Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-09-19

When a man digs hill of potatoes
this year he can hardly tell whether it
Is best to sell them OF eat them.
1t has come about to this-t that it is
not best to decide that you want jot
done unless you are prepared to do it
yourself.
Eggs cooked in the shell by the heat
of the sun and apples baked on the
trees were features of the heated term
of ITO in the shade III July last.
Samples of the Whitaker plum sent
to us July % showed them to be fully
ripe and of good quality, making this
plum the earliest of any we know of.
The law Of Illinois which prohibited
the artificial bleaching or coloring Of
grain has been declared demonstrations
al by the supreme court of that state.
We note that a woman is always
after it has bitten her child. 1t is about
the only thing which will insure her
consent to the killing.
When you find man who raises 20
bushels of corn to the acre when you
can raise only 40, you had better go
and see him, for he knows something
which you ought to know.
We noted the burning Of six different
creameries in one week recently. Some
went by way of Spontaneous combus-
ton, one by lightning, one from the
furnace fire and the others by the hand
of God and overinsurance.
In the eastern states, where the cues
ton of fertilization of the soil has been
reduced to an exact science, they have
discovered that the nitrogen, potash
and phosphates contained in ton of
milk sold off the farm are worth 81 Al.
A frostless September would be a,
great blessing this year, such a climatic
condition insuring the maturity of
vast acreage of different crops, which,
set back by the drought of July, are
doing their best now to make good the
loss.
We have before US verified state
ment of 100 acres Of cheap Minnesota
land producing this year 1,765 bushels
of flax, which sold, delivered at the
nearest depot, for $2265, or nearly
twice what the land was sold for in
April last.
There is one cheap fly protector for
the dairy COW, and that darkened
basement barn. Fed literally in such
barn during daylight in fly season
and turned into the pasture at night
the COW will not shrink in her August
yield of milk.
We cut back lot of pieplant July
26, and Aug. II had a nice young
growth of tender stalks available as
pie timber. While this is pretty harsh
treatment for Il growing plant, pie
plant will stand it little better than
any other-almost as well as burdock.
The heavy and constant rains which
fall on the cultivated fields of the south
during the winter season do more by
erosion to rob the southern soil of its
fertility than the growing Of the crops.
The north country locked up tight by
the frost is almost exempt from loss
through this means.
The condition of the corn crop is
such all through the great corn belt
this season that there is sure to be a
big demand for good seed corn next
spring, and men having good corn
should not overlook this fact, but save
at least portion of their crop, so that
it may be used for seed.
We passed through section recently
where the barns and farm buildings
were nearly all painted drab with white
trimmings. We confess that we do
not like this color for this purpose as
well as the old fashioned red and we
question whether such paint is us dura-
BILE as that having an iron base
The heated term OF July was para
lyzer on bird life. All the birds, with
the exception of the spafrows, disap-
peared. We think they took to the
woods and fingered along the. banks of
IN, H.
sup could not reach them. Just as
soon as the temperature became nor
NAL once more they all returned.
We note the case of cooperative
creamery which Voluntarily, THROUGH
itc dirpotors Iruda +ba b,,tta, ,,,,l,a, =,