Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-05-15

Monkeys are trained in Peru to climb
the tall trees and gather the Brazil
nuts, and it is said that they do their
work well and do what would be al
most impossible for any human being
to do.
Germany has some queer laws, for
here is the German citizen compelled
to pay z cents per pound for what sug-
ar he eats, while the sugar is exported
by the millions Of pounds at 8 cents
pound.
Thorough tillage will not take the
place Of fertilizing. 1t will simply
serve to make all the plant food in the
soil available for plant growth. Tillage
is an aid to and not substitute for
manure.
The hog producing states have never
been more nearly free from hog cholera
than at the present time, and many be-
lieve that the high price of corn has
much to do with the exemption from
the disease.
Jersey beef Is probably just as sweet
in flavor and nutritious in quality as
that Of the Shorthorn, but If one wants
, to relish 1t 1t Is best not to see it until
1t is Drowned in the oven, the fat is so
extensively yellow.
So great is the demand for the ma
chine to make woven wire fencing in
Australia, with which to shut out the
rabbits, that such machines, which are
Of American manufacture, are special
~ exempted from any import duty.
Theoretically 1t is not best to plant
very largely Of potatoes this year be-
cause Of the very large profits con-
nected with this crop last year, the
, general rule being that low prices fol-
low year Of abnormally high prices.
Pieces Of blue grass turf may be
planted just as potatoes are, only not
SO deep, and very good lawn secured
in short time. Plant the pieces of
turf ten inches apart each way, and
you will have solid blue grass sod
by fall.
We favor the raking Of the winter
covering of the strawberry bed, be 1t
straw, hay or stalks, in between the
rows for summer mulching instead
of removing it entirely from the bed.
It keeps the ground moist and the fruit
clean.
Penitentiary convicts, mostly colored
men, are employed in the states Of
North and South Carolina and Georgia
on contract road work. They are work
ed in gangs and accomplish much for
the betterment of the highways of
those states.
We note with much interest that al
falfa is being successfully grown in
very many localities in the state of
Minnesota. There is evidently very
large field for the extension of this
most valuable legume all through the
west and northwest.
The leakage from the barnyard
should be looked after on many farm
where the rains carry off and waste a
large portion of the most valuable part
Of the manure. The best way is to get
the manure on to the fields just as soon
as possible after it is made.
If you lived in New Zealand, you
would have the privilege Of placing
your own valuation on your property
for the purpose Of taxation, for the
government reserves the right to buy
it Of you at an advance Of 20 per cent
over the valuation you have made.
.. That woman who keeps house and
cares for husband, four children and
two hired men, who does all the cook
ing, washing, ironing, mending and
sewing and, in addition, cares for the
family garden and $50 hens, ought not
to have to bring in the wood and water
3 to run the house.
A man is entitled to the grass which
grows upon the side of the highway
which borders his farm, and he would
have the right to prevent his neighbor
from cutting such grass or pasturing it
off with his stock, but he could not
prevent the mover or traveller from
using such grass for his passing needs.
Fruit trees will bear much closer
pruning in the eastern and southern
states than they will in the northwest
ern ones. In the eastern states the
greater rainfall and consequent greater
humidity Of the air insure better en-
Z vironment for the tree than is to be
, found in the west, where all the leaves
and shade possible are needed to Offset
the more heated and arid conditions.