Onion+Farms+in+Bettendorf


 * Onion Farms in Bettendorf **

Original Author: Stephanie Hoover, A&S 195

Revision Author:

In describing Bettendorf Iowa not many people would think of onion farms, but due to Capt. Isaac Hawley’s departure from Vermont in the 1820’s he brought onions to what was called Pleasant Valley at the time (Schipper and Speer 134). The Hawleys settled in Illinois until the spring of 1837 when they moved to Scott County. Hawley was the first man in the state to plant onions, but it was his sons, Daniel and George, who developed the onion-growing industry which they continued until the 1920’s(134). In the fall of 1837 he floated a flatboatload of onions and potatoes down to St. Louis. Hawley and his son took a load of produce to St, Louis every year until 1850 ( Lage 11) . Around 1842 a businessman, Fulton, contracted for much of the onion crop at 50 cents per bushel(Schipper and Speer 24). According to Kristen Schipper and Mary Louise Speer, J.M.D. Burrows, a Davenport businessman, said, “Mr. Fulton’s attempt to boom the onion market caused dissatisfaction.” There was an issue involving the cost of onions which literally seemed to pile up on Mr. Fulton -who had no warehouse to store them in once they were purchased. This lead to a “fragrant decaying onion” smell throughout the town -and with each family having a minimum of one cow there was some uproar about the flavor of the milk being produced (Schipper and Speer 24-25). That wasn’t all the trouble Mr. Fulton had, he’d also loaded a flatboat with some of the best of his crop in October, but the boat froze before it reached its destination. By the time it arrived in April the onions were worthless(Schipper and Speer25). What helped the onion industry grow was the arrival of German immigrants to the area around 1840.In 1921 an Iowa State bulletin stated, “…Later more German settlers moved in and engaged in the industry…The development of the industry is probably due to the temperament and inclination of these people toward intensive farming as it is to any special advantages of environment” ( Lage 31). Henry Schutter was one of these immigrants who arrived in 1856 and is said to be one of the first German settlers in this township. Eventually he owned 500 acres of land, for which he held seven deeds ( Lage 31) . The Schutter’s raised onions and shipped them by flatboat to St. Louis or New Orleans. Schutter usually had eighteen to twenty acres of onions every year and sometimes harvested as much as 760 bushels per acre( Lage 32) . Henry Schutter was known as “the Onion King” due to the hundreds of acres he owned around Pleasant Valley(Schipper and Speer 29). Much like corn there was a method to onion farming told Fred Schutter, “Every year about one acre is set aside for seed onions. When these are getting ripe, the off-type onions are pulled up and carried off. From the balance, the very best bulbs are kept. This careful selection is not practiced by all growers, but enough of them do this to keep the train up to a high standard”(Schipper and Speer 29). In 1858 census showed that Pleasant Valley Township had the heaviest farm production of all Scott County; farmers put in ninety-four acres of onions which produced 13,814 bushels ( Lage 12) . <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">In 1858 Lilienthal [town] was made a part of Gilbert, under the authority of the county surveyor Elias Gilbert (Anderson 20). The residents were primarily German immigrants who were skilled farmers and laborers.However in 1902 Gilbert was invaded. An early 20th century historian of Scott County remarked, “The steady people of Gilbert raised onions and cultivated flower beds, kept early hours and good habits and were content with a quiet life in the eastern suburbs of Davenport, when all of a sudden they awoke in a whirl of industry, with chimneys that smoke and wheels that hum, mammoth hydraulic presses that make steel cars and shears that chew up boiler plate (Schipper and Speer 50). The necromancer, W.P. Bettendorf, and his associates have worked the transformation”(Schipper and Speer136).By 1858 there were 94 acres of onion fields between valley Drive and the river. In the late 19th century onion farmers weighed their crop in the field or at the scale in front of the general store. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Between 1916 and 1920 Fred Shutter patented an automatic plating machine with William Hartz which decreased the hours involved in onion farming; though most farmers still preferred human labor. These two men revolutionized onion planting by saving the work of 20 men (Anderson 144). Onion seed planters were also invented around this time, led by Russel Rice, which speeded the work of seed planting (144). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Despite the automatic planting machine raising onions still required families to work together to maximize their profits. According to a 1925 report from the Iowa State Agricultural Experimental Station, “220 hours of human labor [is required] for each acre of onions, with half of the time spent on harvesting in August, and 44 hours per acre spent weeding”(Schipper and Speer 31).Much of the time spent weeding was due to that fact that it was the only way to return a profit. Many successful onion growers planted corn a few years prior to make sure the fields were stripped of weeds (31). A crop required five to seven weedings a season, or more if rainfall was abundant (Lage 34). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">In 1912 the Pleasant Valley Growers Association was formed and they made Charles Hanna their general salesman being paid by commission(Schipper and Speer 31). The best year reported in history was in August 1919 with 63 cars that averaged a net of better than $1,000 per car to the grower(31). Hannah stated that they shipped onions as far east as New England, but not much further west then Nebraska which was due to their “flavor and quality” (31). Selective breeding, careful attention to crop rotation and natural fertilization had made the area “noted for raising the greatest variety and finest quality onions in the state” (Lage).The record of onion production was in 1912 on a 12-acre plot which averaged more than 940 bushels per acre; it was not unusual, on a rich acre of land, to produce 500-600 bushels of onions (Anderson 144). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Most plants are subject to some type of fungus or disease, for the onion it was: smut, downy mildew, pink root, and neck rot( <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lage 35) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. The fungus causing smut lives from year to year in the soil and attacks seedlings grown from seed. Onions grown from sets are said not to be affected by smut. However sets were affected by insect pests such as thrip (onion lice) and maggots which were a problem in hot, dry weather(Schipper and Speer 31 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. This caused some controversy between farmers who planted in sets vs. seeds because if a nearby farmer planted in sets it could invade the seed field when the plants weren’t big enough to fend off the vermin (31). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">In 1925 the United Onion Growers hired M.W. Lorch of Chicago as their sales representative which worked well for a year until the following year, due to heavy rains, the onion crops were late getting in and the price of a bushel -of Pleasant Valley onions- wouldn’t pay the farmer enough to cover freight costs (Schipper and Speer 32). After this catastrophe, Lorch disappeared without accounting for 55 carloads of onions, and only his car and clothing were found; his body was never found. The final accounting allowed a prorata award of $11 per carload which was a huge financial blow in 1933. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">In 1925 an Iowa State University agricultural report noted: “The development of the industry is probably due as much to the temperament and inclination of these people [Germans] toward intensive farming as it is to any special advantages of environment”(Schipper and Speer29).A descendant of Henry Schutter, grandson and farmer Fred Schutter, said that same year, “Ever year about one acre is set aside for seed onions,” in this they would pull and carry off the off-type onions they found and kept the best bulbs(29). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The height of the industry was in 1972 when the Onion Growers acquired an office in Maves Hall with a telephone, bookkeeper and inspector(Schipper and Speer 32). There was a downfall in 1972 which was due to the Yellow Dwarf virus (or fungus), which started the decline of the areas onion industry. Professors from Iowa State and private researchers were imported, funded by a self-imposed assessment on all onions grown in the valley. Some farmers planted elsewhere, as far as Milan, while the virus was looked into, but most farmers just switched to a different crop (33). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">During the Depression onion farming seemed to be a failsafe for many people. They could take the bus to an onion farm and make anywhere from 2 to 5 cents per bushel of onions picked or $1 for weeding and planting; this was the first job for much of the local youth(Schipper and Speer 33). In the late 1890’s a young woman was remembered as being able to top one hundred bushels of onions a day( <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lage 34) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. It was said that a family could survive on 10 acres of onions, a milk cow and a few chickens(Schipper and Speer 33).While only five people were listed specifically as “growers of onions and fruits” seventy-five or eighty families earned their living by agriculture in this township and were listed as “farmers and stock raisers”( <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lage 34). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">By 1968 only five onion-producing fields remained in Pleasant Valley, and by 1992 only the Schutter family remained in business(Schipper and Speer 33).

Anderson, Fredrick I., ed. //Joined By A River: Quad Cities//. Lee Enterprises, 1982. Print. Lage, Dorothy B., and Arthur J. Voelliger. //History of Pleasant Valley Township, Scott County, Iowa//. Bettendorf: Bettendorf Public Library, 1973. Print. Schipper, Kristen D., and Mary Louise.Speer. //Bettendorf: The First Century//. Bettendorf, IA: Heritage Subcommittee, Bettendorf Centennial Committee, City of Bettendorf, 2003. Print.
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