Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-02-23

Tue previous yeuT.
OF the 600 varieties of weeds and
grasses common to the United States,
cattle will eat Sc, horses 80, sheep $50,
and the goat will take in the whole
bunch.
Where but one grain ration is fed
to the laying hens it should be wheat.
as wheat more nearly than any other
cereal is a balanced ration. It will
always pay to sell corn and buy wheat
for the hens.
Silage should be fed from the top of
the silo and not dug out from the bot
tom. One man who tried the latter
method got caught in the hole as the
silage settled down on him, and there
was big funeral.
The all too common tragedy of the
round between the wealthy farmer and
the ugly bull at the head Of his herd IS
constantly going on. The Bible says,
"Put not your trust in princes" but it
is safer to trust prince than we'll
bull any time.
A skunk by some means made his
way into the audience room of coun-
try church one Sunday recently, and it
took the best efforts of all the male
members Of the congregation a matter
of five hours to get him out without
Decorating the sacred edifce.
The real value of continental foods
to the stock raiser Is still very debata-
Bile matter in farm institutes and agri-
cultural conventions. There seems to
be only one thing about such foods
which is really settled, and that is that
the men who manufacture them make
a lot Of money.
Nature is always compensatory. Here
Is the puny twenty-year-old man, with
no beard and weighing only 100 pounds,
who gets salary Of $4,000 year as
a horse Jockey, while this fine looking,
bewhiskered 200 pound man who has
been through college and theological
seminary works hard to care for a
country school or parish for $1,000
year.
Where men were wise enough to pro-
vide for one, the winter pasture has
been a great success in the west this
year. This pasture is simply field of
blue grass from which the stock was
removed last July and the grass allow
ed to grow. With only little snow
and moderate winter weather, stock
will live on such pasture in preference
to any stored foods.
Last years crop of winter wheat in
western Kansas was marvellous one.
In this midwinter time it lies by the
millions Of bushels In great piles at
country depot grounds, wholly exposed
to the weather, awaiting the time, If it
ever comes, when the overtaxed rail-
roads can haul it to market. And this,
too. right In what was known only
few years ago as the great American
desert.
While manifesting the utmost conf
dence in the honor Of the men with
whom you do business, it is still best
never to forget that we are all poor
critters and liable to fall into tempta-
ton, and SO it is best to do all business
with due regard for all the safeguards
which law and custom suggest. This
applies just as much in making horse
trade with a parson as in signing pa
pers for stranger.
Ensilage and alfalfa are working a
great agricultural reformation in this
country, the ensilage In the east and
middle west and the alfalfa in all the
territory west Of the Missouri river.
The silo Is adding a third to the acre
age Of the eastern farm, and alfalfa is
doubling and in some cases quadru-
ping the productive capacity of the
western ones. Get one Of these helps.
II you can't grow alfalfa, put in a silo.
Now here is the unfortunate case of
the trusted hired man running off with
the fourteen-year-old daughter of his
employer, a case which should set some
folks we know of to thinking pretty
hard. This invasion and wrecking of
a home is one thing to be carefully
guarded against, for girls are often
weak and vain and hired men unscru-
pulous villains. The old man should
always keep weather eye on the hired
man in this line.
In spite Of rapidly multiplying cleo
trio roads and the automobile, displac-
ing, as they do, the horse in some lines,
the fact remains that in spite of these
the good horse has a brighter future
before him than ever before. The love
of good horse will never grow less
in this country, and there Is no safer
or more certainly profitable business
on the farm today than producing the
right kind of horses. The foreign de-
mand for American horses is growing
rapidly, for the horse can be raised
here cheaper than anywhere else.
So extended has become the tele-
phone service Of the country that pa.
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