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

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S[MIS.lk iS5.. ROCKFORD, IA. IEN
@DMeoRREs PohoEhcE COLLECTED. NG0
Rice feeds ten persons, taking the
world at large, where wheat feeds one.
The losses by reason Of hos cholera
last year in the state of Indiana are
placed at near $6,0OO,O0O.
The American farmer is getting the
daily paper habit as a result of rural
delivery, and it is a good thing for him.
Steam transports having a capacity
of 100000 bushels OF wheat each will
soon be plying between the Pacific
coast and Japan.
The modern harvesting machines are
now in use by twenty-nine different
nations of the earth and represent in
their ability to harvest the crops of the
woTlG The labor of 20,00O,o00 men.
We do not know that the time will
ever come when the lion shall eat
straw like the Ok, but the time has
come when the hog will eat hay-al-
falfa hay-like IN old cow. 1t is a sta
pie winter ration for Kansas hogs.
An expert dealer in butter stated re-
that he would rather handle but
ter which scored 80 and which would
remain at that scoring until disposed
of than to handle an extra grade at 9S
and have it drop to 90 before it could
be sold.
A second cutting of timber land
oak, hickory, maple and basswood-of
twenty-eight years. growth yields
about eighteen cords to the acre, worth
net to the owner about $72. This fact
explains why forestry is not profitable
in a commercial sense.
A farmers mutual insurance compa-
ny of a county in a western state paid
on thirty-nine losses during the
year. OF this amount $2,2S4.S4 was for
losses caused by lightning. stock killed.
while only $129.75 was paid out for
fire losses. This goes to show that
lightning in these days of barbed wire
fences is a very destructive agent.
The stockmen of the west are bitter
ly opposed to the proposed packing
house trust, believing such a combina-
ton will have the cattlemen complete
ly at its mercy in the matter of fixing
prices. This opposition is so marked
and emphatic that with its threats to
establish packing houses of its own it
may defeat the proposed packing house
merger.
Years ago when black walnut was
plentiful and cheap it was used large
ly for the construction of the wooden
bridges by the pioneers because of the
with which it could be worked
and it's well known durability. Such a
bridge built fifty years ago in the state
of Indiana, $50 feet long, contains TIM
Der valued at present at $4,000, which
would more than twice pay for a steel
bridge to take its place.
We are asked whether the production
Of cucumbers for pickles is a profitable
business, what the yield is and what
the profits. In such cases as we have
known the crop will yield a gross re-
turn Of from $40 to $40 per acre. There
are two difficulties in the way Of this
crop-one to protect the vines from in
sect pests, the other to secure peces-
sary help to gather the crop, which has
to be done every two or three days
during the season.
If one starts out as a breeder of reg
istered cattle Of any breed, he must
produce animals of such a grade of
excellence that his yearling males will
bring him at least 500 each. If he can
not do this, he had better confine his
efforts to the production of beef or milk
and let others breed for the market.
Not every man is cut out for a breed
There must be individual excellence
90 40 pCdiSLCC, ulia SOIuC ueu CALI
not combine these qualities.
A large purchase of Belgian hares by
an eastern canning factory was log
ically followed by a large shipment of
choice selected boned turkey from the
cannery soon after. After all, it's
what you think you are eating rather
than what you really eat, evidenced by
the serving of fried cat for squirrel as
a joke at a party, the participants at
the feast pleased and satisfied, only to
undergo a serious digestive disturb
ance later when Informed Of what they
had really eaten.
With the exception of the peach, or
ange, grape, nectarine and apricot it
may be said that nearly all our other
fruits thrive best where there are the
least extremes of temperature. where
neither excessive heat, cold, moisture
nor aridity prevails. The climatic. con-
ditions which prevail in Nova Scotia.
lower Canada, northern New York.
northern Michigan, Washington and
rpQOD where il would hn difficult to