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

Wheu man gets good brood mare
SOW, eve or COW he does not appreci
ate its value as he should. too often
being willing to sell it If offered a
little extra price.
Old Tom Tghtfist, who lives a couple
OF miles out in the country, always
ticks the small boys who try to ride on
his hobs when he comes into town
The boys all hate him, and he deserves
II. The man who has many boy friends
has good recommendation for his
character.
We are asked by friend how it is
that the tile draining of land will wa
ter the soil in a dry time 1t is this
way: The tile, permits the entry of the
heated and moisture laden outside air,
which. coming in contact with the
cooler subsoil, is Mt once robbed of its
moisture by condensation.
A western farmer claims that he is
now operating cement block ma
chine which enables him to make tile
at a cost of 2 cents each for the small
tile, It's coming the time when the
farmer will make his own tile, tanks,
barn floors, fence posts and lots Of 9th
er things. and do it for less than he
pays for the perishable things which he
now buys and uses.
On nearly every farm in the country
more attention can proitably be paid
to the poultry interests. This may take
the form of providing better buildings
for the birds, in getting well bred
stock Of hens, in caponizipg all the
young ROSTERS, in feeding less corn and
more of an egg producing ration.
Where now the income from the poul-
try yard is 500 it can and should be
Increased to $500.
Don't encourage that boy in his idea
that he has had enough schooling be-
fore he has finished common high
school course. Keep him going, even
at the expense of some rather stringent
urging. The successful man of the ft-
ture must be an educated man. Things
have changed since you were a boy
and are changing more rapidly now
than ever before. The chances for the
plug man are disappearing, so give
your boy enough education to raise him
out of this class.
There are well defined symptoms of
another crazy boom where lands Of lit
tie or no value will be advertised and
suckers caught by the thousand. Just
a suggestion here: Never buy land on
the other fellows representation alone.
See it personally, dig into the soil and
find out what to surface soil and SUBJ
soil are, study the weather records local.,
ly and especially find out what the av-
erage rainfall is; make the acquaint-
ance of the oldest settler and pump
him dry. Where one buys land UNI
sight, unseen, he finds out whole lot
of things just as soon a. he tries to /
make farm Of 1t.
There are million families in the |
United States in and around our cities
passing from the cradle to the grave in
an environment Of respectable poverty
who could have their material condi-
ton immensely improved could they
but understand the possibilities con-
nected with the intelligent culture Of /
a small piece Of land The good living
connected with a ten acre farm is only
just beginning to be understood. As
we look at the situation there is no
other thing which offers 50 much prom
Use of amelioration Of the condition of |
this hard up class as to get them in
touch with the, soil. For tweny-hv
years it has been a grand rush for the !
cities; now it should be black to the
land"
There are few fundamental and old
fashioned truths relating to farming
which it is as hard to make some people ,
recognize and live up to as it is with
other people and the Ten Command
ments. Among them is the fact that |
the same crop cannot be grown year
after year on the same land without
deterioration Of the crop and injury to
the soil; another, that crops cannot be
continually removed from the soil at a
profit unless the soil is fed and rested,
this corresponding to the ancient max
I'm, Thou shalt not steal;' another,
that the tile drainage of land will make
1t drier in wet time and wetter in a !,
dry time; another, and perhaps the
most important of all, is that it always |
pays better to grow big crop on a
small acreage than a poor crop on
large one.
: We know a wealthy farmer living
about a mile from a certain town who
decided that he would be more useful
and more happy If he moved to town
with his family, composed Of boys and
girls, none of whom had reached his or
Ter majority. He did SO, and at the end
If a couple Of years we find him back In
his country home. During the two
years. residence in town the boys learn