GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS IN THE AGRICULTURE OF DU PAGE

T

COUNTY, ILLINOIS

By Laura Hatch

Barnard College, Columbia University

HIS discussion of the agricultural geography of a prairie county in Illinois is presented as a type study from the Middle West. It is part of a dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Ogden Graduate School of Science of the University of Chicago in candidacy for the degree of Master of Science in 1911*. Acknowledgement is due Prof. H. H. Barrows, under whose direction the thesis was written.

Du Page County is in the northeastern part of Illinois just west of Chicago. Its area of 339 square miles is underlain by Niagara limestone, which is deeply covered by glacial drift. The drift, with an average thickness of 100 feet, covers an irregular bedrock topography. For details regarding the geography of the county, and for references to the literature, see the complete copy of this thesis, Geology Library, Rosenwald Hall, University of Chicago, and The Geology and Geography of the Wheaton Quadrangle by A. C. Trowbridge, Ill. Geol. Survey, Bull. 19, 1912. Special reference may be made to the manuscript letters of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Greene, from Lisle Township, Du Page County, written between 1835 and 1878, and of Mrs. Strong's, written between 1830 and 1850.

Du Page County from the beginning of settlement has been devoted chiefly to agriculture, for which it is well fitted. The topography of the county is flattish or gently rolling with slight relief and moderate slopes which can be cultivated easily. It lies in a section having a mean annual rainfall of 36.25 inches with a recorded minimum of 29.8 inches in 1900 and a maximum of 45.4 inches in 1898. The rain is usually well distributed through the year. Occasional drouths, however, do immense damage to crops. The county is well supplied with ground water. The farmers depend chiefly for their water supply upon shallow wells, most of which furnish excellent water at depths of twenty to forty feet. For a county with fair-sized prairies, Du Page was well supplied with timber, well distributed and sufficient in amount to meet all the needs of the early settlers.

The soil of Du Page County is deep and rich, and, being made from the underlying glacial drift, contained all the elements of plant food in suitable amounts. It consists of three general varieties,-the upland prairie soil, the upland timber soil, and the lowland alluvial soil. The alluvial soil is found along the river bottoms and in small patches throughout the ground moraine where there were formerly little lakes or swamps. This soil is black and rich. The soil in the swamp areas is in many places so full of vegetable material that it is not very good for agriculture, unless potassium is added. The upland timber soil is in most places heavy clay, and poor for everything except small grains and

*The two following paragraphs are abstracted from the introductory pages of the thesis, where the general geography was discussed at greater length.

hay. This soil was cultivated first, in the clearings of the timber, and as it was fairly good for wheat, especially as long as the layer of leaf mold lasted, it was supposed to be the only soil suited to that cereal. Soon, however, it was found to be inferior to the prairie soil. It occurs for the most part on the higher ridges and now, even where the timber has been cut off for a number of years, it can be told from the original prairie soil by its lighter color, its stickier character, and the presence of black iron. The prairie soil is the black upland soil. It is usually underlain by brown loam, and was originally about as fertile as the alluvial soil.

The prairies excited the wonder of all travelers and settlers in Du Page County, as in other parts of northern Illinois. They were covered with tall, coarse grass which turned yellow at one stage, quite resembling young wheat. In the damp places the grass grew rank and often nine feet tall. On the upland rolling prairie it was about eighteen inches high, with a compact mass of roots forming a dense sod. The prairie flowers were the inspiration of many early poems and, judging from the descriptions of travellers, they must have been brilliant in the extreme. The prairies, with their covering of long grass undulating in the wind, were often likened to a great sea, out of which groves of timber rose like islands. Every year the Indians set fire to the prairies (1) to drive the game to the timber, (2) to facilitate the speed of their horses, and (3) to afford no cover for enemies. Even after the Indians departed, prairie fires often were set by those who believed that the layer of ashes over the prairie was beneficial to the soil and that it would aid the next year's growth of grass. The prairies were very useful to the immigrant and settler. They afforded fodder for cattle and horses and made the planting of hay unnecessary for a number of years. This was of primary importance because of the difficulties of producing crops on only a few acres, so if hay for the cattle had had to be procured too, it probably would have meant decrease of the herd and a consequent loss of meat, milk, butter, and cheese, which were the mainstays of the early households in Du Page County.

Cattle were brought from the East or imported from the South. The price of good milch cows in 1836 in Du Page County was $25.00 and in 1837, $25.00 to $40.00, and they paid for themselves in one summer. The farmers turned as many cows as they pleased on to the prairie and cut enough prairie grass to last through the winter. In Du Page County agriculture was more advantageous than stock raising, so the number of cattle held by each pioneer farmer was usually only enough for his own use, and no products were sold, except butter occasionally.

Many settlers could not wait until the sod was disintegrated to plant a crop, and so raised "sod corn" and "sod wheat." This meant hewing apart the sod with an axe or spade, dropping corn or wheat into the cracks, and "applying the heel freely." This was not always a certain method of raising a crop. In some cases seed had to be planted several times because prairie chickens scratched it up.

Agriculture in Du Page County is naturally divided into three periods, (1) from 1830 to 1850, (2) from 1850 to 1870, (3) from 1870 to the present.

Corn was the staple crop of the pioneers of Du Page County. It was easily raised and afforded large returns for time and labor expended. It had a long harvest season, which was important as labor was often scarce. It was fed to the stock in winter, and constituted the main, and at times the only, article of diet for all early households. It could be ground at home, and used in various forms such as mush and hominy, corn bread, corn cakes, etc. It was easily stored and handled, but was too bulky to be transported far.

Next to corn, wheat was the chief crop in early days. At first many plants from fall-sown seed were winter-killed, and so spring wheat was considered the surer crop. Toward the end of the period, the chinch bug destroyed much of the spring wheat, so winter wheat came into favor. Oats followed wheat in importance, and some barley, buckwheat, rye and flax were raised. The New Englanders had excellent gardens and orchards. Most of the common vegetables and fruits were raised, the seeds being imported from the East. Melons seemed particularly adapted to the prairie soil in Du Page County, and excelled any that the Easterners had known before.

Farming operations were hindered at this early day by lack of implements. The New Englander as a rule was supplied best, his stock usually consisting of an axe, plow, and scythe which he had brought with him from the East. The plows were clumsy affairs of cast iron, which plowed only four or five inches deep and in such a way that almost one-third of the land was not benefitted. They had to be guided by hand, and a man walked twenty-five miles and more a day while plowing one and one-half or two

Corn was planted by hand and covered with a hoe until, toward the end of the period, a hand planter was introduced by which planting and covering were performed in one operation. Small grain was sown broadcast by hand and harvested with sickle or scythe and cradle. Threshing was done by flail on the barn floor.

All the methods of agriculture in this period are characterized by crudeness and waste. The farmers believed in the inexhaustibility of the virgin soil and thought that the rotation and fertilization practiced on the worn lands in the East would never be necessary on their fields. The great yield of the prairies is probably responsible for these ideas. The first crops, even with the fields only partially broken, were about as large as our average yields of today, with all our advantages of modern agricultural methods. A letter written from Du Page County in 1835 states that much of the corn was twelve feet high, while eight to nine feet was the average, with ears often six feet from the ground; the yield was forty bushels per acre. This crop was raised by the writer the same year that he came west, so it was presumably sod corn. Later we have reports varying from forty to eighty bushels of corn While allowance should be made for the exaggeration of early re

ports, yet the average for the county probably was at least twenty-five per cent higher than now. An ordinary first crop paid all the expenses of breaking, plowing, harvesting, and marketing.

Until 1838, farmers in Du Page County reaped large profits from their farms. The supply of produce never quite equalled the demand. New settlers bought of those who had come before. Immigrants and speculators were arriving in such numbers that the demand for farm produce in Chicago and in the taverns along the trails made prices high. In 1836, work began on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and this offered another market for the Du Page farmer. In 1835 corn was $1.00 to $1.25 a bushel, wheat $1.25 to $1.50, oats 90c to $1.00, potatoes, 50c to $1.00, flour $10.00 to $15.00 per barrel, and pork $15.00 per barrel. In April, 1837, wheat reached $2.00 a bushel. The panic of 1837 affected the price of produce and the decline continued until 1843. Work was suspended on the canal and money was so scarce that trade was carried on chiefly by barter. All produce was extremely low in 1843. Pork was sold at $1.50 and $2.00 per one hundred pounds, the lowest to that time in Chicago. In 1844 corn was only 25c a bushel, but increased in value from then till 1850. Pork and beef did not begin to rise on account of a slight overproduction until the famine in Ireland (1846 to 1847) called for all the grain the West could produce. In 1850 pork was selling for $4.00 or $5.00 a hundred pounds. Although corn was raised chiefly. for home use, it was found profitable to sell at high prices. There was a difference of 25c on the price of produce in Du Page County and in Chicago. Wheat was raised chiefly for market, although some was converted into flour for home use. Potatoes were marketed in this period and often a calf or hog was found on the farmer's wagon as he drove to market. Some wool was marketed, but not so much in this period as later.

Most of the produce was carted to Chicago. An early start with good roads would bring the Du Page County farmer into Chicago in time to market his produce the same day. A bridge was built in 1847 over the Des Plaines River at the site of Maywood through the efforts of the Du Page County farmers, who insisted on marketing their produce even during high water.

Scientific agriculture began in Du Page County between 1850 and 1870. The introduction of the reaper probably was the most important advance in farm practice at this time. McCormick reapers were an assured success after 1851, and Du Page County, being near the factory, early benefitted by this invention. Two laborers were required at first, one to manage the horses and the other to rake the grain off the machine. During the Civil War the invention of the raking apparatus dispensed with one laborer.

Cast iron plows gave way to self-cleaning steel plows. Broad-cast seeders were introduced and also wheeled harrows, which were later adapted to riding. Windmills for pumping water became common during this period but were clumsy affairs made of wood. There were a few windmills of Dutch type for grinding flour. Corn-planters were improved to plant two rows at a time.

Threshing was still done by flail and husking by hand. The invention of the sectional plates for the straight sickle edge of the reaper made it as good for cutting grass as grain. The value of farm machinery in Du Page County increased from $86,013 in 1850 to $204,110 in 1860, and $307,498 in 1870; while the population increased in the same time from 9,290 to 14,701 and 16,685. Thus the per capita value of farm machinery increased from $9.15 in 1850 to $18.13 in 1870, or nearly 100 per cent.

Stock raising became more and more important during this period. The rapid settlement of the prairies by the Germans created a demand for horses and cattle. Cattle and sheep also were raised for the meat supply of the county or sold to the slaughtering houses of Chicago. Wool was high in price and the production of the county increased from 34,034 lbs. in 1850 to 153,611 lbs. in 1870. The rapid decline of sheep raising after this date was due to the development of the more profitable dairy industry, so sheep raising had to be transferred to cheaper land. At present there are only 836 sheep in the county, compared with 26,932 in 1870.

The county is well adapted to stock raising. The prairie soil produces excellent fodder, and the upland timbered areas are good pasture land. The number of milch cows increased rapidly, because of the increase in population, and a great quantity of butter and cheese was made. This was the time of greatest output of these products in the history of Du Page County, yet it was all made on the farms. It was usually sold to the country stores but sometimes shipped to Chicago.

The character of the crops changed during the period. With the settlement of the prairies the area of pasture land decreased and hay had to be grown increasingly. Some rye and barley were raised and sold to the breweries at Naperville. Grain farming as a whole declined. Corn and oats were the staple crops but were raised chiefly for feed. Wheat was often unprofitable as it was attacked season after season by rust, mildew, and insects. Fallsown wheat for a number of years was winter-killed, and so was abandoned altogether by the end of the period.

The opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal made it possible to take lumber into the interior in large quantities and made Chicago the greatest lumber market in the country. A reduction in the price of lumber followed, much to the benefit of the farmer who was now taking up prairie land a number of miles from the timber. It also led to an enlarging of agricultural operations and the building of commodious barns and houses.

Because of the panic of 1857 prices fell in 1858 and although they recovered to a certain extent the next year they afterwards continued to decline until just before the Civil War when they reached a very low figure. In 1861, wheat sold for 75c and corn for 23c a bushel.

During the war, food was needed for the armies, and the withdrawal of labor made prices advance until in 1864, wheat was $1.81 and corn $1.30