Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-06-19

per cent OF mere should be invest.gat-
ed very closely.
A melon patch in cornfeid viii
sometimes neutralize the work Of the
local Sunday school.
II sparrows instead of tame pigeons
come to be used as the targets in
Bportsmen's tournaments, the people
will be inclined to look with more ia
vor on these gatherings.
That big dog which now runs the
farm separator has found his mission
Mt last. There should be no big dogs
kept unless there is tread power Of
some sort for them to work.
Farmers would be more willing to
die on their old farms if the country
cemeteries We're better cared for.
Scarcely any one likes the prospect of
being buried in a weed patch.
:. A man who has to work for living
lost ten dollar job with us not long
: ago just because he overcharged on a
t little thirty cent job which he did for
us. 1t pays to be fair in small mat
tiers just as well as in large ones.
The summer storms leaving trail
of overturned windmills in their wake,
do good deal of advertising for the
gasoline engine on the farm us a SUBJ
. stitute for the windmill In the work of
pumping, churning, grinding, etc.
The demand for American horses
and mules for the conduct of the Boer
n war has about ceased. This demand
r did much to stimulate the price of
l. horsefesh and put it at about the
d highest figures known since the war of
the rebellion.
: Any woman looking for meanssof
e living who will intelligently take 4up
! the poultry business will find it one Of
n the safest and most remuneratiye EN-
3 Payments available. There is no dan
ger that the poultry business will ever
be overdone in this country.
d Just remember that while the corn
d crop Of 1901 was worth from so to 60
q cents bushel on the farm there was
n almost absolute immunity from hog.
cholera. We do not say that there is
any connection between these two
n facts, for it may be only coincidence.
s An effort should always be made to,
b interest the farm boy in some one par
d ticular thing connected with the farm
work. 1t may be horses or cattle or
pigs or chickens or possibly fruit grow
d ing. If the boy shows any special lik-
e ing for any particular branch of agrt-
+ culture, encourage him in it. =
e Something is badly out of joint when
It two men. both well to do young farm
ers, will commit suicide, one because
his wife objected to his going to a
neighbours auction sale and the other
y because the rain washed out field of
corn which he had just finished plant.
u ing. Both Of these tragedies were en-
i acted recently in western state.
Asked in what particular manner ag-
riculture has been most benefited by
/ the discoveries in science during the
I past fifty years. we should name the
/ making Of cheap steel. All earth work
I ing implements used to be of iron and
: never worked clean or easily. With
e the steel came the highly polished sur
I face, lessened friction and an infinitely
better quality of all earth work rs
A series Of duststorms which fairly
:. peeled the surface of the field, follow
- ed by hail and the beating of about
=, = six inches Of rainfall inside of three
: days, had, we thought, about finished
= up an acre and half field of seed on
: ions for us. But our faith was not as
strong as the vegetable we We're try
ing to grow, for out of all the adverse
conditions the crop is coming along all
:, right.
. We find that by covering the straw
> berry bed with good heavy coating
: of straw in the late fall and letting the
= vines remain covered up just as long
= as possible in the spring the blooming
y and fruiting season can be set back at
least week or ten days. This is a de-
cided advantage with the late ,yarie-
e. ties, as it prolongs the picking season
l. that much. Care must be taken, how
ever, that the covering is not left on
$. too long or the plants will be seriously
n injured.
1t