Life on the farm…

Life on the farm…. Draper Historic Rail. By many standards, Utah land is not well suited to agriculture - Nature has been stingy in that regard. Good crop land is scarce. Water is not plentiful, nor can it even be found in many places. Yet, driven by a sense of gathering and a yearning for order. Mormon pioneers preferred an agricultural approach to the land in contrast to developing mining or industry. Recognizing the scarcity of good cropland, the early settlers chose to band together and develop the land as a community, rather than individually. Together they built extensive canal systems to bring precious water from the mountains to their otherwise parched land, and soon the desert "blossomed as a rose," as they liked to say. The Draper Irrigation Company was incorporated in 1888., This spirit of communalism served Draper very well for many years. Land values remained low. Debt was rare. Diversified self-sustaining agriculture was dominant. For many area families, care of the land had much deeper meaning than just economics - it was a way of life. , In the 1920s, with congressional help, cooperatives were established to help market area crops. A strong partnership with the railroads was key to their success. In Draper, the Utah Poultry Producers and Draper Egg and Feed both had warehouses near the tracks which eventually transitioned into Intermountain Farmers Association - a member owned cooperative that continues to thrive today. In this way, Draper remained a vibrant and prosperous farming community for many generations., (aside:), Cash on the barrelhead! This term originated in the days when upended barrels served as both seats and tables in bars, and customers were required to pay for their drinks immediately, literally putting their money on the top (head) of a barrel.