Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-05-16

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a f1ve foot vein Of sort coal under a
mans farm will net him about $500 per
acre on the usual royalty basis.
Just one-half day spent in clearing
up around many farm homestead
would improve its appearance 500 per
cent.
Spring frosts seldom do much dam
age to fruit buds unless they are open.
When once open they are very suscep-
tible to frost injury.
The first principle in the roadmaking
Is to get rid Of the surface water, then
grade and keep the surface Of the road
smooth. This done, it will soon become
hard and stay hard.
We are asked why mule raising Is
confined to the south central states.
The reason is that the jacks are of
tropical ancestry and habit and cannot
endure the cold Of the north.
The culture Of the silkworm is being
promoted by the department Of agricul-
ture. One Of the very worst fakes
which ever hit the nation was null
berry fad which struck it about 100
years ago.
Weeds are easiest killed before they
are born-at least before they see day
light. This fact emphasizes the value
Of the harrow as weed destroyer and
It's continued use to as great an ex.
tent as possible.
The seventy-five dollar COW is every
way more profitable investment than
the thirty dollar one, for the first will
return large profit over and above the
cost Of her keep, while the last only
works for her board and is quite often
shy on that.
1t is going to take some time for the
farmer and the automobile to get on
friendly terms. He has finally adjust
ed himself to the bike and will in time
to the devil wagon. The existing fric.
ton is largely intensified by the reck-
less foolishness Of chauffeurs.
April 10 marked the beginning Of a
good part Of the year-the date when
the fine strawberries from the south
country hit the northern market at 20
cents box. Three months In sight for
this best Of all fruits, better than ever
when one can gather them from his
own garden.
The spring wheat territory Of Amer
lea Is fast passing from the United
States into western Canada. Spring
wheat is rare crop now in Iowa,
where once it was the leading one.
Minnesota Is also letting go Of this
crop. Spring wheat seems to go with
new land and pioneer conditions.
There Is much difference in the quail
ity Of corn SO far as its market price is
concerned. Scrub corn-that Is, mixed
colors-always sells for less than corn
OF uniform type and color. The south
prefers the white corn, the east the yell
low corn. 1t pays just as well to grow
pedigreed corn as it does to raise pedi-
greed stock.
Cucumbers, melons, squashes and to-
matoes may be greatly helped by max
ing a box nine inches in height, just
large enough to take 10 by IL light Of
window glass for top and with no
bottom. The plants referred to can be
thus grown safe from frost and bugs
and made to get two weeks start Of
such things planted in the usual man
ner.
The value Of any farm is enhanced
by having well kept public highway
passing by 1t, and still there are a few
men who rather than do any gratuitous
work on such road for fear their
neighbor may profit by it will let such
highway become a disgrace to them
and to their community. A well at
tended public funeral seems the best
remedy for this trouble.
A COW has been made to give enough
milk to make 1000 pounds Of butter
in year, and hen has been made to
lay $50 eggs in one year. These rec
ords mark the limits Of productiveness.
Under natural conditions the COW would
give Just enough milk to raise her calf,
while the hen would lay but one set
ting of eggs. The difference marks
what man has been able to do with
the COW and the hen.
The secret Of securing the large yield
of fifty-flve bushels Of corn to the acre
on 1000 acre cornfeld in Iowa last
year is found largely in the fact that
a perfect stand Of corn was secured,
and this stard was secured by the most
thorough and careful work in the mat
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