Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-12


cultural department at Washington on
the adulteration of clover and alfalfa
seed gives the names of twenty-five
seedsmen who sell these seeds adulter-
ated to the extent of from 10 to 4G per
cent.
That thirty bushels an acre of No. /
hard wheat to the acre in the far north
west country will fix the value Of that
land at a high figure wherever it is To-
Gated near to railroad. 1t should
make such land worth as much as good
land in the corn belt,
There is this about the poultry and
dairy business-ther is no danger of
OVERRIDING either one. Profitable prices
for the product Of the COW and the hen
are absolutely assured for the future.
The two lines represent the very safest
and surest Of any branches Of agricul.
ture.
Keep clear of that attitude Of mind
which SCOTS at every new thing. We
saw man the other day who objected
to the King drag, and the only reason
he could give was that it was new
thing. New things are the outposts of
civilization and enlightenment. None
but the Chinese should follow in the
footsteps of their ancestors.
Along in September we noted a wo-
man with a sunbonnet riding on a
moving machine and engaged in, cut
ting all the weeds in the COW pasture,
and she was doing good work and
handled the big Percheron horses with
as much skill as any man. She might
have been doing lot of less worthy
things-been reading cheap historical
novel, been tatting or tattling or at
tending some club where pug dogs
have the lead over children
If you are sixty and have always
worked hard the worst thing which
you can do Is to cut OF short and quit
work, no matter how well able you
may be to live without 1t. Work
is great panacea for human ills. It
keeps the boy out Of mischief and pro-
longs the life Of the old man, while
1t keeps all, both young and old, from
lots Of meanness. The old man, how
ever, should not be driven by his work,
but should do just as much Of that kind
of work as he feels like doing and no
more.
Through large section of the north
west where the tile draining of wet
land was new thing an almost fatal
blunder was made with all the first
drainage work done in the use Of tile
of too small diameter. Because of the
smaller cost three inch tile was COM
monty used, with the result that much
of the work proved worthless and now
has to be all done over again. No tile
less than four inches in diameter
should be used save in very rare in
stances. Another bad mistake was
that the land was not properly sur
veyed, leveled and staked to secure
the right fall for the water, and in
some cases we know Of the attempt
was made to make the water run up
hill.
1t is not so hard or so costly to start
a herd of well bred cattle as a good |
many men think it is. A first invest
ment in couple Of registered heifers
In calf will give good start, and from
even such small beginning fine herd
can be built up. What breed? That |
is for every man to determine for him
self. He will do best with that breed |
which he likes the best, only Just make
The selection and then stick to it year
IN, year out. The most foolish thing |
ever done in stock raising is to try to
run from one breed to another by |
for it means the begetting of |
first class herd of scrubs and moth
ng else. Stock kept along dairy lines
Will make the most money, but will |
also require the most work. Not every
'armer should try to be a breeder Of
'So16ACou BUICK, Oul every one SlOulQ |
oe grower of we'll bred stock.
A friend recently hauled from the
ield large stack of clover hay nut up |
asst June, and he told us that he was
surprised to find so large an amount Of !
t spoiled, for it was in good condition
When stacked. 1t is almost impossi-
lie to so stack clover hay that the
tack will shed Train unless covered
With some other material. In England,
where large amotnts Of this hay are
tut up each yearl the rule is to build
arge stacks, fro1fn fifty to a hundred
ons, the stack being protected with a
anvas cover while In process Of build
ng, and when It'll is well settled it is
oyered with well matched roof Of
traw, and so projected the stack will
;eep for years. Hfere the average stack
4 clover hay is fiorty feet long, sixteen
eet wide and ten feet high and simply
great sponge ii absorb all the rain
Which falls. Re My, all clover hay
hould go into the Ibarn, and If there is
o barn it will pd Ito build a hay shed