HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



with Holstein blood predominating. Pure bred sires are common. Throughout
the sandy parts of the county and in some sections of heavy soil where drainage
is
most deficient the farm improvements are as a rule below the average. On
the
lighter soils the work horses are lighter in weight, and modern machinery
is not in
as common use.
    On the heavy, level or nearly level soils a rather conspicuous cultural
feature is
 the practice of plowing fields in narrow lands, so that a dead furrow left
at intervals
 of two to four rods will act as a ditch to help carry off the surface water.
This
 practice greatly assists in promoting surface drainage and usually insures
fair
 drainage without the use of-tile. On some of the large tracts of reclaimed
lowland
 in the southern part of the county traction plows are used.
    On the heavy soils a rotation in quite common use consists of corn, small
grain for one or two years, and timothy and clover, from which hay is usually
cut
for two years. The field may be pastured a year before being again plowed
for
corn. On the sandy soils a rotation frequently followed consists of small
grain,
clover, and potatoes. In no part of the county has the question of crop rotations
best suited to the soils been given careful consideration by the majority
of farmers.
Barnyard manure is the only fertilizer used to any considerable extent.
    Farm labor is not so difficult to obtain as in some sections of the United
States.
In many cases women and children assist with the farm work. Farm hands hired
for the year or by the month are usually paid from $25 to $40 a month. Married
men are usually given a house, fuel, and garden. During haying and harvesting
seasons the wage for special help is about $2 per day.
   The average size of the farms in Wood County is 105 acres. Land holdings
range in size from a few acres to several thousand acres. In the sandy and
marshy
region a considerable area is held in large tracts. Some cut-over land in
other
parts of the county is also in large holdings. In 1910 there were 2,706 farms
in the
county, occupying 54.8 per cent of its total area. Of the land in farms,
38 per
cent is improved. The 1910 census reports 92.9 per cent of the farms operated
by
owners, 6.1 per cent by tenants, and 1 per cent by managers.
   In 1900 the average value of farm land in the county was $14.40 per acre,
while
in 1910 it was $32.36, having increased 125 per cent. Prices depend upon
the ex-
tent of improvement, location, quality of soil, and other factors, and are
variable
in all parts of the county. In the vicinity of Marshfield, where agriculture
is the
most highly developed, farms frequently sell for $100 to $125 or more an
acre,
while in the sandy regions partly improved farms sell for $25 to $50 an acre.
Cut-
over hardwood land in undeveloped parts of the county ranges in selling price
from
$20 to $30 an acre. The unimproved sandy and marshy soils in the southern
part
of the county are usually held at a figure considerably lower than this.
   Agricultural Experiment Station.-In 1912 the State University obtained
pos-
session of an 80-acre tract near the southeastern corner of the limits of
the city of
Marshfield, and in 1913 began its operation as an agricultural experiment
station
along both soil and agronomic lines. In 1919 a 100-acre tract adjoining the
original
station farm was offered for sale at a reasonable figure. Through the efforts
of the
Marshfield Chamber of Commerce and others interested in the agricultural
devel-
opment of Central Wisconsin an option on this tract at $150.00 per acre was
se-
cured. On account of its strategic location every eFfort was made to obtain
pos-



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