Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-10-06
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u FARM RICHARDS
GARDEN. N5:TRlGG.

- Q}poes~ASk AVE- . S}4SI0
but we have not had thirty -seven inch
es of rain during the month Of June,
as they did in Manila.
The two great problems which worry
the American tiller of the soil more
; than any others are how to get water
on the land and how to get it off from
the land.
| Alaska is bound to keep advertised
as an agricultural possibility. We have
! reports now of yield of ESQ bushels
of potatoes to the acre. selling there at
several dollars bushel.
We have two neighbors who have
grown crop of popcorn this year. 1t
! has cost no more to raise than other
corn, but they will realize nearly $50
| per acre from their crop.
! We note that the most successful
manner in v lich to rid field of morn
ing glolies or bi1dweed is to seed it
! down and pasture it two years with
sheep. This process will fix most of the
other weeds as well.
Abnormally wet seasons always in
sure poorer crops and smaller profits
than abnormally dry ones. In dry
season man is able to save what he
raises, while in q wet one the loss Is
enormous on every hand.
! Soap is one of the worlds most po-
tent civilzers. The higher the civili-
cation the more soap there is used. In
dia uses 112 pounds of soap per year
for each $500 of it's people, while fam
| fne superstition. plague and cholera
sweep the land from end to end. Dirt
and degradation go hand in hand.
There is nothing nicer to be found in
the farm home or for that matter in
any home than the plan of having
some member of the family read the
paper or some book aloud. This plan
/ will interest all and tends to invite
| comment and discussion. The habit of
each member of the family reading to
himself might well give way to the
plan suggested. t
When the COW comes to be the cor
ner stone of farm administration she
always works marvellous change and
always for the better. No store bills
are run up. she is soon followed by the
big red barn. the crops begin to in
crease and the land become more fer
tile. while before long bank account
takes the place of that old blister of a
farm mortgage. 1t always works this
1 way.
Modern methods of transportation
have practically annihilated distance.
A bushel Of oats or corn is worth as
much today 100 miles northwest of st.
Paul as it is within twenty miles of
Chicago. The farmers of the far west
are getting the benefit of the long haul
car load rate, and, so far as prices for
farm products are concerned if man
is located within easy distance of his
market town it makes but little differ.
ence whether he has farm in central
Illinois or northwestern Minnesota.
Neatness and attractiveness in the
matter of putting up fruits for the mar.
ket and, what is of more Importance
honesty in packing count for SO much
in price obtained and profit that the
wonder is so many still think that ap
pearance counts for nothing and thai
an honest pack does not pay. The Sc
curing of consignment of apples with
no small ones in the center of the bar
rel is SO rare that when commission
man does get such consignment he is
liable to have fit right then and there
The preparation Of the soil for the
roses in the florists greenhouse is one
of the most important things connected
with their success. 1t is done in this
way: Along in early June blue gras,
turf OH stiff clay soil is plowed abou
two inches deep. The turf is then piled
in fiat topped heaps three feet high
where it rots under the heat and mois
ture Of the summer. This turf soil i.
then mixed with one-third its bulk Of
rotten cow manure and forms the idea
rose soil. This may give hint to thos,
of our readers who like to grow roses
for this preparation Of the soil is jus
as applicable to the outdoor culture O.
roses as it is for the greenhouse.
II along in late August or early Sep
TENDER you hit on Il horrible and pu
trid stink in the orchard or garden ant
j go on hunt TO find the dead cat o
some other unburled thing and canno
r find it you just look close and see /
!. you can find something which look
u like big toadstool. II you find thi
e you have discovered the source of til
\ bad odor, a stink horn. 1t will usuall
e be found growing on the remains 0
: some decaying stump or rubbish. Jus
: as the color and odor in flowers are de
signed to secure their fertilization b.
, thus attracting insect life, SO this ran
e odor invites the carrion flies. whic
r carry Off and distribute its spores o
aeed.