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164 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



The Season as it Progresses. 



All the great interests of commuuitj de- 

 pend npoa the productions of the soil. In 

 Illinois we more sensibly realize this fact 

 than in, perhaps, any other portion of the 

 country. Hence on the opening of spring 

 there is a nervousness and anxiety among 

 farmers and business men in regard to forth- 

 coming crops. Last spring the public were 

 astounded when the fact became apparent 

 that the whole immense sowing of wheat 

 in Central Illinois, was lost — that the sown 

 wheat would not produce a tenth part of 

 the seed to sow on the same wheat grounds 

 the ensuing fall. Bnt most farmers went 

 to work immediately and procured spring 

 wheat, and sowed it where winter wheat 

 had been killed — not enough to cover all 

 the grounds devoted to winter wheat, but 

 suflBcient, if it does well, to produce nearly 

 as much wheat as was raised iu the country 

 the year previous. The present spring 

 wheat crop now has a fine appei0.rance, and 

 if nothing should injuriously affect it, the 

 crop will be large. 



An unusual breadth of land has been 

 planted with corn. It looks well wherever 

 there was a good stand from the first plant- 

 ing; and the replanting will, with the pres- 

 ent weather, soon be up with first planting. 

 Seed corn this year was defective; although 

 in appearance good. Indeed, farmers are 

 always liable to be deceived in their seed 

 corn when selected from the crib. The 

 seed which was selected in the field last fall, 

 has in every case come np well. The 

 neglect thus to save seed, is a serious one. 

 Consideiing the risks of every season, a 

 farmer better pay four dollars a bushel for 

 seed corn thus saved, than to have it given 

 him for nothing, if selected from tlie crib 

 in the spring. Many farmers the present 

 year would have made fifty dollars a day, 

 had they spent one day, last fall, in their 

 fields selecting seed corn. 



The potatoe crop, planted early, is look- 

 ing remarkably well. We hope that the 

 vines will escape the flies the present season ; 



but if they do appear, try the remedy found 

 successful in the south part of this county 

 last season, by Mr. Smith Davenport — 

 sprinkle the vines with brine. It is not too 

 late to plant potatoes for a late crop. The 

 late crop of potatoes is better than the early 

 crop for table use. 



It is still in time to sow buckwheat, to 

 plant beans, Mangold Wurtzell Beet for 

 stock, and Ruta Baga turnip for ditto, 

 Millet Seed can yet be sown for fodder. — 

 The prospect of hay is good. 



Our farmers are having busy times, and 

 in their toils are cheered by the fine prospect 

 for crops. The vegetation about looks as it 

 did in other years, when our farmers had 

 scarcely means to save their abundant crops. 



-<•»- 



Springfield Horticultural Society. 

 Seven years ago, last month, the Spring- 

 field Horticultural Society was organized, 

 and the first exhibition held. The room of 

 the Supreme Caurt was then sufficiently 

 large for the display of all the fruits, plants 

 and flowers presented for exhibition, and 

 for the comfortable accommodation of those 

 who visited it. The labor of getting up 

 the exhibition was done by a few young 

 men, assisted by several public spirited 

 ladies. The next season, public opinion 

 called for another exhibition, and these ex- 

 hibitions have been repeated yearly until last 

 season, (when it was found absolutely neces- 

 sary to relinquish the undertaking on ac- 

 count of the paucity of flowers, occasioned 

 by the severe drought,; and now the an- 

 nual floral exhibition seems to have become 

 one of our city institutions, which cannot, 

 with satisfaction, be dispensed with. S. 

 Francis was the first President of the So- 

 ciety, and to his labors, with the able as. 

 sistance of N.'Divilbiss and several other 

 young men, it was sustained for three years. 

 Since then N. Divilbiss has been at the 

 head of the Society, and he has had able 

 and reliable assistance from some young men 

 of the city. At the last festival, from 

 press of business, some of the veterans of 

 the Society were unable to give their time 

 to the preparations necessary, as they de- 



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