Crops

Kenosha News September 1952
Record Tomato Crop At Somers
(Source:  Original news clipping courtesy of Ernest "Bunkie" Tabbert)

The freight station at Somers has been the scene of much activity the past two weeks as this year's record tomato crop, over 8,000 tons, was shipped to canneries.  The left photo shows a truckload of tomatoes being inspected by Joseph Peek, federal inspector for the state.With Peek are Bernard, left, and Frank Lichter, Somers, who harvested the tomatoes on their farm.

The right photo, Carl Iverson of Somers, receives a receipt for his truckload of tomatoes from Mrs. Lura Brunet, Somers, who acted as Weigh master.

Kenosha News September 1952
Record Tomato Crop At Somers
(Source: Original news clipping courtesy of Ernest "Bunkie" Tabbert)
C.D. Ruthe, Somers Station Agent, and Donald Tiedman, a canning company representative, are shown checking a loaded box car in the left photo.  Shown on the right photo are Frank Lichter on the left and Thomas Birchell on the right, both Somers farmers of long standing, reminisce about tomato crops of other years when local farmers were not as fortunate.  Lichter stated this was his best tomato harvest since 1935.

Tomato Yield In This Area Huge Success
"Tomato growers from this area are wearing smiles these days, in sharp contrast to their frowns the past two years.
Top-quality ripe tomatoes are pouring through the Somers freight station in record volume as harvesting of the best commercial crop in years nears completion.
Heavy yields, lack of disease, and a good price spell success at the market for tomato farmers here.  Disease all but destroyed the crop in 1950 and 1951.
Shipments through the Somers Station are expected to reach a total of well over 8,000 tons.  At $32 a ton, this means tomatoes will bring an income of about $264,000 to Kenosha and Racine County truck farmers.
The average yield has been about 11 tons an acre, it is reported.  Over 750 acres were planted this summer.
All told, the 1952 crop probably will surpass the 1949 harvest.  Blight, which wiped out the bulk of the tomatoes in the past two years, had little effect this year.  Warm, dry weather gave the disease no chance to thrive.  Ideal conditions for the spread of blight are muggy, cloudy days and cool nights.
State experts call this year's crop the finest in several years.  Fifteen thousand hampers, or half a million pounds of tomatoes, a day have been shipped from fields in the southeastern Wisconsin region.
Racine and Kenosha counties lead the state in production of commercial tomatoes.  The biggest portion of the crop grown here is produced for canning companies.  Part of the harvest is processed in Wisconsin, but a large segment goes to canneries in adjoining states.
(Source:  Kenosha News, September 1952)

"The oat crop which is now being threshed is the heaviest in years.  Some prices are yielding as high as sixty and non yet reported have hone less than forty bushels per acre.
(Source:  Racine Journal Aug. 18, 1905)

"Our entertaining farmer, M.A. Rasmussen had about forty boys from Kenosha every day last week helping him gather his onion sets of which he will have about 2,000 bushels."
(Source:  Racine Journal, Aug. 18, 1905)

"Although but little grain has been threshed, the yield so far is satisfactory, as high as 50 to 60 bushels per acre being reported."
(Source:  Racine Journal Aug. 18, 1905)

"Mmes. Frank Thomas, John Swartz, and Ben Robinson, all of the Berryville, were among those awarded ribbons for the best iris blooms at the Kenosha County Garden Club show, held at the Kenosha County Courthouse Tuesday evening."
(Source:  Racine Journal June 23, 1934)