Remembering Early Potato Growing in Wisconsin

 

By the 1870s, many Wisconsin farmers turned to dairy farming and other crops (wheat growing was failing).   In central Wisconsin, in addition to milking cows, many farmers began growing potatoes.  According to the USDA Ag. Statistics Service, Wisconsin farmers grew 64,304 acres of potatoes in 1870.   That number exploded to 325,000 acres in 1922.

 

We grew potatoes on the home farm, 20 acres of them every year.  We planted them by hand, hoed them by hand, dug them by hand (with six tine-forks) and picked them by hand.  Our country school had a two-week potato vacation in October so all the kids could stay home and pick potatoes. 

 

Besides the potato bins in our farm house cellar, we stored them in a potato cellar built into the side of a hill just beyond the chicken house.  Every farmer had a potato cellar where the potatoes were stored in the lower part of the building and various farm machinery was stored in the upper area.  Potato prices were usually better in the late winter and early spring, thus the reason for storing them.  We kept a wood burning stove going all winter in the potato cellar to keep the potatoes from freezing.

 

Potato warehouses (with potato buyers) lined the railroad tracks of Wild Rose in those days.  In late winter, we spent many evenings after the barn chores were done, by the light of a barn lantern, sorting and dumping potatoes into gunny bags.  Pa hauled them to Wild Rose with a bobsled pulled by our trusty team. He selected a warmer winter day to haul the potatoes so they wouldn’t freeze on the four and half mile trip to the village.

 

Travelers in central Wisconsin can easily spot these little potato cellars as many of them remain standing. These little buildings have many stories to tell.

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Wisconsin still grows lots of potatoes, third in the nation among all the states. Idaho and Washington State rank number one and two.

                                                                                                                                          

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

 Learn more about Wisconsin potato growing by reading my book, WISCONSIN AGRICULTURE: A HISTORY. You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from bookshop.org, Amazon.com,  or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books.