r-^/v.^-^ 



vy> 





, rT»f;5- 



•"l^^'iW 



>:y*- 



48 



THE ILLINOIS Fi^RMER. 



The Farmer's Future. 



An English correspondent of the New 



York Tribune goes off in this way : 



"The Farmer's Future will be found 

 in the application of steam to the culti- 

 vation of the soil! We are rapidly com- 

 ing to the conclusion here that the good 

 old plow is a humbug. We begin to 



how to make the best uses of the means 

 so bountifully placed at our disposal." 



-•••- 



^ ^^ long, lie and his neighbors gathered over two 



think that spade husbandry applied by bushels of currants this year. 1'ho currant sea- 

 steam is the right thing; indeed, there T "_""> ^^'*"^ ^'^"^ ^^^^ picking to the last, was from 

 are some among us of the opinion that 

 a machine may be invented which should, 

 in effect, plow, sow, harrow, and roll to- 

 gether — a machine, in fact, which should 

 make a seed bed and sow the seed all at 

 one operation. There has already been 

 one steam engine exhibited in this coun- 

 try which will walk anywhere, and do 

 anything it is required to do. It has 

 feet about the size of yours, sir, and puts 

 them down upon the ground, one after 

 the other, very much after the fashion 

 of a dandy going up Broadway, only the 

 feet of the machine are fixed on wheels, 

 and revolve regularly, instead of moving 

 up and down awkardly, like his. This 

 machine will go through a plowed field 

 very comfortably, and rather quicker 

 than a good hunter will get over it; and 



LUXURIES OF A FRUIT GARDEN. 

 A friend of ours, in whose reliability we havo 



implicit confidence, has a small plat of ground, 

 of vf hich ho tells us the following facts : 



From a row of currant bushes, about 8 rods 



pict 

 June 1st to August 15th, 2^ months 



From a row of gooseberry bushes, 2 rods long, 

 he gathered about a bushel of gooseberries. 



From a plat of strawberry vines, 4 rods Igng 

 and 1 rod wide, he gathered nearly 3 bushels oi 

 strawberries. The strawberry season lasted 

 about three weeks, ending about the middle of 

 July. 



Then his raspberries came on, and lasted about 

 three weeks. Of these he had about half a 

 bushel. They stood next to the strawberries in 

 point of delicacy. 



lie has a number of cherry trees. Thev 

 yiclilcd well this year. Ills family and friends 

 used a bushel or so, and the children of the 

 neighborhood fed themselves upon them, without 

 stint, for two weeks, 



Sotm after the raspberries were gone, his 

 peaches began to ripen. One of the trees ripened 

 its fruit late, and it lias lasted till within a few 

 days past; of these he has had two or more 

 bushels. 



All along since the first of August, his apples 



and pears liave been ripouint;. and have furnished 

 as it will drag a dozen plows after it, I ] '"^ i^hundant supply for his family, for the cow 



uid pig. and some to sell or give away besides. 

 I He will have a large quantity of e.-iccUcnt winter 

 ' ajiplos. Ho has just gathfT'sd fruiu two or three 

 grapevines, as many bushels of iine grapes. 

 Some of these his wife made into marmalade, 

 and some she has jtroscrved in paper, for u«o 

 hereafter. The best — ami greater portion of 

 the whole — were eaten as a desert, or given to 

 children or friends, all of whom enjoyed them 

 much. 



Tliese are some of the enjoyments drawn from 

 a small plat of ground during the season just 

 closing. They were at small cost, but they 

 sweetened many a moal, ministered to health, 

 and addcid t^ tlie <v)mfort of many guests. 



Why may not nearly every man have as large 

 sx ]ilat ol giviuml. and as many comforts? Sim- 

 ply because ho is negligent. — Ohio Farmer, 



A New ano Choice Plduino. — Into a nappy 

 |l that will contain two quarts, place apples pannl 

 [ :iml cut coarsely until the dish is nearly full: 



do not see, for my part, why it should 

 not be made to carry as part and parcel 

 of itself, a mechanism that will roadily 

 convert the untilled ground into a seed- 

 bed. Well, then, as to drainage. I saAv 

 a machine the other day that would di^^ 

 drain, and lay down sixteen and a half 

 feet of piping per minute, the pipes be- 

 ing rather more regularly and satisfac- 

 torily laid than any skilled workman can 

 can lay them. The machine labored 

 under the disadvantage of bcin<T cum- 

 brous, and of being made to be worked 

 by a stationary engine. But havino- 

 got thus far, it seoms to be only one 

 step further to give us steam application 

 to the soil, so as to enable twenty times 

 the quantity of land to be put under 



cultivation by the same amount of la- I sprinkle on this 'si.x spoonfuls of sag.), [woiil.l not 

 bor, and at no greater cost than now. — [ ^''*' ''".'"^' amount of corn starch answer?] then 

 Tkriv. ■...« rv^r.<rr V,^^^ C 1 f I pour into the dish as much hot water as will 



inen we may nope lor a produce of I: ' „ ^i , , t ^ •. i i i 



, *li ^ 1-1 li < over the apples and sago. Let it bake abont 



Cheap corn, the great desideratum in \ two hours. Jf the uj.i.er pl.-eos bcc.me t..., 

 this land of sweat and toil, where it de- Imiwn, push tliem down, and others will take 

 pends upon a shilling or two, more or 

 less, in the price of food, not only wlietli- 

 er a man can reap the advantages of 

 his labor, but absolutely, too often, 

 whether he can continue to exist. 



Yes, to the application of improved 

 machinery to the earth must we look 

 for an accession of home comforts, of 

 world-wide prosperity, of universal hap- 

 piness! To Thee! O bountiful God of 

 Nature, we offer our first thanks that 

 Thou hast given us the great seed bed 

 whereon we live and move, and whence 

 we have our being. To Industry be 

 given our next tribute, and then let us 

 thank Art and Science that teach us 



their places To l)e f>aten in saucers, 

 ■cream or milk and sujuar. 



with 



Soap Withoit B.ui.inc; — All that is required 

 tc mak soft sea[i without builing is to have 

 g( 'od ashes and clean soap grease. In the 

 sj .ring leach your ashes and put your ley into a 

 vessel large enough to hold the soap you wish to 

 Hiake for the \ear; then add the grease as it ac- 

 cumulates from time to time, no matter h.)W 

 ir. uch you get in, for the ley will not take more 

 tJian is necessary to make good soap, and it 

 keeps the surplus free from mould and in 

 sects. When the soap is formed, if you ^vish to 

 use it, skim oif the grease that remains on the 

 top, put it in aniither vessel, add more ley, and 

 while you are using the first barrel you will 

 have another making. This is my method, and 

 I am never out of good soap. M. E. 



Fi-owERs FOR Perfl'MERV. — Thc Paris corres- 

 pondent of the Journal of Commerce furnishes 

 those facts concerning modern efibrts to perfect 

 the science of perfumery, lie says : The most 

 novel and remai-kable feature of the present 

 manufacture of perfumes is the establishment 

 of flower farms. Same of the fairest spots of 

 Europe and Asia are devoted to thc cultivation 

 of flowers, of which the fraganee is no longer 

 wasted on the desert air, but preserved for the 

 enjoyment of all who choose to purchase it. 

 Flowers havo taken the place of ambergris, 

 musk, civet, and the odoriferous gums, which 

 are now only used to give stability to the more 

 evanescent scents. There are flower farms in 

 Europe and Asia ; and another is likely to Le 

 created in Australia for thc cultivation of the 

 wattle, a plant of the acacia genus, and resem- 

 bling in odor very powerful violets. England 

 has lier flower gardens at Mitcham, in Surry, 

 where lavender and peppermint flourish unriv- 

 alled. Koses are also cultivated there, but only 

 for the purpose of making rose water. 

 .*. 



To TT.\RDEX L.\Rn for Candles. — For 12 lbs. 

 lard. 1 tb alum and 1 do. of saltpetre — dissolve 

 the alum and saltpetre in a little water — mix 

 the lard and water, or put them together over 

 a fire, and boil till the water is all boiled out. 

 It must be stirred while boiling" to get the alum 

 and saltpetre well mixed with the lard. There 

 will be some sediment at the bottom. 



For tallow I should think one-third the above 

 would be a plenty to hanlen the softest tallow; 

 but any one can tell by trying a little at first. 

 If that is not enough, add more. . 



AN E.\AMPLE OF PERSEVERANCE. 



The following is a most i-emarkable and praise- 

 worthy instance of what perseverance and indus- 

 try rightly directed, are able to effect: 



Among the graduating class at the last com- 

 mencement at Williams College, was one by the 

 name of Condit, from New Jersey. The gentle- 

 man is a shoemaker, married, and has a family 

 of four-children. Six years ago, becoming sen- 

 sible (if the bics.-ings of an education, he com- 

 menced learning the simple branches, such as 

 arc taught in our jirimary schools. One by one 

 he mastered grammar, nritlnnotie, geography, 

 &r., with some ooea.^ional assistance from Ills 

 fellow- workmen. At this time he determined 

 to obtain a collegiate education. Without means, 

 and with a largo family depending on him for 

 supjtort, be coiiniiciieed jind learned Latin and 

 (Jreck, in the evenings after his days work Avas 

 over, under the diroction of a friend, and after 

 thc lapse of a year and a half, prepared himself 

 and entered the Sophomure class at Williams 

 College. 



lie brought his Ijeneh and bis too].«, and his 

 books Avit!) him; and with the fund for indigent 

 students, and s.uno otcasiniuil assistajice from 

 other sources, ho was enabled to go through the 

 college cimrse, and at the same time support 

 his family, lie graduated on his birth day, 

 aged thirty-two. Wq stood high in his class, 

 ami received a part at Connnenceinent, but 

 (!eilin(**l. At llie farewell meoiing of the class, 

 in consideration ef his perseverance, talents, and 

 Christian character, they presented him with 

 an elegant set id" silver spoons, tea and table, 

 each handsomely engraved, with an appropriate 

 inscription. 



Mr. Condit will now enter the Theological 

 Seminary at New York, and will, no doubt, 

 make a faithful and popular minister. 



What young man in this country will ever, 

 after such an example as this, dcspjiir of obtain, 

 iiig an education? — AS/jn/i/^/ZeW Republican. 



"Tha world," said Horace Walpole, "is 

 a comedy to those Avho think, ami a tragedy to 

 those who feel." 



