Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-06-20

The man who set out strawberry
bed last year and properly cared for it
is now reaping a rich reward.
Celery likes best peaty soil, not one
where the water stands near the sur
face, but an old peat bog which has
been well drained.
Horses are q good deal like men in
this-that some are willing to pull all
the load and others are more than will
ing that they should.
The sugar beet would seem specially
adapted to Mormon conditions, for the
old man has plenty of women and kids
of his own to thin out the beets
The Surprise plum of the Americana
family was exhibited at the Minnesota
State Horticultural society last winter
of a size equal to any of the California
and Oregon fruit.
When you are in doubt about the
freshness of lot of eggs, it is better
all around to fry them for breakfast
than to send them by the kids to the
local grocery man.
AS a general rule, it is the early sown
small grains which produce the best
crops and of the best quality. When
the soil is in suitable condition in the
spring, oats, wheat and barley cannot
be soWsl too soon.
With dry weather after the strawber-
ries begin to bloom you can easily
double your crop by rrigating the bed.
From the blooming to the ripening time
strawberries are the thirstiest plants
grown in the garden.
The sugar makers of jamaica COM
plain bitterly of the competition of the
beet sugar countries. This seems
strange when pound of cane sugar
can be produced for cent pound less
than a pound of beet sugar.
We have been sent samples Of print
ing paper made from the fiber of the
ramie plant, the first we have ever
seen. The paper Is of excellent quail
ity almost as tough as though made of
rag fiber and takes fine finish.
Here are two don'ts: Don't try to do
your own blasting with dynamite, and
don't try to sink one Of these big prai-
rie powders. Either is quite likely to
compel an administrator to be APP
pointed to settle up your estate.
The least satisfactory evergreens for
the west and northwest are the
spruces. While they are pretty when
young, they become rusty and ragged
In tile lower limbs when Is years old.
Either the white, Scotch or Austrian
pines are preferable
Y The country grain merchant is about
the softest picking to be found by the
board of trade sharks. The temptation
to take fier on some option besets
him all the time, with the result that
this sort Of business absorbs all his
profits and sometimes all his capital
also.
The state Of Connecticut is making
ian effort to prevent the total extinction
Of its most highly priced native flower,
the trailing arbutus. A penalty Of $50
is imposed by law for removing the
roots of this plant by any one other
than the owner of the land upon which
it grows.
Where the writer lives the Colorado
potato beetle has almost entirely dis
appeared. For long period of years
this pest seemed to be as much of a
fixture MS the chinch bug and mosqul-
to. What caused it to go we do not
know, but probably some sort of para
site which could eat its eggs faster
than it could lay them.
We find the Kaiserin Augusta Vic
torla the most desirable white rose for
outdoor culture. 1t is a free bloomer
under ordinary garden conditions, is
very fragrant and with proper cover
ing can be carried through our north
ern winters safely. The flower garden
furnishes no more beautiful flowers
than these Kaiserin roses.
Experiments made within the past
two years in South Carolina show that
400 pounds of tea can be produced up
on an mere Of land Of a quality which
will wholesale at Is cents per pound
and that the same can be produced at
a cost of about $50 per acre. This fact
is attracting the attention of capitalists,
who will attempt the growing of tea
upon large scale.
We cut and ate g northwestern
Greening apple on the list of Nav this