152 CARROLL COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



wheat, oats, and barley, seldom, if ever. Corn does not ex- 

 haust the soil ; nearly all other crops do. The ground intended 

 for corn should be plowed as far as may be in the Fall. In 

 fact, for any and all crops Fall plowing is preferable. It is 

 also much easier for the horses to do this heavy work in cool 

 weather. If corn is to be planted on Fall plowing, the ground 

 is first cultivated with a corn cultivator (the Stover is prefer- 

 red). It is then dragged smooth again, and marked. Next 

 the corn is planted with a Brown planter, after which it is 

 dragged two or three times, as required. The drag should be 

 kept on the corn until it is three or four inches high. Then 

 from three to five times plowing will secure you a crop, nine 

 times out of ten, of from forty to eighty bushels per acre, ac- 

 cording to quality of soil. I raise from four to five thousand 

 bushels annually by following this method as closely as circum- 

 stances will permit. 



THE STOCK 



preferred for beef and milk is a cross with the Devonshire and 

 our "native cows. This gives a steer ready for market at 

 any age, and at all seasons of the year, — like the Berkshire 

 hog. Cows raised from this cross are far superior to those of 

 any other cross for farm purposes. For beef, the Short-Horn 

 Grades are more profitable ; being larger, and carrying more 

 gross weight. They sell from twenty to fifty per cent, liigher 

 than the common native stock. 



MY SHEEP 



are of the Leicester breed ; commonly shearing from nine to 

 sixteen pounds of wool. The carcass weighs from one hundred 

 and fifty to two hundred pounds gross. 



THE BEST HOG 



that I can raise for early marketing is a cross between the 

 Poland and Berkshire. Poland sows are preferred, and Berk- 

 shire males. 



My method of raising hogs is as follows : I aim to have 

 my pigs come in in April and May, and allow the sows the 

 freedom of the pasture. The pigs are allowed a field of about 



