No. 1. 



A Productive Farm. — Ploughs. 



Id 



satisfactory results obtained. M. Breaiit 

 showed, that by moans of strong pressure 

 he could fill the largest logs from one end 

 to the other with any unctuous or resinous 

 substance proposed, in the course of a few 

 minutes. M. Moll, a learned German, pro- 

 posed creosote introduced in the state of va- 

 por by tbrcing, as an effectual means of pre- 

 serving timber, which it probably would be 

 found; but the high price of the antiseptic, 

 were there no other objections, would neces- 

 sarily be an obstacle to its general employ- 

 ment. The same objection applies to the 

 bichloride of mercury, — Kyan's patent; and 

 arsenic is inadvisable from its deleterious 

 effects upon the animal economy. Some 

 workmen are said to have lost their lives in 

 consequence of working timber which had 

 been impregnsited with a solution of white 

 oxide of arsenic. 



It had been observed that vessels engaged 

 in the lime-trade lasted long; and then it 

 was naturally thought that by impregnating 

 the wood to be used for ship-building with 

 lime, it would be rendered more durable. 

 But the result did not answer expectation ; 

 the timber treated with lime did not even 

 seem to last the usual time. — Boussingauli' s 

 Rural Economy. 



From the Farmers' Library. 



A Productive Farm. 



Mr. Mordecai Abraham is a neighbour 

 of mine, living upon rented land, and pays 

 $1 50 per acre for ninety-six acres. He has 

 just given me the following items as the 

 amount of his crop for the year 1846. His 

 farm has been worked exclusively by himself 

 and son, with a team of two horses. 



Total, 



3,429 



In addition to the above, Mr. A. had one 

 and a half acres of flax, which was a good 

 crop, but not saved for want of time; and 

 three to four acres of spring wheat which 

 he was unable to harvest. He also had nine 

 acres of good timothy hay, which was well 

 saved; and one hundred and sixty bushels 

 of apples, one-half of which were sold for 

 fifty cents per bushel. 



The wife and daughters made a piece of 

 silk— enough for 11 handkerchiefs, which 



sold for $1 50 each, and they have kept a 

 hand-loom in motion for most of the season. 



For harvesting and threshing, Mr. A. paid 

 161 bushels of wheat, which, with the $144 

 rent, shows the amount to be deducted from 

 the above, in estimating the value of the 

 labour of the family. 



I send you this for the purpose of showing 

 your readers abroad what tim men and two 

 horses can do in the way of furnishing some- 

 thing to eat, when they set themselves to 

 work upon our prairies. The land upon 

 which the above crop was raised is not above 

 a medium quality of the lands in this region; 

 and I verily believe there are 30,000 sections 

 or square miles in the State which are as 

 productive as the farm in question. If I am 

 right in this opinion, there are then 120,000 

 quarter sections which might be made as 

 productive as the one upon which Mr. Abra- 

 ham raised the above crop. Again, we have 

 some 20,000 square miles not so fertile, which 

 may be set down at half the productiveness 

 of those first named — equal to 40,000 more 

 quarter sections — making in all 160,000 

 farms of equal productiveness with the 

 above. Now if you will take the trouble 

 to cipher up how many people could live 

 comfortably upon the provisions raised by 

 Mr. A. as before stated, and then multiply 

 that number of people by 160,000, you can, 

 I think, give a pretty shrewd guess how 

 many human beings can be fed upon the 

 productions of Illinois when the same shall 

 be brought into tolerable cultivation. 



E. Haekness. 



Fruit Farm, Peoria co., Feb. 1847. 



Ploughs. 



Although the Dutch and Flemish made 

 considerable improvement in the plough as 

 early as the sixteenth century, and their ex- 

 ample was followed up by the Scotch and 

 English, bringing it to a high state of per- 

 fection, in Blythe's Rotherham plough, as 

 early as 1730, 1 cannot learn that it received 

 any attention on the part of American me- 

 chanics, with a view of its improvement, till 

 after the close of the Revolution. Indeed, 

 till quite recently, the ploughs in general 

 use throughout the United States were ex- 

 tremely rude and highly primitive in their 

 construction. A winding tree was cut down, 

 and a mould board hewed from it with the 

 grain of the timber running as nearly along 

 its shape as could well be obtained. On to 

 this mould board, to prevent its wearing out 

 too rapidly, were nailed the blades of an old 

 hoe, thin straps of iron, or worn-out horse- 

 shoes. The land-side was of wood, its base 

 and side shod with thin plates of iron. The 



