Lembke, W. J.

BIRTH:
DEATH:

CHILDREN: Armond Lembke, Glenn Lembke

PARENTS: W.J. Lembke Sr., Mrs. Lembke Sr.

He appears in the 1917 Chandler directory as a farmer.

-Mr. Lembke owns a ranch on Arizona Blvd. north of town in the restricted area which requires houses to cost $3,500 or more. He sold his Mesa property and has moved his family here.

He is in the dairy business and the raising of thoroughbred cattle. (Chandler Arizonan 8/23/1912)

-Mr. Lembke donated a thoroughbred Duroc Jersey Gilt bred to boys' cotton growing contest. (Chandler Arizonan 2/14/1913)

-Mr. Lembke is erecting a house worth $3,000, which will be modern in every way. (Chandler Arizonan 2/28/1913)

-Mr. Lembke has been experimenting with his dairy business. He has found the average for the creamery was $10.40 gross per cow per month. He has added 30 cows to his Holstein herd. (Chandler Arizonan 3/7/1913)

-Mr. Lembke is named the temporary chairman of the Chandler Egyptian Cotton Growers' Association, and named to the advisory board which will later become the board of directors for the association.

He pledged to grow a certain amount of cotton, and was also named to a committee to go to Mesa to possibly work out joining their association.

He was unable to make it to the second meeting. (Chandler Arizonan 3/28/1913)

-Mr. Lembke says every farmer should try to plant even a little cotton this year. It will prove of vast benefit to the district next season. (Chandler Arizonan 4/4/1913)

-Mr. Lembke will be one of the board of directors for the Chandler Egyptian Cotton Growers' Association. He was named to the board at a meeting held last Sunday where by-laws were written and elections held for the association. (Chandler Arizonan 4/25/1913)

-Mr. Lembke has 160 acres which is well stocked with animals. He is working hard to improve his land. He milks his cows by electricity and pumps his water the same way. His top cow averages $21 a month in butter fat.

He is building a new home going to be worth about $3,000. It has six rooms with a big porch around the front and part of one side. He believes shingled sides are better than boards, because the warmer climate will not warp them so much. He prefers a stain over paint.

A fireplace capable of holding a four foot log is in the front room. The entire house is wired for electricity with separate switches in each room. Two lights are placed above the fireplace, and one over the buffet. The floors in the front three rooms will be of hardwood. The guest room has a built in bed with special lavatory.

The bathroom will be near the bedrooms while the toilet will be at the rear of the house.

The plans were made by Mr. and Mrs. Lembke. The favorite part is the 16 x 16 cellar that will be used as a storeroom.

For now they are living in a substantial building just north of new home, and in the future will be used as sleeping quarters. They've been using the grainery as living and dining room.

There is also a pump house where a two horse power motor turns the cream seperator and the pump bringing water from a well 190 feet deep.

He has installed equipment that can milk up to four cows at a time, and with some accomadations will soon be able to do eight cows at a time. It was installed by John McCarthy with the help of Mr. Lembke. It takes about 35 minutes to milk 16 cows, and he has about 67 cows including the young ones, and he milks about 32 of them. His foreman, Herman Meyer, can do it on his own if necessary.

Mr. Lembke gets about 50 pounds of butter fat every two days, and he gets about 95 pounds of milk every day. His prize cow, Beauty, who came to him unregistered, produces six to eight gallons of milk a day. 35 cents a pound is about $21.

He wants to get several carloads of thoroughbred heifers from the east. His 90 foot barn holds 25 cows, and he expects to build a concrete building for his cows. He has a registered Holstein bull weighing 2,000 pounds that was raised in Arizona.

Also he has 22 head of horses though his barn holds 16. One colt was badly lacerated after running into barbed wire fence. He also has 118 hogs, thoroughbred Duroc Jerseys are on the place. They are fattened by the skimmed milk as are the calves with over 20 gallons fed a day.

A hog house was built to the design recommended by the governmental experiment station. It is divided into pens for each sow and its litter. Each pen leads to a run outside, and all windows face to the south for plenty of sun in winter. A dipping tank is in the center of a gangway in the rear of the building and is constructed to force the animals to dip. He has built roofs over the water troughs to keep the water cooler and provide shade.

Mr. Lembke prefers feeding his animals in feed yards. He rations the amount of green a day, and he sets up racks of hay.

He has taken 100 acres of his land to alfalfa and barley, or rather to barley since alfalfa is already in. The barley cost him a dollar an acre to plant, but has received about four dollars an acre more with his barley and hay than his alfalfa. Barley is a much better feed and stockman prefer it. A bulk of his acreage is to alfalfa to feed his livestock.

His land adjoins the Fellows, which is considered the best in the district. (Chandler Arizonan 4/25/1913)

-Mr. Lembke has planted ten acres of peaches. (Chandler Arizonan 5/16/1913)

-Mr. Lembke declined the offer to be reelected to the board of directors of the Chandler Egyptian Cotton Growers' Association. He was not able to grow any cotton this year. (Chandler Arizonan 5/30/1913)

-Mr. Lembke's house is nearly finished says Boss Carpenter McCarthy. Painters are finishing the exterior while the interior woodwork is being done. The family should be able to move in in a few weeks. (Chandler Arizonan 5/30/1913)

-Mr. Lembke's mother is visiting from Pomona, California. (Chandler Arizonan 6/6/1913)

-Mr. Lembke's mother is taking Glenn, his son, to California for several weeks to visit various relatives. She has recently sold land in California for somewhere over $500,000. (Chandler Arizonan 6/13/1913)

-Mr. Lembke is the first to send a telegram in the new depot. (Chandler Arizonan 6/20/1913)

-Mr. Lembke and his wife, Blanche, have exchanged their contract with the Chandler Improvement Company for a deed to their land. (Chandler Arizonan 6/27/1913)

-Mr. Lembke was in Mesa for business. He says the crop outlook was good in Chandler. (Reprinted from the Mesa Correspondence, Chandler Arizonan 7/4/1913)