This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
This newspaper page contains 23 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Muscatine Journal
Location
Muscatine, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Jun 24, 1905
Page
6
The article explains hailstorms as seasonal, climate driven events in the Mississippi valley and central west. They ruin crops within small areas despite not harming people, coming in two forms with or without wind. No prevention exists, insurance is advised as protection.
A farmer warns that quack grass must be kept from gaining a foothold in fields as once established it becomes a difficult problem to control and eradicate.
A district advisor argues that ten scholars suffice to avoid gains from consolidating schools. Separately, May rains hinder corn planting but benefit grass, hay crops, and straw growth on small grains.
If land yields sixty bushels of corn per acre it is valued at $100 an acre. If it grows alfalfa it is valued at $100 an acre. Land that can grow both crops is valued at $200 an acre.
The article contrasts freight rates shaping farm commerce with urban retail, noting how cheap long hauls push farmers toward city catalogs and meatpacking in Chicago. It also offers practical farming tips on plowing, dishing, crop beds, weed control, and lawn care for a country home setting.
A Ohio widow with two grown daughters loses her husband and visits a northern Arkansas tract from his estate. She moves there with her daughters, converts the farm into a fruit ranch, and earns a substantial income. The article notes she thrives without relying on a husband.
The article notes redtop grass is among the least valuable forage grasses, best used only when soil is sour and wet, cut early for hay, with yields and palatability inferior to other tame grasses. It also discusses growing tension between farmers and increasing automobile use, blaming reckless drivers and urging strong highway legislation to curb danger.
The writer notes active pests and favorable breeding stock. They compare a well kept farm to a pretty woman and discuss crops, livestock, and hazards. Jersey red hogs reportedly yield two more pigs per litter than others while cutworms threaten June corn planting.
After twenty years of experiments in improved buttermaking the principle is proven that absolute cleanliness outranks all else. A buttermaker who can produce gilt edged butter from tainted milk has not yet appeared.
The piece notes claims from experiments that yellow water repels mosquitoes and that wearing yellow may prevent bites. If true, this would boost the popularity of a currently unpopular color and change pest control aesthetics.
The text notes Japan has only 10,000 square miles of arable soil yet achieves remarkable agricultural output. It praises how a small productive area yields great results, suggesting European and American farming could learn from these industrious eastern farmers.
The writer argues clover enriches worn soils and costs little. He notes corn lands yielding about thirty bushels per acre could double yields after two years of seeding down to clover, with effects lasting five years after corn is replanted.
The article notes prejudice against silage has vanished as better methods yield well matured corn silage. It recalls past issues from ten years ago when immature corn caused fermentation problems, but now silage is regarded as one of the best dairy rations available.
The article notes that newly cultivated lands often yield better wheat and oats early on while corn struggles. Within about twenty years the balance shifts and corn prospers more than small grains. Early on, straw from small grains is stiff and bright and rarely suffers rust.
The passage contrasts leaders who gain influence from wealth with those who gain it from moral worth. It argues money may fail through banks, stocks, or crops, while a legacy built on kindness, sympathy, and practical wisdom endures beyond fortune.
The article outlines rapid adoption of cement products on western farms. Cement silo floors barns water tanks and drain tiles improve durability and reduce cost. Cement road culverts emerge as the best cheap option, promising wide farm applications for the progressive farmer.
Over 10 000 acres of prime corn land in the west have yielded only weeds for three years due to persistent drown-out. Tile drainage costs up to 10 per acre and would make a single good crop repay the investment, yet owners resist tiling hoping for a dry season.
Binding twine from flax fiber becomes market ready. Farmers sow thicker for seed, the twine factory buys the harvest at a handsome price, and a new process yields high quality binding twine cheaper than imported material. If proven, flax could become the most profitable northwest crop, previously much fiber burned.
A western farming community shifted from corn and oats to dairy farming, transforming finances and soil fertility. Grass, clover, silos, and fertilized crops boosted monthly dairy income and overall agricultural improvement, proving the dairy cow as a reforming partner for struggling farmers.
The article explains brome grass has little value where timothy clover or alfalfa grow, but suits dry regions with 10 to 12 inches of rain. It should be a permanent pasture grass due to its persistence and hard eradication. It resembles timothy in hay but lacks palatability and nutrition. only in extreme conditions would one choose it.
The essay argues for outdoor nature study in schools rather than a fixed agricultural curriculum. It advocates object lessons on trees plants birds insects clouds weather seeds and life cycles as valuable education for every child, engaging interest without feeling like drudgery.
The text warns that buying a large flock of ewes is unlikely to be profitable at current high prices for wool and mutton and predicts a downward shift. It advises inexperienced buyers to start small, perhaps twenty, to learn sheep behavior, and to avoid placing sheep on a wet farm before selecting mutton breeds.
Readable prices for numerous farm staples from wheat to eggs to citrus and nuts. Includes wheat at 90c to 1.10, corn 45 to 45.5c, hay and straw, butter 15 to 25c, eggs 14c, vegetables with cabbage 3c, new onions 3c per lb, potatoes 10c per peck, various fruits and nuts with bananas 15 to 20c per dozen and almonds 11 to 15c per lb. Also meat prices and live stock trends in Chicago markets and a brief note on the flower market.
We want people to find what they are looking for at NewspaperArchive. We are confident that we have the newspapers that will increase the value of your family history or other historical research. With our 7-day free trial, you can view the documents you find for free.
People find the most success using advanced search. Try plugging in keywords, names, dates, and locations, and get matched with results from the entire collection of newspapers at NewspaperArchive!
You can also successfully find newspapers by these browse options. Explore our archives on your own!
Browse by location and discover newspapers from all across the world.
Browse by date and find publications for a specific day or era.
Browse old newspaper publications to find specific newspapers.