159 



and bank them ; the product finally is the largest and finest of the fruit. 

 He says, in regard to banking, " Dig a large hole for the roots on a dry, 

 sandy hill ; lay them down at an augMof, say 10°, the hole sloping up- 

 ward for the tops ; lay the roots in the hole 4 to G deep, and cov^er with 

 fine straw and about 4 inches of dirt. 



Dairy husbandry tn Northern Illinois. — The following statistics 

 of associated dairying in the contiguous counties of McHenry, Kane, 

 Kendal], La Salle, and De Kalb, Illinois, are condensed from a paper 

 furnished by Mr. X. E. Ballon, of the county last named. Mr. Ballon 

 represents that this form of associated industry has proved more profit- 

 able in that section than any other branch of farming ; that it is 

 rapidly extending, and that while other branches have exhausted the 

 soil and diminished its value, this, in addition to its larger direct profits, 

 is recuperating the soil and rendering it increasingly valuable. 



In McHenry County there are thirty cheese and butter factories, at 

 which, during the season of 1873, 17,000,000 pounds of milk were manu- 

 factured jnto not less than 1,500,000 pounds of cheese and 100,000 

 pounds of "gilt-edged" butter. Estimated value of factories and fixtures,. 

 $125,000 ; of cows, about 5,500 in number, $275,000 ; of products for 

 the season, $180,000, or $32.73 per cow. 



Kane, twenty -two factories, using the milk of 10,500 cows ; product, 

 2,500,000 pounds of cheese and more than 1,000,000 pounds of butter. 

 Invested in factories, $100,000; in cows, $525,000 ; value of products,, 

 $400,000, or $38.10 per cow. 



In Kendall this industry has but just made a beginning, but will be 

 largely increased in 1874. Two factories turned out last season some- 

 thing over 200,000 pounds of cheese and about 25,000 pounds of butter. 

 Invested in factories, $10,000 ; in cows, $30,000; value of products, 

 $37,500. La Salle also has as yet but one factory, but is preparing to 

 engage in the business extensively, and it is reported that several large 

 factories are now in the process of erection. De Kalb has now fourteen 

 associated and three private factories for the manufacture of cheese, 

 besides two for butter. The number of cows furnishing milk for these 

 is about 4,000. Mr. Ballon predicts that in the season of 1874 there will 

 be not less than twenty associated factories in the county, using the milk 

 of 7,000 cows. Invested last season in factories, $50,000; in cows, 

 $200,000; value of products, $125,000, or $31.25 per cow. 



Oar correspondent reports, as ascertained by correspondence with 

 the officers of the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association, that, in 1873, 

 cue hundred and fifty factories in that State turned out 10,000,000 

 pounds of cheese, and that factory-cheese manufactured in the North- 

 west has already attained in the great markets, both in this country and 

 Europe, a deserved reputation for its excellent quality ; also, that the 

 factory- butter of that section is especially sought after, for the reason 

 that it is adjudged superior, as a rule, to that made in private families. 

 He adds the important statement that a State dairymen's association 

 is about being organized in Illinois, which will make it possible here- 

 after to collect full statistics of this industry in that State. 



A HOPEFUL SIGN. — The young men of the South are learning self- 

 reliance and the wisdom of co-operation for the accomplishment of 

 results unattainable by single-handed effort. It is reported that in 

 Franklin, parish of Saint Mary, La., ten or a dozen young mechanics, 

 out of employ and unable to find work at their several trades, have con- 

 tracted with Hon. T. J. Foster to cultivate jointly on his land eighty 

 acres of cane, of which fifty are stubble and thirty seed-cane. The 



