Jaus Farm/Notes

The Jaus Farm was homesteaded in 1878 by Martin Jaus Sr. He was able to get 160 acres of Sibley County prairie in exchange for planting 10 acres of trees. He housed his family in a two story log cabin. The farm flourished under Martin Sr. His farm included a creamery and silos. A new house and new barn were later be added to the farm. Multiple generations of Jaus's have lived on the farm. To date, the farm has been passed down through four generations<ref> (Martin Jaus Sr., Martin A. Jaus, Roman Jaus, and Martin Allen Jaus)</ref>.

Jaus Farm/Notes

In the Beginning

Martin Sr. and his brother Simon Jaus had moved to Sibley County, MN from Carver County, MN in 1878. Written family history makes it sound so simple: "They had heard of the rich prairie soil which was available for homesteading."

It was actually an interesting decision. MN had just suffered through a devastating Grasshopper Plague which lasted from 1873–1877.

During the 1860s and 1870s, the production of wheat dominated Minnesota agriculture and was the state’s principal cash crop. Grasshoppers had devastated the wheat fields of MN, the wheat king of all the states.

The following from Laura Ingalls book puts things into an interesting perspective. It is the above grasshopper plague which inspired her fictional account "In 1874, Pa’s wanderlust took the family west to Walnut Grove, MN. The family initially lived in a dugout in the bank of Plum Creek. In the summer of 1875 Pa’s wheat crop was bountiful and he had high hopes of paying off the debt he had incurred during the first year living in Minnesota. However, grasshoppers destroyed every living thing that year."

"On November 1, 1875 Charles Frederick Ingalls was born. The family needed money so Pa left that winter to find work. He was able to send money home and when he returned in the spring he planted a new crop. A second grasshopper plague occurred again that summer when the eggs laid the previous year hatched; Pa’s crop was again destroyed."

The two Jaus brothers were leaving their "safe zone" of living in Carver County, MN where trees meant plentiful wood for fuel, fences, and houses. Only with reluctance did they venture out on the open prairie, where tradition maintained that the soil was less fertile, and where winds, blizzards, fires, insect pests, Indians, and lack of transportation facilities seemed to doom the settler to failure or death.

The brothers' good friend John Bentz convinced the two brothers that this was a good move to make. Breaking the prairie sod went a lot faster than clearing the wooded acreage of Carver County... and the acreage was free for the taking.

The brothers were smart to wait until 1878 to make the move. The US Government had amended the Timber Culture Act of 1873 which was signed into law by President Lincoln. The number of required trees planted was reduced from 40 acres to 10 in order to homestead 160 acres.

The parcel size of 160 acres, which was the amount used in the Homestead Act of 1862, “was thought to be the maximum amount of land a family could realistically farm” given available technology at the time. Additional acreage could be purchased for $1.25 per acre.

Martin Sr. worked as a hired hand in the community in the early years, breaking thick prairie sod with oxen and walking plows drawn by mules.

The First Barn

The Big Farmhouse of 1905

World War 1 - 1914 to 1918

Prior to WWI most MN dairy herds were made up of common red cows.They didn't produce milk high in cream content.

after 1918 the ordinary citizen could buy cars for his pleasure and his business, and inevitably he became an advocate of good roads.

The Creamery

1898 - MN had 557 co-op creameries (84% of all creameries). Twenty years later MN had 671 c0-0p creameries, just under half of all the creameries in the nation.

The success of the creameries is evident as the log/sod shanties of the early settlers gave way to new spacious homes.

The Silo Collapse

First silos introduced to MN in late 1880 and were a standard by WWI. A silo could increase a farm's livestock carrying number by 1/4 and would allow a farmer to milk cows year round instead of stopping during winter.
Silos were not used by every farmer. However, those who used one found it greatly increased milk production. They were able to milk the cows year round instead of spring to fall.
One silo held enough feed for about 25 cows.
Cement stave silos have towered over the Minnesota landscape since 1905, and at one point were the most commonly-built silo type in the state.
1905 cement staves introduced and proliferated in 1910.

The Big Barn

Martin A. Jaus was running the farm in 1928 when the "Jaus Holstein Dairy" barn was completed. He must have been pretty confident that Holstein cows were the cow of the future. He concentrated on Holstein milk cows because of their high cream content, much higher than the beef/dairy cows most pioneer farmers had.

The Depression Years

It continues to flourish under Martin Sr.'s great-grandson Martin Allen Jaus in 2018.

In 1928

T

He concentrated on Holstein milk cows because of their high cream content, much higher than the beef/dairy cows most pioneer farmers had.

Martin Jaus Sr. and his brother Simon Jaus had moved to Sibley County, MN from Carver County, MN in 1878. Martin homesteaded the

Farmhouse

1905 Farmhouse

FB Post

A year ago I wrote how the Jaus family came to America and settled in Carver County, MN. Now I found myself working on pictures from the Sibley County Jaus farm.

It dawned on me I had never documented how the Jaus family got down to Sibley County. Below is the beginning of that journey.

Since I don't have pictures to go with this I am posting the text here.

THE Sibley County Jaus Farm was homesteaded by Martin Jaus Sr..

Family history records the brothers purchased land. I wonder if they purchased land in addition to the homesteaded acreage, or decided to purchase the land outright without going through the homesteading process?

Jaus Farms, Inc., Gibbon MN

Address: 22891 - 651st Avenue, Gibbon MN 55335

1920 Silo Collapse- delete

Silos

Martin Allen Jaus & Loretta Lowman

* Martin and Loretta Interview

* Act naturally: Couple finds farming organic nourishes soil, spirit

Farming Study Resources

MN Historic Farm History: Individual Farm Elements

Historic Contex Study of MN Farms 1820-1960

Gothic arches were introduced about 1916.
1905-Milking machines marketed.
1902 Steel stanchions for milking introduced.
Wheat was good for cheap land, but as land became more expensive the land was used for animal husbandry. Wheat production moved west where land was still cheap.
After 1870 the MN butter market/production took off for a 30 year expansion. No other state had "cornered" the butter market like WI had the cheese market.
State's first silos built in the late 1880 and were standar by WWI
1885 Centrifugal Cream Separator becomes available in MN. Allowed farmers to separate at home and eliminate hauling whole milk to the creameries. By 1910 most creameries were accepting only cream.
By 1885 the dairy industry was a significant MN industry.
1922 the popular Surge Bucket Milker was invented.
In the 1870s milk was brought to the creamery twice a day and the cans were refilled with sour milk to feed to the hogs.
MN farmers became advocates for good roads because the bumpy roads would church thier cream into butter while headed to the creameries.
Prior to WWI most MN dairy herds were made up of common red cows.
Building up a good dairy herd was a long and expensive process. It was devastating to farmers when they had to sell their cows during the depression years.
1924 Land O' Lakes brand launched
1920 the bubble of prosperity broke and farmers entered a 20 depression.
1903 Green Giant Minnesota Valley Canning Company founded in La Sueur
1905 Cement staves for silos introduced and very popular
1908 Ford Module T introduced
1908 First structural clay tile silo built
The size of the family often determined the size of the dairy herd.
1917 Ford introduced the Fordson; the first mass produced tractor.
1924 The Farmall Tractor introduced and widespread tractor use begun.
1900-1919 Golden age of agriculture
Growing cities required food from the farms.
During WWI the government strongly encouraged farmers to produce more food.
Wheat production shrunk after 1900. by 1910 it had shrunk to 25% of cropland and 10% by 1930. After 40 years of being king, wheat was dethroned.
1910s tractors were being used and threshing machines. Mom was still driving mule teams in the thirties.
1896 RFD (Rural Free Delivery) mail system established.
Before WWI most farmhouses didn't have plumbing etc. (Farm house built 1905)
Farms didn't get electricity until 1935 and most not till the 1950s.
1920s many farmers lost their farms.
1929 stock market crashed.
1929 only 4% of farms used electricity.
1927 first combine harvesters used in state.

1931 dairy farmers income shrank by 3/4 percent.

Milk sold for 2 cents a quart

on page 123

Volume 3

Many farmers erected their own silos before 1920.
The most common location was the Gable end of the barn.
Before WWII most silos were 12' -14' wide and 35'-40' tall providing feed for about 25 cattle under average conditions.
Wood silos were treated with oil or creosote to combat the corrosive nature of the silage, but would rot anyway.
Roofs were first made with wood and later metal. Some had no roofs.
Most silos were filled through a door in the roof with an automatic filler. It was a 2-3 day job.
The first silo filler was developed around 1926.
Wooden siles used from 1890s-1950s.
Brick silos built from 1895-1920. Could be decorated at top.
Reinforced Concrete built 1890s to present.
Concrete Block 1905-1960s
Cement Stave 1905-Present most common in MN and the most are still around.
Structural Clay 1910-1960s
Fencing 1930-1960s usually used to suppliment an existing silo and were about 8'-15' tall.
End on page 29

Collapsed silos appear to be built of wood staves or fencing with reinforced rings. The roofs are of wood. The replacement silo is of Brick with a decorated steel roof topped by a lightning rod.

Tobacco growing in MN peaked in 1920. Meeker County was one of the top producers.

Milk houses were used to separate cream from milk and store milk/cream in water cooled milk cans.
In 1925 only 17% of MN farmers owned tractors.
page 203

Historic Context Study of Minnesota Farms 1820-1960 home page

* Vol 1

* Vol 2

* Vol 3

MN Historic Farms Study: Focus on Government Land Programs

https://www.extension.umn.edu/about/history/1900-1925/

Notes: An ongoing debate in barn planning was whether to have the cows face towards the walls of the barn or towards the center isle. Faceing inward allowed better use of the windows' natural light. Facing outward allowed better use of time as it was easier to moved from cow to cow on different sides of the isle. I think Martin A. Jaus would have gone for efficiency.

Google Map

Note

Leah Matzke:Thanks! I would love to take a look, certainly not boring. I am the oldest daughter of Linda Rider (Jaus), one of Roman's daughters. We always looked forward to festive holidays at the Jaus Farm as kids - the huge house to play in (including all the fun hiding places, like the secret room in the wall of a bedroom closet), the barn with kittens and chickens, and hay, and of course the cows. The smoke house, the grove, the pastures and pond ... I will never forget that place and the smells, sounds, and even textures. The last time I went out to visit Martin and Loretta it was so sad to see just a patch of wavy green grass growing where a once magnificent and lively home sat.

DAIRY CATTLE

At least one cow was an essential part of nearly all early settlement period farms. Commercial dairying began in Minnesota in the 1870s and steadily grew, and within 30 years Minnesota was a leading dairy state (Tweton 1989: 271). Ninety percent of Minnesota farms had dairy cattle in 1939. Many average-sized farms had about 12 cows (Engene and Pond 1944). In 1957, 110,000 Minnesota farms were milking cows. Minnesota’s dairy industry was especially concentrated in southeastern and central Minnesota, regions well-suited to the production of hay and feed grains. In areas adjacent to large cities, dairy farmers’ main market was fluid milk. Farmers located in most of the state produced milk for butter, and also cheese, dried milk, and other processed dairy products (Anderson 1943: 224). Dairy farming was a labor- and capital-intensive type of farming. Unlike beef cattle, which were sturdy animals and resistant to the cold, dairy cattle needed much more care, including twice-daily milking. Dairy cows did not produce well if upset, uncomfortable, cold, hungry, thirsty, or sick, and experts and farmers continually worked to improve housing conditions, methods of care, and feed mixes, as well as ways to reduce labor. Between the 1910s and the 1960s, selective breeding, disease control, improved feeding, mechanization, and better housing resulted in huge productivity gains. For more information on dairy cows, see these sections of this context study: “Dairy Barns;” “Milk Houses;” “Milking Barns;” “Silos;” “Diversification and the Rise of Dairying, 1875-1900;” “Development of Livestock Industries, 1900-1940;” “World War II and the Postwar Period, 1940-1960.” Farm Resources. Elements associated with raising dairy cattle include dairy barns, milk houses, milking barns, silos, combination or general-purpose barns, animal underpasses, bull barns, fences, fields and pastures, hay barns or sheds, icehouses, manure pits or bunkers, root cellars, springhouses and springboxes, stock tanks, and stockyards.

Milking cows and raising pigs were companion enterprises because dairy farmers sold their cream to the butter factory (also called creamery) and fed the byproduct, the skim milk, to the hogs.

HORSES

The population of farm horses peaked in Minnesota around 1915, and in 1939 Minnesota had the second-highest number of farm horses in the nation.

Horses were the main source of power on Minnesota farms until the 1930s. They were used for fieldwork, powering stationary machines, hauling farm products to market in wagons, and transporting people in buggies, carriages, and sleighs. Almost no horses were kept on Minnesota farms solely for riding. Minnesota farms needed one work horse for every 25 or 30 acres of cultivated land (Anderson 1943: 656). Before motor power, the average Minnesota farm had four to eight draft horses.

As with other livestock, the first draft horses on Minnesota farms were nondescript breeds. Morgans were popular in the 1850s. Later, the leading breeds were Clydesdale and Percheron. Other popular breeds of draft horses were Belgian, Shire, and Suffolk (Anderson 1943: 633). Farmers prized work horses with “a good set of legs, alertness, a fast walk, and ability to endure hard work in warm weather,” according to Iowa State College livestock expert Arthur Anderson (Anderson 1943: 653). A farm draft horse could pull 1/10 to 1/8 of its weight and travel about 2.5 miles per hour for 20 miles a day. Draft horses had to work well in teams (which were often housed together in double stalls) and, with increased mechanization, had to tolerate the noise and commotion of a nearby tractor and other equipment. Horses were ready to work at age three. The average working life of a farm horse was about 12 years (Anderson 1943: 730-733). Because good draft horses were expensive and difficult to train, most farms kept them in warm, dry quarters. Combination or general-purpose barns were most common, although some farms with more than eight or ten horses had dedicated horse barns. Mares were bred in the spring and summer. By the 1940s, artificial insemination of horses was being done successfully, according to Anderson (Anderson 1943: 723). A farm horse working six months of the year needed to eat about 1 1/2 tons of feed grains and 2 1/2 tons of good quality hay per year, in addition to pasture and field crop residue (Anderson 1943: 720). Oats, corn, and barley were the most commonly fed grains. Of the hays, alfalfa, clover, timothy, soybean, wild, and grain hay were commonly fed to horses. Roughages such as straw, corn fodder, and sorghum fodder were also fed. Idle horses were fed mainly roughage or pasture (Johnson 1950: 714-716). The shift to tractor power freed up 100 million acres of farmland – about one-fifth of U.S. cropland. According to Anderson, “The diversion to other crops of land that formerly was used to produce horse and mule feed is regarded as one of the greatest changes in American agriculture” (Anderson 1943: 656; Johnson 1950: 59; McKibben 1953: 91; Rasmussen 1962: 578; Cochrane 1993: 108). At first, draft horses were scarce in Minnesota, so oxen were used for heavy work. Between 1860 and 1870, horse numbers increased from 10,000 to 93,000. By 1880, Minnesota had about 47 horses for every 100 rural Minnesota residents (Jarchow 1949: 193, 199-200). The number of horses on U.S. farms climbed until about 1915, when the population reached 21 million head. After that, horse numbers fell steadily as the use of farm trucks and tractors rose. By 1940 farm horse numbers had dropped in half, to 11 million (Anderson 1943: 630). But farmers were slow to get rid of their horses entirely. Horses were cheap to maintain compared to tractors, and could do some jobs better than early tractors. In areas where farms were small, the land hilly, fields small or irregular, and labor cheap, the shift to tractor power took longer (Anderson1943: 658). As late as 1943, nearly three-fourths of American farmers still used horses or mules for some jobs. In 1939, Minnesota had the second-highest horse population in the nation with 700,000 head. In the 1940s and 1950s, many Minnesota farmers used both horses and tractors to run their farms. By about 1955, however, farm draft horses had disappeared from the state (Anderson 1943: 559-660; Johnson 1950: 59; Fite 1989: 282-283).

MULES

Mules – the cross of a male donkey and a female horse – were used for farm work, especially in the Southern states. Mules were larger, stronger, and more tractable than donkeys, and more surefooted, patient, and durable than horses. Because they could tolerate hot conditions, they were often used for heavy hauling in cities in hot climates, as well as for road, farm, and lumber work. However, according to Arthur Anderson, “the natural tendency of the mule is to be lazy and obstinate” (Anderson 1943: 744-745). In Minnesota, mules were a minor source of farm power. The 1860 census, for example, reported 384 mules in the state, compared with 17,000 farm horses and 27,000 oxen (Jarchow 1949: 291). The mule population peaked in the U.S. about 1925, at 5.9 million animals, then declined (Anderson 1943: 621). Farm Resources. See Horses above.

OXEN

Oxen, or adult castrated bulls, were the first draft animals on Minnesota farms. Calm in temperament, steady, and strong, oxen were used by settlement-era farmers to break the prairie in the 1840s and 1850s. Oxen were also useful when roads were poor or nonexistent. They were used for heavy fieldwork in Minnesota until the 1880s. Teams of oxen pulled plows and cultivating tools, tramped grain to separate straw and chaff, hauled wagonloads of wheat to market, and brought back supplies and manufactured items. After roads were developed, farmers switched to horses which were faster transport. Oxen were not much good, however, for powering stationary machinery like threshers that used a merry-go-round-style sweep arm because they would quickly get dizzy walking in a circle and lie down (Jarchow 1949: 129). Oxen were replaced by horses and mules. In 1860, Minnesota’s 27,000 oxen outnumbered draft horses by 10,000. But ten years later, horses outnumbered oxen by 50,000. In 1880, the state had only 36,000 oxen. “The introduction of farm machinery, which operated more efficiently with horses, plus an improved standard of living, are closely related to the disappearance of oxen,” according to Jarchow (Jarchow 1949: 200; Anderson 1943: 21).

Car

Automobiles contributed to farm efficiency, allowing farmers to get to town quickly for parts or repairs, thereby reducing “down time” during planting, harvesting, and other critical periods (Fite 1989: 287). Farmers used cars to bring eggs to market, and to buy groceries and other supplies. Cars and better roads “greatly enlarged the shopping area and widened the horizon of farm families” (Cavert 1956: 20).

In the 1910s, some farmers used their autos as a source of farm power. The Ford Motor Company and others sold conversion kits that turned the family car into a farm tractor (Barlow 2003: 122). For as little as $195, farmers could buy a kit to enable a Model T to tow a plow. Kits also ran a belt from the Model T’s rear wheel to turn a pump, churn, feed mill, saw, washing machine, or electric generator (Barlow 2003: 122).

LIVESTOCK BREEDING

Some Minnesota cattle farmers were actively improving their herds through livestock breeding as early as the Territorial period. As farmers diversified around the turn of the century, they were encouraged to use specialized dairy breeds of high milk-producing cows, or cows bred with “dual-purpose” traits so that they would be good milk producers while their calves could be finished for meat. As the state’s regional system of agricultural experiment stations was built, animal scientists began to develop high quality flocks and herds at the stations, and to provide animals to local farmers so they could introduce these desirable qualities into their own herds. The first cooperative breed improvement associations in the U.S. were organized around the turn of the century to promote herd improvement and help members obtain the services of registered sires. The Minnesota Holstein Breeders Association, for example, organized in 1910. These associations kept detailed progeny records and did milk production testing. Later, breed associations educated farmers about artificial insemination.

Milk

Dairy products in the 1870s and 1880s, in addition to sometimes being spoiled or carrying tuberculosis, were sometimes “stretched” with foreign substances before they reached the consumer. Milk, for example, could be diluted with water and chalk. To combat this problem, the Minnesota Legislature passed the first state dairy quality law in 1885. The law prohibited the adulteration of dairy products, prohibited the sale of oleomargarine (a provision to protect the dairy industry), and established a Minnesota State Dairy Commission to monitor the quality of dairy products. page 147

In addition to being sold, eggs were an important source of food on the farm and, in fact, the number of eggs consumed on Minnesota farms increased from about 300 eggs per person per year in 1924 to 360 eggs per person per year in 1954

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