84 JERSEY COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



To lose one's work, as some do, plant hedges and give no at- 

 tention, and wind up saying " I don't like that kind of fence." 

 Cultivate well for two years. Third year mulch, and give 

 no more attention until the fourth year. If the hedge has been 

 well " tended," it is now ready for " laying down." First, trim 

 up the plants from six to eight feet, leaving nothing but straight 

 poles. Check the plant near the root. Lay down at about an 

 angle of 45 degrees. Every four to six feet, leave one for 

 a brace. Trimming can be done safely from the 10th to the 

 20th of June; then trim from October to April. Very bad for 

 the plants to trim in August, as it cuts the life of the hedge, 

 and the next year there is not enough sap to fill the branches; 

 the result is a great lot of dead-wood. Give the osage a fair 

 trial, and I contend from my own experience that it is the most 

 economical, the most durable, and the most [ornamental fence 

 in existence. 



MY METHOD OF FARMING IS ROTATION OF CROPS. 



"V^inter wheat is one of my main crops, well adapted 

 to oyr soil, and when properly cultivated will yield large 

 returns. I always plow my stubble and spread from four 

 to six loads of barnyard manure per acre — more if I can 

 get it. Then harrow and roll. I use the drag and work the 

 ground down fine and solid. About the first of September, I 

 drag and roll again, which completes the work, and the ground 

 is ready for the grain drill. I commence sowing about the 

 fifth of September. Sow three pecks to the acre. Sow the 

 Fultz wheat. My harvest in 1879 was as follows : 60 acres, 

 35 bushels per acre, 2,100 bushels, machine measure. Some por- 

 tions of the field yielded as high as 47^ bushels. I grow two 

 crops of wheat on the same land. I seed with timothy and 

 clover. I sow the timothy and clover with a drill in the Fall. 

 The following March I sow red clover; this remains in meadow 

 four years, cutting the hay for stock and pasturing. Red 

 clover is one of the best fertilizers and excellent food for stock. 



CORN, THE KING 



of crops, ia all consumed upon the farm. I plow my corn land in 



