Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-01-06

We heard an Englishman the other
iny roaring because we have not the
same laws here which they have in
England which will send hired man
10 jail if he throws up his job. This
sort should go back.
The state of Missouri has farmers
who are out i'll the papers with afiida-
Wits to the effect that their crop Of corn
this year is yielding as high as 140
bushels per acre 1t is entirely proper
to have this sort of story backed up
by an affidavit.
Here's woman to tie 70. She and
her husband lived on South Dakota
farm, and help was hard to get, so she
fixed basket on the gang plow, put
her baby in it and drove four horses
while she plowed forty acres Of land.
You don't read of this kind in the soci-
ETY. Journals.
We came across one bright man the
other day who had attached the power
furnished by his windmill to his wife's
washing machine, and the scheme
worked so nicely that she can hardly
wait for washing day to come around.
The dirtier the clothes are the better
she likes to run them through the ma
chine.
In the state of Ohio the crows have
learned the bad trick from their York
state brethren of digging up the sprout-
ing corn. An Ohio farmer adopted the
novel method of stretching Irvine on
poles at intervals across his field to pro
tect his corn from the crows, the birds
for some reason being afraid to fly I'M
der the strings.
The claim is made that the soil OF
North Dakota is SO well adapted to the
production of flax that this crop may
be grown continuously on the same
land year after year. We are inclined
to doubt this story, for in every locality
where we have known fax to be grown
fax following flax has proved almost
invariably failure
The government now has 5,0OO,OOO
acres of the public lands set aside as
forest reserves. This is all right, and
the area should be doubled. What is
all wrong is allowing the sheep herders
of the west the range Of these forest
reserves, for it is not possible for young
timber to grow and develop where the
sheep are allowed to run.
1t having been demonstrated that one
cause of the failure of alfalfa to do well
in many localities is the lack OF that
bacterial life in the soil necessary to
the plants development, we incline to
the opinion that it would be a good pol.
icy to put the alfalfa on land which
had previously grown clover, these tWc
plants being relatives in the legurne
family.
For some years an effort has beer
made to secure corn with a small col
and consequently small shank where
/ it was attached to the stalk, thus max
| ing the corn easy to husk by hand. The
/ Introduction of the corn harvester
makes bad work with this kind of corn
the ears being SO easily knocked Off BY
the operation of the machine. New
| things always beget new troubles.
A SO called grade Angus steer woI
first honors at the late Chicago stool
show. 1t is due to every raiser of pedl
greed stock to say that the breeding o.
this animal was full blooded sire ant
a seven-eighths dam. for If it gets ou
that common grade steer can VIII
first honors away from registered stool
4 there will be plenty of fools who will
Immediately want to know Of what us
blooded stock is anyway.
The writer was well acquainted wit
DR.. Sheldon Jackson, home mission
airy who for years worked among til
native tribes of Alaska, 1t was largel
through his agency that the govern
ment was induced several years ago t
make an experimental shipment of reir
deer from Siberia to Alaska. This ha
proved to be great success, these an
mails very readily adapting themselye
to and thriving well under Alaskan col
ditions. The small herd imported ha
now grown to very large one, and tn
reindeer bids fair to solve the problel
of internal transportation for that coul
. try.
Now listen to the woes of lightnin
rod man. He lit down in Nebrash
with q team Of good horses, a ne
spring wagon timber tongue and
, lot of rods. He was all prepared to re
, up lot of the unsophisticated O
grangers of that state. In just wee
t he was after warrants for the arrest
. twelve of these grangerS who