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THE ILLIISrOIS FII^RMiER. 



would be saved, and only the pasture 

 fences used, which would not cost the 

 tenth of the present system. When this 

 system is adopted, the present outcry 

 about fences, osage oranges, plank fences 

 and the like, will be silenced forever; ex- 

 cept for inside fences for pastures. When 

 this system is adopted, it would be a ben- 

 efit to Illinois if there was not a tree in 

 the State except fruit trees. 



In many of the middle counties in the 

 State, there is no range at present for 

 the stock to live on in the summer, and 

 there are no public lands on which the stock 

 can range. The cattle and horses in 

 many sections of the State cannot live at 

 this time on the range, as it is not suffi- 

 cient to support them, and the farmers 

 are compelled to keep their stock in pas- 

 tures. If there be no range for stock, 

 and the fields in the prairies adjoining 

 each other, where is the use of outside 

 fences to keep the stock out when there 

 is no stock in the range outside? 



Moreover, the land is all at this day, 

 with few exceptions, owned by private 

 individuals, and there cannot exist any 

 law to give a right for one man to use 

 another man's land to herd his cattle on. 

 The right of property must of necessity 

 exclude a stranger from the use of it: 

 for otherwise property would be common, 

 and belong to everybjdy alike, which is 

 absurd in a civilized government. 



It is the extreme fertility of the soil in 

 Illinois, and the even and level surface 

 of the country, admitting almost every 

 SLCri" in the State to be cultivated with ad- 

 vantage, wiii-ch enables the people to :m1- 

 tivate the whole conft'iTiied Si'if'ace of the 

 country, and leave no vacant space out- 

 side of their fields for range for the stock. 

 Illinois in a few years will contain in 

 many -sections of it a dense population like 

 Europe, and fences will be no more used 

 here in a short time than in that old coun- 

 try. 



It would be an advantage to St. Clair 

 County, where I reside, if there were no 

 timber or outside fences in the County. 

 The timbered hind is an injury to the 

 people; as, if it did not exist, the land 

 where it stands at present, would be cul- 

 tivated, and more profit derived from the 

 land arising from grain, than from tim- 

 ber. Stone coal is used mostly for fuel, 

 and not much timber grown m the county 

 is appropriated to buildings; so that the 



natural forests in St. Clair County do 

 more injury than service to the people. 

 I am not hostile to trees for shade and 

 ornament, or a few to break the fury of 

 the north wind from the residence of the 

 husbandman; but they are an injury in 

 my opinion to the people of this section 

 of the State. 



I have presented the above change of 

 system, as to the outside fences of farms, 

 for the consideration and reflection of 

 practical farmers, and hope they may 

 reflect on the subject, and adopt it, if it 

 be the best. 



TJic Best Mode of Raising and Managing Cattle 

 on the Prairies of Illinois. 



J-W which the first premium was aumrdtd by the lUinofis State 

 Agricultural Oociity. 



Having been a resident of Illinois for twenty- 

 two years, and con stantl}- (and at times exten- 

 sively) engageii in breeding, raising and feeding 

 cattle for the butcher, I give it aa my deliiicrate 

 conviction, that there is no part of the continent 

 that surpasses, if any equals, the jn'airies of Illi- 

 nnis, in adaptation for breeding, raising and fat- 

 tening cattle. 



In visiting diiferent parts of the Union — north, 

 south, east and west — I luwo not mot wiih any 



n;itivo st<.)ck that equals the It^t native stock ot 

 Illinois and Iowa. To my mind the leason is ob- 

 vious: Our climate is the most favorable fur pro- 

 ducing cattle, because, situate between 37 \ and 

 42i degrees north latitude, we escape the extreme 

 cold of the north, and the continucii heat of the 

 south. Those most conversant with the breeding 

 and raising of cattle agree that they do best in a 

 temiierate cliuuite. Another and stronger rea- 

 son is, oia- soil cannot be sur})assed in producing 

 those crops so necessary for the rapid growth an*.*- 

 maturity of cattle, nan\ely, grass and corn. - 



Before I proceed to give what I concPi've to ]je 

 the best method for the manairGi.v6fit ot cattle, in 

 Illinois, I remark, that ♦^nere are a few general 

 rules that bf fv ijJen well established by brecilers 

 in this.nid other counties, that should never be 

 k>Ht sight of by the breeders and growers of cattle, 

 if they would l)e successful, and secure to them- 

 selves that profit to which the intelligent and en- 

 terprising are entitled. Obtain the best females 

 within your means, whether they bo native, mix- 

 ed or pure bred cattle, fctudy to know the best 

 points of a good animal, and seek, in breeding, 

 to increase the weight in superior, and to lessen 

 it ill inferior, points. By so doing you will in- 

 crease the \alue and appearance of tiie animal. 

 As a general rule, the animal that will give ih< 

 greatest weight in the least compass will be the 

 oest and most prolitable. Tliey will have le^-■ 

 coarse beef, less bone, and, consequently, les> 

 offal. They will invanably consume less and 

 lUaLUie earlier; thus pioMugtliat they are pos- 

 ^esscvl of gootl constituuons. Let Ijreeders study 

 10 undersntud the defects of their stork, that they 

 may lie able to remedy their i.h-fei.-ts in sn'oseqiu-Ui 

 (.reeding. Never permit a male animal to come 

 on tiie farm, as a breeder, unless he equals, ami, 

 if possible, issuperior to the female's. He sji(;uiii 

 be of pure bhiod, for liy this means, alniu-, (.an 

 I he breeder hope to stamp the great excellencic- 

 of the breed up(>n his slock. Avoid breeding in 

 and in as much as you can. The instaices an 

 ;ue when it v.ould luit have been better for the 

 ..reeder to have bred fr>ia more remote rrohse^. 

 A few cases are on record, in England and ii. 

 this country, where great results have been at- 

 tained by in and in breeding, but lew are quali- 



fied to undertake po hazardous an experiment. 

 I confidently believe that more valuable herds 

 have been injured than benefitted by tlie experi- 

 ment. 



Lot the brooder resolve (and then adhere to it,) 

 not to keep on his hands more stock than he can 



keep well. I mean by that, to have hia growing 

 stock always increasing in weight, and not to be 

 content, as iB sometimes said, with having them 

 to hold their own. Kest assured there is no half 

 wa}' house for them to rest in. They must and 

 will be gaining or losing weight. Grain, grass 

 and meat are the farmers capital, and, when lost, 

 is lost forever, and he is poorer, and the world 

 has less to subsist on. The general principles 

 and rules here laid down are equally applicable 

 to all breeds and grades of cattle known to the 

 farmers of Illinois. I lay it down, as an axiom, 

 that an animal that is not worth keeping well is 

 not worth keeping at all, and should go to the 

 butcher, and thus rid the country of an unprofit- 

 able beast. The practice among farmers of sell- 

 ing to the butcher, or killing for their own use, 

 the most thrifty and valuable young females 

 from their herds, and keeping the refuse for 

 breeders, should Ijc abandoned. Such manage- 

 ment is truly penny wise and pound foolish. It 

 is a well established fact that the true and only 

 way by which stock can be improved is to se- 

 lect the most thrifty and promising females for 

 breeders. 



TUE JIAXAGKMENT OF COWS AND CALVES. 



Cows should be bred so as to calve from the 

 middle of March to the first of May. This can 

 only be done by keeping the breeding animal 

 froni the cows. Every breeder should do this 

 on the score of economy. By this course his bull 

 retains his health and vigor, and he knows, cer- 

 tainly, when each cow will drop her calf. His 

 calv("^ .(.ine at the opening of spring, when cow 

 and call can tlo without shelter, thus saving quite 

 an expenditure in building — a matter of conse- 

 quence to the young farmer. Great attention 

 should be given to cows at c;<Hing. As soon »>' 

 the calf sucks plentifully, which -„iil |je at from 

 two to five hours old, the co^ shuakl be milked 

 clean, and this shu;:^(i jje kept up by njilkin 

 twice a daj fl,^' eight days, at which time, if th 

 cov«dJoes well, her milk will be fit ior use. From 

 the firsi-day of May to the first of November 

 cows are most profitable for dairy purposes. The 

 e.-jpeuse of keeping is much less, on our best 

 pastures, during the grazing season, than even 

 the poor manner in which the cows of. Illinois 

 are generallj- wintered. The flow of milk, dur- 

 ing the grazing season, on good pasture, is much 

 greater than during the winter wjthjiood shelter 

 and full Iced. I would remark, without stop- 

 ping to discuss which of the various breeds of 

 cattle known in Illinois is most valuable for " 

 milk, that too much attention cannot be given, 

 by breeders, to heifers with their first calves. — 

 By following the directions, which I shall now 

 give, for the management of heiicrs with their 

 tirst calves, the milking properties of all 

 Inccds of cattle would bo greatly improvetl.— 

 I'lio heifer should be from 30 to o6 months old 

 when she drops her first calf. After the calf 

 has sucked plentifully the heller should be well 

 milked, to keep down inliaiiunation, and make 

 ro.im for a full tlow of milk to the udder. When 

 the calf is one day old, tiic dam should be separ- 

 ated from it two or three hours — then let to the 

 ihc cow, and alter it has , ucked,herbag should 

 bo well lailkcd. By roUov.uig this plan, and 

 increasing the lime of separation, froui day to 

 (lav, fi>r eight or ten days, then the miik Avillbe 

 litYoruse. l hey may then be sep.ratei.-iurhi^ 

 Mi: whole day, v. Itli out iiijuvy to heiie. or calf. 

 I ihiiik it l.csi (and ] u.sue tliat course when I 

 •.an) to let my cws on to pasture at night after 

 lailkii.g. When I do :-o, I find that my cows 

 -raze at d.ark and aliout dayligiit, and tliat they 

 '^mw and ihrive beLicr, an<f gt> thn,ugh the win- 

 der in liner condition. Wiien the calf is weaned, 

 ihe dam siuiuld be kept to her milk as long as 

 po.-sible, e\ en up to within one moalli of calving. 



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