Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1889 , by the Rural New-Yorker, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.j 
VOL. XLVIII. NO. 2083. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 28, i889. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 2.00 PER YEAR. 
FIVE REPRESENTATIVE ILLINOIS 
FARMERS. 
DOUBT whether the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker could 
find among all of its sub¬ 
scribers five men more 
fairly representative of 
the practical, successful 
farmer than those whose 
portraits are given at 
Figure 306. They are 
not Lincolns, Glad¬ 
stones or Bismarcks, but 
plain, every-day men, 
and excellent examples for our farmer 
boys. They didn’t put on kid gloves and 
chokers when they were young, and strut 
about with a cane looking for a nice, soft, 
job, or loll about street-corners and saloons 
waiting for something to turn up, but they 
bravely and cheerfully went to work and 
turned something up. They worked hard 
for their money, and when they got it they 
8<ived it. They made mistakes, as does 
everybody, and they wisely profited by 
them. They know what it is to be huugry, 
cold and weary, and they have seen times 
when fate and the hand of every man 
seemed to be against them, but they had 
the grit to fight it out and of course they 
won the battle. They now have comforta¬ 
ble homes and are honored by their neigh¬ 
bors and acquaint¬ 
ances. They can 
; attend fairs, exhi¬ 
bitions, institutes, 
; and take summer 
mutings without 
ifeeling the expense, 
fin short, they have, 
Iby their own ef¬ 
forts, worked them- 
welves up to a posi¬ 
tion where they 
can thoroughly en¬ 
joy all of the real 
comforts and bless¬ 
ings of life. Such 
men as these are 
truly the bone and 
sinew of our land, 
and ever will be the 
main-stay and sup¬ 
port of this, the 
grandest govern¬ 
ment on the face of 
the earth. 
No. 1 is Mr. M. 
Colbrook. lie was 
born and reared in 
Germany. His fath¬ 
er was a farmer. 
On arriving in this 
country he began 
working by the 
month for farmers. 
He entered the Un¬ 
ion army and with 
the rest of his com¬ 
pany was surprised 
and captured before 
Atlanta, and sent 
to Andersonville 
prison, where die 
remained three 
months. What he 
suffered there may 
be judged from the 
fact that he weigh¬ 
ed over 170 pounds when he went in, 
and only 87 when he was released. 
For two years thereafter he hovered 
between life and death, but a sturdy 
constitution finally triumphed and he now 
tips the beam at about 200 pounds. As 
soon as his strength returned he began 
working for farmers again and investing 
his earnings in sheep, which were pastured 
on the prairies. Wool brought big prices 
and by careful and economical management 
he soon accumulated a large flock. Then 
he bought a quarter-section of prairie, half 
of which he broke and sowed to wheat. 
This yielded a good crop and proved a verit¬ 
able boon, for soon afterward he lost almost 
his entire flock of sheep by disease con¬ 
tracted from a passing flock, and aggrava¬ 
ted by a remarkably cold, wet season. This 
nearly bankrupted him, but he stuck to his 
land and by hard work and the closest 
economy held it until another good crop 
set him on his feet again. From that time 
on his progress has been unchecked, and he 
is now worth upwards of $25,000. One of 
his best strokes in farming was sowing all 
of his new land to winter wheat: his most 
disastrous, was trying to raise sheep with¬ 
out suitable shelter and conveniences. He 
advocates mixed farming to a certain ex¬ 
tent, believing it the safest, but devotes his 
attention chiefly to growing corn and rais¬ 
ing hogs. In breeding and fattening hogs 
for market he has been remarkably success¬ 
ful. His practice is to have pigs dropped 
moderately early, pasture them with 
enough corn to keep them growing lively 
through the summer, give them warm beds 
and all they will eat in the autumn, and 
sell them as soon as they ar,. good, smooth 
light weights, such as always bring top 
prices in the Chicago markets. From 
wheat, corn and hogs most of his wealth 
has come. He is, as any one would infer 
from his appaarance, a jolly, good-natured 
fellow, shrewd, careful, economical, and as 
steady as a clock, and is highly respected 
by all who know him. 
No. 2 is Mr. H. Grundy. He was born in 
England and emigrated to this coantry 
when 14 years of age, going direct to Illi¬ 
nois. He worked for farmers seven years, 
saving enough of his earnings in that time 
to enable him to begin farming for himself 
on rented land. Three years afterwards he 
bought 160 acres of raw prairie and suc¬ 
ceeded by hard work and the closest econ¬ 
omy in paying for it within five years. 
From that time to the present his rise has 
been steady, and he is now worth over 
$20,000. He believes in mixed farming, and 
follows it with such skill that he makes 
money out of everything he handles. His 
great success is wholly due to his energy 
and thoroughness. He asserts that money 
can be made in growing any farm crop, or 
raising any kind of stock, if everything 
connected therewith is .done at the right 
time and in a thorough manner, and he 
proves his assertions. One mistake made 
in his early experience was trying to farm 
a large quantity of land with an insuffi¬ 
ciency of teams and implements, thus 
working at a great disadvantage; another 
was in doing too much of the heavy farm 
work himself, instead of hiring additional 
help and attending more closely to his 
stock and other important details. He 
1 a 
4 » 
FIVE REPRESENTATIVE ILLINOIS FARMERS. Fig. 306. 
makes a large quantity of manure every 
year, but relies principally on a systematic 
rotation of crops, includin g pasturing with 
sheep and cattle, as the means of keeping 
up the fertility of his land. He has ample 
machinery for handling the various crops 
he grows and takes the best of care of it. 
He has as nearly a model farm as can be 
found in this part of the State, and his 
home is surrounded by evergreens and well 
protected on the west and north by a large 
grove of maples. He is a great reader of 
practical and philosophical works, and of 
journals of the highest class. He is a school 
director and a firm believer in the merits 
of our public school system. As will be 
seen, his portrait indicates the thorough 
farmer—practical, energetic and a master 
of his vocation. 
No. 3 is Mr. M. Beaty, the youngest 
member of the group. He was born and 
reared on a farm in Indiana. Practically he 
began life in the Union army, serving 
three years and coming out with a little 
money, most of which he spent traveling 
over the Western States looking for a suit¬ 
able location in which to establish a home. 
Having settled in this vicinity, he began 
farming op leased land and after a few 
years purchased a farm, going deeply into 
debt for it. It took several years of hard 
work and the closest economy to lift that 
burden off his shoulders, but grit and per¬ 
sistence finally won and he came out with 
flying colors. He is now worth something 
over $8,000 and deserves every cent of it. 
One of his best strokes in farming was 
leasing new land and sowing it to winter 
wheat. He has made several mistakes but 
none that proved 
very disas -us. 
He is an ad - ate 
of mixed farming, 
believing it to be 
the safest in the 
long run. He 
grows considerable 
wheat, but more 
corn. With these 
two crops he is very 
successful, chiefly 
because he takes 
great pains to pre¬ 
pare the ground 
thoroughly before 
putting in the seed. 
He has been only 
moderately success¬ 
ful with hogs. He 
puts great faith in 
sheep and is steadi¬ 
ly increasing and 
improving his flock. 
He wants to have 
nothing to do with 
cattle. He believes 
quite strongly in 
clover as a means 
of renewing and 
conserving fertili¬ 
ty. He is a hard 
worker, a good 
manager and p suc¬ 
cessful “all-round” 
farmer'. Mr. Beaty 
is a very quiet man, 
keeps himself well 
informed, is rather 
conservative in his 
views, attends 
strictly to his own 
affairs and is highly 
esteemed by his 
friends and ac¬ 
quaintances. He is 
a school director, 
