IIQ LEE COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



when outdoors, and the winds do not penetrate the buildings 

 nice those exposed to the force of the current. The benefit of 

 shade in pastures during the lieat of Summer for stock is an 

 important item in the profit thereof, and one which is over- 

 looked by many farmers of our country. 



SOIL. 



The natural resources of the land in this section of country 

 are favorable to any special branch of farming. The rich 

 surface soil and the underlying porous subsoil combine 

 the essential qualities for luxuriant vegetation, and all kinds 

 of cereal crops, with proper cultivation, produce a large yield. 

 Of the grasses, clover and timothy make a heavy growth, pro- 

 ducing abundant crops of hay, and usually a good yield of 

 seed when grown for that purpose. It also stands a drouth 

 well, which makes it favorable for pasture purposes. When 

 the country was first settled, June grass was not found here, 

 but in a few years afterwards it made its appearance along the 

 roads or wherever the prairie sod was destroyed. It rapidly 

 increased, until of late years our pastures, when not frequently 

 broken and cultivated, soon become thickly sodded and 

 other grasses disappear. The effect of the introduction of this 

 species of grass on the soil has been favorable, giving it 

 more body and holding the moisture to the surface longer dur- 

 ing the droughts of Summer. "When well turned under by 

 the plow, it will produce a heavier crop of corn than either 

 clover or timothy sod, and small grain produces well as a fol- 

 lowing crop. 



I HAVE FOLLOWED MIXED HUSBANDRY 



since tho beginning of the farm. The growing of grains 

 and the raising of stock have been kept on such ratio to each 

 other that a great portion of all grains raised have been fed on 

 the farm, and no hay or coarse feed has ever been sold. For 

 a number of years after breaking the prairie sod, but little 

 attention was paid to the rotation of crops. All produced well 

 in succession for years. The custom followed by most of the 

 first settlers of the country of burning the straw on the farm. 



