58 TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



He should be a firm practitioner of the law of the " survival 

 of the fittest." 



Acting upon the above rules, my neat cattle are Short 

 Horns, my sheep Cotswold, or Southdown crossed with Cots- 

 wold ; swine, Berkshire ; light horses for driving, and Norman 

 or Clydesdale, or, better, heavy mules for farm work. 



THE BEST FOWLS ARE 



the bronze turkey, and light and dark Brahma chickens if 

 well cared for and protected. But for chickens which will take 

 care of themselves, I recommend the Dominique. Every farmer 

 needs a shepherd dog. All others, save the rat terrier, are an 

 unmitigated nuisance and should be abated. 



DRAINAGE. 



On almost every quarter section in Central Illinois will be 

 found some slight depressions and ravines, called sloughs, 

 which need draining. First I tried open ditches, then mole 

 ditches, neither of which were satisfactory. Now I have put 

 tile through all the low places on the farm, and, for a year 

 and -"d half, they have given satisfaction. I'm sure that we 

 shail not find them subject to being filled with sediment and 

 rootlets of hedges and contiguous trees. I have been careful 

 to retain the water of these ditches on my own farm by leaving an 

 open ditch, or sinking a well at their outlet. I commend this 

 precaution to every farmer tiling his land. 



The good, not to say model farmer, will see to it that his 

 household is supplied with small fruits. Indeed, of all kinds 

 of fruit which may be grown in the country, I know of 

 nothing which adds so much to the health, comfort, and plea- 

 sure of the household as small fruit. Half an acre, well cared for, 

 will supply the family with all that is needed. Even a 

 shrew of a wife will smile under its modifying influence. 

 The children are not only cheerful, but joyous for having 

 it, and it cheats the M. Ds. out of many a bill. Few- families 

 are unhealthy who use abundance of ■ fruit. Fruit patches 

 may be so arranged as actually to add to the beauty of the 

 landscape. 



