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THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



31 



pear, which would be green and succulent, 

 like young Indian corn — and the other a 

 month or two latter, at the time, or before, 

 the seed is fully matured. In the extreme 

 Northern S'ates, where the season, is too 

 short and cool for i^ to ripen in the open air, 

 the cultivator will necessarily have to ob- 

 tain his seed from regions further South. If 

 it were important for him to raise iiis own 

 seed, he could start the plants under glass, 

 in the spring, and remove them to the field 

 or garden about the period of planting Indi- 

 an corn, after which they would fully mature. 

 One quart of seeds are found to be sufficient 

 for an acre. If the soil be indiferent or poor, 

 they may be sown in rows or drills about 3 

 feet apart, with the plants lO to 12 inches 

 asunder; but if the soil be rich, they may 

 be planted in hills, five or more seeds to 

 each, 4 or 5 feet apart in one direction, and 

 3 or 4 in the other. The plants may be 

 worked or hoed twice in the coarse of the 

 season, in a similar manner to Indian corn. 

 Any Backers or superfluous shoots, which 

 may spring up, may be removed. The seed 

 should not be harvested before it acquires a 

 dark or black hue. If the plants lodge, or 

 full to the ground, by the excessive weight of 

 the heads, during storms of wind or rain, 

 before the seed matures, chey may remain 

 for weeks without injury. In collecting the 

 seed, a convenient method is to cut off the 

 stalks about a foot below the panicles, tie 

 them up in bunches of twenty-five, and sus- 

 pend them in any secure, airy place, shelter- 

 ed from rain. If intended solely for fodder, 

 the first crop should be cut just before the 

 panicles would appear, and the second, as 

 soon as the seed arrives at the milky stage. 

 It may be tied up in bundles, shocked and 

 cured, like the tops or stalks. of Indian corn. 

 If not intended to be employed for any oth- 

 er ecoonomical use, after the seed has been 

 removed, and the weather be cool, and the 

 average temperature of the day does not ex- 

 ceed 45 deg or 50 deg F., the stalks may be 

 cut up close to the ground, tied in bundles, 

 collected into shocks, or stowed in a mass in 

 a succulent state, for fodder in sheds or 

 barns, where they will keep without injury, 

 if desired, until spring, In this condition, 

 however, the lower parts of the stalks will 

 be found ^o be quite hard and woody, and 

 will require to be chopped into small pieces 

 for feeding. 



Precaution. — Particular care should be 



observed not to cultivate tiiis plant in the 

 vicinity of Dourah corn, Guinea corn, nor 

 broom-corn, as it hybridises or mixes freely 



with these plants, which would render the 



seeds of the product unfit for sowing. 



Yours, very respectfully, 



CHARLES MASON, Com'r. 

 «•» 



Foreign Demand for American Prodnee. 



The foreign demand for American produce 

 greatly influences the home prices. The Cin- 

 cionati Gazette has an article' on this subject 

 containing facts and specalatioss of maeh inter- 

 est. An investigation proves that the produc- 

 tion of live animals in the Uaited States does 

 not increase in proportion to oar population; and, 

 indeed, in some of the older States that there bad 

 been an actual decrease between 1840 and 1850. 

 This fact, says the Gazette, explains in a meas- 

 ure, the apparent mystery connscted with the 

 market for bread stufis and provisions, and 

 wh\ch for several years past has pozzled the 

 most shrewd and best informed operators. 

 From a superficial view of the progress oi ag- 

 riculture in the United States, it might appear 

 that our products increased more rapidly than 

 the population; such, however, is not the fact. 

 It is true, that the quantity of land sold by tht 

 government has been very large, but the purchase 

 of land is one thing and the cultivation of land 

 is another. Tjae increase of population has been 

 greater than the increase of lire animals. The 

 same is probably trne of breadstafia, but upon 

 this point we are not yet prepared to speEtk. 

 This, as already remarked explains in part the 

 mystery connected with the present condition of 

 our markets, inasmuch as it accounts for the high 

 prices that have for several years past prevailed 

 throughout the country for hog products, and 

 indeed all kinds of domestic provisions. 



Connected with this, however, is another 

 feature of importance, and one which has exer- 

 cised, and must continue to exercise, a great in- 

 fluence upon prices of produce. We refer to the 

 foreign demand. 



We now present a statement, prepared from 

 official sources, showing the value of hog pro- 

 products, viz: hogs, pork, baeon and hams; and 

 bread-stuffs, viz: corn, corn-meal, wheat, flour, 

 rye meal, rye, oat??, Src, rice, biscuit, and pota- 

 toes, exported from the United States, each 

 fiscal year, from 1840 to 1855, both inclusive: 



Years. Hog Trodncts. Provisions. 



1840 $1,894,894 $15,676,066 



1841 2,621.637 12,420,466 



1842 2,629,403 11,841,407 



1843 2,120.020 6,922,083 



1844 3,236,479 . 11,187,872 



1845 2.991,284 9,779,212 



1846 3,883,884 19.061,362 



1847 6,630,842 66,977,395 



1848..... 9,003,272 25,097,003 



1849 9,245,885 26,648,468 



1850 7,550,287 • 16,797,419 



1851 4.368,015 16,708.427 



1852 3,765,470 19,842,948 



1853 6.202.324 23.686,101 



1854 11,061,015 61,138,913 



1855 11,690,100 28,499,323 



BBi 



