Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-13

A lot of scrub bred hens may lay a
lot Of eggs. but there is not half so
much pleasure in having them around.
You are getting handsome reward
about now if you set out that aspara-
gus and strawberry bed last year. Not
everything which we do is as sure to
bring satisfactory reward as this.
The dairyman and the poultrynan
each receives more than so per cent
more for their products during May,
June, July and August because Of the
system of cold storage in general use
than they could otherwise do.
We are asked whether the present
summer is likely to be a dry one Or a
wet one. Nobody knows. Droughts
and floods employ no advance advertis-
ing agents. Only superstitious aud
weakminded people take any stock in
weather prophets.
Another good chance for young
man to get start is to get piece of
cheap land in northern Wisconsin aud
just stick to potatoes, cows and clover.
This combination may not make him
rich, but 1t will keep him out Of the
poorhouse for sure as long as he lives.
We have several more inquiries as to
alfalfa-when to SOW, how much seed,
etc. We will only say now that August
is the best time to SOW alfalfa, and
just prior to the proper seeding time we
will give detailed article covering all
points. Should it be given now, in May,
it would be all forgotten by August
There has been enough loose and run
away water rampaging around in the
desert sections Of Arizona and New
Mexico of late to raise pile Of crops
if it was only properly controlled.
Where the flood and the desert meet,
there is the chance for man to do some
Of his best work. Not drop of water
should be allowed to go to waste in
that country.
The new plan Of working the earth
roads implies doing a little work on
them often, and it is this thing which
Is the secret of the success of the new
plan. A woman combs her hair every
day to prevent its getting snarled up,
and very properly and logically does
not wait until it Is all snarled before
she combs 1t. A little work done on the
dirt road often prevents it from getting
into bad condition. Heretofore we
have only fixed the roads when they
became impossible. By the new way
we will keep them from getting i'm
passable.
The effect Of hard and deep freezing
Of the soil during the winter, while
sometimes injurious to clover and trees,
is nevertheless Of great benefit to the
soil and the succeeding crop which It
produces, good yields almost invariably
| following hard winters. Such freezing,
for one thing, locks up the soil and pre-
vents any loss Of fertility by erosion.
It also tends to open up the subsoil and
thus promotes underdralnage and the
aeration of the soil. It is always harder
to keep land fertile and productive
where the ground never freezes than
1t Is where it does.
| There Is almost always some one
farm product which pays big profit.
Some years it is the potato crop, some
years wool, then hogs, then wheat or
corn. There are just only two farm
products which seldom vary much in
price, taking series Of years, and
chese are butter, or milk and cream,
as the case may be, and eggs. This
fact emphasizes the Importance Of al
ways diversifying the crops raised on
the farm, and the further fact that the
more the farm can be utilized by the
COW and the hen the more certain will
be the profits to be secured from 1t.
Nearly all communities are proud Of
their schools, speak well Of their teach
| ers and are proud to show the school
house and outfit to strangers. It has
[ not been so with regard to the roads.
We have never known case where a
stranger would be taken out into the
country to see fine and we'll cared for
country road, and 1t Is by no means
uncommon to hear the men who have
charge Of the roads referred to in very
uncomplimentary terms. This Is go
ing to change. A better public senti-
ment is developing, and the pride here
tofore extended alone to the public
schools is going to embrace the public
roads as well.
There Is quite little agitation in