Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-10-13

The rainfall of the northwest bids
fair to be heavier for 1903 than it has
been since 1881. 1t was forty-three
inches up to Sept. IL, and there are
three and half months yet to hear
from.
1t has been harvest time in the o~-
chard of late, the gathering of the IL;
apples, about. the pleasantest work
which we find to do on the farm. We
had much rather do it than work at the
tail end Of a straw carrier.
We noted redheaded woodpecker
clinging to the base of an arc light
lamp the other day and found that he
was feasting on the bugs and beetles
which had met their death the night
before. The bird had struck soft snap
sure enough.
The land intended for an onion crop
should be thoroughly prepared the pro-
vious year. 1t should be we'll fertilizel,
frequently cultivated and be kept abso-
lutely free from weeds. No crop is SO
hard to grow when the land is foul or
indifferently prepared.
The careless hired man who is al
ways breaking or losing things is a
great nuisance on the farm. If it We're
easy to get hands the trouble could he
remedied by firing him, but where
help is scarce much of this kind Of
trouble will have to be endured
Where it can be done we favor burn
Ing over all stubble fields before pillow
ing. A clean sweep of the field by fire
is great weed and insect pest destroy
er. The value of the stubble as fer
tilizer is small, and the loss by burning
is partly recouped by the ashes left.
The common people of Germany are
entering a vigorous protest against the
laws which have shut out the cheap
meats of other countries. Phlegmatic
as the German is, he has come to the
point where he is at last tired of MUNICH
ing sausage made from old bus horses.
Aneighbor has five acres of potatoes
which are giving him yield of 200
bushels to the acre. He can sell them
for 40 cents as soon as dug. They have
cost no more to raise than field of
corn. The crop will sell for more than
the land is worth upon which they are
grown.
1t is utter folly to keep writing and
talking about constructing mudproof
highways at an expense of 5000 or $500
per mile. 1t can't be done. The mud
proof highway. whether built of mac
adam or gravel, will cost much more
money, no matter how convenient the
supply of such material.
AS between leaving a field of corn
two-thirds of the ears of which are
dented to take the chances of a Sep
TENDER frost and cutting it up before
the frost we shall do the latter, believ-
Ing that the corn will be better saved
in the shock. The fodder will be of
much greater value anyway, and we
believe that the ears will ripen better
than if frosted and allowed to dry out
on the hill
Two acres Of willows planted on
some moist, rich spot on the farm, a
spot which is worth but little for the
production of crops, can be made d
very profitable investment for the
planter. BY cutting fifth of it off
clean each year lot of good summer
fuel, poles and posts can be obtained.
Such a grove should not be thinned,
but cut off clean, as it will then quickly
reproduce itself
Ten acres of corn producing seventy
five bushels per acre would be rated a
fine crop and on most western farms
may be as easily produced as would
$50 bushels on twenty-five acres. To do
this there would have to be more care
exercised in selecting and planting the
seed, some fertilizing and extra cultiva-
ton and mighty few weeds allowed to
grow in the field. When a man finds he
is not raising over thirty or thirty five
bushels of corn to the acre one year
with another he wants to take a layoff
and study the corn plant and how to
grow it.
The first thing which apple growers
in the northwest must consider is the
hardness of the varieties selected. But
few Of the varieties common to the east
will live when planted in Wisconsin,
Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. The
apples with sufficient hardness to en-
dure the climate of the northwest have
nearly all been originated there and
are mostly unknown elsewhere. The
three most promising apples are
Wealthy, Patterns Greening and the
Northwestern Greening, the first two
fall apples and the last named a winter
fruit The next thing to be considered
is productiveness. The two first named
are very prolific and bear when young,
when six years planted; the Northwest
ern Greening is more dilatory and will
not bear a crop until planted at least
ten years. OF course, in addition to
these varieties we have the old Ouch
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