Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-03-14

The principal item Of export from
the Philippine Islands is hemp, the
value of the hemp exported last year
being sol, 794,600. Tobacco and copra
come next, valued at about 100000
each.
Nearly every live thing except the
family cat and dog is fond of we'll
prepared corn silage-cows, young
stock, the fattening steers, the sheep,
the hogs, the chickens. A food which
is so generally palatable to all kinds
Of stock should be provided for them.
With the wire fence as cheap as it is
today, there is really no excuse for
using any other material for the pur-
pose Of inclosing the farm and dividing
the fields. And, it matters not whether
1t Is sheep, hog, horse or cattle fence
which is required, the wire, either
woven or barbed, is still the cheapest
and best fencing material. The old rail
fence the board fence and the Usage
orange hedge have all been made back
numbers by the wire fence.
Zero weather is all right during the
winter season, but 20 to 80 below zero
settles the fate Of q world Of tender
things. 1t fixes peaches, all the Euro
pean and Japanese plums, most Of our
best raspberries Gf not covered), black
berries and all the choice eastern va
rieties of apples, the fruit list Of the
great northwest being limited by this
excess Of cold to very small number
Of varieties of all fruits. 1t compels
heavy bills for fuel and protection both
for man and beast People who live
where the mercury never gets below
zero have much to be thankful for.
Fourteen pounds Of sugar for dol
lar is a standing reproach to the wis
dom Of our statesmen in framing the
revenue laws of the country when,
with common sense legislation on the
sugar question, every citizen Of the
country could just as well as not have
twenty-siX pounds. With vast stretches
of sugar producing country and 49,
100000 heather who can do little else
save raise cane, why not make it posi-
BILE for the common people Of this coun-
try to benefit in small way from the
benevolent and humanitarian schemes
Of the government and bust one Of the
biggest and meanest trusts in the
whole country at the same time?
Twenty six pounds Of sugar for dol
lar would make good slogan for
some political party in the near future.
| A friend writes that he has every rea-
son to believe that his neighbours bird
dog is killing his chickens, though he
has not been able to get any positive
proof Of the fact, and wants to know
what he should do under the circum-
stances. This is one of those annoying
neighborhood muses. in which we do
not like to take hand and which gen.
orally settle themselves somehow or
other. We think under the circum-
stances we should ask the neighbor to
shut up the dog on suspicion, and if
the loss of the chickens ceased it would
be pretty conclusive evidence that the
dog was guilty. Then the dog might
be quietly disposed of on purely cir
cumstantial evidence and on general
principles, as is often done; then our
friend might stand guard over his
chicken yard and locate the culprit,
which, after all, might prove to be a
mink from the creek or a skunk from
the cornfields or an old owl from the
big timber. 1t takes pretty good evil
dence to convince any man that either
his boy or his dog is much of sinner
When winter seizes the great north
west prairie country in it's grip there is
poor show for all forms of wild life
AS one rides over the country on a
train he will occasionally see a few
prairie chickens feeding In some corn
field, rabbit OF a jack will start out
from under culyert or out of the
weeds by the right of way, an owl or
hawk may be seen lazily Swimming
some weedy fence row for a stray
mouse. bunch of snowbirds are bust
ly engaged on a weed patch, and a
few crows brave the cold for the rich
picking in some feed lot. Here and
there the track of a prairie wolf may
be noted as he foraged the previous
night for stray rabbits and mice. Once
in awhile the great snowy owl will
drift down from his arctic home and
find himself a stranger in strange
land and an easy victim for the man
with a gun, while here and there red
fox may be seen Looping over the end
less white of the prairie. The spar
row braves the wintry weather as well
as any of his tribe and finds warm
roosting places in the barns sheds and
outbuildings of the farm. In the
groves the sapsucker and nuthatch may
be found and an occasional blackbird
in some manner left behind at the time
Of his folks migration last fall. M