Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-25

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&S23ll S. Tkiee. RockFoRp. IA. @1
HGZyl Correspondence SOLICITED. HGQ
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Green wood, air dried, will lose about
81 per cent in weight.
A boy friend asks where the swifts
built their nests before man built the
chimneys. They used hollow trees.
Just SO long as hogs bring SIS and the
cholera stays of, just SO long will the
farmers of the corn belt continue to
make a lot of money.
The Jersey cattle are much more at
tractive alive than dead. When slaugh-
tered, the carcass is of such deep vel.
low color as to be almost repulsive. !
The windstorm which thrashes one.
half Of the. half grown fruit from the
heavily loaded tree Is instead OF
calamity usually a blessing in disguise.
The traction engine hauling gang Of
six fourteen inch plows does the work
of twelve good horses and does it bet
ter. 1t does its best. work where tile
fields are, mile long, as In North
Dakota. -
sls s. u Z
The government test as to the effect
Of borax used in food products as pre-
sentative is completed. The squad Of
young men upon whom the test was
made have survived and are in good
condition.
If tramps Begging hand out. would
clothe themselves in "a pair Of overalls
and wamus instead of faded dress
suit and wear fifteen cent chip hat in
stead Of battered derby they would
meet with more kindly reception. IS
There are millions Of unimproved
acres in the south and west which will
successfully grow alfalfa, and where
alfalfa can be grown there may very
profitable type OF agriculture be car
rted on, even II but few other crops
can be grown
An Indian Territory farmer this year
raised 10000 bushels Of potatoes which
brought him about rs cents per bushel.
The crop was off the ground the last Of
June and was then planted to corn.
This two crop farming looks as If it
was quite bonanza.
The putting into use Of ten wide tired
wagons in community will do more
to further the cause of good roads than
the holding of good roads convention
with Its fiumididdle resolutions and
speeches. The wide tired wagon. and
the cash road tax are the beginnings
Of better highways.
The dairyman will find 1t profitable
to keep his cows in darkened base
ment barn from a. m. to 6 p. m. dur
ing the extreme heat Of the dog days,
when the flies are doing their worst.
A ration of some suitable soiling crop
should be fed them In the barn and
they allowed the run of the pasture
all night. This course will not only
assure comfort for the cows, but
much increased milk production.
The seed men Of the country are unit
ing to protest against and prevent il
possible the seed business carried on
by the general government. We wish
them success. The government seed
business is public fraud. II you don't
believe it come to our garden and see
dozen bills Of measly muskmelon sent
out by the department as a new kind
OF cucumber. Then, If cutting OF the
seed distribution should retire a lot Of
congressman from public life, It. will be
another mighty good thing. lust as
long as this practice prevails we will
have whole lot Of seedy representa-
tives in congress.
It is hard thing to attempt to an
swer an inquiry as to which is the best
variety Of strawberry to plant. There
are many good kinds. Some kinds DO
well on some soils and poorly on other
soils. Among the best all round berries
in the matter of adaptability to vary
ing conditions Of soil and climate we
would place the Warheld, Beder Wood
and Candy. The old Crescent, the
Clyde, the Brandywine, the Sample
have many admirers. If one is going
to set out bed the best way is to get
plants Of that variety which does best
in ones own locality; see the man who
raises the most and the best berries.
A light Brahma hen belonging to a
neighbor, with her brood OF twenty-six,
half her own and half adopted, wan
derad into our garden one, day lately
and made straight for the potato patch,
where there was an abundance of the
half grown siugs Of the Colorado beetle
at work on the vines. Then followed
something which we never noted
before--the old hen feeding her chicks
these slugs until they could hold no
moro. Our previous experience had
bean that neither poultry of any kind
y,nv anv WITH iuSs ',,x..Ssa x~-zi, lho,.