290 



NEW ENGLAND FARi\IER. 



June 



to be used by the pioneer cultivator ; and, al- 

 ways to the latest generation producing the 

 largest and finest crops of everything valuable. 



In Illinois, this soil most often occurs in 

 small quantities together, and in very incon- 

 venient shapes for cultivation ; and, also, be 

 ing subject to occasional overflow, its value is 

 quite inconsiderable. 



Besides the soils mentioned as being general, 

 we have in a few localities a sandy upland soil, 

 both prairie and woodland ; good for crops 

 ripening early in the summer, and for pota- 

 toes ; quick, warm and easily worked, but not 

 good to stand drought. 



The subsoil is quite similar throughout the 

 State. It is mostly a compact yellow clay, 

 not quite impervious to water. I send you by 

 mail a specimen of the four principal soik< 

 mentioned, and of the subsoil taken four feet 

 below the surface on the level prairie. 



Our principal Illinois crops are corn and 

 grass. These are thrown into the market di- 

 rectly, to a considerable amount. But a much 

 larger portion of them is converted into pork 

 and ftefi/" before being sold. 



All of our soils when new are good wheat 

 soils, and the woodland clay soil is such at all 

 times. Oats, barley, rye and potatoes do well 

 generally; yet, nearly every farm is valued 

 tor its corn and grass-producing qualities, and 

 for its stock-raising and stock-fattening advan- 

 tages. The farmers of Illinois get most of 

 their regular income from corn, grass, and 

 their natural consequents, pork and beef. All 

 other crops and all other products are second- 

 ary to these great staples. Horses and mules 

 are good ; sheep do well ; wheat and the other 

 small grains, fruits, potatoes, &c., are raised 

 at special times and in special localities with 

 profit. 



Yet, after all, it is easily seen that corn is 

 king, grass is queen, and heef and pork are 

 prime ministers in Illinois agriculture. 



In future papers I purpose brief descrip- 

 tions of how some of our farm crops and farm 

 products are managed. Truly yours, 



John Davis. 



Box 50, Decatur, 111., April, 1870. 



Remarks.— "With the foregoing Interesting 

 , commucation we received parcels of about one 

 ounce of each of the four varieties of Illinois 

 soil mentioned by the writer, and also a spec- 

 imen of the subsoil, taken four feet below the 

 surface of the prairie. These specimens we 

 shall be pleased to show to any who may wish 

 to see them. 



we could never get the butter without from six 

 to twelve hours persistent hard churning. I 

 had another yielding two hundred pounds a 

 year of the very best butter, requiring only 

 ten to twenty minutes' churning. — David 

 Goodall, in St. Johnsbury, Vt., Times. 



Importance of Good Cows. — I had a cow 

 from wbich we could not make over fifty 

 pounds of butter a year, and that soft and 

 white as lard. I had another that we could 

 ludke two hundred pounds from in the same 

 time, and solid, high colored, nice butter ; but 



THB QROWIKra OF CABBAGES. 



George N. Prescott, an experienced gar- 

 dener of Manchester, N. H., who has raised 

 cabbages extensively for the last ten years, fur- 

 nishes the following statement to the Mirror 

 arid Farmer: 



My land Is a light loam, with a sandy sub- 

 soil. When I break up a piece for cabbages, 

 I plough from ten to twelve inches deep. I 

 prefer to plough in the fall. In the spring, I 

 spread six cords of barnjard manure to the 

 acre, and thoroughly mix it with the loam with 

 the plough and harrow. I then furrow about 

 three inches deep, the rows three and a half 

 feet apart, and put into the hill a half shovel- 

 ful of night-soil, well mixed with loam. I then 

 cover the manure with loam, half an inch deep, 

 with the foot, and make a smooth surface to 

 drop the seed upon, and cover half an inch deep. 



The next thing to be attended to is the 

 black bug ; it will sometimes attack the plants 

 before they are hardly out of the ground. I 

 have used plaster, and if it is kept on it will 

 save the plants. 



There has been for the last few years, a 

 great complaint about stump-footed cabbages, 

 and a great many causes suggested, the most 

 common of which is the manure. In my ex- 

 perience, it Is not the manure that causes the 

 Btump-foof, for I have used all kinds, night- 

 soil the most, and it is rarely that I find a 

 stump foot cabbage on my lot; if I do meet 

 with one, it is on some hard spot where It has 

 been made hard by turning at the end of fur- 

 rows. I think that stump-foot Is caused by 

 hard, moist land, rather than by manure. 



Any land that can be made mellow ten Inches 

 deep, will grow cabbages, if not too wet. In 

 cultivating, care should be taken not to disturb 

 the roots and leaves, as they are the sources 

 from which the plants receive their food. I 

 plant none but the best seeds that I can buy. 

 For winter cabbages, I prefer the Stone Ma- 

 son ; for early use, the Winnings ladt and im- 

 proved Brunswick. 



— To make a mare own her colt, a correspondent 

 of the Rural New Yorker directs to tie the mare 

 up beside the barn where she cannot harm herself; 

 put a cord around the neck of a good-sized dog ; 

 let the cord be fifteen or twenty feet long. Let 

 the dog be set on the colt, holding the former by 

 the cord so that he cannot bite the colt. The colt 

 w ill run to the mare for protection, and she will 

 own and protect it immediately. 



