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be so sererely felt as if borne by a single 

 individual, and many connties which other- 

 wise could hardly hope to obtain any of this 

 fine stock, can by this means secure it be- 

 yond a peradventure. Such county stock as- 

 sociations have been formed in Ohio and 

 Kentucky, and have answered a very fine 

 purpose in distributing and retaining some 

 of the best importations ever made to this 

 country. We doubt not they would be 

 equally beneficial in Illinois. Who of the 

 enterprising farmers in the different coun- 

 ties will lead in such a movement? 



Pie Plant. 

 Mr. Editor: —I see lately every time I 

 go to town, large quantities of pie plant 

 exposed for sale at some of the stores, and 

 have lately eaten it, made up into fruit pud- 

 dings and tarts, and found it a most agree- 

 able and to me a healthy article of food. I 

 would be glad to know how I am to get the 

 plants and how, when I do get them, they 

 are to be grown so as to furnish a good 

 supply of the stalks. This information here 

 called for may be useful to many of your 

 .readers besides MYSELF. 



We have often stated the manner of ob- 

 taining the plant and of growing it. The 

 best kinds are propagated by cuttings from 

 rootsof approved varieties. Get roots in 

 the spring and separate them so as to pre- 

 serve a bud on each piece of root, and plant 

 these buds out about three or four feet 

 apart in the richest soil possible. If the 

 6oil is not rich, make it so by mixing it with 

 a large supply of well rotted manure; and 

 afterwards, when growing, if you wish to 

 grow the plant in the best manner. The 

 plant is what may be called a gross feeder. 



New hands will greatly improve in mak- 

 ing tarts of the pie plant, by practice. 

 When well made, most persons will con- 

 sider them fully equal, if not better, than the 

 gooseberry or currant; and they require less 

 sugar, which is an object in these times. 

 They also make a superior "roley-pdey pud- 

 ding," (we believe the phrase is.) This is 

 done by cutting the stalks into lengths 

 some five or six inches long, place three or 

 four of them on the pastry, rolled out, ad- 

 ding to them sugar, then roll them up, and 



boil as usual. In this way they are con- 

 verted into a superior and cheap article of 

 food, doing away with the necessity of using 

 dried fruit, — a fact of some importance in 

 the present state of the fruit market. 



■•••- 



Drill Seeding. 



In putting in fall grain, the fact is now 

 well established that th& drilling system is 

 by far the best. It puts the seed in to an 

 even depth; it puts it at the right depth; 

 the plants of seed put in the drill are not 

 likely to be winter killed; the crop is 

 greater, more even and uniform; three pecks 

 of wheat drilled in will seed the ground 

 better than five pecks sowed broadcast. 



To be successful in drill seeding, the 

 ground should be well prepared; plowed to 

 a good depth, and not be filled with weeds 

 and trash, which would seriously interrupt 

 the progress of the drill. 



-*t- 



ligh Price of Beef. 

 There has been a meeting in Philadelphia 

 to consider whether means could be adopted 

 to reduce the price of beef, so as to place 

 it within the means of the masses. It was 

 said at the meeting that the people of Bal- 

 timore had an agent west, to purchase beef, 

 and the result had been that the price in 

 Baltimore had been reduced to $10 3t per 

 100 lbs. net. There was much discussion, 

 but no plan agreed upon. One individual 

 recommended the purchase of beef cattle in 

 South America, to be shipped to Philadel- 

 phia and New York. They could be par- 

 chased in the corral at $1 and $2 per 

 head. To this it was replied, that the cat- 

 tle would not fatten here and the beef would 

 be poor. The prospect is that , Philadel 

 phia and New York will continue to receive 

 supplies as at present. V r- ' '' 



4*»- 



The Wheat Crop in the West. 

 The wheat crop in the Great West, as a 

 general thing, promises to be great beyond 

 precedent. We do not believe that wheat 

 will be worth more in market in July next 

 than it was in the same month one year ago. 

 In Central Illinois it will probably be 

 higher — because here we have no winter 





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