108 



NEW ENGLAND FAR]^IER. 



March 



For the New England Farmor. 

 SOUTHERN" IIiLINOIS. 



Mr. Editor : — I -wish to call the attention of 

 those desirous of settling in the West, to the supe- 

 rior advantages of Southern Illinois, as regards 

 location, facilities for market, soil, productions, 

 climate, &c. 



The location of Southern Illinois, immediately 

 above the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi 

 rivers, and the 500 miles of navigable waters on 

 the south, west and east boundaries, give to this 

 part of the State great natural advantages ; and 

 these, Avith its raikoads passing through from 

 north to south, and from east to west, afford ex- 

 traordinary faciUties for transporting its surplus 

 products to market. Other roads, noAV in process 

 of constioiction, will further increase these facilities. 



The farmer or trader wishing to reach the best 

 market, is here, either by steamboat or railroad, 

 within six days of New Orleans, thirty-six hours 

 of St. Louis, and three days of Cliicago, Louis- 

 ville, or Cincinnati, by freight trains ; by pas- 

 senger or express, the time is much shorter. 



The soil in this region, especially in the tim- 

 bered lands, is unsurpassed in j^i'oductiveness. 

 It is light and easily cultivated, being almost en- 

 tirely free from stones and other obstructions 

 (where the stumps are out ;) the subsoil is of 

 great depth and richness, capable of receiving and 

 retaining moisture for a long time, and as a con- 

 sequence, the crops are not often injured by 

 droughts. Winter wheat is a staple crop ; with 

 good culture the yield is twenty to forty bushels 

 per acre. Oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, millet, 

 red clover and timothy are excellent cro])s. In- 

 dian corn is grown abundantly, and with good 

 culture, yields from forty to eighty bushels per 

 acre. Cotton is grown in the southern counties, 

 but for domestic use only. Sweet potatoes yield 

 abundantly here. Apples do well, and are a cer- 

 tain crop in almost any situation ; many of the 

 most popular varieties grow much larger and finer 

 here than in the Eastern States. 



This is the true home of the peach, which for 

 size and flavor is unsurpassed ; the most elevated 

 lands being the most desirable for peach orchards, 

 on account of spring frosts. There has not been 

 an entire failure of the peach crop for twenty 

 years, on elevated lands ; on medium and low 

 grounds, only about three crops in five years can 

 be expected. Pears, cherries, plums and quinces 

 do well. Much of the land is well adapted to the 

 grape, as the thousands of thrifty-growing, wild 

 grape-vines will testify. In the fifteen southern 

 counties of this State, there is but little prairie ; 

 the surfoce in some parts is hilly and broken, but 

 generally agreeably undulating. Swamps are not 

 found, except in the extreme south, on the low 

 grounds near the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. 



This portion of the State is covered with a mod- 

 erate growth of red, burr, white, black and post 

 oak ; poplar, hickory, ash, gum, pecan, sugar 

 maple, walnut, hackberry, cherry, &c., with an 

 undergrowth of dog-wood, sassafras, pawpaw, red 

 bud, &:c., Szc. Good water is generally found by 

 digging from twenty to forty feet. 



In the hilly country, good springs are numerous. 

 Where good springs are not convenient, cisterns 

 can be cheaply made, and furnish good, whole- 

 some water. 



The climate is temperate ; there is neither the 

 protracted cold of the North, nor the sultry heat of 

 the South. The thermometer, in the shade, rarely 

 indicates a higher degree of heat than 90°, or a 

 lower than 10° above zero. We have had no 

 weather as yet, this winter, colder than 10° above 

 zero, and last winter the temperature was not 

 lower than 10° above zero, except once or twice, 

 and then but for a few hours. We have had two 

 little flurries of snow tliis v/inter, which melted off 

 almost as fast as it fell, — so you see we have no 

 use for sleighs here. The ground is generally 

 free from frost by the first of March, and in good 

 plowing condition in the same month. Farmers are 

 sometimes seen plowing in December or February. 



The direct communication we have by railroad 

 with Chicago, Milwaukie, Galena, Dubuque, Bloom- 

 ington, and other northern towns, makes this a very 

 desirable place for gardening, which bids fair to 

 become an extensive business here, as also the 

 growing of small fruits, such as strav.berries, 

 gooseberries, &c. We can have A^egetables and 

 fruits ready for market from four to six weeks 

 earlier than the Chicagoans. 



Plenty of good land can be had here at from 

 .$5 to $oO per acre, according to location and im- 

 provements. Pomologically yours. 



An EGYPTLiN. 



Union Co., III., January, 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MOVABLE COMB HIVES. 



A r.ELIABLE GUIDE EOK STRAIGHT C03IB3 WANTED. 



Although these hives are a great acquisition to 

 very many bee-keepers, they are yet deficient in 

 one important particular. No one seems to have 

 discovered a guide for producing straight combs 

 that ctui be depended on in all cases. The cross- 

 bar hive that has strips of lath sharpened on the 

 lower edge, like a broad knife, and passing across 

 the top, just the right distance apart, has been 

 warranted to produce all straight combs. Yet 

 some swarms are perverse enough to work their 

 combs across these bars. The angular edge on 

 the under side of the top bar, of nearly all the 

 movable comb hives that I have seen, will, if sawed 

 smooth, in most cases, be followed by the bees ; 

 but a great many swarms paj- no regard to any of 

 these rules, and make their combs in all possible 

 directions across the hive, and render it of no 

 more value as a movable comb Iiive, than a flour 

 barrel. The edge of a narrow strip of tin, at- 

 tached to the frame of Underhill's hive, that prom- 

 ised so much, has failed to produce the results 

 anticipated. 



The dispute between Mr. Brackett and JMr. 

 Kidder, relative to what I said in the Ihiral Neiv- 

 Yorlcer about movable combs, proved nothing as 

 to which was the better guide of the two, Langs- 

 troth or Kidder. What I said was not given 

 quite correctly. It was my neighbors, who had 

 put bees into these hives, when "two-tliirds of the 

 swarms worked crooked." I think I stated at that 

 time, that I could manage to get nearly all straight 

 combs. Subsequent experience has proved that 

 I was correct. I have not failed with one in fifty. 

 Any one understanding his business, and disposed 

 to take the trouble, would succeed equally well. 

 But a great manj- that keep bees are not sufficient- 



