davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
NOTES BY A WORKING FARMER

Use the road drag every chance you
get, especially after rains.
Only fresh seeds should be planted
in the garden.
AS a side line on the farm hive Of
bees fills the bill.
Money spent for articles needed on
the farm is not wasted
Feed the bran to the cows and buy
middlings for the pigs
A little help in the garden now will
be appreciated by the woman of the
place.
Where land is at all inclined to be
damp adequate drainage should be sup
piled.
Get at the weeds in time. Keep them
from getting the start and the work
will be much easier.
| The good farm hand is worthy Of
proper treatment. He is man. even
though he is an employee
Name the farm and have a neatly
painted signboard where it can be seen
from the highway.
Be sure the hen wants to sit and
then give her from thirteen to fifteen
eggs. according to the size of the hen
The corn farmer needs hogs and
cattle to consume grain and slower and
the rotation crops that his lands may
remain fertile.
Plant trees around the yard and in
the pasture field. Get the children
interested in tree planting.
A good fence will pay for itself ir
one season. With poor fences stocl
may get into the growing crop and de.
stroy more than the worth Of the
fence.
Many a horse is punished for thing.
he cannot help. That is a good way o
running valuable animal.
Handle the colt carefully. for yo,
are making the future horse, ant
whatever habits, good or bad, he ha
| are in a large measure due to tn
treatment given the colt.
Don't imagine that because 20,
have applied commercial fertilizer t
your land tillage is unnecessary. TIL
danger is not in too much cultivation
but in too little.
Y Keep the little chicks out OF colo
f damp rains. Lack Of proper shelte
9 is one of the reasons early hatche
s chicks are hard to raise.
! The average life Of good Holstei
: cow is from sixteen to twenty-t w
f years, and the majority will breed reg
: of milking time due to calving
g from six to eight weeks. This leave
Y roughly, the usual 900 days as til
S length of the milking period
g In the growing Of farm animals re
n member it is decidedly improbable I
n check their growth.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30

spraying apparatus is too we'll known
to be described here.
To each barrel of water use seven
pounds of cheap riour ana one pound
of paris green. Mix the poison and
flour in bucket containing about two
gallons of water and stir until thor
oughly mixed.
When the whole mixture Is thor
oughly mixed pour into the barrel of
water on the spraying machine and
keep the contents of the barrel well
stirred while the sprayer is in motion.
The only serious objection to this
mixture is that it tends to clog the
screens in the pump. This can be
avoided by having the screens SO they
can be taken out and reinserted
quickly.
The screens can thus be taken out
and cleaned in short time and the
spraying go OH without further inter-
ruption. The operatior may seem trout
blesome at first, but one spraying kills
all the bugs and it doesn't matter If II
rains within two hours after it is APP
piled.
| Dew and rain will not wash it of
and traces of it will remain for two
weeks and continue to destroy all new
hatchings of insects.
The flour forms paste that catches
all the particles of paris green and il
turn adheres to the plant leaves. Il
a field sprayed thoroughly in this wa,
a second operation is not necessary
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
POOR CATTLE ARE DEAREST
Professor Says CheaperYou Buy
the Larger Margins Must Be
to Come Out Even.

Professor Mumford, chief of the Gu.
reau of animal industry of the Illinon
station, declares that 1t is just as sim
pie as can be that the larger the initia \
weight of the feeders the less the mar.
gin, and yet the people everywhere
have entirely ignored that And tht
cheaper you buy your cattle the large,
must be the margin to come out even
but it Is generally said that 1t II, tbs
other way.
Professor Mumford is entirely right
He says:
Now, let's see. A 1000-pound fancy
selected feeder bought at $3.50 costs
$45. With an average gain of ~
pounds per day for six months at
cents per pound the gain costs $36
Total cost, $S1. The steer now weighs
l45O pounds and to come out even each
pound must sell at 1-1450 of $S1, OF
$5.5S per cwt. The cost was $3.50
leaving the necessary margin Sl.0S
Now take an inferior feeder. The
cost of l000-pounds at $2.75 is $3.50
1t gains two pounds per day. or 800
pounds in the six months, and this at
cents a pound costs $2S.s0. Total
cost, $500. The steer now weighs
1860 pounds and to come out even
must sell for dividing $500 by 1360)
$4.14. Subtracting original cost, $2.75,
the necessary margin is seen to be
$139.
Nov. let's say the inferior steer
makes the same gain as the best steer;
1000 pounds at $2.75 cost $2750; 45(
pounds Of gain at s cents costs $36:
total cost, $63.5o. Selling price to
: come out even dividing S6350 by
J 1450) s4.S7; s4.37 less $2.75 equals
, $1.62, necessary margin. The neces-
! sary margin of the best steer is $1.0s
, or Sd cents less than the margin Of the
inferior steer even If the latter makes
the same gains If this were the only
factor the difference would be in favol
of the prime steer.
"You can feed heavy weight cattl,
!, on smaller margin than lighter cat
: tie, as the above figures show. Whei
you buy light cattle don't forget tina
= every time you cut off 100 pounds II
: the weight of the feeder you are in
. creasing the necessary margin to com
out even. But the younger cattle max
the cheapest gains. The more inferio
the cattle the more necessary to pa
attention to the factor Of high initie
weight. Other things being equal, tn
:, steer placed on the market in tn
= shortest time and with the fewes
a number of pounds gain Is the mos
profitable steer"
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
FARM LABOR

One of the greatest problems con-
fronting agriculture is competent farm
help that can be secured at a compen-
sation proportionate to the net earn
ings of the farmer. Manufactures,
mining and railroads furnish employ
ment to vast number of workers who
are under trained foremen, and then
wages are graduated according to the
amount Of product they can turn out
Manufacturers and transportation cor
porations are capitalized and the in
vestment is required to earn fixed
dividend for the stockholders. The
earnings are expected to exceed the
dividends, operating expenses and
fixed charges TO create a surplus fund
to conduct affairs in emergencies and
during panics without stopping divi-
dendS.
The farmer is compelled to compete
in the open market for help to conduct
his agricultural operations. While the
] farmer is delighted If his investment
returns a reasonable profit, he has nc
recourse if the seasons results are
conducted at loss. The manufac-
turer in times of financial stringencJ
to protect stockholders discharges {
J ->Art of his forca- radncAs thsir wages
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30

fruit stems, often not more than one,
and the fruit will usually be small and
of inferior quality.
The Warfield is of this class. How
ever, while it is true that the Warfield
is one of the most prolific in the mat
ter of propagating itself by means of
runners, it is equally true that if this
variety and some others of it's class be
restricted in the effort to propagate by
means of runners, it's creative energy
will be turned into another channel.
Grown after any of the several
hedge-row plans, individual plants will
stool up wonderfully. They will be
different looking plants entirely. There
| is no secret in getting such results.
| The possession of little knowledge
with the energy necessary to put the
! knowledge into practice is all that is
needed.
In hedge row culture it is the aim
to set the young plants in the fresh
earth where they are wanted and
| where they will take root quickly.
There should be from 8 to 10 inches
between the plants, and after a suffi-
cient number have been secured to fill
out the row, all further efforts of the
plants to propagate by means of run
ners is carefully checked.
| Runners should be pinched or cut of
before they have made much growth
else there will be waste of energy
and growth Of plants. Even wher
grown upon the matted row plan ar
Improvement in both quantity ant
quality of fruit may be obtained by {
judicious use Of the hoe in cutting Of
superfiuous runners and thinning gu
Of the plants.
Judicious pruning is conducive tt
the healthfulness Of the plants, for al
abundance of sunshine and air are a
essential to the health Of plants as t.
the different forms of animal life.
Grown in a thickly matted state tn
plants do not have free access to TIL
air and sunshine, consequently sue
!. plants are more subject to disease tina
where grown after the hedge row plar
: where each leaf has ample room t
! spread so that the entire leaf surfac
of the plant may receive during som
period of the day direct rays Of sun
3 shine.
j The more nearly the grower come
e to reaching the ideal in hedge row cul
d ture the stronger and healthier wi
the plants be and the greater the re
q suits at harvest time.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
PRUNING The STRAWBERRY
Habit of Plant to Make Excess.
sive Growth of Runners
Must be Overcome.

Nature has provided two methods
whereby the strawberry may perpetu-
ate it's species, by means of seed and
by means of runners.
Restricting the efforts of the plants
put forth in this direction results in
finer fruit. Some varieties of plants
send out large numbers of runners,
while other varieties make but few.
1t is noticeable that those varieties
that make but few runners either send
UP large numbers of fruit stems or
else the individual specimens of fruit
are exceptionally large. The Parker
Earl has the first named characteris-
tic, while the Marshall and New York
are among those varieties making fol
large fruit
On the contrary, where the habit Of
the plant impels it to make an exces
sive growth of runners and the plant,
are allowed free vent to this instinct
individual plants will form but few
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30

or runs his plant on shorter hours.
The farmer can only protect himself
from eXorbitant wages by the pur-
chase of costly labor-saving machine
cry.
The world moves forward and the
higher cost of living, the increase in
value of farm lands and the higher
prices of agricultural products will not
soon revert to old low standards. The
farmer will not find cheap labor Of
fered in the market except by inef-
ficient employees.
Agriculture is annually becoming
more of a business proposition and the
standard of labor advanced on the
farm. The farm laborer must UNDER
stand modern agricultural machinery
and how to operate 1t to obtain en-
ployment. Machinery is too expensive
to be trusted with inexperienced oper-
ators, and the man who can skillfully
handle modern farm implements is in
| demand on the farm at wage scale
that will compare favorably with the
| employees in Industrial enterprises.
Farmers are now practical business
men and the majority of them keep
books on farm operations and know
| the amount Of their profit and loss an
nually. Farming as profession Is
becoming more attractive and diversi-
| fled and labor needs to be more skilled
to meet new conditions of agriculture
The inducements are potential fol
young men to qualify as farm laborers
/ and the field offers as brilliant pros
poets as any other profession TIL,
farmer is not so much in quest o
cheap labor as efficient help and Il
willing to pay wage scale proportion
ate to the ability and proficiency o
the laborer as an up-to- date farm
hand.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
A SIMPLE POST FULLER

Pulling posts is usually a hard job,
but by the aid of a device as shown
in the picture one horse will lift the
post out of the ground easily. The
brace should be of very strong hard
wood, II inches long and inches thick
and the knots should be protected by
strap iron, screwed on securely. Place
the chain as close to the ground as
possible, pass it over the brace set at
an angle of about As degrees, start the
horse on slow, steady pull and the
post will have to come out This work
'hould always be done when the ground
3 well soaked after a heavy rain.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
A HEDGE or DAHLIAs

This lofty flower, having such strong
stalks, is not at all ungraceful, and
when properly cultivated is a profuse
bloomer. Plant the bulbs rather deep
in the ground. They need the strong
est fertilizers. also an abundance of
water and sunshine. 1t is better to tie
them to strong stakes to guard against
damage by wind and it is also better
to plant them in hedge row, as they
are not so easily blown over by the
Wind-F. L. RSley.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
KEEP SMILING

Brightness wins when naught else will,
Keep smiling.
Sunshine always fills the bill.
Keep smiling.
North and south or east and west
IT'S conceded and confesseu
optimists are liked the best.
Keep smiling.
II they talk behind your back.
Keep smiling.
II your wagon fails to track"
Keep smiling.
Though the skies are glum and gray.
There will be a brighter day:
Clouds are bound to break away.
Keep smiling.
s'pose you have an ache or pain,
Keep smiling.
II it's hard TO bear the strain
Keep smiling.
It's a fad. alas! too true,
Telling others what TO do,
And need advice myself-boo--hooi
Keep smiling.
David B. Clark in United Presbyterian
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30

Here is good illustration of the
growth of corn roots. 1t was made
from an actual plant taken from an
Iowa field. The figures represent feet
and it is plain therefore that corn roots
will spread from one row to another If
a pillow is sent through the ground
deeply it simply tears these roots
apart, destroys many of them and
thereby greatly checks the growth Of
the corn.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
HANDY FOR THE HOG LOT

If water is not handy to the hog
pasture simple sled on which is
placed a large barrel with tight fit-
ting cover will prove a great con-
venience. 1t can be drawn to any part
of the field where the hogs are located
and will prove an economical arrange
tnent because the hogs always lose
flesh If they are compelled to go a
long distance for water, particularly
in hot wealth
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
FIGHTING THE POTATO BUG

Potato bugs are like interest on a
work days and nights.
When the broods first begin to hatch 1t
is the time to act. The only remedy
practical and effective known at pres
ent is paris green. This is mixed with
water and scattered on the plants. The
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
HARVESTING AT THE RIGHT TIME

Pick vegetables with the dew on:
they are superior to those picked in the
hot sun. Beans. however, must be
picked when dry; If vines or fruit are
handled when wet they will rust Tho
following are better picked before full
sized: String beans, beets, carrots.
corn. cucumbers, peas, radishes and
squash. Don't allow seed to ripen on
the plants or they will stop bearing.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
FOR THE PIGS

Plant a patch of sweet corn handy
to the piggery for early green feed.
If early varieties are chosen the green
stuff will be ready for feeding by July.
BY having two or three plots coming
on in succession nice feed will be con-
tinually on hand until the field corn
is ready to be fed. Follow the first
field of sweet corn with millet or COW
peas for dairy feed. L. Risley.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30

The pump may be put away and the
grower rest assured that he Is through
for the season.
The sprayer should not be driven too
fast, but each plant be allowed to get
it's full share Of the poison. One bar
rel of this mixture should be enough to
cover about two acres.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
TWO GOOD EGG PLANTS

There is no more delicious vegetable
to the taste of many people than the
egg plant. Plants can be obtained for
setting in the ground, but should not
be set out until all danger of frost is
over. The varieties shown here are
first, the New York Purple, and, sec
ond, the Jersey Bell. They are con-
sidered the best plants Ere-A
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-30
THIS WAY is NOW TOO SLOW

The picture herewith shows Kansas
farmers hauling their grain to market.
A load for four horses is about four
tons on good roads and of course each
team requires driver Traction en-
gines are rapidly taking the place Of
teams in this and all other heavy
The Washington times., 1908-09-12
HISTORY OF PARTIES.

IN the transformation, which. during
the reign of George I, befell the two
English parties, each gradually took
the shape and color Of its foe, TIL a
length the Tory rose up erect the zea-
lot of freedom, and the Whig crawled
ana licked the dust at the feet of power
Whatever judgment the Wing
or the Tory of that age might pro-
nounce on the transactions long past,
there can be no doubt that. as respected
The practfcal questions then pending,
the Tory was a reformer, and indeed an
Incorporate and indiscreet reformer
while the Whig was conservative even
To higotrv. Thus the successors
of the old Cavaliers had turned dema-
Rogues: the successors of the old Round
heads had turned courtiers- Yet it was
long before their natural animosity be-
gan to abate: for il is the nature OF
partles to retain their original enmities
far more firmly than their original pTin-
The Washington times., 1908-09-12
NOTED SCIENTISTS
AT COSMOS CLUB
Wit and Oratory in Evidence at
Dinner Given TO Prof.
II. A. Hunt.

Scientific subjects were for the mo-
ment forgotten and Wit and oratory
were much IN evidence at the dinner
given 10 Prof. II. 4. Hunt, common
wealth meteorologist of Australia, at
the Cosmos Club last night
Prof. Willis Moore, OF the Weather
Bureau. presided.
Those present were:
Prof. Willis Moore, Prof. z B. GarriOtt'
H. Z. Williams. Prof. c. F. Marvin
Prof. A. J. Henry, Prof. H H KIM
BAH. James Berry. E. II. Bowie, Z. B.
Calvert, f A. Carpenter. h. l.. Heish
keli. and c. FiZthugh Talman. all Of the
Weather Bureau; DR.. II. W. Wiley,
chief Of the Bureau of Chemistry: Prof.
Charles 2. Munroe, OF George Wash-
ington university; Alexander McC.
Ashley, Department of Agriculture; and
Prof J. H Gore. OF George Washington
University.
Prof. Hunt is making a tour of in
vestigatiOn OF the principal meteoTolog-
fcaI services Of the world.
The Washington times., 1908-09-12
Getting Wise in the DeeStreek.

A piczayune tendency manifested it
self in the lower branch of our Ma
tional Legislature, last spring, TO pre-
vent the employment Of press agents"
for the various bureaus of the depart
ments As a matter of fact, one of the
most hopeful signs of our present gov
ernmental activity has been the official
understanding that information gath
cred by experts had practically no
value unless disseminated among the
people.
England has only now come to realize
this. Heretofore its bureaus have con-
formed with the standard desired of
certain members of Congress, who
would have the Government inyesti-
gate, analyze, and report for the sake
of a filing system and a card catalogue.
But now the iconoelast has asserted
himself even in London. A journalist
tthey have no newspaper men abroad)
has stuck a pin through the policy
that if the public desires information
on good roads, on soils, on fresh and
salt water fishes, or to obtain maps.
it must 60 to the board of agriculture
as one prospecting for minerals, and
hunt it out. They have not changed
yet, over there, but they viii.
Of course there is not a man in either
branch Of our Congress who seriously
doubts the desirability of carrying to
the last patron of a rural route the in
formation which his Government col
lects for his advantage. Everyone can
see the utter futility OF gathering fig
ures on trade in shoes with Brazil and
waiting for shoe manufacturers TO ask
for themi or on making acceptable
roads at low cost out of sand and clay
and waiting for farmers in a sand-and-
clay country to divine that the infor-
nation is In existence and ask for it.
The trouble has not lain in this direc-
ton 1t has been rather that Con
gcssmen who voted millions fer vote
getting postofice buildings and zeroes
for resource preserving forestry laws
have been made 10 feel the effect of the
farmers understanding of his repre-
sentative's patriotism That is an I'm
derstanding- which viii grow, not con
tract, and legislators viii soon cease
sweeping bacl the sea in effCTt to re-
strict 1t by opposing the diffusion of
information collected by the Govern
meut
The Washington times., 1908-09-12

ncrth moves southwark and the storm
belt in the south moves northward
When they cross we get the equipoc-
tal storm. The eQuinoctial storm does
not arrays occur over the same part Of
the United States But each year it
occurs over different section. And it
IS always worth dollars 10 the farmer
and the merchant TO know in advance
travel.
Therefore. 1 will try to give them an
outline OF the indications which always
appear in advance Of great storm.
Every storm that ever moved over our
earth had its starting point.
And at that starting point a little
gray cloud forms suddenly under clear
sky Then IL becomes dense and black,
and the upper edges Of that black clOGd
tura white as snow.
Then rain begins 10 fall from those
white edges Rain does not fan from
the 5.ack cloud. When you see the
white edges Of nimbus cloud rising Just
above he horizon then you may know
mat rain is falling 150 miles away. Why2
Because nimbus clouds usually float
two miles high, and you can see an OBJ
Ject tNO miles high $50 miles distant
As soon as these nimbus clouds have
parted with their moisture, they become
cirrus clouds. and move rapidly upward
and outward [rOm the storm center, al
ways turning ia = large circle.
The reason they turn in a circle IL
because the winds above a storm are
moving Ia Just the opposite direction
10 that which is prevailing on our earth
beneath that storm.
These cirrus clouds move forward
great deal faster than the storm. Some
times they travel nearly .000 miles in
advance of the storm. So when light
cirrus clouds appear in this locality
moving from the southwest toward the
northeast, then We can feel assured that
there IS a storm iu progress over the
Gulf States
These cirrus clouds have two move
ments-a forward movement and a drift
ing movement. For Instance on Sunday
morning, September g. heavy rain fell
in New York city. while a Albany, New
York state. IL was partly overcast with
cirrus clouds moving from the south
west. but drifting southwark.
That showed that the storm center
was moving away from Albany. BY 10
O'Clock IL was clear and beautiful Now,
# these cirrus clouds had been drift
ing northward, they would have in
creased in density. and heavy rains
would have spread over the State
Wcsre it is greatly needed.
Now. what IS the outlook for next
week? How soon may western New
York and adjoining sections look for a
good rain2 In about fourteen days.
Wty2 Because taar section lies be-
tween two storm belts
The storm belt in the north is break
ing up and viii cause only local show
ers. while the great cyclone belt In the
south VIII not be clearly defined until
the twentieth. "heu Il win appear on
the coast, along our South Atlantic
States. and move slowly northwestward.