is selected by skilled men who reject al] that is defective.
The National Manufacturing Co.,located
on the west side of Connersvllle, is among
the later establishments that has built up
a large business In chain and suction
pumps, china washers, etc. They employ
a large force and their annual prodnct is
175,000 to ¥85,000. Their goods are sold all
over -the west and are well known as the
best make in their line.
The Wheeling Manufacturing Co., of
Connersvllle, is unique in its line of products and their goods are esteemed all over
the country by the flcckmasters. They
manufacture the Hero Sheep Protector, a
device or collar worn on the necks of Bheep
which has many sharp points concealed by
the wool. D.gs always catch sheep by the
neck, and this device worn by tbe sheep is
a complete protection which has driven off
the dogs in every attack. It is a complete
sheep protector, and is not expensive.
Ward Jemison, the leading drug house,
Isa very complete establishment, and manufactures a kidney, liver and cough reme-
dv which has a wide demand. He is compelled by this demand to greatly increase
his facilities for producing the compound
and will soon be upon a much larger foot*
ing for the purprse.
The Connersville Furniture Co. employs
225 men, and produces f300.000 worth of
gocd«. The floor space of the concern is
115,000 square feet.
There are Fevoral other large factories in
this line, and that of brgglei and other
vehicles.