davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29

air rises. Therefore the best ventilator
is one that has an outtake near the
floor. with a tight galvanized iron
Shaft leading UP through the warm
air Of the house to the roof and out
at the peak. The metal being more
quickly affected by heat, will cause
currents of air in the shaft to rise
more quickly. The intake air should
be received from the bottom from the
outside and conducted to the ceiling
before being allowed to enter the room
This avoids direct draughts and causes
circulation necessary to the removal
of the moisture. The less the differ
ence between the inside and outside
temperatures and the quieter the air.
the more difficult it is to ventilate
The tighter and warmer buildings are
made, the easier they are to ventilate.
The larger the amount of air space the
less need there will be for ventilators,
provided there is a change of air
through the windows or doors during
the day. Stuffing the sides and roof of
the house with straw to prevent con-
densation of moisture will help to keep
the moisture in the air so it can be
removed by ventilation"
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
MAKE BOXES FOR FRUIT NOW.

A good start is half the battle. Be-
gin to get ready now. Buy and store
all necessary crates, baskets, boxes and
barrels. Lay in supply of suitable
nails, stencils and rubber stamps
Build a packing shed in convenient
spot, or fix up some shelves in the
barn or wagon shed. Engage extra help
for picking and packing operation.
Paint the ladders; see that they are
in good order. Get some handy field
carriers" for berry-picking; some
picking baskets with shoulder straps
for orchard use; some printed berry
checks to give to the pickers as
vouchers for work Sdone, and some
printed labels to paste on shipments
as vouchers for your produce.
This last item is very important
The men who make the most money
on farm sales are generally the men
who pay most attention to advertising
details. Such men say: 1.-THE package
sells the fruit; the label sells the
package; and the quality of the fruit
sells more packages"
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
SOME GOOD ADVICE.

G. Bosley Littig, of Baltimore, has
recently sent out a circular letter to
Maryland farmers, touching upon the
importance of scientific corn seed Sc
lection, planting and cultivation. He
says: l.
Every farmer who grows {, corn
would find it profitable to read bulletin
No. II Of the Iowa Experiment Sta
tton. Last year the Iowa station Sc
cured 1000 samples of the seed corn
used by farmers in that state. Many of
the samples We're taken from the
planter boxes in the field, and all of
them represented the actual corn
planted. The tests showed that 10 per
cent of all this seed failed to sprout
even under the most favorable con-
ditions; ri per cent more made weak
sprouts, which would never have de-
veloped into vigorous earbearing
stalks. Thus only 60 per cent of the
seed was fit to plant. This means that
the stand of corn in the field was only
about so per cent of what it should
have been.
The bulletin explains in detail a sim
pie method any farmer can use that
will enable him to pick out only the
good seed for planting, thus insuring
practically perfect stand of corn If
the planting is carefully DONE If
every farmer in the state of Maryland
grew perfect stand of corn, the
average yield Of this important crop
would probably be rs per cent greater
than it is. When such results can be
had practically without expense with
one or two days work during the
latter part Of the winter when farm
work is slack, the farmer cannot afford
to neglect it. 1t is certain tli1e the
average farmer can increase his yield
of corn 10 per cent by properly Sc
lecting his seed. This valuable bulletin
can be had by addressing Prof p. C.
Holden, Ames, Ia. There is yet time
to get the bulletin and select and test
seed corn before planting time. We
hope every farmer who reads this may
send for the bulletin and make use of
the information 1t, contains
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
lied fine and thoroughly mixed. A
dose is a large tablespoon for each 200

lied fine and thoroughly mixed. A
dose is large tablespoon for each 200
pound weight of hog to be treated, and
1t should be given only once a day.
When hogs are affected with these
diseases they should not be fed on corn
alone, but should be given soft feed
at least once a day, made by mixing
barn and middlings, or middlings and
corn meal, or ground oats and corn
or crushed wheat with hot water with
the proper quantity of the medicine
stirred in.
Animals that are too sick to come to
the feed trough must be drenched with
the medicine shaken up with water
Great care should be exercised in
drenching hogs, as they are easily suf-
located. Do not turn the hog on It's
back to drench 1t, but pull the cheek
away from the teeth so as to form a
pouch into which the medicine may be
slowly poured. 1t will flow from the
cheek into the mouth and when the
hog finds out what it is, it will stop
squealing and swallow the dose.
This medicine may also be used as
a preventive of most swine diseases
and for this purpose should be put
in the feed of the whole herd.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
HOW TO KEEP A HORSE POOR

The horse most commonly grown
upon the farm and the one which is
so often neglected when it comes to
preparing him for market, is the draft
horse.
Pounds of flesh are an important
factor in determining his market value.
This being the case, it is very nec-
essary to have him make heavy gains.
One Of the first points to be considered
in fattening horse is to attend to
his teeth. Many horses faA to make
good gains. due to the fact that their
teeth are not in proper condition.
The preparation OF the teeth Is
known as the floating of the teeth.
1t is best to get a veterinarian to do
this, as he has the proper instruments,
and where there are many to do, it
can be done more rapidly. Floating
the teeth is a point which great
many people overlook, and is in mar 4
instances the cause of horse being
out of condition.
When a horse has a number OF
sharp projections on his teeth, the
gums become raw and sore, so that
he does not masticate his food thcr-
oughly; consequently indigestion often
results and the horse runs down in his
condition.
In examining a lot of horses re-
Gently it was found that :. large NUM-
Der of them had sharp projections on
the under edge of the grinders. Their
mouths We're in such condition that
a person would wonder how they
could eat at all. But after their teeth
had been foated down, quite marked
change was noticed.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
THE PRICE OF FEED.
Many Milk Producers Wonder Why 1t
Does Not Come Lower.


Feeds for milk cows are~very, high,
compared with those Of former years.
The gradual decrease In grass yield
of the costly feeds year by year. The
reduced pasturage and the poorer hay
have thus forced more cost into the
making of a quart Of milk.
The growing use of silage has, in
the case of many producers, partially
offset the reduced grass element. The
Borden restrictions against silage have
somewhat retarded the silage move
ment, but it begins to be apparent to
all that, Borden or no Borden, the
prGdacers of milk must be permitted
to utilize all available feeds that do
not lower the quality of milk. So far
has this idea grown that the produce
ers in Orange, other counties in New
York, have made formal appeal to
the Borden's Condensed Milk Com
pany to remove it's restrictions from
silage.
In some milk regions, where some
producers, after feeding silage for a
time, had abandoned their silos to
go into the Borden ranks, the reports
show that some Of them have this
year filled their silos and remained
away from the Borden plants on CON
tract day" These producers not stop
ping to figure it out, accepted the cur
rent idea that Borden prices are bet
ter than the prices paid by other mid
dlemen.
Once inside the Borden fold, they
began to learn things. First, they
learned that it costs them consider
ably more to make milk without sill
age than with it. Some of them say
that under the Borden restrictions on
feed they had to put 5, 10 or Is cents
more into the production of a hun
dredweight of milk.
Second, they learned that, counting
off the extra cost Of their milk, they
actually received a smaller net re-
turn from the Borden line than they
would receive from the Exchange and
other middlemen lines that impose
mo restrictions on feeds, and that do
not impose the same hard and costly
rules for drawing and handling milk
, that the Borden line imposes.
Producers can never get away from
the feed question. At present the out
look is for gradual increase in the
costs of feed for milk cows. The
coming winter promises no important
reduction in feed prices.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
OF THE FARM ALL M
PORTANT.
BY c. d. Lyon, Ohio.

1t is absolutely necessary for the
man who proposes to retail milk, vege-
tables, fruit or berries in a town or
city, to locate near his market and
on as good roads as possible.
The man who has to drive six miles
to market, 365 days in a year, has
to travel 2,190 miles farther in a year
than the man who has but three miles
to market. In other words, in eleven
years he will have travelled the dis
lance around the world more than his
more fortunately located neighbor.
Good roads are also we'll worth con-
sidering, for it is far easier to make
five miles on a level road than it is
to make two miles in mud.
The man who expects to do general
farming, growing corn, wheat, oats
exacting in his choice of a location,
question asked when the sale Of a
farm is mentioned will be, IT'S it on a
good road?"
If the proposed system contemplates
almost exclusive stock raising, the dis
lance to town or village is less impor-
tant, as there will be less team work
on the roads to do.
Living water. streams, springs or
wells, is desirable, no matter what
system is to be adopted. and in the
twenty or thirty years ownership of
any farm worth $4,000 this matter is
worth considering.
My own preference is for a living
spring fed by springs; next for springs,
then wells. then cisterns, and last of all
ponds. .--i,'l \
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
STUBBORN FACTS ABOUT MULES.

The mule is not such a fool as he
looks.
The South has been saved since the
war by the mule and his darby driver.
For farm work, the medium sized
mule is best. For heavy teaming, ami
mails standing from fourteen and one
half to fifteen hands will do moro
work than a team Of heavy draft
horses and eat less.
1t takes big boned mares to breed
large mules.
No work animal will recuperate more
quickly from the effects of abuse or
hard work than the mule.
1t costs about one-third to keep
mule shod as a horse.
Most mules have more ''horse sense"
than a horse.
Did anybody ever see dead mule
on farm?
The farmer who uses mules instead
of horses will save at least one-half
the amount of feed that horses re-
|quire.
sound, clean limbed, well-set-
up mule team will bring from $500 to
$500 at three years.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
PUSH THE CALVES
Baby Beef-Making Should Begin the
First Day the Calf is Born.


First Day the Calf is Born.
If baby beef of the very highest
quality is produced, the work of feed
Ing must be commenced the first day.
The mistakes feeders make are
easy to make and as easy to avoid.
1t is hard to correct them. The stom-
achs of young calves are very tender
and able to digest only warm milk
rs 1T comes from the COW.
1t is mistake to suppose that a
young calf, no matter how vigorous it
may BEGAN thrive on Indifferent food.
Too often men fail in producing good
baby beef because they do not take
Nroper care of the calves when very
young.
The calf should have good sup
ply of warm milk, as it comes from the
COW, three times a day. If it is forced
to wait beyond feeding time and then
allowed to drink too much milk, indi-
gestion is sure to follow. Most stunted
calves are the result of indigestion.
When the calf is ten days old, add
little skim milk to the whole milk,
increasing it gradually until ten days
later you can feed skim milk ration
with safety.
1t is important that the skim milk
should be just as warm as that which
COMES from the COW at milking time.
1t is positive hardship on calf to
feed him cold milk, particularly in
winter time. If you feed your calves
cold milk one morning and warm milk
the next, they will develop beautiful
case of scours in about a week.
When you begin to feed skim milk,
take some oil meal, cover it with boil
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
How 1 Make Money With Ducks.

(Mrs LeLauney Meersch, New York. }
After about three years of perse-
verance and hard work, remunerated
with good profit from chicken eggs,
as my old man is a great breeder of
fine cattle, and our we'll cultivated
grounds having large portion of we'll
kept meadows for his cattle to roam
on, and finding that around us here
there was a great demand for ducks,
eggs and young duclSlings for table
purposes, I appropriated part of a
meadow and tried my hand at breed
ing and rearing ducks; which shall
never regret having undertaken, as it
is now carried on more extensively
than was the case when first started.
This is owing in some measure to
the fact that instead of the demand
Cor ducklings ceasing. as ~ smerly. af-
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29

ing water and let it stand until 1t
forms a jelly. Add little of this to
the skim milk. stirring it thoroughly.
About spoonful of the jelly to each
calf is sufficient at the start. This can
be increased gradually, your common
sense and good Judgment telling you
what proportion to use.
If you have a number Of calves,
partition off the feed trough so that
each calf can feed by himself and
the weak and slow ones cannot be
pushed away by their more aggressive
brothers.
Spring calves should be kept in a
clean, dry stable until fall, then turned
out to grass. Feed them whole oats
and everything else that will put flesh
ON them. Push them to the limit every
day. being careful to keep their bowels
in good condition and in ten months
you will have baby beef that will bring
top prices.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
CHOOSE cows BEDDING.
Ohio Dairyman Says We Should Elk
ercise More Care.

Many farmers who devote consider
able attention to dairying neglect to
provide proper bedding for their cows,
or at least are inclined to be careless
or negligent in this respect. Where
milking for profit is given but small
consideration in the general farm
scheme there is generally plentiful
supply of suitable material for use
pm the floors, but where rotation of
crops and other methods so familiar
to the larger farmer are but little
known through the fact that dairying
is emphasized, the bedding problem
sometimes becomes serious one.
1t must always be regarded that,
from dairy standpoint. land devoted
to wheat growing represents just so
many acres diverted from the principal
industry of the farm. On most dairy
farms, the only excuse for growing
wheat is the fact that the straw is
needed, and that carelessness in the
use of straw for bedding may totally
unfit it. is a fact not sufficiently realiz-
ed. Any dirt in the material used Is
sure to find its way into the milk
to a greater or less extent. The straw
which has become wet and has nodded
Is very Unsatisfactory IIldCeTldl WnSTe
clean milk is desired, as it contains
many things which may seriously af-
feet the keeping quality and whole
someness of the milk. The use of dead
weeds. raked from the field, or of
straw containing any considerable
amount of weeds, should be avoided
carefully on account of the large
amount of dust and possible infection
which may be transmitted to the milk.
Such bedding might be satisfactory
for horses. but may be, on the other
hand, positively dangerous for milk
COWS. The dust may not be injurious
to the animal in any way, but it is
likely to have a bad effect on the milk.
The straw of barley or of bearded
wheat is strongly objected to because
of the boards which irritates the skin
of the animal.
1t is probable that, for the present
at least. no more satisfactory material
for bedding the dairy herd can be
found than clean wheat straw.
TRUMAN WILLS (Ohio).
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
vENT1LATING A POULTRY HOUSE.

The conditions most essential in our
poultry houses for the health and COM
fort of our fowls are warmth in winter,
GOODNESS in summer, and dryness at all
times. The latter must be secured first
Of all by thorough drainage Of the
foundation, and dry board or con-
crete floor, which should be kept COW
cred with heavy layer of dried muck
or dry sand, or, better of both. Next,
good ventilation should be provided.
Reliable Poultry Journal says on this
subject: Damp air may be removed
by ventilators, which will necessarily
make the house a little cooler. Warm
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
EFFECT OF WEEDS IN CROPS.
By Prof j. F. Volta, Gustavus Adolf
plus Agricultural College.

BY Prof. ]. F. Volta, Gustavus Adolf
plus Agricultural College.
The evils resulting from the growth
OF weeds In crops are to large de-
gree these: Weeds tend to rob the
soil of its plant food, such as may be
derived both from natural and artifi-
clal onditions-natural, as produced
by the decomposition of organic and
Inorganic material in the SOIL and
artificial, as that effected by man,
largely by the application of farm
yard manures.
weeds tend to smother the useful
crops and thereby reduce the yield
of that crop. Patches of weeds often
break up field for systematic
schemes of rotation and quite fire.
quently makes the work uncomfort-
able and improbable. 1t is thought by
some that where the weeds are de-
lstroyed upon the ground. they return
to it whatever they have taken out
and therefore cannot leave the soil
poorer.
But we must remember that what
ever moisturesis removed is an entire
loss, because it is carried away by
the winds. The available plant food
| In the soil such as potash, phosphoric
acid and nitrates, is largely drawn
upon by the growing weeds and is
converted into dry matter in the It's
sues of the weed and in so doing 1t
locks up the food and renders it use
less. In this form the plant food.
originally available, is positive loss
for food of other plants as far as this
season is concerned. 1t will again re-
turn to available food form when the
weeds become thoroughly decayed.
| 1t is evident that too much care
cannot be exercised in the choice of
seed grain, grasses and corn. Good
seed, free from weeds, is the means of
saving money, not only in the first, but
for many succeeding crops. If dealers
in seed could be educated to realize
that their best interest is involved in
grain free from admixture of any kind
and their senses could be educated so
as to insure sound discrimination.
one of the most fertile sources of
trouble on our farms would be greatly
lessened, if not entirely subdued.
Probably conducted, dairying is one
of the most profitable branches Of
general farming. Carelessly conduct
ed, the COWS will eat up the profit from
other branches.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29

The poultry business has gotten to
be quite a science. The man now
who expects to make money from eggs
knows what kind of hens to breed
and what to feed them. The hen does
the rest.
The man who raises the right kind
of animals for market does not have
to hunt buyer. The buyer comes to
him.
Young geese usually lay from
eighteen to twenty-four eggs the first
season. Old geese will lay from thirty
to forty. Young geese seldom get
broody the first season.
OF course you know that the price
Of milk has gone up in nearly all the
large cities and most Of the smaller
ones. This ought to encourage the
farmer to get better cows, produce
better milk and get the highest price.
The price of apples is going up.
American apples are selling we'll on
the European markets. The first Ben
Davis apples shipped to Liverpool this
fall brought $40 per barrel, which
will give the fruit growers s2.25 at the
shipping station.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29

l know young man who complain
ed because the farmer who hired him
set him to Strengthening lot of crook
ed nails. He was inclined to laugh at
the farmer, because he was so mean
and stingy. But it was by being just
so careful to save everything that the
farmer got his start in the world. In
stead of laughing and making fun,
it would have been better for that
young man to have learned lesson
in economy and begun saving him
self.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29

a lot of common sense along with
them:
Set up your incubator exactly ac-
cording to instructions. Keep it away
from stove or drafts and never allow
the sun to shine on it.
Test every egg before you put it
in. Keep the lamps full and the wicks
and tubes clean. Balance all eggs
larger enc up before putting into the
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
SELECTION OF AN INCUBATOR

An incubator to be effective must
have plenty of space in the egg cham
Der. Have good Thermometer where
it can be read without disturbing the
machine and a frst-class lamp and a
good rem ovable nursery tray below.
1t does not pay to buy a cheap in
cubator. Ask your experiment station
to recommend good machine. OBJ
serve the following instructions in the
management of your machine and use
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
WHY HOGS BREAK DOWN.
Too Much Corn Causes Excess Fat and
Too Little Muscle.

There are many complaints this
year, as there are every year, that
hogs, and particularly young pigs, are
breaking down in the hind quarters
thus becoming useless. This trouble
is caused by feeding corn exclusively
and giving too much water.
Corn and water makes more fat
than bone and muscle and the result is
the bones of the pigs legs are too
weak to sustain the body. Then they
die Of starvation because they cannot
reach the trough or move about to
get food.
In the first place this trouble can be
prevented by feeding young pigs a
very small amount of corn while
should then be gradually increased,
and when weaned they should have a
mixture Of bran, shorts. corn and a
little bone meal. with sufficient milk
to make a thin slop.
When young pigs are paralyzed it
is best to take all corn away from
them and place them at trough or
box in which has been stirred bran
and the following tonic, which is
recommended by the Bureau of AMI
NAL Industry as a preventive against
hog cholera and swine plague:
Lbs.
Sulphur 1
WOOD CHARCOAL .................. 1
Sodium Chloride -. 2
Sodium Bi-carbonate ........... q
Sodium Hypo-sulphite ........ 2
Sodium Sulphate 1
Black Anthony 1
These ingredients must be pulver-