Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-01-16

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CORRESPONDENCE a ~ w
SOLICITED 0 N
Make as warm and nice place as
possible for the sparrows to go into in
winter and when they get nicely set
tied kill them all off.
An interesting fact associated with
the loose hills Of the Missouri river
valley is that the soil Of these hills is
just as fertile at Lcpth Of $50 feet
us 1t is at the surface.
All through the stock sections Of the
west hay is SO plentiful and cheap that
the letting Of the stock feed from the
stack is the rule rather than the e1cep-
ton. This plan saves lots of work, il
1t is wasteful.
December blue grass is q forage
proposition worth more consideration
than many give 1t. Allowed to grow
unfed from July till winter 1t makes
an admirable winter pasture, especial
" for sheep and horses.
Get the wet acres-the acres which
were broken up during the dry seasons
and which in the wet seasons bring
nothing but weeds-into timothy and
alsike clover as soon as possible and
keep the pillow out Of them until they
can be properly tile drained.
The Chinaman may wear pigtail
and his shirt outside Of his pants and
be altogether an unlikable human prop
ositon, but there is this to be said for
him, that no weeds are ever allowed to
grow on any land which he cultivates.
He would have fit If he could see
some of the cornfelds Of Iowa.
We saw a man this fall carefully
covering up lot Of Gamma roots in the
garden, where they grew last summer
in latitude where the earth usually
freezes to the depth Of two feet. He
ignorantly made d mistake, for neil
Their the Gamma nor dahlia roots and tu-
bers will stand any degree of frost, be-
ing just like potatoes in this respect.
To keep them they must be dug before
the ground freezes and be stored in
dry cellar packed In sand.
The most satisfa Glory method of leas-
ing farms ia where owner and tenant
are working partners-when the lease
is for a term Of years. five or more, and
where the landlord stocks the farm
with well bred animals Of all kinds.
Given good tenant and sensible
landlord, both prosper under such condi-
tons No plan Is SO altogether bad as
to rent land from year to year for ten
ants to skin. This plan is death to
land, without profit to either party.
We passed farm the other day
upon which was fifteen acre marsh
located in a pasture. On this marsh
were as many as 400 rat houses, If
we assume that each one Of these houses
was the home Of Eve muskrats, which
is probably true the owner of this
marsh, provided he had caught the rats,
could have secured an income Of $500
from this seemingly worthless piece
of land, and then II he had worked 1t
for frogs during the summer it would
have proved the most productive piece
Of land he has on his farm,
We saw 1900 sheep finishing up
sixty acre cornfeld lately. The sheep
were turned into the field in September
and had cleaned up every thing corn
stalks, weeds and all. The owner told
us that he got gain of twenty seven
pounds per head in three months feed
ing by this method $40 per head.
This way of using the corn crop is be-
coming quite common and is in much
favor, as It saves the work of picking
the corn, cleans the land and gives it
a good fertilizing. Others are using
steers and hogs instead Of sheep, with
equally satisfactory results.
We want to suggest an idea to the
man whose income is limited to about
$500 year-the laborer, mechanic, the
poorly paid minister and schoolteacher
and 1t is that such men take up In
teiHgently the study Of what small
piece Of land can be made to produce
to add to their very limited income.
It is not at all impossible to make
an acre add 80 per cent to their in
come. More people are studying over
this problem than ever before, and
many are meeting with most pleasing
results. The land holds q rich reward
for the man who knows how to intel
ngently work It.
What seems to us like a far fetched
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