Vol. LXI. No. 2714 NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1 , 1902. 
/‘THE BEST FARM IN OHIO. 
ONOA RECLAIMED MARSH. 
'Onions, Corn, Cabbage and Oats. 
In the western part of Hardin County is the best 
farm in Ohio from a money-making standpoint. It 
is situated in the fertile spot known as the Scioto 
Marsh, and comprises 700 acres. Thirty years ago 
the marsh was a paradise for hunters, who traversed 
the numerous waterways in small boats and found 
game in abundance. Dredge boats have accomplish¬ 
ed wonders, and vast fields of onions, corn and pota¬ 
toes now take the place of pond lilies 
and marsh grasses. (Henry Price, the 
owner of this farm, has all his best 
buildings and his pasture fields on a 
tract of 200 acres known as “upland.’ 
The uplands of to-day are the islands of 
hunting days, and are the only wooded 
spots on the marsh. The residence is a 
beautiful two-story frame house, heated 
and lighted by .natural gas, and supplied 
with water by a wind pump. The gas 
wells on the farm furnish light for 10 
Welsbach burners in the house, several 
burners for the barn, and a number of 
hooded lights for the lawn and barn¬ 
yard. All the cooking is done with gas, 
and the furnace supplied with it. It also 
furnishes power for a 16 horse-power 
engine used for grinding feed, sawing 
wood for tenants, and wherever power 
can be applied. There are 16 flowing 
wells on the place, some of which are so 
powerful as to knock a tin pail out of 
one’s hand. These supply an abund¬ 
ance of fresh cold water to the live 
stock, with which the farm is well sup¬ 
plied. The soil is from four to seven 
feet deep, and is underlaid with clay. 
It is of a rich black color, and seems to 
be inexhaustible. While it is too soft 
for pasture and hay fields, it is ideal 
land for corn, oats, onions, potatoes and 
cabbage. Mr. Price usually raises from 
150 to 100 acres of onions, 200 acres of 
corn and the rest potatoes, cabbage and 
oats. Wheat does not do well, except 
on the upland portion of the farm, 
where the pasture is also located. 
During 16 years Mr. Price had one 
failure. Two years ago he lost his en¬ 
tire corn crop by a late June frost. Most 
farmers in the marsh suffer from high 
winds blowing out onion seed in the 
Spring, but many are adopting Mr. 
Price’s method of sowing a narrow strip 
of rye or wheat through the fields at in¬ 
tervals, which serves as a wind-break. 
The onion sales amount to from $12,000 
to $25,000 annually, and there are usual¬ 
ly 4,000 to 7,000 bushels of corn to sell 
in July or August, besides what is fed to 
stock. Mr. Price stores his onions at 
Alger, a little shipping station, in frostproof ware¬ 
houses, and sells them during the Autumn and Win¬ 
ter at varying prices. This year dealers offered a 
cent a pound for onions in the field before harvest¬ 
ing, but few sold, as the prices showed signs of rising 
later. There are 14 houses besides the large one, and 
they are of all kinds, from the two-room shanty to 
the pretty little cottage, all occupied by large fam¬ 
ilies. The comic papers are filled with jokes about 
hard-hearted landlords who refuse to take children, 
but Mr. Price selects the man with the most children 
for his tenant, for children make the best onion weed- 
ers. In weeding time Mr. Price employs from 50 to 
140 people to use wheel hoes and weed by hand, be¬ 
sides his regular farm help. All Summer men, wo¬ 
men and children can be seen hoeing, weeding, top¬ 
ping and digging, according to the month. The soft 
dirt roads of the Marsh are alive with barefooted peo¬ 
ple going to and from work morning and evening. 
The expense of running this farm, including the 
salaries of barn man and superintendent, is from 
$4,000 to $7,000 a year. From six to 10 men are kept 
the year around and boarded at the residence of Mr. 
Price, while tenants and the floating population of 
the Summer supply the extra help. After the Fall 
work is finished, the horses, except four teams, colts 
and cattle are turned into a large yard which is sup¬ 
plied with water from a flowing well and has an 
abundance of straw stacks and sheds. They are fed 
on corn fodder but no grain, and come out in the 
Spring fat and healthy. About 40 horses are always 
kept. In another yard from one to two carloads of 
cattle are fed for market, and a large number of hogs. 
Mr. Price brought the first Galloway cattle to Hardin 
County, and think they are the most profitable he has 
raised. He is what is called a buggy farmer, but keeps 
a strict supervision over the whole place. His build¬ 
ings are painted every three years, his fences kept in 
repair, and the whole barnyard covered with gravel. 
The barn shown in Fig. 27 is a commodious structure 
with ample room for the work horses and a large hay 
mow. It contains harness rooms and a well-heated 
and lighted lounging room for the hands. One man 
is kept busy looking after the barn the year around. 
The regular men are paid by the month, and extra 
helpers by the week. Visitors are always cordially 
welcomed and hospitably entertained. Mr. Price has 
a wide circle of friends, and it is no uncommon thing 
to see people from other counties driving up to inspect 
this remarkable farm. It is a blessing to the Marsh 
people, and a source of great profit to 
the owner. Fig. 26 shows Mr. Price’s 
home. m. u. i. 
COLORADO FRUIT QUESTIONS. 
An inquirer in Colorado, C. H. Chapin, 
Delta County, asks a number of fruit 
questions, including the following: “Is 
Paragon only another name for the 
apple often called Mammoth Blacktwig, 
or is it a separate variety? 'We have 
trees here under both names that bear 
alike and look alike in every way. It is 
a very strong grower. Would it be well 
to top-graft it on to trees of Jefferis, 
which is not as strong a grower? It is 
said that Rome Beauty does better when 
top-grafted upon some thriftier stock. Is 
this true, or is it sufficiently thrifty 
without this means of adding vigor to 
its growth? Is Black Ben Davis any 
better than Gano, or are they similar? 
I planted 300 trees of the Anjou pear 
last year, and I am told by fruit dealers 
that Bartlett is much better for mar¬ 
ket. 'Should I bud the Bartlett on to 
the Anjou trees, and if so when? Does 
the Bartlett need pollinating with an¬ 
other variety? Are there other peaches 
as good as, or better and a little later 
than the Elberta, which has been gen¬ 
erally planted here? What of the Tri¬ 
umph, Carman, Muir and Champion? Is 
vetch better than Crimson clover for a 
green manure in an orchard? My 
ground is getting very compact and 
needs something to loosen it.” 
Paragon is the true name of a variety 
of apple that originated in Tennessee, 
but it has proved to be so nearly like 
the Arkansas, or Mammoth Blacktwig, 
which is an Arkansas seedling, that the 
two have been thought identical. There¬ 
fore, the latter was called Paragon for 
several years, and so advertised and 
labeled by the nurserymen, but this is 
now discontinued, tt might pay to top- 
work trees of the Jefferis to the Arkan¬ 
sas, but I would not do so unless I had 
more than enough Jefferis for home 
use, because it is one of the best of the 
early Fall apples. It is true that Rome 
Beauty is rather better when top-worked on some 
more vigorous stock, such as Ben Davis or Northern 
Spy. There is a contention by those who are pushing 
the Black Ben Davis that it is distinct from Gano, 
and some who are growing trees of both and others 
who have not seen the trees in bearing but only the 
fruit, as with myself, consider that they are one and 
the same variety. If they have different origin they 
are so near alike that I have never been able to tell 
them apart. 
In my opinion, it was a mistake to plant a lar 
number of Anjou pear trees. Bartlett would have 
been very much better, for it is a much more profit- 
