Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-04-18

suitable post timber which wise men
will get to planting every year as soon
as they can, and, second, from the use
Of cement post which inside Of a
few years is quite likely to supersede
wood altogether for this purpose.
We know Of scores of men who the
past year raised seventy bushels of
corn to the acre. They did not do it by
growing corn year after year on the
same land, however. These good crops
were mostly grown on a clover sod on
land which had not grown corn for
three years previously at least. There
was q manure spreader which had
hand in the crop too.
The farm has to support an army of
toll takers, beginning with the, day the
seed is dropped into the soil until the
last Of the years products are sold,
crows, blackbirds, gophers. cutworms,
wireworms, taking large toll of the
sprouting grain; blight, rust, grasshop-
pers and birds tolling the maturing
crop, with rats, mice and weevils levy
ing tribute on the garnered crop and
the several trusts and combines taking
a final swipe at 1t when sent to mar
ket. No wonder SO many farmers in
summing up. the years work find that
they have worked for so cents day
and boarded themselves at that. Good
farming-the new kind that is COM
ing-largely means looking after this
army Of toll takers,
We notice that some men are raising
all sorts Of mongrel, hybrid hogs.
They started In with Poland Chinas:
then somebody told them cross with
Duroc Jersey blood would be good
thing, and they got combination Of
red and black; then another neighbor
advised them to get Chester White
sire, and now the colors and the breeds
are hopelessly and unproftably reflect
ed In lot Of red, black and white pigs
which to all intents and purposes are
just nothing but scrubs Of the worst
kind. Select some one breed and stick
to it. This applies to pigs and all other
domestic animals on the farm. Take
one breed, then try to constantly i'm
prove it with the infusion Of new
and good blood of the same sort.
The southern cotton growers keep
holding meetings, resolving to reduce
/ the acreage Of cotton for the coming
season, with the hope that such action
will raise the price. The south needs
nothing SO badly as to learn some way
to diversity it's agriculture, the people
at present being seemingly unable to
devise any way to use negro, mule
and rope harness save by putting
the outfit to work to raise half bale
Of cotton to the acre and quite often
much less. The worst of it is that this
continuous raising Of cotton is robbing
the soil Of all its fertility, and nature
will Indignantly shut off the cotton
business in few years If the people
will not sensibly learn better way
We had the same disease here In the
north in the early days with the rails
ing Of wheat, but had sense enough to
quit before we quite ruined our farms
Every grower Of corn will concede
without argument the vital need OF
reason that defective seed means 8
poor stand, and poor stand inevita
bly, means poor crop, no matter how
well cared for, corn differing from The
smaller cereal grains in this-that the
stand is wholly dependent upon al
the seed growing, while in the case o.
wheat, oats, rye and the like, even il
one-half of the seed failed to grow, ma
ture in compromising way would
cause the scattering plants to wonder
Il fully stool out and thus furnish ,
hundredfold increase from singh,
seed. But with corn it is different
but one stalk coming from one seek
save with the little Dwarf Yankee ant
sweet corn varieties, and thus it fol
lows that man largely settles th,
yield of his corn crop when he select
his seed. There is an unusual interes
being taken now in this matters
much that the railway corporations ar
sending at great expense all over thei
lines corps of instructors and expert
to show the average farmer how b
may test his corn and absolutely know
that the seed he plants will grow. Dun
ing the year 1904 the state of low
raised 323, 100000 bushels Of corn O
what was proved to be two-third
stand Of corn owing to the poor qualit
Of the seed used. While it would not b
fair to say that the state would hav
produced 107, 100000 bushels more cor
had good seed been used, it is fair
!, say that the crop would have been II
creased by several million bushels ha
good seed been used.