Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1903-12-01

otueT. VIII DTlIS Ill DIS mucn money as
tie COW. with less labor and with more
benefit to the soil.
We have chronic dislike to paying
interest and rent; had rather do a
smaller business and be rid of them
both. We can never quite get over the
notion when doing it that we are work
ing for some other man.
We have seen dozen orchards late
ly, each headed for the brush pile as
fast as they can so, just for want of
proper orchard care. Do not plant fruit
trees unless you are willing to give
them proper care, for it does not pay
The farmer who works in the corn
field election day and refuses to vote
does his part to insure poor officials.
poor government and possibly hard
times for himself 1t is very hard to
make some men appreciate the respon-
sibilities of American citizenship.
"a lIOLl SOlOlduU VIRTUES Una
he has sure thing for the destruction
of the pocket gopher in the shape of a
trap which he gets in Chicago, but does
not give the name of the trap. He says
that out there, where all crops depend
upon irrigation. the gopher is a great
nuisance, as its burrows divert and
waste the irrigating water.
All over the country the horse is
very much afraid of the automobile.
just as he used to be of the bicycle
when it was first introduced This
makes not little clashing between the
old and the new way. In time horses
will get used to the machines. In the
city of Washington. where the auto is
as common as the ice wagon, the horse
cares nothing for it.
A reader in Colorado wants remedy
for scabby potatoes. We know of but
one-the treating of the seed by soak
ing it in solution of corrosive subli-
mate before planting. A potato crop
following other crops and heavily fer
tilted with barnyard manure will al
most always scab badly. Better to
take a clover or timothy sod or blue
grass pasture for the crop.
If we were going on a timber tract
to open up a farm we should by all
means employ yoke Of oxen in pref
erence to horses to do the heavy work.
We know this sounds old fogyish, but
nevertheless the OK has much to COM
mend him in this line. He costs but
little to keep. is slow and powerful on
the heavy pulling and every way less
liable to injury and disease than the
horse
The winter evenings on the farm
home should be made an attractive fea-
ture of farm life There should be
plenty of good reading matter availa-
bic. music and plenty of visiting be-
tween neighbors. At this season the
father and mother need not be too tired
to supplement the work of the teacher
of the district school with some help
AaA ahoei dSliOh " luc DOyS anu SlTlS.
Two hours devoted to the children two
or three evenings week during the
winter will accomplish much for them
in the line of education.
a coming change in building material
is in sight. one which will combine
cheapness with durability. Machines
which will mold blocks of cement, or.
rather, blocks made of sand and ce-
ment. are doing most economical and
satisfactory work. The outlay for the
machinery is not heavy. the blocks car
be manufactured where needed for use.
and the cost of putting them in the
wall is only half that of laying brick
The constantly increasing price of lum-
Der as building material is compel
ling the adoption of such methods.
The automobile is finding its way out
into the west and is being bought by
western farmers. 1t is being hitched
up to drags, seeders and plows, is
stirring up the question of better high
ways and looks as though in the near
future it would have an important
place in connection with farm work
Without displacing the horse entirely
there would seem to be field in the
general run OF farm work where ten
horse power machine of some sort, self
propelling and at the same time avail
;fble for stationary work. could be
made immensely useful. and we believe
it is coming in the near future.
Farmers. and especially the sons of
farmers, are waking up to the great
value of the special courses provided
during the winter season at nearly all
our agricultural colleges. these courses
lasting from two to four weeks and
covering the dairy business. stock
breeding. feeding and judging, soil
economics and farm mechanics. We
cannot conceive of more sensible and
practical thing Tor Il farmer to do for
his SON rhai 10 give him the benefit OF
these special courses. They are given
at season OF The year when the time
can be spared. the money cost is very
small and the boy will return home full
OF new ideas and enthusiasm