Vol/LXIX. No. 4069 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 22, 1910. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE WHEATLAND PLOWING MATCH. 
A Great Event In Illinois. 
This match is the oldest and most influential con¬ 
test of its kind in the Middle West, if not in the 
United States. Its benefits to Will County, and as an 
inspiration to general agriculture, are manifold, though 
perhaps not greater than were anticipated by its far¬ 
sighted and progressive originators. It was in 1S77 
when the most prominent farmers of Will County got 
together for the purpose of founding some agricultural 
institution that would serve to bring the farmers into 
a closer relationship and lend an impetus to general 
agriculture. The plowing match resulted, and from 
that day until this the match has been held annually 
with increasing success and popularity, and its benefits 
are felt continually as an educational and social enter¬ 
prise. Soon after its institution, results were so 
marked that not only were there plowing competitions, 
but prizes were also awarded for the best-kept farm, 
the most productive farm, and the farm surrounded 
by the best-kept roads. All this produced a keen and 
good-natured competition. Competition we know is 
one of the strongest forces which tend toward ability 
and perfection. Each farmer tried to outdo his neigh¬ 
bor in the contest. This required care, skill, and per¬ 
severance. Not long afterwards these qualities began 
to show forth in other farm operations, and not only 
branded the quality' of the general farm work, but 
these characteristics became inculcated in the very 
nature of the contestants, and were handed down from 
lather to son. As a result Wheatland Township was 
soon recognized to be the most beautiful, most pro¬ 
ductive, and best farmed community in the State of 
Illinois. The plowing match has made Wheatland 
one compact brotherhood by the development of social 
intercourse, and the high standard of intelligence that 
has come as a natural sequence is one of the more 
beneficial results. 
The thirty-third annual match was held September 
17, near Plainfield, Ill., with an attendance of about 
6 ,000. At one o’clock the 
80 or more teams lined 
up on their alloted half 
acres, the plowmen eager 
for the fray, and filled 
with grim determination 
to do the best piece of 
plowing they ever turned 
up. It is this determina¬ 
tion that accomplishes the 
marvelous work seen at 
the contest. Two 40-acre 
fields of oat stubble were 
used. The trash was 
heavy, being composed of 
a nine-inch growth of 
smart - weed and rag- 
we.ed, and cornstalks 
were in evidence suffi¬ 
ciently to give a 
test as to the plowman’s 
ability to cover trash. 
Head lands about 30 feet 
wide were marked off by 
a furrow being r u n 
across the field at right 
angles to the plots, thus giving ample room for a 
sharp break and finish, and a line of four stakes on 
each plot guided the contestants in cutting their first 
furrows. The plowmen are classified according to 
their machines, there being a class for men, one for 
boys under 17, and one for boys under 15, using walk¬ 
ing plows. In the riding-plow class a similar distinc¬ 
tion is made irrespective of whether the plow used is 
a gang or a sulky. Then there is a prize winners’ 
class for all plowmen who have taken a first premium 
in any men’s class at the Wheatland, or Big Rock 
plowing matches. Finally comes the post graduate 
class for men who have taken the silver cup for two 
WM. FAIRWEATHER, CHAMPION PLOWMAN. Fig. 423. 
successive years in any plowing match. Covetable 
prizes are offered in all classes. Each plowman using 
a sulky or walking plow must plow a half acre in 
three hours; those using gangs must finish three 
quarters of an acre. In judging, the usual scale of 
100 points is used, consideration being given as fol¬ 
lows: Evenness of furrows, 30 points; conformation 
of furrows, 30 points; straightness of furrows, 25 
pointness; neatness, 15 points. 
The usual marvelous work was seen at the recent 
contest. One can scarcely be reproved for expressing 
doubt as to the ability of a plowman to turn a furrow 
45 rods long so straight that the eye cannot detect a 
variation throughout its length. Yet this feat was ac¬ 
complished with apparent ease. To see these furrow 
slices lying up against one another so straight, even, 
round, and neat as to form a surface of excellent con¬ 
formation, free from uncovered trash, was a beautiful 
sight that could not but be appreciated by even those 
who know not that good plowing is an art and a 
necessity for the best results. Even the work of the 
boys at these events puts to shame 09 per cent of the 
plowing seen throughout the country, and sweeps away 
any excuses that may be advanced for the; habitual 
carelessness in the fundamental operations of agricul¬ 
ture. To see a 13-year-old boy adjust his plow ;o 
meet the condition of a strange soil, and then turn up 
a half acre of soil in such a manner as to vie with the 
accomplishments of older plowmen for ideal work¬ 
manship, only suggests what can be done by a little 
care, thought, and study. 
Too many farmers fail to see what benefits may be 
derived from good plowing. They fail to realize that 
the plow is a machine to be respected. “Land well 
plowed is half worked.” The undersoil must be 
brought up, pulverized, and exposed as much as pos¬ 
sible to the sun and atmosphere. The failure to turn 
under trash invites trouble in the following treatment, 
and retards growth to some degree. The furrows 
should be round, even, and show but little crease be¬ 
tween them. Unless we plow straight we cannot 
plow even, and in one place the plow is not cutting a 
full strip, while in another the slice is not being cut 
entirely loose so that it may be properly turned. Not 
only must the plow itself be made a subject of study, 
but its work heeded in different soils, varying soil 
conditions, and in plowing at different depths and 
widths. These points have been called to the atten¬ 
tion of the Wheatland plowmen, and their careful 
heeding attitude, responding to the necessities, has 
brought invaluable results as the reward. 
Aside from the plowing features, mention must be 
made of the grain show of corn, oats, and potatoes 
from Will and adjoining counties, and of the women’s 
exhibit of baked goods, and handicraft. Valuable 
premiums are offered in 
these contests, wh ic h 
stimulates that valuable 
competition and lends at¬ 
traction for the success 
of the match. Credit must 
be given to the women 
for that renowned chicken 
dinner served in the 
women’s tent. The af¬ 
ternoon is spent in social 
intercourse, in examin¬ 
ing manufacturers’ ex¬ 
hibits, and in watching 
the traction plows at 
work. The advantages of 
the occasion for family 
reunions are many. Not 
only do the relatives from 
the same community get 
together for a family 
dinner in picnic style, but 
the city cousins look for¬ 
ward to this time as one 
occasion for visiting their 
rural relatives, and they 
flock from nearby towns and cities to enjoy the day. 
Nowhere has the writer witnessed such hospitality, 
intimacy, and social sincerity as predominates at these 
matches. The affair seems to exceed the county fair 
by far in this respect, the exclusion from the grounds 
of fakers, venders, and sideshows being one reason 
for the coveted results. Thus we may grasp a mere 
idea of the effect of the famous Wheatland plowing 
match as an educational and social benefactor for the 
