St. Croix Riverway Time and the River: A History of the Saint Croix

CHAPTER 3:
"The New Land": Settlement and the Development of Agriculture in the St. Croix Valley (continued)

From Wheat to Dairy

This transportation revolution stimulated the slow, costly, and difficult transition among Polk County farmers to join the rest of the state in its shift from wheat growing to dairying. Despite the assumption that wheat production would continue to expand with the arrival of the railroad, this quicker more efficient form of transportation made it possible for farmers to break their reliance on wheat. Astute farmers found they could now ship fresh dairy and animal products to urban areas. Dairy farming would eventually prove to be a more reliable source of income for farmers, and it would relieve the ecological problems associated with single-crop production. Farmers' lives were also transformed. Equipped with extra cash and cheaper transportation they had access to the growing consumer economy that had developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century through catalogues, cheaper, regular mail service, and the possibility of train trips to the city for shopping and entertainment. [176]

The switch to dairying, however, did not occur overnight. The arrival of the railroad throughout most of Wisconsin coincided with the growth of warning signs that wheat production was waning in southern Wisconsin. This was in part due to the declining fertility of the soil and to the plague of cinch bugs. The price of wheat had also declined after the Civil War with decreased demand and more land further west being brought into cultivation. While dairy farms began appearing in southern Wisconsin, counties further north and along the state's rivers showed no concern for what would be come their future.

In 1860, St. Croix County led the state in wheat yields, with Buffalo and Trempealeau Counties south on the Mississippi following closely behind. Pierce County had also emerged as a significant wheat-producing region. St. Croix County reported almost no livestock in the county save for draft horses. Oats were still cultivated, but even potato production was down, as were the number of swine along the St. Croix, all this to make way for wheat. While other river counties began showing some interest in raising sheep, St. Croix and Polk counties displayed no interest in these woolly creatures despite the cold winters. In 1868 the State Agricultural Society lamented in its Transactions that wheat was still the most highly valued crop in Wisconsin. [177]

The reluctance to give up on wheat along the St. Croix was in part because virgin land was still being brought into cultivation in the 1860s and 70s, and the decline in soil fertility was not rampant. Between 1870 and 1890, the ten-county stretch of land from La Crosse to St. Croix County gave the state a twenty-five percent increase in farm acreage in Wisconsin. Burnett County also joined the ranks of wheat producing counties in the state. The land values in this region went up with railroad service, but so too did taxes. Farmers, therefore, needed to make more money to pay their property rates. Hence, they relied on wheat as long as they could. [178]

The wheat-growing era in the St. Croix Valley, however, had its limits. Agricultural prices in general began to decline in the 1870s and into the 1880s. For farmers to keep up they had to expand their operations. While sowing wheat and watching it grow was relatively easy, harvesting it was a problem. Ripe wheat was easily damaged by heat, wind, hail, and pounding rain and had to be harvested quickly. Horse-drawn reapers and binders were essential. While mechanical farming equipment worked well in the prairie lands of the valley, the hillier terrain in the old forests was less accommodating to machines. In addition, the new roller-mills that began to dominate in the milling centers in the Twin Cities preferred hard spring wheat varieties rather than softer winter wheat. Spring wheat, however, was more susceptible to disease and forced many farmers to rethink their approach to farming. [179]

By the 1880s, most of southern Wisconsin had converted to dairy farming. This transition was slow and halting and had taken over twenty years for most farmers to admit that dairying was the best means of survival. They did not come to it directly from wheat growing either. Many had tried their hand at hops, flax, sugar beets, sorghum, and even tobacco, but these could be grown better and cheaper elsewhere. Sheep raising was a more viable alternative, and wool prices fetched a nice profit during the war. Wool prices dropped after the war and stayed low. However, many farmers whose soil was exhausted by wheat felt they had little choice but to stick with sheep. Sheep farming allowed them to restore their land with rich natural grasses and begin crop rotation while still offering some income to the farmer. Sheep herding was easy compared to taking care of dairy cows or other stock. Wool did not perish like the by-products of milk, and sheep required less winterfeed than cattle. Few Wisconsinites believed corn would flourish in their climate, which thereby restricted them from turning to more lucrative hog farming. Sheep-raising was the "first major adjustment toward a more balanced farm management," wrote historian Eric E. Lampard. "It was. . .the most economical retreat from wheat growing and the cheapest alternative to ‘high farming.'" [180]

It was the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm of migrant New Yorkers that ushered in the dairy industry in Wisconsin. Earlier in the century New York had undergone the same crisis in farming. When wheat farming had exhausted the soils in the Empire State, farmers were forced to search for alternative means of support. By 1860, New York dairy farmers had successfully made the transition to dairy products. To sell broadly farmers found they had to improve the quality and quantity of their cheese and butter. Traditionally, cheese and butter making had been in the province of the over-worked farm wife primarily for household consumption. Whatever surplus she may have produced, was sold locally. Some farm wives had better reputations than others for the quality of their final product. New York dairy associations began to insist on more sanitary processing, better salt, truth in fat content, and improved packaging. By 1851, the industrial revolution reached the dairy farm, and the domestic system was moved to the factory. Within a decade the commercial dairy industry arrived. Consistency in quality, improved packaging, and an increase in quantity created a national and even international market for New York dairy products. [181]

By the time Wisconsin's wheat era had played out in the 1870s, the New York dairy industry was a well-developed model for other regions in the country to emulate. Many a New York dairy farm boy migrated to Wisconsin, attracted by the relative cheapness of the land as well as lower feeding costs and cheaper farm labor. Many became leaders in transforming it into the "Dairy State." New Yorkers usually took the lead in local areas of Wisconsin in building cheese factories, in organizing breeder association, and in uniting the efforts of the state's dairy farmers. In 1872, they helped found the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association. Many of its presidents and executive officers hailed from the Empire State and contributed much needed expertise to the fledgling organization. Through dairy manuals, articles in local newspapers, and public meetings, farmers' apprehensions of the factory system were assuaged. It was hard to argue with the fact that factory produced cheese was of a consistently higher quality than any produced at home. Many a farm wife was no doubt eager to be emancipated from the time-consuming drudgery of home manufacturing of cheese and butter. Factories also could buy supplies in bulk at cheaper costs, and farmers happily turned over the marketing of their product to someone else. The main challenge was getting the milk to the factory before it spoiled. The neglected state and county road system and the vagaries of Wisconsin weather discouraged many farmers from participating in the factory system, but not necessarily in the viability of dairy farming. Farmers also wanted to retain rights to the whey produced from their milk for cattle and pig feed. Many issues needed to be resolved before dairying became widely accepted and practiced throughout the state. [182]

Wisconsinites were the fortunate beneficiaries of the Morrill Land Grant Law that helped establish the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Its College of Agriculture was created in 1866 after a farmers' convention, sponsored by the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, put pressure on the state legislature to establish it in Madison. Scientific agriculture proved to be critical to the development of the dairy industry. Initially, it was difficult to find experienced faculty as well as to attract students out of the farming class. Therefore, in 1886, the College began short courses for farmers and in the following year began a winter Dairy School. It was the first of its kind in the country and trained and certified students in proper cheese and butter making. Within a few years it produced enough graduates to man the factories throughout the state. By working closely with farmers and factory workers, the faculty and researchers at the Wisconsin College of Agriculture were able to develop practical and scientifically sound knowledge for dairy farmers. Stephen Moulton Babcock, an agricultural chemist at the University of Wisconsin, devised a simple method for measuring the richness of milk. This produced experimentation with different feeding practices and the search for better milk producing cows. Other developments ranged from the inoculation of herds for diseases to the best pasteurizing methods. The College also initiated an extension division, published its research, and regularly hosted farmers' institutes. "Scientific men and practical farmers occupied the same platform," wrote historian Joseph Schafer, "with the result that science was more closely controlled by experience and experience definitely guided by science. No other feature in the history of agricultural advancement. . .had been so resultful (sic) in developing mutual respect and confidence between the farmer and the man of scientific learning." [183]

Minnesota also made its contribution to the field of dairy science. In 1878, the Minnesota Dairyman's Association was founded. The Minnesota Butter and Cheese Association followed in 1882. Oren C. Gregg, the superintendent of the University of Minnesota's Farmers' Institutes, is known as the "Father of Winter Dairying." He encouraged the breeding of cows that could calve in the fall. By having fall and spring births dairying could take place at a consistent year-round pace. In 1891, Theophilus L. Haecker joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Agricultural School, and credited with nearly single-handedly placed Minnesota dairying on a scientific basis. He was responsible for determining the best diets for milk cows, developing judging standards for selection and breeding of cows, and he was the one who realized Holsteins were the most productive in this far north climate. Haecker was also responsible for promoting the idea of participant-owned businesses from creameries to elevator companies. The co-op movement succeeded beyond anyone's dreams. By 1921 the hundreds of co-ops that had developed joined together to form the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. By 1924, they began marketing their products under the Land O Lakes label. Its immediate success prompted the company to use it as its official name in 1926. [184]

Throughout the 1870s the factory system gained more and more adherents in southern and southeastern Wisconsin. By following the New York model of the "associated dairy system," small farmers pooled their meager resources into viable milk production centers and got a higher return than they would have been able to do alone. By 1880, there were over four hundred cheese factories in the state, nearly a half million milk cows, and a growing number of creameries for butter making. The industrial revolution further advanced the dairy industry when mechanical refrigeration came into use in the 1890s. This made spoilage less of a problem. By the end of the century wheat growing had virtually disappeared in the southern half of the state, as dairy farming became the dominant form of agriculture. [185]

While this transformation was occurring in southern Wisconsin in the 1860s and 1870s, St. Croix River counties clung tenaciously to wheat. Even in 1885 Osceola bragged that its "wheat market is now as good as any in the valley." [186] However, by the 1880s, the valley could no longer avoid the problems associated with wheat farming. In 1879, St. Croix County held first place in wheat production in the state of Wisconsin. Ten years later it had dropped to forty-fifth place. Pierce County took tenth place — down from third, and Polk County fell to twenty-second place. This did not mean farmers immediately abandoned wheat growing. They instead sowed other grains, such as rye and barley, with their wheat. By 1899, St. Croix County had moved up to second place in wheat growing. Pierce and Polk counties held third and fifth place respectively. Most of the state had, however, shifted to dairy farming thereby reducing the competition. Yet, it demonstrates their reluctance to give up what was seen as an easy cash cow. St. Croix County even expanded its milling operations. [187]

Astute farmers, who realized wheat yields and profits would not continue, began to search for other alternatives. In the fall of 1883 State Senator James Hill, who represented Polk County, urged farmers who attended the Barron County Agricultural Fair to begin practicing crop rotation if they intend to continue raising wheat. Reliance on one crop was "ruinous to the success of any farmer, as it robs the soil of its plant food," Hill explained. "Worn out lands are brought into a higher state of cultivation by seeding to clover and ploughing it under." He also pointed out that the natural compliment of crop rotation was livestock farming. Cattle could graze in the clover fields and eat and rest in the hay as well as provide their own natural fertilizer to the fields. Root crops, such as turnips and potatoes, were also natural fertilizers in addition to providing nutritious slop for pigs. "The dairy business of the state has had a steady and rapid increase," Hill related, "and is fast taking its place among the leading agricultural products of the state. . .The profits of stock-raising and dairying are shown — first in the reclaiming worn-out grain farms to a productive and prosperous condition, -- second, substantial improvements made the [possible] advanced price of lands that follow dairy farming." [188]

The change to dairying in the St. Croix Valley was, however, a slow and difficult transition. It was expensive. It took time before clover thrived on exhausted soil. Since most farmers did not own stock, they had no manure. Therefore, many had to purchase commercial fertilizers before they could count on pasture grasses to do well and naturally fertilize the soil. Then they also had to buy milk cows. Gradually the number of cows increased through the 1890s, but there was no comparable increase in the growth of factories to process milk products. [189] The switch to dairying also affected the appearance of farms, particularly with the construction of silos. Feeding dairy cattle through the winter as well as extending lactation periods through good nutrition was another hurdle to overcome. European peasants had preserved food for animals by digging pits and burying it. From the mid-nineteenth century farmers in America began experimenting with constructed airtight storage containers, and it was discovered that winter frosts made above ground storage possible. By 1900, Wisconsin farmers had adopted four basic types of round silos constructed of wood, brick, stone, or cement. The foundation had to be strong and was usually dug four feet into the ground with a concrete floor with a two-foot deep stonewall reaching one to two feet above ground. Whatever materials they chose, farmers build the silo with two thicknesses of the chosen material with a dead air space in between. Hoops, rods, or iron bands surrounded the silo to give added strength against the considerable weight of grain pressing against its sides. An air vent topped the structure. A door to receive the silage was constructed on the outside, while a feeding vent opened into the barn. [190] Farmers also had to adapt the crops they did grow to meet the nutritional needs of their animals especially by growing hay and corn thus adding a new element to local farms and the visual landscape.

Those without the means to finance a dairy farm or who were unwilling to commit themselves to the intensive work it required migrated out of the St. Croix Valley. This began another trend that affected the ethnic composition of the region. Yankee farmers had been the most devoted to wheat and were more likely to move to the broader prairies of central and western Minnesota where they could use machines more effectively and where the soil was fresher. Their knowledge of the American political system also gave them confidence that public improvements in transportation would automatically follow them. Immigrants and their children, however, were more likely to remain where they originally settled. German farmers in particular were more attached to the land they homesteaded and were willing to take over Yankee farms and make them work by turning to their traditional farming techniques. [191]

For those who stayed the "Wisconsin Idea of Dairying" served them well. This "idea" was the result of the University and public agencies willingness to work in concert to advance dairying in the state. From 1875 to 1885 the Dairymen's Association clearly defined the issues and problems facing Wisconsin farmers and proposed practical remedies for them. They spared the farmer no criticism of their practices, but they also good-naturedly accepted the criticism of the practitioners of their theories. In Wisconsin, then, farmer, scientist, and government agent forged a close partnership in which "the new dairying has made the average farmer something of a scientist, and a good deal of a business man." The Dairymen's Association, the College of Agriculture, and elements within the Republican Party in many ways foreshadowed Wisconsin's Progressive Movement where in twenty years the state "became a laboratory for scientific experiment, teaching, and legislation." This progressive approach to solving Wisconsin's farming problems also spared the state much of the political turmoil and class antagonisms of the Granger Movement in the 1870s and the Populists of the 1890s in which farmers pitted themselves against big corporations and monopolies. In later years Theodore Roosevelt called the "Wisconsin Idea" a lesson in scientific self-help. It made Wisconsin the Dairy State and worked well into the twentieth century until new farming and business practices were forged in the 1920s and 1930s. [192]

In 1885, Dean Henry of the Wisconsin College of Agriculture began his lecture circuit of the newly inaugurated Farmers' Institutes in the St. Croix Valley. He visited Luck, Milltown, and Osceola that winter. Henry urged farmers who attended his lectures to diversify their crops rather than relying upon just one, particularly wheat. [193] Osceola had in fact just started a cheese factory in the prior year. Professor Henry had commended them for their initiative, gave advice on how to increase milk production in their cows through better feeding, and expressed his hope that more farmers would patronize the factory in the next year. Henry also pointed out that wheat cultivation was expanding not only in the Dakotas but also in Canada. "With all this region just developing," he argued, "why should farmers on the high priced lands of the St. Croix valley, persist in ruining their lands with wheat exclusively? To attain to anything like success, we must follow mixed farming, and the more attention one gives to stock, the greater the success." [194]

By 1886, Polk County heeded the call for more intelligent farming and revived their agricultural society and held a county fair — the first since 1863. "It is a gratification to once more witness an agricultural display in Polk County," wrote the Polk County Press, "and carries one's memory back to the 50s and 60s when Polk county held as good a fair as any county in the valley." [195] The next Farmers' Institute in November 1887 held in Osceola was a bigger success than the last. More people came than were expected, filling the hall to capacity at every session. Lecture and discussion topics ranged from the "Silo and Ensilage," "Reproduction of Animals," "Dairying," "Swine Husbandry," "Horse Breeding," and "Butter-making." The interest and excitement of the Institute encouraged Polk County farmers to organize a Farmers' Club. [196]

At a Farmers' Institute in River Falls, Wisconsin farmers were made aware of how farming practices effected property values. Farmers learned how farmlands in dairy counties were worth forty-five to fifty-five dollars per unimproved acre. Farmland in St. Croix County was valued at thirty-four dollars per acre while farmland in Sheboygan County was valued at eighty-four dollars per acres. "In St. Croix, that produces more wheat than any other county of the state, the lands are valued less than one-half of that of the dairy counties," related the Polk County Press, "in Pierce county, engaged in the same business nearly as largely as St. Croix, the lands are of nearly the same value...Wheat raising has cost us largely in the most valuable elements of fertility of the soil." [197]

The Farmers' Institute directors strived to make their sessions as practical and as helpful to farmers as possible. For the 1887-1888 winter program, the leaders recruited dairy machine makers to bring their latest developments and demonstrate modern creaming techniques throughout the state. Various companies had the opportunity to display their machines, "raise cream, and make butter if they desire." Oil and butter tests were also done from different mixes of milk in order for farmers to be able to actually see the differences that resulted from various methods. [198]

Some farmers were dubious of these institute lecturers who they considered "theoretical, rather than practical farmers." The Polk County Press, however, whole-heartedly supported these educational opportunities and pointed out to their suspicious readers that, "No man is employed in institute work who is not himself a practical farmer, the owner and tiller of a farm, who is carving out success by the intelligent application of brain and muscle to his occupation — the cultivation of the soil and the production of a better and more profitable stock." The paper urged farmers to attend these institutes as much as possible arguing that, "No state in the union is progressing so rapidly in its agricultural industries as is Wisconsin, and the progress is largely the result of the teachings in these institutes." [199] "The conclusions at which they have arrived are the pure gold of intelligent effort," wrote the Polk County Press. [200]

Institute workers were tireless in their promotion of their knowledge and findings. "They travel from place to place, frequently reaching sections of country not traversed by railroads," lauded the Polk County Press, "carrying with them workers skilled in the theory and practice of agriculture. . .They scatter. . .information. . .they awaken enthusiasm: they incite farmers to discuss their business; to compare methods of work; to improve their homes and lift themselves out of the ruts into which they have fallen." The paper noted that even country social life took a turn for the better thanks to the institutes bringing farmers and their families together. [201]

Despite the enthusiasm of the press and the standing room only crowds at Institute session that continued through the 1890s, change took place slowly. Farmers who clung to raising grain were on their way to the poor house as far as Professor Dean Henry of the University of Wisconsin was concerned. Dairying had brought farmers in Sheboygan County riches. In one bank, he claimed, farmers had over a million dollars in deposits. The land along the St. Croix was better, he argued, and city and lake markets were easily accessible. "They can just as well make their land worth seventy-five dollars per acre, and salable at that price as to have it in its present condition." The Polk County Press concurred, "The fact that every farmer here who had tried it has succeeded, ought to satisfy everybody." [202] One family that did successfully make the transition from wheat farming to dairying was the John Nicholas Thelan family of Houlton, Wisconsin. John Thelan had emigrated from Germany to the St. Croix River town in 1863. Like many other farmers he cashed in on wheat, but in the early twentieth century upon his death his eldest daughter Lucy drew up a plan to turn the family farm into a dairying venture, which included a large dairy barn and silo. She was successful well into the 1920s, but with the economic hardships of the Great Depression she barely broke even and died at the age of seventy-seven in 1940. The Thelans also left their mark on the St. Croix as Lucy's younger brother Edward was a judge in Stillwater and helped raise the money to build the Soo Line bridge that is within sight of the Thelan farm. In 1968, the family sold the land, but the farmhouse remains. [203]

While the railroad was the key to the transformation of Wisconsin from wheat agriculture to dairying, road building became the next logical transportation revolution for the dairy industry. Railroads might be the key to getting finished product to urban markets, but first farmers had to get their milk from the farm to the factory. Bad weather made travel on rural roads arduous to impossible, especially in the winter and early spring. Oddly enough the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association and the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society did not agitate for roads. The University's Farmers' Institutes only began to raise the issue in the late 1880s. What accounted for this reluctance to push for better public roads was not disinterestedness, but farmers' fear that they would lose their ability to pay for roads through their labor. They also wished to maintain control over where the roads would be built. If they lost this privilege, they might find themselves with a heavy tax burden and few roads that served their needs. State and county officials, they believed, were more likely to build roads that linked cities and towns rather than farms and villages. [204]

What stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for road building was the prospect of obtaining free mail service. In 1891, the U.S. Postmaster General proposed rural free delivery for all Americans. While this policy was not implemented until the 1930s with the New Deal, farmers realized Uncle Sam would not be able to show up at their doorstep if he had to travel along muddy, rutted, or washed-out roads. Within a few years a coalition of farm leaders, village merchants, people in the mail-order business, and recreational cyclists began to push for roads. In 1893, the Wisconsin legislature did away with the old local road districts and turned authority for road building to township boards. Folks in the St. Croix Valley were reassured that they would not be in danger of losing their property to tax delinquency since the law still allowed them the "opportunity to work out their road taxes." [205] While a modest beginning, road reform began in Wisconsin and the dairy industry was a chief beneficiary. [206]

Between 1890 and 1920, dairying became Wisconsin's single largest branch of manufacturing. By the beginning of the twentieth century Wisconsin became the number one producer of butter in the county, a position it held until 1950 when Minnesota and Iowa pulled ahead of it. By then Wisconsin had established itself as a leader in cheese production. Wisconsin's efforts were aided by developments along the St. Croix. By 1901, Polk County operated sixteen creameries and four cheese factories that also made butter. Pierce County was close behind with fifteen creameries. St. Croix County also showed gains in dairying.

By the early twentieth century the Wisconsin shore of the lower St. Croix Valley had successfully adapted to the sweeping changes that affected the U.S. economy since the Civil War. It met the challenges of the opening of lands in the West and the closing of the frontier, the growth of a network of railroads that created a national and international market with all of their resulting opportunities a well as problems. The people here became good custodians of this rich land. They restored its fertility and introduced a relatively stable and productive use of that land. [207]

The Minnesota side of the St. Croix, however, was much slower to adapt to dairying. The more self-contained Swedish communities in Chisago County and the northern part of Washington County were slower to respond to outside pressures for change whether economic or social. The Swedish Lutheran Church was diligent in "maintaining the Swedish language and culture," and "They insisted upon tight discipline among their parishioners." Swedish was spoken as a primary language even among immigrant children and grandchildren into the twentieth century. Farming was more of "a way of life" for many of these settlers. A farm "was a place to live and to raise a family," rather than a commercial venture. Many of the farms in the area around Marine began as part-time ventures. The farmers raised crops that the lumber camps wanted, and then they worked in the pineries during the winter to supplement their income. When winter jobs in the woods diminished, their style of farming would not support a family. With few resources to farm on a larger scale, many of these men drifted into the Twin Cities for wage work. [208]

Although the Chisago County Fair was organized in 1891 to encourage diversified farming, many farmers did not make the switch to dairying. Even in 1897 wheat was still a major crop in the area and a new milling company was opened in North Branch, Minnesota. During World War I the mill operated twenty-four hours a day in order to keep up with demand for its "Model Home" flour. The problems associated with wheat did not escape farmers here. A local saying went "Rye after rye, and you'll have bread ‘til you die; but wheat after wheat, and you'll have nothing to eat." Rye and potatoes, therefore, became their cash crop. Center City farmers found the soil good for potatoes and harvested from 150 to 300 bushels an acre. The abundance of potatoes required six warehouses to store them. A starch factory made use of the surplus. North Branch claimed to be the "Hub of the Potato Belt." Harris, Minnesota, however, claimed to be the "Potato Capitol of Minnesota" since potato buyers from St. Louis and Chicago made that town their headquarters. Between August 1 and January 11, 1912 527 carloads of potatoes, at an estimated value of $300,000, were shipped from North Branch.

Potato growers were assisted by the inventions of a neighboring German immigrant named F. Splittstoser, who invented potato diggers, sprayers, and planters. Splittstoser established a factory in North Branch to manufacture his equipment. Before commercial fertilizers were available, however, potato farmers ran into the same problem wheat farmers did — soil exhaustion. More savvy farmers used their years of cashing in on potatoes to build up their dairy herds. Through the early twentieth century issues of the Stillwater Weekly Gazette and the Minnesota Farmer circulated among the interested farmers along the St. Croix River and encouraged better farming practices. Chisago farmers began to consider dairying more seriously. Creameries had begun to appear in the county in the 1890s, but unlike their Wisconsin counterparts, all failed. The Rush City Co-op, established in 1907, became the first successful dairy venture. By the 1920s, several cooperative creameries were in operation throughout the county. [209]

Washington County also had its wheat boom years in the second half of the nineteenth century. Flourmills sprung up in Stillwater in the 1870s, but soil exhaustion, competition from western lands, and Rocky Mountain locust, forced farmers here to find other alternative uses of the land. The county revived its agricultural society in the 1870s. Crop diversification, rotation, and scientific farming principles took root. While dairying was one avenue farmers took in Washington County, many farmers turned to growing oats, corn, barley, and potatoes. [210]