DEVOTED TO AGRICDT.TUKE AND ITS ELLWDK^ 



VOL. XV 



BOSTON, DECEMBER, 1803. 



NO. 12. 



XOURSE, KATO.V & TOI^AX, Pkopriktoes. 

 Office... .102 Washington Street. 



SlilOX BROWX, Editor. 



GITR HEXT VOLUME. 



A j'ear ago, at the commencement of the pres- 

 ent volume_ of the Fanner, we were obliged, by 

 the rapid and unprecedented advance in the cost 

 of paper and all the materials of printing, to 

 adopt some course by which the additional ex- 

 pense of publishing our journal could be met. Of 

 the two alternatives presented, that of reducing 

 the number -of pages, or of increasing the price, we 

 decided for various reasons to adopt the former 

 one, hoping that the progress of the war would 

 soon restore business to its customary channels, 

 and enable us to return to our regular size. We 

 have been disappointed. The year has passed 

 awav without ending the war, and the price of all 

 kinds of commodities has continued to advance. 

 Under these circumstances we shall be obliged to 

 continue on for the present without increasing the 

 size of our magazine. 



We regret this as mum as any of our readers 

 can do. We should be very glad to have so large 

 a list that a very small per cent, of profit would 

 compensate us for our time and labor, but with a 

 small list the proportionate expense of publishing 

 a paper is much greater, as there are certain ex- 

 penses which are always fixed, and are neither re- 

 duced by the reduction of circulation, nor enlarged 

 by its increase. 



The demand upon the advertising columns of 

 our weekly issue has become so great as to com- 

 pel an enlargement of that, and as that will some- 

 what increase the amount of agricultural reading 

 we shall be able to give, the contents of the 

 Monthly Avill be carefully selected, and only such 

 matter published as is of permanent value. 



We believe we shall make the Fnmier deserv- 

 ing of the support of every agriculturist in New 

 England, and we hope not only to preserve our 

 present list, but io add largely to our circle of 

 readers. 



W'" - :* rv^ry one of our subscribers, besides 

 con, : ias (iwu subscription, send us the name 



I of one or more of his neighbors, to be put upon 

 , our books for the new year ? We offer no large ' 

 ' sounding premiums for this service, but reduce 

 our terms to as low a figure as we can afford, and 

 intend to give our readei-s the value of their pay- 

 ' raents in the pages of the Farmer itself, without 

 feeling that we must make it up to them in some- 

 other way. 



I Now is the time to make your effort in this di- 

 rection, and we ask all, either single subscribers 

 or clubs, to send in their orders promptly for the 

 : year 1S64, 



IMPLEMENTS AT THE ILLINOIS FAIB- 

 The show in this department, it is said, has never 

 been excelled in the character and variety of im- 

 plements and machinery-. The Prairie Farmer 

 speaks of two new ones which we noticed some 

 months ago : 



CoMSTocK's Rotary Spader. — There was 

 much interest expressed to see this implement 

 tried. As promised by Mr. Comstock, the ma- 

 chine was on the ground and was the centre of a 

 crowd of spectators during the whole fair, A s]x»t 

 of ground within the enclosure was set aside for 

 his use, and the machine was frequently put into 

 use, cutting up the ground three feet wide and 

 eight inches deep, being drawn by two horses, al- 

 though the team that should be used would be 

 four horses. The impression made on the people 



I present seemed to be of the most satisfactory 



I character. 



I TJirson's Grain DixnrR was on exhibition by 

 ' the inventor, W. W. Ilurson.of llockford. It was 

 attached to tlie J. II. Manny reaper, the same as 

 at the trial in IMxon. The machine was constant- 

 : Iv thronged with visitors during the week, mak- 

 ing a very favorable impression. 



[jp* The culture of sorghum or Chinese cane for 

 syrup is becoming extensLve in Connecticut. In 



tlio south "part of the St.itc largo crops have l>een 

 raised for three or four years. In tlio vicinity of 

 New Britain, this year, the crop has been exten- 

 sivtly cxperimcntod upon, and so fir lias proved 

 a success. 



