1907 - Experimental Farm of Norfolk & Western

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Roanoke Times - July 7, 1907

1907 - EXPERIMENTAL FARM OF NORFOLK & WESTERN

What the Railroad is Doing to Demonstrate the Possibilities of Virginia
Soil - Some of the Things That Have Been Accomplished at Ivor, Virginia

MANY TRAVELERS ARE BEING ATTRACTED TO THIS STATION

The passengers on the fast trains running through the Tidewater section of
Virginia from Petersburg to Norfolk, have been interested for a year or
more in the development of a fine modern farm property lying almost
adjacent to a small station midway between the aforesaid cities known as
Ivor. A little over a year ago a large force was put to work clearing up a
hundred or more acres lying directly adjacent of the right-of-way on the
north side of the track. With the aid of dynamite, cables and engines, the
trees and small brush were pulled up bodily by the roots, worked up into
cord wood and shipped off the place. Shortly afterwards the construction of
a large fourteen room dwelling was commenced and other gangs were put to
work simultaneously building fences, grading roads, laying tile drainage
pipes, digging ditch drains, filling up hollows here and cutting down
hummocks there, and in general putting the land as fast as cleared into
condition for future cultivation. The house was scarcely under way before
the foundations were laid for a large, modern horse and cattle barn; a well
outfit was put to work with instructions to go down until they struck a
good stream or artesian water. A little later, poultry houses; piggeries, a
combined ice-house and dairy, a carriage-house and a separate house for the
farm hands were constructed; a complete pneumatic water system was
installed, and the finishing touches were added in a coat of paint that
brought out the attractive features of every building.
   The passenger glancing out of the car windows today no longer wonders
what it all means. Conspicuously displayed on the rood of the large barn is
a sign which announces that the property is the NORFOLK & WESTERN RAILWAY
FARM, and a model, handsome property it is. The average person, however, up
on seeing it is first inclined to ask, "But what does it all mean? Why does
a railroad invest money in a proposition like this, that is so entirely
foreign to its vocation, that of transporting traffic?" With a view to
answering this question, a Times correspondent has interviewed Mr. LaBaume,
agricultural and industrial agent of the Norfolk and Western railway, under
whose jurisdiction the management of the farm comes, and his account of the
same is herewith published.

The N. & W.'s Reasons

"I am glad that you have asked this question, said Mr. LaBaume, "and I am
going to try and tell you why it is sometimes not only good policy, but
good business judgment, for a transportation company to engage in a
business of this kind. Perhaps the greatest individual agricultural
stimulus to the Northwest, that vast territory between St. Paul and the
Pacific coast, has been James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern
railway. In the early days, when that territory was almost absolutely
non-productive, he realized that the only way to get returns was to assist
the settlers who were coming in and to do so he established a large farm in
Minnesota, raised thoroughbred stock and sold it to the farmers at a very
nominal cost, in many instances letting them have it on long-time notes.
His foresight has been well repaid today his railroad, the Great Northern,
runs through one of the richest agricultural and stock-raising sections in
the world; they are hauling thousands upon thousands of carloads of the
highest grade cattle, sheep, hogs and horses to market every year, and the
high quality of the same is largely due to the sires which Mr. Hill
disseminated throughout his territory some fifteen to twenty years ago. In
many sections of Virginia tributary to this line of railway we feel that
there is a vast field for improvement, not only in the quality and amount
of stock raised, but in the quality, the quantity and the diversification
of our farm products.
   "In view of the above, the only way to convince others of the fact was
to go ahead and demonstrate the same to our own satisfaction, if it could
be demonstrated. With the concurrence of President Johnson and his
instructions to go ahead and do anything that we could along reasonable,
practical and consistent lines to improve the agricultural conditions in
that territory, we determined upon the establishment of this farm. Three
hundred acres were selected at a point near Ivor from some land owned by
this company, and which has never been considered particularly valuable for
cultivation. It is a rather poor type of heavy, cold, clay soil, and far
below the average. For that reason anything that can be accomplished we
feel will be of more benefit than if we had picked an unusually favorable
spot for the location of our farm. We had a well defined object in view
before commencing operations--to install a class of thoroughbred live stock
and poultry; to sell the offspring to our farmers at attractive prices,
namely, about the cost of production; to plant an experimental orchard, and
later when soil conditions allowed, to plant other experimental plots and
keep records of the growth and development of each crop planted. This
spring a large orchard consisting of twenty-five or thirty varieties of all
the deciduous fruits adapted to this locality were planted. It comprises an
area of eight or ten acres and is in a thrifty, healthy condition today.
Some live stock of the best breeds has been put on recently--a drove of
Hampshire hogs, a large flock of thoroughbred White Plymouth Rock chickens,
a flock of White Pekin ducks, some thoroughbred Scotch collies-- and other
stock will be added as soon as conditions warrant their being properly
cared for. A large amount of poultry and eggs has already been disposed of,
a number of pairs of very fine young hogs has been sold, and next year we
hope to be able to have enough to meet the demand. These thoroughbred hogs,
when crossed with the native Virginia Razor-back, give a product that is
superior in every way to the native hog and should enhance the value at
least 50 per cent, to say nothing of the increased quality. The same
principal also applies in all other classes of both live stock and poultry,
and the railway company will eventually reap its reward through an
increased traffic, brought about first by the increased farming population,
the consequent cultivation of lands that are now lying idle, and the
raising of a better grade of live stock and more of it.
   "It is an easy thing for us to say to a newcomer who has been accustomed
to the highly productive lands and the many rural conveniences of the North
and West, that Virginia can supply all these if he will go about it right.
It is a more convincing argument, however, for us to say that he not only
can do so, but that we have demonstrated it to be a fact and can offer
proof of our statement in our own railroad farm in eastern Virginia.
   "We are glad in the meantime, to offer every facility to the farmers of
the state and particularly to those residing in our territory, to come down
and investigate the farm at any time and to see what is being accomplished
there. A day spent at the farm would be well worth any farmer's time, and
we expect to have the privilege of entertaining a large number of them
there next month at the meeting of the State Farmers' Institute."

Visible Results

   However, much has been accomplished, and there is now upon the place a
splendid farmhouse, completed last December, which contains fourteen rooms,
supplied with hot and cold water, the water being pumped from an artesian
well 250 feet deep, and conveyed through the farmhouse and all of the
outbuildings by the pneumatic pressure system. There is not a house in
Richmond, or in any Virgina city, that is more comfortably or more
conveniently arranged than this farmhouse, which is a demonstration of
itself that will make the farming community open wide its eyes, and teach a
great many tillers of the soil in Southhampton and adjoining counties that
it is just as easy for the farmer to make himself comfortable in his
surroundings as it is for the city man to do so; in fact, it is a great
deal easier for him to do just that thing, for the farmer has all the
forces of nature to aid him.

The Cost of It

   It is easy enough for somebody to say: "But the Norfolk and Western has
plenty of money to provide these unusual and apparently unnatural comforts
in a farmhouse." True enough, but the actual expense account shown a Times
representative by Mr. LaBaume proves that, perhaps, with the exception of
the artesian well, which, of course, is costly, and with one or two other
exceptions of a minor character, this farmhouse has cost the company not a
cent more, if as much, as the average farmhouse in any part of Virginia has
cost the farmer who built it. As a matter of course, Mr. LaBaume has taken
a great deal of pride in furnishing the farmhouse somewhat elaborately, and
in that way has perhaps invested more money than the average farmer would
put in a single house, but that is not to be counted when you come to
enumerate the actual necessary expense.

Improved Outbuildings

   The next largest building on the place is a combination cattle and horse
barn. This of itself is a lesson the Virginian farmers can travel miles to
learn. It is a splendid farm building with heavy cement floors, supplied
with gutters and other arrangements for saving both liquid and solid
manures, these gutters leading to a cement-lined pit for liquid, and a
covered pit for solid manures. This is enough to explain to the average
reader that this farm has been laid out with an idea of saving everything,
and putting it to its proper use. In the course of time the farm will have
its own fertilizer factory. The barn is a model establishment, the stalls
being so arranged that the horses on one side and the cattle on the other
are at all seasons of the year as comfortably housed as the people in the
model farmhouse.

In Lieu of Grass

   Mr. LaBaume is now having erected a 100-ton silo to preserve green feed
for cattle. It is a well-known fact that the great drawback to the
cattle-raising industry of Tidewater and Eastern Virginia has been the
trouble of feeding and providing for cattle in the winter months, this
being not strictly a grass country. The silo and ensilage are believed to
be a solution of the problem. At any rate, the Norfolk and Western
experimental farm proposes to demonstrate whether or not this be a fact.
When completed this silo will be the only one in this section of Virginia,
and, when it proves to be a success, and Mr. LaBaume and his farm manager,
Mr. Geyer, have no doubt that it will be, it will solve the cattle and
dairy problem of this section. With Norfolk, Newport News, Old Point,
Petersburg, Richmond, Washington and intermediate towns of smaller size so
convenient, and opening up such tremendous markets for dairy products, and
with transportation facilities by rail and water so convenient, dairy
farming is this part of Virginia ought to be a succession of gold mines,
but how to keep and maintain a grass country has always been a problem. It
this experimental farm solves that problem, as its managers thoroughly
believe it will, it will have done more for Eastern and Tidewater Virginia
than any other enterprise that was ever set on foot since Captain John
Smith commenced shipping tobacco to England from Jamestown.

Model Dairy and Superb Hogs

   But returning to the other conveniences and utilities of this model
farm. A splendid little dairy with all the necessary equipment is a very
interesting study. It is supplied with gasoline engines and all the
necessary shafting to operate the cream separators and the churns, and has
a supply of milk coolers and butter workers, all of which are installed in
sanitary surroundings, the floors of the buildings being cement, and so
arranged that they can be flushed daily. This dairy is a perfect little
establishment of itself.
   The hog department situated, of course, at necessary distance form the
other outbuildings, is a model hog home. Mr. LaBaume has here the only herd
of Hampshire White Belted hogs in Virginia. These hogs are highly esteemed
as English bacon hogs, having thin-skinned, fine-grained meat. They make,
so it is said, a most delicious bacon, and already some of the neighbors
have declared that their ham is equal to the famous Smithfield brand. The
hogs are said to be thrifty and easily raised, and are most prolific. The
sows make the best of mothers, and it is a remarkable fact that they rarely
ever kill their young by overlaying which cannot be said of the more
ungainly Chester Whites and some other breeds. In addition to their many
good qualities, these hogs attract great attention on account of the white
belt around the body, which is uniform in every well-bred hog. This while
belt extends from the shoulder, taking up one-third to one-half the
distance of the body. A litter of nine of these pigs, with their pure white
belt, the remainder of the body being black, browsing in the sunlight, made
for the writer a most striking picture.

Big Money in Fowls

   The farm is also demonstrating that this section of the country, so
convenient to large markets has a fortune in fowls. Splendid buildings have
been erected for chicken raising, and there are now on the place a
tremendous flock of typical White Plymouth Rocks of the J. C. Fishel
strain. The fowls occupy large and commodious grounds with comfortable
houses, in the beautiful and well-arranged poultry colony-house can be seen
chickens coming fresh from the incubator, and a new colony comes from that
source every two or three weeks all the year round. Colonies of White Pekin
ducklings appear periodically.

An Ideal Manager

   The other buildings on the place near to the farmhouse are most
conveniently arranged for the farm hands, and they are neat, well-kept and
very inviting to the new kind of farm labor that Commissioner Koiner is
introducing in old Virginia. And right here is another lesson that new
Virginia must learn, and learn well.
   Mr. S. M. Geyer, an Iowa dairyman and farmer, has been secured by the
company to take charge of the farm. He and his good wife have been in
charge since last fall, and they have already demonstrated that the company
make a ten-strike when the secured their services. The management has been
exceedingly fortunate in securing very efficient and reliable farm help
from among the new immigrants that come from England. In order to offer
them every inducement to remain and give good service, particular attention
was paid to making their quarters, above referred to, attractive and
comfortable. The farm force consists of seven of these healthy,
fine-looking young Englishmen. The pride they take in their work, and the
vigorous manner in which they go about it and complete it, is an
inspiration to one who looks on. Verily the Norfolk and Western 
experimental farm is teaching Virginians some good things, some 
mighty good things. Think of it. There's millions in it.

Poor Land Can Be Made Rich

   The land of the farm is naturally low-lying, and is only a fair 
type of the ordinary Tidewater soil. The company selected this rather 
than to take a more advantageous location along the line of the road 
so as to be able to demonstrate what can be accomplished with soil 
conditions no better than those which confront the average Tidewater 
and Eastern Virginia farmer.
   The company is carrying out the policy it originally outlined to 
put on this model farm the very best live stock that can be obtained; 
to purchase none but the best sires, and to give the farmers 
tributary to its whole line of railway the privileges of breeding 
from these sires at nominal cost.
   The farm is doing more than is above outlined as an advertisement, 
which advertisement Mr. LaBaume loses no opportunity to push; it has 
attracted to Virginia not less than 2,000 actual settlers from the 
frigid Northwest and West. Be it understood that when the company's 
agents in the Northwest tell of the glories of old Virginia and her 
potentialities, they invite the Northwestern farmer to come to 
Virginia himself, offering him the inducement of reduced rates, etc., 
etc., and in this way they have brought to Virginia within the past 
two years not less than 5,000 prospectors, out of which 2,000 have 
been secured as actual settlers, possibly half of them locating along 
the eastern section of the company's line of railway.

Looking to Tidewater

   The tendency of people seeking homes in Virginia for the past 
decade has been to locate in the cheap land belt higher up, but 
within the recent few months and the last two years attention has 
been more particularly attracted to the section of Virginia east of Petersburg.
   No agency has been more efficient in bringing the prospectors to 
this part of Virginia than this experimental farm of the Norfolk and 
Western railroad, because its gives the prospector, even in its 
unfinished and purely experimental condition, an object lesson that 
he can read with his eyes half-closed, and he naturally reasons to 
himself: "I can do what the other fellow has done." In this way the 
Norfolk and Western experimental farm is, as far as its influence 
goes, the biggest thing that has been to this section of Virginia in 
forty years.
   Now, be it understood, the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company 
has not one foot of land for sale; it is not in the real estate 
business; it has not established this farm with a view of going in 
the real estate business. It simply believes that its line runs 
through the best agricultural section of the world; a section which, 
if properly developed will be a gold mine to the road in the matter 
of increased freights, the only thing the road has to sell. To lead 
up to that kind of revenue the company is experimenting, and in so 
doing a work for Virginia that in the end will prove a blessing, the 
value of which is beyond computation.

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- Ron Davis, Roger Link