Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-03-19

This corn ought'a' been pioughed 4
week ago. My hay'll be read' TO cut
in a few days, and my wheat'll De ripe
IN a week And here you are ridin
around in a fortyhorse buz3-Wagon.
How can you afford it," And he
glanced at the shining roadster across
the fence.
"The time or the machine?' asked
Bill with grin.
Both"
well, my crops are all looking
fine. My work isn't crowding me,
80 I can afford to lay off day or two
before haydn. And if l have some
surplus cash and want to invest it in
an auto. there is no reason why
shouldn't"
"No I guess there isn't" admitted
Jim. But how does it come that
you're gettin' along so well lately:
and without workin' yourself to death
either? I'm workin' like slave day
in an day out. and don't seem to get
anywhere at that; and two years ago
you were plugging along just like
am"
elm, YOU remember l said once
that efficiency could be applied to
farming just the same as TO manu-
featuring or any other Industry. wen,
I've been proving it,
"Who's been shown you how to
do It? Been teachin' yourself?'
eve been studying it and applying
it myself"
inns only answer was a derisive
smoker.
T"say, JIM" remarked Bill sudden
", glancing over the field, Seems to
me there's lot of your corn missing"
about one hill in five said jim
gloomily. "a lot of my seed corn
was no good
"Why did you plant it, then?"
"How did ! know whether it was
good or not until I tried it?' asked
Jim testify
did you ever think that it might
he better to test it before you planted
f.? Just because dad and granda1 l
picked their seed corn by guess AMI
trusted to luck that 1t would grow, IS
no reason why you should.
81 used to do the same. But after
7 woke up, looked around for bet
ter way, and found it. I wrote. to the
experiment station, and they told me
how to test my seed beforehand.
"This spring put out forty acres,
and III bet you can't find fifty hills
of it missing.
"In this thirty-acre field Of your.
there's just as good as six acres THAI
| you've plowed and narrowed ana
cultivated for nothing. Well say'that
If would 20 sixty bushels to the acre
although I'm now raising hundred.
, Six times sixty is three hundred and
sixty bushels of corn you could have
pot1en from your work on this field
that Won won't get. At fifty cents a
bushe1 that's one hundred and eighty
dollars you've thrown away on this
one crop Just because you didn't apply
the one efficiency principle OF seek
ing competent counsel
well, guess you're right, sa11
Jim. visibly impressed.
, "And what's the matter with your
no+atoes?" Bill went on, pointing
toward a barren two-acre plot in an
adjoining field where an occasional
hill of potatoes lifted it's mutilated
foliage.
Bugs got EN-" Jim answered
shortly. ,
"Why don't you spray 'em?"
+ Didn't have time.
"Now look here. jim, had more
work to do this spring than you did,
and had time to put out all my crops
and take care of 'em right. I've got
out four acres of early potatoes and
have contracted them at dollar a
husbe] Last year I raised two hun
dred bushels an acre, and my present
crop is just as good.
"You could have raised four hun
bred bushels on that patch. That's
four hundred dollars you've lost be-
cause you didn't plan to take care Of
your potatoes, and carry out your
mans when the time came to do the
work.
Last winter ] planned every detail
off my spring work. planned what