Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-03-11


boris, too, if she be a widow.
The first cheese factory was started
i'll Canada in 1864, and in 1900 the ex-
ports of Canadian cheese were 1S6,O00,-
600 pounds.
Make it as warm as possible for Gil
the sparrows which seek q home OF
your premises. and you will have more
other birds. Sparrows are pirates.
There bids fair to be an unusual de-
mand for good seed corn the coming
season. Many sections of the corn belt
had no corr last year fit for seed.
The bushel box for the marketing Of
apples is rapidly coming into favor.
The box is easier to handle and in size
much more nearly meets the wants of
the average consumer.
Few men will take any chances in
holding over any of the old corn crop,
for the chances are that it will be more
ludu lCu yedtS oio bS1olC SOlh VIII NC
worth as much as it will during the
first half of 1902.
There is lots of rag chewing over the
sugar tariff matter, but the consumer
can depend upon the agitation finally
resulting in bringing him nearer to the
time when he will get twenty-six
pounds Of sugar for a dollar.
Along the last Of March we get a few
small boxes. fill them with earth and
SOW some celery. cabbage, peppers. to-
matoes, pansies and other desirable
things. Then in May we have a nice lot
of strong plants to set out in the gar
den without having to buy or beg them
from the neighbors.
Nothing makes a prettier lawn deco
ration than a circular bed, say twelve
feet in diameter. with a dozen cannas
in the center and these banked with
the different varieties Of the coleus. A
fringe of dwarf nasturtiums may be
set on the extreme outer edge of the
bed with good effect.
The potato crop of Colorado proved
a regular bonanza to the producers the
past year. The CROP was large, as irri-
cation made the growers independent
Of drought. the quality was very supe-
rior and the prices out Of sight. Hun
dreds of men made fortunes out of po-
tatoeS this year in that state.
The Ignite coal deposits of North
Dakota and Montana are rapidly being
developed and are destined to prove a
source Of immense wealth to those
states. The only drawback to its more
general Introduction is that it seems to
require stoves and furnaces Of spe-
cial construction in order to secure per-
feet combustion.
If oleo is "the poor mans butter"
the said poor man should see to it that
he gets it at a poor mans price. This
will be when he buys it for just exact.
ly what it is and not disguised under
the name of butter. Buying it as but.
ter, he pays just about twice as much
for it as he would if sold under its
own name. The poor man has really
more cause to kick than the dairyman
at the fraud as now carried on.
We find that peas of all kinds do bet
ter sown early than when sown at reg
hlar intervals during the spring. de
pending upon the difference in time OF
maturing Of the several varieties tc
afford a succession Of pickinss. Peas
like cool. moist conditions while devel
oping. For a family garden we would
SOW about four kinds. which, If prop
erly selected. will give a good supply
Of peas from the middle Of June to the
last of July.
The shortest crop the past year al
through the west and northwest has
been the crop of freight cars in which
TO ship to market the products of thu
farms. The productive capacity of thu
territory referred to has been develop
ing much faster than have the trans
portation facilities. Double tracks OF
many of the main lines Of road will b.
an absolute necessity before man.
years. We note that one road (the Penn
s~ylyania SYSTEM has lately placed or
ders for new freight cars to the valu'
Of $lO.000.000.
Timber tracts and groves Of all sort
may be very greatly benefited by an In
selligent and judicious thinning GU
and trimming up. Trees easily ham
per each others growth. and all veal
and deformed specimens should be re
moved. A serious fault with nearl.
all artificial groves lies in the to
thick planting of the trees, something
which is not noticed when the tree
are young, but which, if not corrected
may result in the ruin of the grove a
a later period. Sunlight and air ar
absolutely Indispensable to the vigol
GUS and healthy growth of all flores
and orchard trees.