Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-08-15

The steel windmill, both wheel and
tower made Of steel, is an efficient
lightning rod only as the tower legs
have a proper earth connection. II
to timber anchor posts, as is
done, the mill becomes, instead
of a protection, source Of positive
danger. This may be obviated by con-
Meeting a half inch iron rod to the
legs OF the tower and placing it in con-
tact with earth, which is always moist
We noted man giving 20 acre held
of corn an extra blowing the other day.
The corn was almost as high as his
shoulders, and he was doing the ploW-
ing with single horse and light ploW.
Inasmuch Us the field was clean and
had been we'll tended, was he doing any
good? We are of the opinion that he
was, and, in view of the drought which
prevailed at the time, he was probably
making 81 or So day while at work, il
not more
There is brief time during the
month Of July when adult wild fowls
geese and swansparticulariy- shed their
wing feathers and are thus unable to
fly. Years ago when hunting for Sioux
Indians in the breeding grounds Of
these birds in North Dakota we cap
tured scores Of adult birds during the
summers melting period, and the
male swans put UP an ugly fight in
their effort TO escape.
There are few men in every COM
munity who always view crop fail
ure with sincere delight, and these are
the men who hoard their grain crops
year after year so that they may take
advantage of other peoples misfor-
tunes. We know of three or four old
fellows with four or Ave years crops of
corn on hand who fairly gloat over the
heat and simooms Of July which with
cred the promising fields of the west
and sent the price of corn a-kiting on
the boards of trade.
No more beautiful sight in growing
cereal crops can be found anywhere
than the vast wheattields of the North
Dakota country, the home of the ia,
nous No. hard wheat. Still, this kind
of farming has many drawbacks. The
work of the entire year is crowded into
a space of four months. Rich though
the soil is, there must come 4 time
when it will become robbed OF its fer
tility and it will be hard to raise
good crops; then the work is nearly al
done upon an extensive scale, and this
means large farms, a thinly settled
community and poor schools and socia
advantages.
81 have one fixed rule which 1 never
depart from in the management of my
farm" said a very successful farmer
in Minnesota to us recently, land that
is to SOW two quarts of clover seed
with every acre OF small grain sowr
each year." Said lie, "It makes no diff
ference whether want to pasture the
field, cut it for hay or plow the clover
crop under. want to see clover com
ing up through every stlbble field
have on the farm" This man wal
everlastlngly fight and laid down :
rule which, if followed. would soon pu
other farms than his in the very high
est state of fertility and productive
ness.
I IN a certain western county there is
little community of farmers who 70
years have made a practice of holdin!
( neighborhood gatherings once in tw'
weeks in the winter at the home .
some member and in summer a picni
affair in the woods, where simple re
freshments are served and regula
programme of music and discussion 0
farm topics are carried through to tn
very great benefit of that communit
not only in an agricultural sense, bu
also in a social way. There may b
found well kept farms, good stock, in
proved highways and degree of int
lectual culture and refinement which
entirely possible as associated wit
country living.
The Bible refers to- certain ma
who bought piece of land withou
seeing it, and, while the record does nc
state whether he got beat or not, tn
chances are that he did. This prompt
the remark that about the most FOOLS
thing man can do is to buy Ian
without seeing it, and lots of men ar
doing this thing every day now in thei
eager craze to get hold of land. W
would not invest a dollar in any Ian
until we had tested the soil and til
subsoil to 4 depth of at least thre
feet, till we had ascertained the ave-
age rainfall for series of years /
the locality where the land was sitl
ated, until we had ascertained the qua
ity and quantity Of water accessible