W.J. TAYLOR WINS AT CORN SHOW

TAYLOR

Posted By: Christine Gorball (email)
Date: 1/24/2011 at 13:09:33

W.J. TAYLOR WINS AT CORN SHOW

Wins Fourth Prize Offered for Largest Yield of Corn per Acre

QUALITY WINS OVER LARGE YIELDS

Winnebago County Corn's
First Winning at the State Show

Again Winnebago county with ther broad acres of fertile soil and her sturdy sons who know so well how to make those fertile acres yield their full measure at the harvest time, is attracting state wide attention and is occupying a prominent position in the head lines of the dailes through the showing that one of her sons has made in the great corn show at Des Moines.

W.J. Taylor, who lives on a farm northwest of this city, entered some of this year's corn from his place and has won the fourth prize awarded for the largest yield per acre, the quality of the corn being a feature of the contest. Mr. Taylor's corn yielded 87 bushels to the acre and was of a quality which placed it in a class with the best at the big show. Entry conditions required that a bushel of the corn be furnished together with duly certified statements of the number of bushels realized. The corn was measured and certified to by disinterested parties. The judging of the corn of course was done by men who know corn, whose reputations is nation-wide in that respect.

For Winnebago county this is a fine thing in many ways. The corn show is the largest event of its kind in the United States and was advertised largely throughtout the country. Prize winners at a show of that magnitude will secure advertisement that is invaluable both to the soil and to the man who worked it. Some time since a farm in this county sold for $100 per acre and that was the top price paid for land here for many years. That land which will raise corn of that kind can be had for less than 100 per acre should mean that there will be a large buying of farms in this locality by farmers who are literally land poor in other sections of this and other states.

Mr. Taylor has been a resident of this county for a number of years and has been one of those whose confidence in the soil and climate has never abated. Also he has been one of the progressive kind of farmers at whom so many scoff. He has been a regular attendant of farmers' institutes and has been quick to take advantage of improved methods of tilling the soil. He is what is known as a "book farmer". He farmed by rules and learned from the experience of others and that experiments of scientists how best to conserve the fertility of the soil while taking from the maximum yield. By his winning of this prize modern methods of farming have won a victory over the method which says that "we must do these things because our fathers did for half a century, so it must be right."

Source: Copy of a newspaper article. Year Unknown.