The climate is much the same as that described in the account of the Genoa (Wis.) area, and is characterized by long cold winters, short springs, and hot summers. Frost sometimes cuts off the corn crop before maturity in the fall, and in the spring there is danger from killing frosts until the end of May. In general, the climate is well adapted to the cereal grains, tame grasses, and clover and, if adequate shelter is provided for the stock, to dairying and live-stock production. Usually there is plenty of running water to supply the needs of the cattle, and the rainfall is generally ample to mature all crops, although there are frequent droughts in the late summer. Heavy snowfalls frequently occur in the winter, and field operations must be practically suspended from November to some time in April.

AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS.

Nearly all the land was secured in 40-acre units or multiples thereof. The settlers who preempted or purchased school land or swamp land from the State, or who homesteaded, usually took up 160-acre claims. There were some exceptions, but few newcomers purchased less than 80 acres. The price of wild land varied from $1.25 to $5 an acre, for Wisconsin's policy was to sell her land very cheaply to actual settlers and so encourage immigration. The later arrivals-those who purchased after 1880, or at least after 1885-usually secured land at least partly improved and some of the purchases were of less than 40 acres. Very few Poles have failed to make second purchases. hence there are now many holdings of more than 160 acres, and som farmers own as much as 360 acres.

The acreage of the entire number of Polish farms (206) in Trempealeau County in 1877 is shown by specified sizes in the table which. follows. It is seen that the smallest farms were in Dodge where was the greatest concentration of Poles, the median farm being about 110 acres. In Burnside the Independence district--more recently settled, the median farm was about 154, probably 160, acres. The median farm for the entire Polish community was in the neighborhood of 130 acres. At this time the median German farm was 140 acres and the median farm owned by Irishmen 144 acres or thereabouts.

TABLE 16.-Acreage of Polish farms, near Independence, Wis., 1877.

Similar data for the same townships and some outlying districts, in 1901, are shown in the following table:

TABLE 17.-Acreage of Polish farms, near Independence, Wis., 1891.
[Compiled from Official Atlas, 1901.]

It will be interesting to compare with the 1877 table of acreages the situation in 1901. The latter table shows a measurable growth in number of Polish farms during the period. At the latter date the entire number of separate Polish holdings in that part of Trempealeau County was 552, an increase of 346, or practically 168 per cent in a quarter of a century. The greatest relative increase was in Burnside, but in actual numbers Arcadia Township made larger gains. On the other hand, Dodge had seven fewer Polish farms in 1901 than in 1877, but the classified acreage shows that the holdings were larger, and computation discloses that the aggregate land area in that township belonging to Poles was greater in 1901. After 1877 Burnside was partitioned, and what was the northern (and non-Polish) portion in 1877 is now called Chimney Rock. The Poles have been moving into this and other adjoining townships until in 1901 they owned 123 farms outside of the original three towns where the initial settlements were made. A comparison of size of holdings shows that the median farm remained about the same-130 acres in 1877 and 134 acres in 1901. Burnside the median farm fell from 154 acres in 1877 to 124 acres in 1901, the number of farms under 80 acres having increased from 3 in 1877 to 41 in 1901; the number of these small holdings is considerably greater now than in 1901. In Arcadia there has been little change in the average farm; the median in 1877 was 142 acres; in 1901, 137 acres. Dodge shows a marked enlargement in average farm acreage, from 110 to 156 acres, during the period. There are no villages of any size in the Polish section of Dodge, and Poles who moved away have usually sold out to fellow countrymen.

In

A table compiled from the assessment roll showing the acreage of 69 typical Polish farms in Burnside Township in 1909 is herewith presented. Four farms of rather recent purchase contained less than 40 acres each, and five were between 40 and 80 acres in size, but almost one-half of the farms are between 80 and 200 acres or over. The farms were selected at random, but it is probable that they are somewhat larger than the general average of Polish holdings in Burnside Township in 1909.

TABLE 18.-—Acreage of 69 typical Polish farms, Burnside, Wis.

The assessor's statistics of crops growing in the spring of 19 show that the average acreage in hay, grain, and potatoes on a 16acre farm is 90 to 100 acres. The remainder of the improved fields are tame pastures or farm yards. Nearly all farmers own a woo lot, sometimes detached from the farm proper.

TENURE OF LAND.

There is little bona fide tenancy in Burnside, even including the cases in which the father leases his farm, on shares usually, to s grown-up son or perhaps to a neighbor's son. The tenant intends eventually to obtain a title to the place either by purchase or beques All the original Polish farmers owned the land they operated. A the present probably 10 to 15 per cent of the operators are tenants A number of young men are taking care of their parents, handing their fathers' farms and receiving all the returns. Some fathers are buying tracts of land in the Dakotas for their sons who are now working at home without wages.

There is no doubt that tenancy will increase with the advance it land values, and that many young Poles will perforce remain tenants because of insuflicient capital and the impossibility of accumelating enough money to buy high-priced land, but up to the preser there is somewhat less tenancy than in the portions of the count occupied by American farmers. The Federal census of 1900 reporte for the county about the same size of farms, but a larger percenta of farm owners than was disclosed by the investigation of Polis farms. Undoubtedly there are now more tenants in all parts of the county than in 1900, except among the Scandinavians, who in Trempealeau County constitute a large percentage of farmers and w are largely owners.

CROPS RAISED.

The first money crop raised in this part of Wisconsin was wheat. In the three townships of Arcadia, Burnside, and Dodge, in 1877, the total acreage devoted to three principal crops was as follows: Wheat 14,853 acres; oats, 3,507 acres; corn, 1,980 acres. Until 1880 wheat was the chief crop of the river counties, the Mississippi River cour ties continuing the production of this cereal after the counties the southeastern part of the State had given it up for dairying a tobacco growing. From 1880 to 1890 Trempealeau County fell somewhat in wheat production and began to substitute dairying an stock grains. From 1890 to 1900 the production of wheat per square mile remained practically unchanged, at 786 and 774 bushels, respec

vely, while the per capita production fell off but 0.1, from 13.3 ushels to 13.2 bushels during the decade; in 1904 the per capita figre was 5.9 bushels. In 1869 the production of wheat was 4,869 ushels, and in 1879, 2,932 bushels per square mile and 48.1 bushels nd 47.4 bushels, respectively, per capita.

The following table shows the production of wheat and other rops in the county in various years:

'ABLE 19.-Production of wheat, oats, corn, and hay, Trempealeau County, Wis., in years specified.

The table gives some idea of the falling off in wheat and the ncreasing per capita production of other farm crops in the entire county. The same movement is disclosed in the Polish communities, with this difference, however, that the abandonment of wheat has come about more gradually and that there are few Polish farms which do not raise enough wheat to supply the household with bread, whereas in parts of the county no wheat whatever is grown. Very little wheat is sold, and even high prices have not caused any material increase in the acreage sown.

The chief crop now is oats, of which the average Polish farmer sows 40 to 50 acres yearly and sells the surplus not fed to live stock. Barley, too, is being more generally raised. Of 28 Polish farmers in Burnside Township from whom data relative to crop production were secured, 25 reported barley grown in 1908 and 27 barley growing in 1909. The average acreage per farm was 8.5 in 1909 and the average yield 195 bushels per farm in 1908. Barley is chiefly used for feed and takes the place of oats in the crop rotation and as a stock food. The production of barley per acre is very nearly that of oats (23 to 25 bushels in 1908) and the feeding value is greater. No barley or oats are cut green for hay.

Timothy, clover, and some wild or "marsh" hay is cured. Little hay is sold in any form, since every farmer purposes to keep enough live stock to consume all the hay he produces. The area in tame hay is about 20 acres, or a little less, per farm on an average. The second growth of clover is cut and thrashed for seed. Clover has a regular place in the rotation, and usually follows oats, barley, or perhaps rye, with which it is sowed. Ordinarily a mixture of timothy and clover seed is sowed, and since the clover grows more quickly and more rank than the timothy the first hay crop cut is chiefly clover. However, the clover soon gives place to the slower growing

but more tenacious timothy, and the second and third crops are largely timothy. In this regard, as in others, the Poles conform to the agricultural methods of the community.

Corn is grown for feeding hogs and for fodder. Silos have been built by some Polish dairymen within recent years, and these are filled with ordinary yellow dent corn. But the larger part of the corn is cut for stover and is either shredded or cut fine with a com cutter for feeding purposes. The acreage of corn, while it has increased somewhat since 1880, is not large, owing partly to the fact that the fields are rather rough and hilly in places; in part because, owing to early frosts, corn does not always have an opportunity to mature. The average acreage growing on 28 farms in 1909 was 6.5 acres; the average yield on the same farms in 1908 was 210 bushels. The actual yield was probably a little more than the figure given, since some corn was snapped" from the stalks and fed to hogs, of which it is unlikely any account was taken.

The other and less important crops are rye and potatoes. Potatoes average less than 50 bushels per farm one year with another and are raised for home consumption. Rye still finds a place in the rotation, principally on the sandy or poorer clay soils. About half of the farmers produced an average of 219 bushels per farm in 1908. Rye flour partially takes the place of wheat flour in foreign homes, but some of the grain is fed on the farm and some is sold. No use is made of the straw except for ordinary bedding, of which the money value is very small. Every farmer has a vegetable garden in which he raises the staple vegetables for family use only. The garden, dairy, poultry yard, and piggery furnish the greater part of the family food supply. Where wheat or rye raised on the farm is exchanged for flour there is very little cash outlay for foodstuffs and the cash receipts from produce sold is practically net income. Few colonies visited were more nearly self-sufficing than that of the Poles near Independence.

The following table gives the assessor's figures for 28 representative Polish farms in the vicinity of Independence, Wis., showing the acreage in crops in 1909 and the quantities produced in 1908. It will be seen that there is no specialized farming, no single money crop, and no perishable commercial crop produced.

TABLE 20.-Average quantity of crops raised in 1908 and growing in 1909, typical Polisi farms, Independence, Wis.