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

rally inventive and mechanical turn Of
mind; maybe he is a bookworm and
would rather read Shakespeare and an
cient history than pillow corn; maybe
he is in love with nature and must
needs be hunting birds nests, chasing
butterflies or bugs or watching the
clouds and sunsets when he should be
picking up potatoes If the boy is
built this way, don't lick him and jaw
him, but have little horse sense and
do your Oest to help him along the line
of work and study which most inter-
ests him, but If he is one Of the kind
who are simply lazy. with natural in
cliaation to rob orchards and melon
patches, smoke cigarettes back of the
barn and with marked love for yell
low backed dime novels, 'pon honor, we
believe that good hickory switch, his
dad and the boy can be got into an ac-
tive conjunction none too quickly. We
have come across many men who, ar
rived at mature years and occupying
useful and honorable positions in soci-
ETY., We're free to admit that they owed
much to a good licking judiciously adj
ministered at the right time. There is
no sort of use or sense in a man raising
q lazy, worthless son. Nine times out
of ten he is that sort just because he
was not well trained and because his
dad set him bad example. Every boy
will at first take his father for pat
tern, and if'you are no count sort Of
fellow your boys will be that way, too,
unless they have mighty good woman
for a mother, and often she can't save
them. You man with boy to train.
just preach less and practice more.
BEEF AND HIGH PRICED LAND.
An important question which has not
yet been fully answered is this: Can
man take land worth 800 per acre and
keep COWS of the best beef types-Poll-
ed Angus. for instanceNand by letting
the calves suck the cows make money!
by turning these calves into beef? In
other words, can a cow be probably
kept on such farm just to produce
one calf year? There are hundreds
of men who would be glad to know
that this could be done, for they are
weary with the work of the dairy and
the bother with hired men and would
most gladly convert their dairy farms
into beef producing farms il 1t can be-
done with profit. Taking it for one
year, the COW and her calf will require
the product In grass and grain Of at
least three acres Of good land, and at
the end Of the year the owner has got
a yearling animal weighing, say, $50
pounds. To be charged against this
animal are the interest Of the money in
vested in his dam, the cost Of caring
for the animals for a year and the rent
al value of the land used by them,
which would figure out about like this:
Interest on value Of dam, s.; two acres
Of pasture, $40; one acre Of corn and
fodder, SIS; labor, So; winter roughage,
SIS; total, $40. Call the average value
Of the calf SIS per. hundredweight; the
return is $3.50, showing loss II the
steer is then sold, but it is possible to
keep and feed him another year and
turn him off as finished 1, 400 pound
beef animal OF $3.50 per hundred
weight, or ST., and possibly make triI
fle better showing. As we look at II, a
man will work on very small margin
Of profit to use his farm In this way;
but, then, 1t is the easy way, and that
counts for something.
FROM THE OFFICE TO THE FARM
A reader writes us from New Jersey
this way: He is railroad man receive
ing salary of $65 per month. His
wife was raised on farm. They are
tired Of the grind of corporation. serv-.
ice and the narrow limitations of their
lives. They have bought 100 acre
farm in New Jersey, with improve
ments on it of more value than they
paid for the farm. They propose to
take up the raising Of poultry, small
fruits, and keep COWS, and our friend
wishes to know how best to go to work
to build up the fertility Of the soil,
which is at a very low ebb. If we had
the job, it would be clover, possibly all
falfa if it would do well; by all means
silo; as many cows as could be kept
Of the strictly dairy types. 1t will be
work of five years at least to put,
such a wornout soil into fairly produc-
tive shape, and probably some COM
mercial fertilizers will have to be used
to help in the work. He further wants
to know if it is likely he can succeed.
Certainly he can. His 300 or 400 hens
which he should keep will almost Sc
cure him a living, and, SO far as enjoy
ing life is concerned, he will find 1t far,
preferable to working for railroad. II
THE FARMER AND BANKRUPTCY.
When a farmer appears in the bank
ruptcy court it will always be found
that he has been monkeying with somee,
thing outside Of his legitimate business
He has been either buying $1,000 bulls
taking a flier on the board Of trade
specializing in Dakota or Canada lands,
biting at some fake scheme and trying
to beat a man at his own game; raising
worthless set Of boys or going surety
for some friend. Crops may fail for a.
year or even two years, prices for farm
products NAV be Jlnreml1nerative for a,