The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on July 4, 1902.
Condition of the Crops.
The Reports are Generally Encouraging
Recent Rain and Warm Weather Have Given Vigorous Impetus to the Growing Grain and Wrought Marked Improvement in the General Crop Conditions—Interviews with Well-Informed Farmers and Land Owners.
Another heavy rain Tuesday night, followed Wednesday by sunshine and higher temperature, gave new vigor to the growing crops and fresh impetus to the growth which had been to some extent retarded by too cold weather. The effect is shown in marked and most gratifying improvement in the condition and appearance of crops of all kinds. The large acreage of corn which was not injured by frost is in fine condition and it is quite safe to say, so far as this part of the crop is concerned, that corn never looked better at this season of the year than it does at present. Much of the corn which was struck by the frost is recovering rapidly and with favorable weather will give a good average yield. The outcome, however, in the fields most seriously injured can not as yet be predicted. A fair idea of the general conditions may be gained from the information and opinions given in the following interviews:
E. N. Darling: “The frost didn’t hurt my corn at all. I am going to have between fifty and sixty bushels to the acre of good corn. Wheat, barley and oats are doing fine and will be a big crop.”
Fred Kreps: “The frost didn’t touch me, except a little strip in a gully. If the weather warms up pretty soon I will have one of the best corn crops I ever raised. The small grain is coming along fine and will yield above the average.”
T. H. Croswell, Beaver Creek: “Take it as a whole I will have a very good crop, especially of small grain. The frost hurt my corn a little, probably ruining about one-fifth of it, but the rest with favorable weather will make first class corn. I think this year’s crop will compare very favorably with that of last year.”
O. A. Hulett: “I don’t believe the frost hurt my corn a bit. It may have delayed it a couple of weeks, but that is all. All of the small grain is fine. The recent rains have done wonders to the crops changing conditions so much that in some instances it is hardly possible to recognize the same fields. I think we’ll have just as good a crop this year as last.”
Ira Crawford, Beaver Creek: “It would be pretty hard to say just how much damage was done by the frost over our way. There are a lot of pieces that are probably entirely ruined. On the whole, however, I don’t believe that the damage is very great. The freezing of the leaves won’t hurt it except to make it a little late. If the tassel in the center of the stalk isn’t frozen it will be all right and will make pretty fair corn no matter how hard the leaves were hit. All the other grain is first class and we will have a big crop if the weather continues favorable.”
A. H. Turner, Magnolia: “The frost hit us pretty hard out our way. I believe that it hurt all of the grain. Almost every field of corn was hurt more or less. If everything is favorable from now on—that is if we have plenty of rain and warm weather—we will probably get about half of the usual corn crop. The recent rain came just right and has, no doubt, done a great deal of good, although it does not now show up owing to the continued cold weather. I am afraid the wheat crop will be light; possibly not over two-thirds of a full crop. The barley and oat crop will be good, and fully up to the average.”
J. A. Kennicott: I don’t believe the corn crop is hurt half as bad as a lot of them say. Of course the frost hit a lot of it pretty hard, in some places killing it outright, but in most instances just the tops of the leaves have been touched, which with a little warm weather will come out all right and make pretty fair corn. I believe that five per cent would be a large estimate of the corn that was completely ruined by frost. Other grain will be good—about the same as last year, I should think—which means a very fair average crop. Of course, everything depends upon the weather. To make it come out right we will have to some warm weather pretty soon.”
James Hagedorn: “We’re going to have about a half crop this year. I don’t believe that it will be to exceed that. The long dry spell cut down the yield a great deal more than most people think. No, the frost didn’t hurt my corn much. I have seen some pieces that were completely ruined, but there are not very many that were. We can always raise corn here. I went down to Davenport a few weeks ago to sell my farm in the vicinity so as to buy more land in Rock county. I didn’t make the sale, but I will in a short time, and when I do I will buy here. I wouldn’t buy land anywhere else than in Rock county. It is the best I ever saw, and I have traveled all over the United States during the past ten years. I can raise fifty bushels of good corn to the acre without any trouble, and so can others.”
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.