Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-01-17

~. vS*o.HA PSA
head.
EOne OF bur wise scientists ii out with
The theory that the cold waves which
+ such q marked feature Of the eli
mate Of this country are responsible
for the remarkable energy and get.up
OF the American people. If this be true,
would favor fewer waves and less
ened energy.
On the average 100 acre farm in
Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas It is en-
ttrely possible to produce and market
each year six good steers for beef In
addition to the stock now carried. on
such farms by the s of q silo. These
steers may be practically raised on
silage and. finished off with corn in
the usual manner.
This nan cut up his field Of corn
with a machine. He then husked it.
out Of the shock by hand. This sort
of business might be all right in
New York or Pennsylvania, but is all
wrong in the corn belt Of the west.
Where corn is cut up-and it should be
lit should be either fed in the bundle
shredded. A still better way would
be to cut it up and put it into the silo.
An interesting discovery made by the
experts of the agricultural department
at Washington is that a weak solution
of blue vitriol applied to the stagnant
water in city reservoirs supplying wa
terworSs will entirely destroy and re-
move all vegetable growth at an insig-
nifcant cost. It's one of the most i'm
portant and valuable discoveries made
by the department since its organiza-
ton.
Where a nan in any community OF
farmers has been able to raise from
seventy to eighty bushels Of corr to
the acre on a twenty acre field there is
no need of sending for a scientific corn
expert to show the people how to raise
corn. This man possesses knowledge
of the greatest value to his neighbors,
and he should be put on the stand at
the institute and cross questioned like
a witness.
There is an antidote or regulator for
about every NEAR thing which bothers
the agriculturist and fruit grower, If
he "a only find it out. Now the anti
dote for weeds is sheep; tie sheep pre-
fers weeds to grass as a ration, and
where they are not kept the weeds
have every advantage over the farmer.
Sheep farms are Invariably clean
farms, and the sheep will pay its way
entirely regardless Of the price of wool
or mutton simply as q weed destroyer.
A reader wishes to know If there Is
any good remedy for a disease which
troubles him every winter in connec-
ton with rearing his fall calves-a
securing, which wastes them away and
finally kills them in spite Of the great
est care taken with their food. The
blood meal prepared by the packing
house companies has been found to be
a very excellent antidote for this
trouble and is well worth trying where
this difficulty prevails. The meal and
full directions for s can be obtained
from the manufacturers.
More attention is being paid by the
American people to the great POSSIBLE
tiles connected with cultivating a small
piece Of land az an aid in the support
OF I family than ever before. Tho few
have demonstrated what may be &C.
oonnptshed IN this line, and many more
want to try it AS a result there is
being aroused a great popular interest
in gardening, fruit culture, poultry
raising. This is a good thing in two
ways-it cheapens the cost Of living,
and the doing of this sort of work Is
always refining and elevating to the
individual.
A friend Of ours, living in a section
where alfalfa always proved a failure
owing to a lack OF the needed bacterial
incubation of the soil, procured from
the agricultural department at Wash
ington a little vial containing the need
ed microbes, and, treating his seed as
directed by the department, has been
most pleasingly rewarded for his eff
fort by now having a field Of four
acres Of most thrifty alfalfa, the roots
of which are well loaded with the wei
known nodules indicating the prcsnn@e.
of the bacteria SC essential t. 'c
of the plant. If your experim %
alfalfa have so far resulted in f.l.lGrc
and so many have, try the plan out
lined above. 1t is becoming fully rec
ognized that failure with alfalfa is al.
most wholly chargeable to the absence
Of the Indispensable bacterial life in
the soil where it is sown.
The effort to combine both beef and
butter production on the same farm
makes more trouble than any other
combination tried on our western
farms. The line of cleavage between
beef and butter is SO very distinct, the
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