Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-12-30

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Where the writer lives two pounds
of mutton cost 80 cents, while in Aus
! tralia n whole sheep can be bought for
u quarter.
| A big stock firm in the west went to
the wall recently. Not long ago they
paid $4,000 for fancy bred bull.
Bulls at this price ought to bust any
firE that pays it.
| Possibly u man might have been
| thankful when he was eating his
Thanksgiving turkey this year, but it
is doubtful if the felt that way when
he got the bill for the bird, for they
| went up to % cents per pound in the
cities.
You might not ut first think that
there could be any connection between
the boy with the gun and the specked
apples in the barrel; but, you see, the
boy kills the birds, and the dead bird
can't destroy the insects which prey
on the fruit.
There will shortly be on sale in all
grocery stores fruits prepared in new
form-yiz, in pulp form in the shape
of bricks or disks, the fruit being
cooked in sugar in a new way so as to
preserve all the fine flavor and at the
same time possess lasting keeping quail
tiles
The area Of the corn bet which has
the difficult problem of soft corn to
wrestle with is the northern part Of
Illinois, all of Wisconsin. the north
half Of Iowa, all of the Dakotas and
Minnesota. Missouri. Kansas, Indiana
and most of Nebraska have the finest
corn crop on record.
On Monday, Dec. 1, the receipts Of
cattle at the Chicago stockyards ex-
ceeded all previous records, $4,000 head
being placed on the market The bulk
Of this stuff was low grade beef, sell
ing at about SAFE. This condition of
affairs should soon result in cheaper
beef for the common people.
1t is surprising the large number OF
men there are who believe that ear
corn is good ration for dairy COW.
|. They usually supplement this with oat
straw or stalks in the field and wonder
why it does not pay to keep COWS. 1t
would be hard to give poorer ration
for the dairy COW than the above.
The section of country most liberal
dy endowed by nature as to climate,
fertility of soil, dependable rainfall,
timber. water, stone, coal, Oil and di-
versity Of crops possible of production
is that part of the Indian Territory so
long held by the Osages, Cherokees
and Creeks. These aborigines made a
good selection.
Government crop reports give Geor-
gia, Florida and Alabama an average
crop of corn for 1902 of only eight and
half bushels per acre against thirty
nine bushels for Missouri and thirty
eight for Illinois and Indiana. The
stalks grew just as tall in these south
erh states as they did in the northern
ones, but the ears were not there
Eggs in way are just as suscepti-
BILE to bad doors as is milk. The odor
of onions when fed to the hens Is cas-
lily discernible i'll the eggs they pro-
duce. A lady friend of ours simply
spoiled her eggs by placing balls made
of creosote preparation in the nests
to get rid CT the lice Where good eggs
are wanted hens should not be allowed
to do scavenger duty.
The dreaded foot and mouth disease
has broken out among the cattle of the
New England states. Tile most active
and heroic measures are being taken
by the agricultural department to stop
the spread of the disease. Hundreds
of veterinary surgeons are employed in
examining the stock of that. section,
and the department will ask of con-
gress $1,000,000 to defray the expenses
Of stamping out the disease.
The west and the northwest are
gradually originating types aHd varie-
ties of apples suited to their peculiar
climatic conditions. There are two APP
pies at least-one originated In Wiscon-
sin, the Northwestern Greening, and
one in Minnesota. the Wealthy-which
bid fair to take the place In that terri
tory filed by the Baldwin and the
Rhode Island Greening in the eastern
states.
A friend writes and wishes to know
when to SOW alfalfa. 1t should be
sown in the spring on well prepared
land. without any nurse crop 1t should