Page 5 of 21 Nov 1912 Issue of Des Moines Iowa Homestead in Des-Moines, Iowa

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Des Moines Iowa Homestead (Newspaper) - November 21, 1912, Des Moines, Iowa November 21, 1912 1lejl Blo m e s t e a d 21b3 5 calf out of an Ultra fashionable dam May go at a figure to suit an average Farmer who Breeds for the store and fat markets but a Heifer calf from the same cow and of no higher Merit As an animal is fit to be the sport of the richest in the land. This is entirely due to the fact that the practice of making a Pedigree merely through the female line has become standardized in the social system. Results Are frequently baneful. Bad brutes of bulls with fashionable Pedi Grees As recorded through Long lines of cows Are by far too common while female animals of wonderful lineage and astonishing individual mediocrity May be seen without searching. Hence arises the cry for some outside crosses. Tour cattle Are getting too says the Plain countryman i can show you far better animals outside the it is not the purity that is at fault it is the selection and when the owner of a graded Herd is fit to show a group of cows which would beat a selection from an expensively bred Herd of Long pedigreed Stock one is set a thinking in Earnest. If four five or six crosses of very Good but not expensive bulls on foundation cows of and Ordinary Merit Are fit to produce results such As those Indi what ought to be the outcome if skill and Means were properly applied in putting the Best of the Best on pure bred lines for a Long lifetime this country has never been without Many shining examples from breeders who have always placed individual Excel Lence ahead of Mere Pedigree. Hugh Watson we. Mccombie and Amos Cruickshank among Many were entirely unhampered by Mere Pedigree. Their first consideration was the Good animal from Good parents. When poor men Are in the Market they Are to be excused if they do not always select the Best for their herds. Often enough they have to be Content with animals which do not approach their Standard. Men of ample Means cannot shield themselves from criticism if they lend their influence and Cash to propagation of mediocrity. Of course it is extremely difficult to get away from a fashion which has a Strong backing. Still it Falls to be said that if a Man is resolved to be in the fashion let him aim at securing Good animals of the greatly fancied lines of blood. In taking this course he May lose a Little at the outset in the commercial race but he will be in the stronger position ultimately by having the Superior cattle. This is frequently termed a practical matter of fact age but in the spheres which Are now reviewed bowing in the latter Day House of Rimmon which we term fashion is such a commonplace thing that it gives Rise to to sense of wonder. Too often Force of circumstances have compelled men to place too much emphasis on the blood lines As they come Down through the female Side and denounce As we May the practice it will continue so Long As there is a commercial advantage in so doing. The policy in the end however will do an immense amount of havoc if As suggested by or. Cameron it results in too Many cases in the production of inferior animals. The popularity of the pure bred beef animal can Only be maintained when there is a wide spread in Quality Between the commonly bred Critter and the animal of so called pure blood lines. Teachers work for better roads. Good roads and Good schoolhouses Are the two big factors in the growth and betterment of All the Grain Belt states. This was the underlying idea in the address delivered last week be fore the Iowa state teachers Conven Tion by the state superintendent of Public instruction or. A. M. Deyoe. That Iowa As Well As All the typically agricultural states of the nation must become educated away from the old style of Road and the old style of be room schoolhouse before it can attain to the full measure of its greatness is quite generally conceded. Superintendent Deyoe made Somei valuable suggestions As to How the Money expended for Good roads might be spent to better advantage saying Good schools and Good roads Are the two most important needs in Rural communities. Both May be secured with but Little greater expense than the Cost of maintaining the present prevailing system of Rural schools and the indifferent methods used in Road building. The consolidation of schools is not wholly dependent upon the making of permanent roads. The transportation of pupils to school is being managed quite satisfactorily in Iowa and in other states where Perma nent roads have not yet been established. However As a matter of convenience in Many ways Good roads play such an important part in Rural life development that our state should no longer delay by legislative action to adopt some systematic plan of per manent Road construction. Approximately was paid in Cash As Road tax in Iowa for the year 1911i this amount does not include the amount of tax expended in work. The automobile tax for the year closing june so 1912, was which will increase from year to year at the pres it is Safe to estimate the total amount available Road tax in Cash As which should build at least Miles of permanent roads. Ten years of permanent Road construction would give Miles of Good roads whereas if the present method of Road building continues our roads will practically be no better at the end of the ten year period than they Are today. This estimate takes no consideration of the tax annually worked which would be available for use in necessary general repair of roads. Bet Ter social and Industrial follow the establishment of Good roads and Good schools. The Good roads problem will undoubtedly come in for greater discus Sion in the Grain Belt states this win Ter than Ever before. The teachers Are a wonderful Factor for Good in any state. If they can be inspired to take up the cudgels for better highways much Good must inevitably result. Farm Home improvement Rural Church betterment and country school advancement Are splendid things devoutly to be sought but. They Tail of their highest purpose and object if they do not bring coincidentally with them the permanent roadways on which real Rural and Urban Prosperity actually depend. Farm life cures City evils. The re formative effect of country life upon incorrigible City boys has frequently been proved. Many of the Grain Belt states have converted their Reform schools into Industrial schools where agriculture and the Allied arts Are now being taught with excellent results. In former years these schools took on the nature of penal institutions with the inmates guarded by Iron bars and weapons. Today these Industrial schools leave their windows unmarred and the boys Are held in Leash by moral rather than physical restraint. The graduates of these new style Industrial schools Are eagerly accepted by Farmers who find them to be not Only practically ground in farm operations but willing and anxious to work and to prove their ability. States like Iowa and Missouri have Home finding agents who go about placing the boys in farm Homes and subsequently visiting them to see if they Are Given the proper Christian Environ ment and if the lads Are fulfilling their instructions. The result of this work in the Grain Belt has been that fully two thirds of the boys who have been placed in farm Homes Are making Good. The number who revert to the squalor and wickedness of the City after having had their eyes opened by a course in farm training is extremely Small. The result of similar work in new York state is made the subject of an interesting article in one of the recent magazines. Over 33 per cent of the boys who have been turned out by this institution Are now working on farms and Are making Good. The extent to which they Are proving their useful Ness is shown by these typical in stances. One of the boys who has been work ing a farm on shares for several years and saving Money to buy one of his own was one Day confronted by a lawyer whom his besotted father had employed to find him and f rce him to return to the City. The boy was eight Een and his father wanted to put him to work in a factory Anu appropriate his wages until he was of age. Superintendent brings and the boy Between them made the lawyer see the matter in such a Light that he reported to his client the father that the boy could not be found. This Noble Parent was deprived of this particular Means of financing his dissipation. Another paroled boy is renting and managing a farm belonging to one of the super visors of the school. This is the More remarkable As there is a Large percentage of blooded Stock on the farm. Men naturally do not entrust their blooded Stock except to those in whom their Faith is great. Not Long ago a paroled boy returned to ask permission to marry the daughter of the wealthy Farmer for whom he was working. His Success had not been exclusively Agri cultural. A fifteen year old boy recently persuaded the Farmer for whom he was working to buy a clipping machine and let him clip his cows to Lay a Cement floor in the cow barn and to paint the barn. The Farmer thought these absurd notions but he liked the boy so much that he complied. When the physicians in the neighbourhood Learned of these improvements they recommended the milk of this particular Dairy for the babies and the in valid and the Farmer was soon Able to raise the Price of his milk from eight to fifteen cents a quart. Another boy from the Lincoln school persuaded his employer to let him cultivate the potato Patch As was done on the school farm. As a result the yield was one and one half times greater than the Best previous year from the same Patch. A fourteen year old boy who had not yet left the school took care of a Small Herd of Dairy cows for two weeks while the Farmer was away. As he had been taught to do he cleaned out the barn every morning and washed off each cow with warm water night and morning. By the time the Fanner returned the milk yield of the Herd had been doubled. The Farmer remarked that he wished he had stayed away longer. Based upon his experience with the Riff Raff of new York s streets the superintendent in charge of this boy re claiming school estimates that at least seventy five per cent of his charges will be permanently successful in life while hardly More than ten per cent of those sent out from orphan s Homes and the Ordinary child caring institutions become successful. Noth ing could More conclusively show the re formative effect of farm training and the beneficial results obtained by diverting boys from City pavements to country lanes. How Clover benefits land. The following explanation the effect of Clover in enriching the soil is Given in a bulletin from the Ohio Sta Tion prepared by prof. M. A. Bachtell nitrogen is All around us in the air. We cannot see it taste it nor smell it but we know that it is present. It is also present in the air which is in the soil Clover with the help of bacteria can use this nitrogen hence if this crop is grown and slowed under instead of being Cut nitrogen will be added to the soil. But the Farmer finds it More profitable to Cut the Clover feed it to his animals and re turn the nitrogen to the Field in the form of manure. This is a More prof Itable method than blowing the Clover under if care has been taken to protect the manure from the rain so that the Plant food has not been washed out and lost. Growing Clover adds nitrogen to the soil because of the Bac Teria which live on its roots. These organisms cannot live on the roots of other crops such As Corn and wheat which must get their nitrogen from the soil. After a crop of this kind is Cut the soil contains less nitrogen than it did before the crop was grown. Clover replaces the nitrogen which the other crops remove. These nitrogen gather ing bacteria live in the soil. When the Clover begins to grow they work their Way into the roots. Wherever they come to rest a swelling forms. This swelling is called a nodule or tubercle. Inside these nodules the bacteria live and reproduce themselves in a Short time there is a Large Colony in each tubercle. They take the nitrogen from the soil air and fix it in such a Way that the Clover can use it. It should be kept in mind that the bacteria and not the Clover gather the nitrogen from the air. If they Are not in the soil or if they Are present and some thing happens to prevent them from working the Clover will not grow As Well As it should because a part of its food Supply has been taken away. When the soils Are sour or acid Bac Teria cannot work very Well. The sour Ness of vinegar is due to acetic acid the sourness of milk to lactic acid. Similar acids known As organic acids Are formed in the soil when organic matter decays. Unless they Are counteracted the soil becomes sour. This acid condition will interfere with the work of the bacteria which Are Gath ering nitrogen for the Clover. The cheapest Way to overcome these acids is by putting Lime on the soil. When the Lime has accomplished its purpose the bacteria can renew their task of gathering nitrogen from the air. Be cause of this fact Clover will often make a better growth after the soil has had an application of Lime. Some soils were formed in such a Way that they have contained from the beginning a Large Supply of Lime or Limestone. Soils so formed do not easily become sour and rarely need to have Lime added to them. Lime is not added to the soil As a Plant food but is applied for the purpose of overcoming sourness so that the bacteria can the better do their work of gathering and preparing nitrogen for the Plant. Not Only the nitrogen gathering but also the Nitrifying bacteria can do better work after Lime has been added to sour soils. Growing Clover is the cheapest method of keeping up the Supply of Nitro Gen in the soil. Nitrogen May be bought but enough to produce one Timshel of Corn costs nearly Twenty cents and this method is usually too expensive. However nitrogen is one f the elements which is sometimes sought in a fertilizer. The important to remember is that the Supply in the soil can be kept up by growing Clover in each Field once every three or four years provided the crop is slowed under or fed on the farm. In the latter Case care should be taken to return the manure to the soil. The Reader May gain the impression that it is absolutely necessary to plow under a Clover crop if there is any in the Supply of nitrogen because professor Bachtell says that if this crop is grown and slowed under in Stead of being Cut nitrogen will be added to the As a matter of fact under certain conditions the total sup ply of nitrogen May be increased even though the crop be Cut and removed. This is due to the fact that in general terms one third of the nitrogen used by the Clover crop comes from the soil i and two thirds from the air. In turn it is sometimes found that More than one third of the total sup ply of nitrogen remains in the roots alone in which Case it will be perceived that there is an actual gain in the total nitrogen Content of the soil. We Are free to concede that in Case of Rich soils where very larger yields Are produced the removal of the crop in the form of Hay May take with it rather More nitrogen than that . Trained from the air in which Case there is a slight tendency toward the impoverishment of the nitrogen Supply. Thought that should be emphasized discussing a matter of this kind is Clover even when Cut and removed a fertilizing chop while Corn wheat Barley and All the grass crops Are soil robbers. C the coming International show Ajo Nong the Many new features of coming International exposition in Chi Cago Wall be a series of lectures give by experts on various phases of the live Stock Industry. The program to. S be carried out from to december 7th is personified without any additions and the management is to be complimented on this new feature. Those no will take part in this educational work f will be pres. H. J. Waters of Kansas agricultural College who have for his topic Why Young Mals do not grow on Corn prof. H. R. Smith of the University of Minnesota will take up the question of types of beef cattle that Are most profitable to while prof c. S. Plumb of the Ohio University will present the topic Wool and its in addition or. s. Alexander of the University of wis Consin will give instruction to the diseases of farm animals and prof. E. A. Trowbridge of the University of Missouri will cuss co relation of Breeding horses on the farm and Market prof. W. A. Cochel of the Kansas state College is Well qualified top speak on the subject of the select. Tion of animals for the feed lot As he has carried on a Large number of experiments in feeding out various types of steers. This is but part of a t most instructive program that will be carried out. The regular judging program at tie. International will begin monday morning december 2d, and will -. Be continued throughout the entire week. Some unusual features will be included in the evening program which will be Given in the great live Stock Amphitheater so that visitors at this exposition May fill every hour of the Day in pleasurable sight seeing. General manager b. H. Heide believes that the coming exposition will eclipse All its predecessors when it is considered from the standpoint of Merit in All departments. It will be As he says the greatest All round live Stock show that has Ever been held in this or any other country. According to William s. Myers offi Cial Delegate for the chilian govern ment to the eighth International con Gress of applied chemistry there is a sufficient Supply of nitrates in Chile to last the world 400 years. Or. Myers claims that the surveyed and certified tonnage opened up at the present time ready for extract is fully tons. In addition there is he claims a vast amount of a surveyed nitrate ground on the chilian pampas that is known to contain immense quantities of nitrate of soda. This statement is made in answer to those who Are proclaiming the Early exhaustion of the chilian nitrate Supply. An example that shows most plainly the increasing practicability of Edu cation comes from the University of Ohio where a Model flour Mill and Grain cleaner and scorer is now being erected. In conjunction with this Mill there will be installed an oven for bread baking. It is the in Tention of the authorities to make it possible to study the wheat crop from the time the seed is put into the ground until it is made into bread and also to carry it one step farther and Coni pare the baking qualities of the different varieties of wheat

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