166 MASON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



but I never give two consecutive meals alike. My teams 

 always have a good appetite, free from hide-bound, and they 

 are never constipated. Each horse has all the salt it needs. 

 The houses and buildings are on the east side of the farm, 

 and half-way between north and south. 



COST OF RAISING CORN. 



Corn seems best adapted to my land. I rotate crops so as 

 to keep up the quality of the land. Corn will yield seventy- 

 five bushels per acre, while wheat will only average fifteen 

 bushels per acre. The cost of raising one acre of corn is as 

 follows : 



HOW TO GATHER SEED CORN. 



Over my wagon shed I put the seed corn for the coming 

 year, selecting it as follows: When the men are gathering the 

 corn, they have a large basket in the back of the wagon, and 

 whenever they find three good ears on one stalk, they throw 

 the best one into the basket; but if two good ears are on one 

 stalk, the better one is saved, generally the bottom ear, in 

 which the germs are more fully developed than in the upper 

 one. 



Over the cows, hogs and chickens, we put the corn for our 

 stock. 



My corn cribs are set up on a high stone foundation, with 



