Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-01-30
Good seed will not always insure a
good crop, but the first step to insure a
poor one is to use poor seed.

poor one is to use poor seed.
The beet sugar business is developing
rapidly through the irrigated sections
Of the west, but Is not meeting with
much success We re it comes into com.
petition with corn, cattle and hogs.
We notice that most Of the special.
lists who go into the squad raising
business soon give it up. 1t seems to
be one of those things which figure out
well on paper, but rarely pan out div.
idends.
This is the season Of the year when
the hired man gets his fingers trimmed
up in good shape with the corn shelter
and shredder. Some men are totally
unfit to have anything to do with ma.
chinery, being either SO careless or so
foolhardy that 1t is wonder that they
are not all killed Off
There will be but little improvement
in agricultural methods the country
over until in some way the one year
renter is disposed of. From the very
nature Of things his methods and prac.
tees place ban on all good farming.
Being here today and gone tomorrow,
he can play nothing but a skin game,
and he always does it to a finish.
The yellow refrigerator car which Is
80 common sight on all our railroads
represents one Of the greatest eco
nomic changes which ever came to the
country and at the same time repre-
sents the concrete economic rascality
of the country as we'll. 1t represents
the wealth and greed of the trusts and
the financial hides of the little ship
pers.
A reader in Indiana wishes to know
the best remedy to prevent worms on
grapes. This trouble may be prevent
ed by spraying the vines at proper
times. II he will write to the director
of the Indiana experiment station he
will be furnished without charge with
bulletin which will cover the whole
question Of spraying-time to spray,
nature Of solution used, etc.
One Of the most successful stock men
whom we know got his start twenty
i've years ago as result Of his father
giving him calf. 1t Is proper to note
here that when the calf grew into fat
steer the old man did not sell 1t and
pocket the money. A good many gen
srous fathers do things this way, and
their sons do not grow up to be success
ful stock men. There ought to be a law
to give boys their rights in matters Of
this sort.
Where the large dent varieties Of
corn are grown it quite often happens
that the cribs will be empty along in
August, when q supply Of corn is need
ed to finish off lot of hogs We have
a friend who cleverly provides against
this contingency. He plants a few
acres Of the early Yankee corn as early
in the spring as he can and has this
crop all ripe by the fore part Of August,
just when he needs 1t, nearly two
months in advance Of the maturing of
his field crop. This plan is well worth
trying.
The raising Of 100 bushels Of corn on
one acre of land is by no means SO DIFF
f1cult proposition as many men think.
OF some twen,y or more boys, mere
lads, who formed corn club to see
what they could do in raising each
one-fourth Of an acre Of corn none of
them raised less than at the rate Of
100 bushels per acre and many went
much above this figure, one raising as
much as 1877 bushels per acre. The les
son afforded by this experiment is that
men who raise but thirty or thirty-five
bushels per acre can easily double their
yields IL they will put more work on
lsss land.
There should be two days sacredly
set apart on every farm for special
work. One day should be devoted to
tree planting, the planting Of trees In
waste hooks and corners all over the
farm. evergreens on the knolls too bar
rem or too rough for cultivation, will
lows along the runs and draws, shade
trees at intervals along the highway,
and then another day should be devot-
ed to general clearing. picking up day
around the homestead. These two days
properly used would do more to i'm
prove the looks Of the average farm
than any other one thing we know.
A very common mistake which we
notice all over the country Is the ef-
fort Of city councils to start public
parks in sod ground, planting the
young trees in the tough sod. It It is
desired to lay out and secure public
park the first thing to do is to pillow the
land deeply and thoroughly fertilize It;
then the trees may be planted, and for
two or three years the land should be
Clearly cultivated, after which it may
be seeded down. It is almost fmpos-
sible to make young trees even live,
much laas eprou ooffc r+orily xpho,,