Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-02-16
CREsCo HOWARD COUNTY, IOWA TUESDAY FEBRUARY is 1904

Serretary's Report Of the howard ca
Farmers Institute.
AS the first day and evening ses
sions have already been freely report
ed in the Cresco papers, I will omi
this part of the report and pass to thu
| Wednesday sessions.
i At the morning session Rev. G. A
Marshall read very interesting ant
instructive paper on horticulture ii
the Orient" A tour made for recre
alton, pleasure and profit. The frs
land made was at the island of Ma
deria, noted in the past for its wines
but the dreaded Phylloxera has raw
aged the vineyards SO that the indus
try has been destroyed never to re
turn again.
Stops were made at Gibralter, Ma
pies, Malta and Sicily, through the
Dardanelles and Sea Of Marmora ts
Constantinople, the land of the Sun
speakable Turk, " where dogs and dir
and dirt and dogs abound and ever
fruit and vegetables take on the ap
pearance of dirt.
At Jaffa, the land of the Phillis
tines, the best oranges were found
Trees of Palestine, what few are
found, are in a dwarfed condition
owing, no doubt, to the hot winds
from the Arabian desert The Nile
river valley, In the land of the Pha.
raoh's, but under the British rule
now, shows marked improvement
from former times. The Assouan
dam with canals and dykes has made
it possible to raise from three to four
crops per annum, when but one grew
before and it can truly be said that
they have "Made the desert bloom like
the rose.
Mr.. M. B. Doolittle followed with
an interesting and worthy paper on
the COW aud what she has done for
mankind. Going back to the time Of
Pharoah and Of Abraham and tracing
her history to the present time, pas
toral people have, in all ages, been
the most prosperous and the most civ.
ilized. China without the COW sits
down in heathendom the same as 2o,-
600 years ago, while the Anglo Saxon
races, to large extent q pastoral peo-
pie, are highly prosperous and en-
| lightened.
Mr. B. p. Nor on showed diagram
lot his new barn, explaining how 1t
s s9nssspaSsah ssa SahesEb Tba sna Saa1 Watering
troughs or the same material; stalls
4x5 feet. Plan shows two rows Of cat
tie with driveway between for the
purpose Of cleaning out. Stock is
watered by pipes from tank over
head, through cement trough In
front of the stock. Many other labor
saving conveniences were shown.
Afternoon session was opened by
music.
"The Old Oaken Bucket" was sung
by Mrs. Moon and was highly appre-
ciated by the audience. People are
always glad to hear Mrs. Moon sing.
Miss Tate, principal of the Cresco
High School, read an able paper on
the Louisiana purchase. Miss Tate
started out by saying that when Ma
poleon laid down the pen with which
he gave to the United States of Amer
ica the rights of-the French nation to
the vast wilderness known as Louisia-
na, he exclaimed, II have just given
to England rival that will one day
humble her," and his last words to
Monroe, one Of the commissioners
were: Young man, you must not give
your flag to Great Britian." /" Thus
from Motives Of policy and friend
ship," as he declared he whom
all Europe feared made 1t possible for
the United States to take her place
among the foremost nations Of the
world. This immense territory, con-
|stituting the very heart Of the Miss
issippi valley, was acquired for the
comparatively Insignificant sum Of
SIS, 100000. This was great stroke
Of policy, viewed from the standpoint
of having made 1t possible for the
United States to become one Of the
greatest of great nations as we'll as
for the material and commercial
prosperity OF Its people, past, present
and future.
After listening to solo by Mrs.
Anthony Marshall, by DeKoven, the
question Of Alfalfa, Seed Corn and
Corn Culture" was taken up by A. 4.
Cothrell, post graduate of Ames, in.
vestigator and experimenter in Agri
nomy. In tracing the history Of the
alfalfa plant, he stated that the
plant was Of tropical origin and well
adapted to semi-arid conditions. 1t
was known to have existed in Arabia
centuries before the Christian era.
The Romans, in their oonquests, In
troduced it into Italy. from there ii
was later carried to Spain, and they
In turn carried 1t to Mexico, from
whence it was introduced into the
United States. 1t seems to be a lit.
tie difficult to get good stand, but
when once a stand is secured you have