228 CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



plow east, west, north, or south, a half mile. The sloughs, 

 that were formerly such a source of annoyance, now produce 

 more than double the amount of grass or grain received from 

 the high land. I am thus enabled to start my plows very soon 

 after hard rains, thereby gaining time in the Spring, and get- 

 ting my crops in, in good season. 



Any farmer, of ordinary intelligence, will readily admit 

 that it requires no more labor to produce forty acres of corn, 

 on land that can be plowed from one side to the other, each 

 way, than it does to cultivate thirty-five acres on the same 

 land, with a sloucrh runninij: in an ancjular direction through it. 

 This being true we lose five acres out of every forty (one- 

 eighth, or twelve and one-half per cent, of all our labor,) on 

 und rained lauds. 



SWINE. 



. From my earliest experience as a farmer to the present 

 time, the rearing and breeding of swine has been of great 

 interest to me. I regard this as a source of profit, and I have 

 always taken great pleasure in advancing the quality of any 

 stock that I handle, to the greatest possible degree of excel- 

 lence ; and during seasons of low prices and prevalence of 

 disease I have never relaxed my efforts. For following cattle, 

 I think the Berkshires superior to all others. They are active, 

 and are excellent gleaners. I would also prefer them, were I 

 compelled to keep them in small enclosures. 



Farmers who arc making a specialty of hogs, and have 

 good range, think the Poland China has no equal, it being a 

 superior grass hog, having large capacity for feed, and produces 

 a greater number of pounds in a given length of time than 

 other breeds. I breed ray sows to bring the pigs during March 

 and April, keeping an exact record of the time. I never, under 

 any circumstance, allow the boar to run with the sows. I have 

 had the best success with old sows, except when they were 

 allowed to become too fat. I think they give more vitality to 

 their pigs. 



In order to succeed with early pigs, it is necessary to pro- 



