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Little River, TX | Close to the mentioned 1877 my Great Grandfather's family started him on a farm maybe 10 miles east of New Town, PA. He bought the land for $200 an acre expecting to pay the mortgage with $2 a bu wheat. Worked until the panic of the 1890's. Then the western home stead lands were in wheat production, there was a mechanical reaper and a powered threshing machine. By this time there were 12 kids, still a mortgage, and they could have wheat delivered to the farm for $0.25/ bu.
It was about this time every one of his family took to dairy farming. First making butter and feeding the hogs skim milk. Later there was a milk train to carry the milk to the city. Now urban sprawl put all those farms out of business.
My Grandfather filled me with tales of Chilean Nitrate. Bird Scat by the ton. I understand it was Sodium Nitrate. Before Chile's ran out they found out how to manufacture the same Sodium Nitrate.
Still they did not require much fertilizer. Production was much lower, they used clovers in with the wheat and barley, had some alfalfa, and some 100 bu corn. The cows grazed for most of their feed needs.
The family lost that farm during the depression. In the late 1920's my Grandfather had to sell to pay for my Grandmother's cancer treatments. As I said urban sprawl got the rest. | |
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