DIGEST OF STATE REPORTS. 471 



ILLINOIS. 



The anDuai report of the secretary of the Illinois State board of agri- 

 culture for the year 1871 con talus, in additiou to the business transactions 

 of the board, detailed reports from important committees, essays on 

 " The i:)reparation and management of a fruit farm in lUiuois," " Culti- 

 vation and preparation of vegetable and garden seeds," "Cultivation of 

 flax and manufacture therefrom," " JMauufactures in Illinois," "Planting 

 and cultivation of forest trees," " Principles and plans of landscape 

 gardening," " On the manufacture of soap," &c. ; reports from a large 

 number of county organizations; an act relating to the organization of a 

 department of agriculture and defining the duties of the officers of the 

 State board ; proceedings of the Illinois State Swine Breeders' Associa- 

 tion and debates on the subject of swine breeding and swine rearing. 



In accordance with the provisions of an act passed by the legislature 

 and approved April 15, 1871, creating a department of agriculture, the 

 old society was soon thereafter disbanded and its records transferred to 

 the keeping of the new State board created by said act. The old society 

 did much toward the advancement of the agricultural and other produc- 

 tive interests of the State, and in every way deserves the handsome 

 tribute paid it by the new secretary. A condensed history of the society 

 is given, with a brief synopsis of its more important business transac- 

 tions, commencing with the first meeting held in May, 1853, and closing 

 with the last one held in the same city on the 3d day of January, 1871. 

 Eecords were in possession of the society showing its existence as far 

 back as 1819, when the State was hardly one year old. 



Mr. James H. McConnell, of Sangamon County, has, for two or three 

 years past, been maldng experiments with Indian mullow,- {Ahittilon 

 Avacennw,) better known among the farmers of the Western States as 

 " stamp weed," " velvet leaf," " butter print," " button weed," &c. It 

 is indigenous to many of the Northern and Western States, and in some 

 localities is a great pest to farmers. Mr. McConnell has succeeded in 

 obtaining from the plant a surprising quantity of strong fiber, which 

 appears to be suitable for all those purposes for which hemp is now 

 almost exclusively used. Experiments in the manufacture of paper from 

 the fiber have proven highly satisfactory, and it is thought it can also 

 be made to take the place of jute in the manufacture of many articles 

 in which the fiber of that plant is now exclusively used. liopes manu- 

 factured from this fiber were exhibited at the State fair for this year, 

 and attracted much attention. A comm.ittee was appointed to examine 

 raw and manufactured specimens of the fiber, and elicit from Mr. 

 McConnell all facts relating to its value as a fiber plant, cost of cultiva- 

 tion, and its value per acre. From the report of this committee we make 

 the following extract : 



W( are informed by Mr. McConuell that it will, with the same oround, care, &c. 

 yieldfrom 50 to 100 per cent, more than hemp ; that the ground should be plowed 

 deeply iu the fall and lightly iu the spring, and seed sojvu at the rate of from 12 to IG 

 quarts to the acre, in the spring, in good corn-phmtiug time, in the same manner as 

 hemp; that a swath 3 feet wide can be cut with a common reai^er, or a wider swath 

 with jlcCormick's hemp-reaper ; that it should be shocked the same as hemji, iuthe field, 

 till erred, and the first crop water-rotted the same as hemp ; after this a second volun- 

 teer cop will spring up the last of July, which may be cut and dew-rotted in October. 

 The piants will grow from 9 to 1^4 feet high. The seeds are separated the same as hemp. 

 The ctst of cutting, per acre, is reported to bo 75 cents ; the <?ost of water-rotting, $W ; 

 cos L o: dew-rotting, $3 ; coat of hand-cleaning, $12. The cost of cleaning with machinery 

 is lessthan half that amount, while the cost of a good machine need not exceed $100 

 in Phiadelphia. This would bring the actual cost of the fiber, beside rent of land, at 

 from ^19 to $?A per ton. 



