Theodore B. Price

THEODORE B. PRICE. The experiences of Theodore B. Price as a Pawnee County farmer add something to that vast body of information which constitutes the authoritative sources by which the agriculture of the state in the future will be guided and directed. Mr. Price is a son of William H. Price, who was one of the forerunners of civilization in this part of Western Kansas.

Born November 16, 1877, Theodore B. Price came to Pawnee County when a small child. He grew up on the family homestead, and had his share in the experiences and battles of the household in contending with the destructive elements which thwarted and hampered the early efforts of Kansas agriculturists. He remained at home until past his majority and his education was acquired chiefly in the common schools of district No. 23. One winter he took a short agricultural course in the Kansas College at Manhattan. His enterprise and prosperity have been directed entirely in agricultural channels. When he acquired a home of his own he first located west of Garfield. A few years later he sold his property there and moved to the old home community.

Mr. Price's farm is in section 28, township 22, range 18. He at first acquired the southwest quarter of that section and subsequently added another eighty acres. The principal direction of his efforts has been to raise wheat and cattle. He cultivates 200 acres of his own land, and has frequently leased an extensive acreage for his large operations as a wheat grower. For a number of years he sowed about 500 acres of wheat annually, and his best yield was thirty-seven bushels to the acre on an eighty acre tract. The big crop came in 1914, when from about 320 acres he threshed approximately 8,000 bushels. As a stock man he has fed a number of cattle and has relied upon his judgment to sell to the market. For the past two years he has experimented with ensilage from his own silo, and the results have been far beyond his most sanguine expectations. One of the best adjuncts of a farm in Western Kansas is a silo, says Mr. Price. His silo is 60 feet high, 16 feet in diameter, and has a capacity of 320 tons. He fills it with kaffir corn and cane.

In the course of improving his farm Mr. Price erected in 1909 one of the largest barns in that locality. It is 48 by 60 feet and has a mow capacity of 100 tons. In 1916 he built his bungalow cottage home. It contains eight rooms, is modern throughout in finish and equipment, and city homes do not compare at all with it in point of surroundings and conveniences. It is lighted by the Edison system, has a gravity water system, and there is a complete sanitary equipment.

Mr. Price is president of the Garfield Mutual Telephone Company. He is a member of the Board of Directors of School District No. 66, the Sackett School. Politically he began voting as a democrat and first supported Mr. Bryan for the presidency in 1900. He is also a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Knights of Pythias.

In December, 1904, he married Miss Hattie Oleen, who was born in Knox County, Illinois, in February, 1878, and is the oldest of the three children of O. W Oleen, who was one of the early Swedish settlers in Pawnee County. Mrs. Price has one living sister, Mrs. Elmer Lundquist, of Pawnee County.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Price: Earl, Lester and Harold.

Pages 2344-2345.