Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-11-21

One OF the evidences or the deca
dence Of our modern civilization is
found in the fact that women take
more kindly to pug dogs than they do
to babies.
The department stores have done
one good thing at least-they have ed
ucated farmers to the great benefit to
be derived from paying cash for goods
instead of running book accounts.
A few years ago this country was de-
pendent largely upon Spain for all the
raisins 1T used. Now California en-
tirely supplies the home demand and
has surplus left for less favored
countries.
A big point has been made in the use
of the manure spreader in this-that the
hired man really likes to get out the
manure from the barnyard when one is
used. Under the old method there was
no work on the farm which was more
distasteful to him.
There is no doubt that people beyond
the age Of sixty and having sufficient
means can materially prolong their
days and to greater extent enjoy
their remaining years of life by select.
ing home in southern California. The
mild and even climate makes it mod
ell place for worn out nerves and tired
old bodies.
Wherever it is possible to feed off
crops on the land where grown 1t is
always good for the land. This is
much more common custom in Eng
land than it is in this country, the enor-
nous crops of turnips and quite good
deal of their vetch and clover crops
being fed off in sections by sheep by
the use Of portable fences.
The black currant which is so ex-
tensively grown and used in England
and on the continent is very rarely
found in our American fruit gardens.
We do not understand why this should
be so, as the fruit has very fine
flavor and there would seem to be no
reason why it would not do as well as
the red and white varieties.
With prices for farm products re-
naming as they have been for the past
ron wars tho GRO 1T ar eootior fo,,,, 4,
diligently managed and cultivated
should pay the owner salary of 81 200
a year and per cent interest upon his
Investment. 1t could be made to do
better than this. If it is not done, and
in many cases it is not something needs
looking into before man goes to find
ing fault with the administration.
The Dutch, the Netherlands people,
who live and prosper on land which
they have reclaimed from the North
sea, hold S261, 100000 of American
railroad bonds and stocks, and still we
have lots Of people who live on better
land, which cost them less than $40 per
acre, who cannot ever hope to get rid of
the ancient mortgage upon it, let alone
ever owning bond of the railroad
which runs through the farm. A very
thrifty set are those Dutch.
Nineteen hundred and five is fat
year for all the great west and north
west, good crops everywhere, no
warping droughts, no untimely frosts,
the fall season just genial round
up Of the best of weather conditions,
insuring a perfect maturing in nat
ural way Of all crops and the. gathering
and saving of them. without waste.
And with all the abundance of the
crops the prices OF all farm produce
remain at very satisfactory and prof
liable figures. 1t is not claiming too
much to say that the farmers Of the
country as whole are In very pros
porous condition. There should. be q
good time this Thanksgiving on all the
farms. and big turkey should be in
process of fattening to properly cele-
brate the holiday.
1t is in order to suggest the impera-
tive necessity of looking after all young
fruit trees this fall and see that they
are properly protected from the rabbits
during the winter. When the cold
weather comes there is nothing which
bunny likes quite so well as the tender
bark Of the apple tree, and even one or
two rabbits can do hundred dollars
worth Of damage in very short time
by girdling the trees. We have had our
fight with these pests and have found
that the best way is to hunt them down
persistently with dogs and ferrets and
pay premium for every rabbit killed
in the vicinity of the orchard. We have
also used poison quite effectually, a
grain of strychnine inserted into sec
ton Of apple stuck on a stick and