Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-02-06

corn ripening earlier where he put
his Darn-yard manure. Those who
plant largely and late, can be benefit.
ed by using blood on all their land.
but particularly on late planting.
The yield on our new land Is ample,
but o certain per cent. of deteriora-
tion leaves no profit. The blood 10 as
dry as flour and not particularly dis
agreeable to handle.
The most lucrative as well as the
most pleasant feature of farm life is
that connected with grazing; either
dairying or cattle feeding. Such
management requires two-thirds Of
the farm in grass. Col. WariDg, on
an experimental farm in Rhode Is
land Of sixty acres, devotes forty-four
to grass. Six months grazing will
put more flesh on a steer than six
months corn feeding as we feed in the
West. But, the grass must DO good,
and to have good grass the land must
be in good condition when ii is seed
ed down. Land can be enriched
from the manure heap, but many Of
our farmers have none, and in order
that they may have one the presence
of cattle Is necessary. But, the far.
mer who has raised wheat and corn
for many years has reduced his fields
till they would keep but few cattle
He can do one of two things; buy
corn to feed with, or double his yield
with fertilizers. If 81 will buy dried
blood enough to produce five bushels
of corn, the farmer has the corn ut q
cheap rate, and the field ia greatly
benefited. Many farms need no such
applications; it is we'll for Iowa they
do not, because the home supply of
dried blood and bone dust is limited
to the amount furnished by the swine
we sell. Still, there are farmers who
need these fertilizers very much and
they are missing one of the opportu-
mites to better themselves by allow.
ing our more enterprising brethren
of the East and South to get them.
The difference between the price
of a pound of beef, mutton, cheese or
wool in Iowa and Great Britain, is
being reduced until the advantage is
with us owing to the cheapness of our
land. Still, British farmers who pay
as much rent every year as would buy
an equal number of acres here, COM
petes with our products, and sends
here for our fertilizers, sends here
for corn to feed with. Why can he |
do it2 He has only good grass and
good cattle to enable him to meet us
in his own market. He gets our ma
nures to make his grass good; our
corn to make his cattle complete after |
they are fat on grass. The only an
swer is-he knows the great value of
good grass and good cattle.
A farmer from Traer visited Scot |
land, last summer, and in a bsntering |
way, said to some Scotch farmers
"We will soon send over all the beef
and butter Britain can use" The re-
ply was: "Butter and beef be hang
ed the people in Britain can't get
enough OF milk to drink if you send
all the butter and beef we need to-
morrow"
Habit has much to do with the fu-
ture Of men and nations. Ifthe pros
poets in future are something like the
realizations of the past, we are apt to
be content, and contentment is said
to be better than riches; but, if the
profession is to keep step with ad-
vancing America, and command the |
respect we are unhappy without, we
must seize upon every advantage pre-
sented to place agriculture intellectu-
ally on the high level occupied by
other workers in our country.