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84: 



THE ILLIlSrOIS FA.IIMEII. 



try, enjoy them witliout being taxed for them; 

 and let the lands pay the" taxes. This would 

 be equal. It would benetit the poor; and if 

 the rich held lands under this system, which 

 on account of equal taxes, they would not 

 de.-ire to hold, let them sell. And, perhaps, 

 some poor man might be able to get a home, 

 which under the present system, he can- 

 not do. 



I do not believe my suggestions will suit 

 largo landholders, for whose especial benefit 

 our system of taxes was got up; but they will 

 find among the masses of the people, those 

 who will think them of some importance. 



AA'e must haye a convention. TTe must 

 send to that convention men who belong to 

 the masses, and not fill it with a class of dele- 

 gates who work for monopolists. 



SENEX. 



-••»- 



If the farmers will )iot give 

 times, what arc 



Give us Work! 



M)\ Editor 

 the laborer work in these 

 laborers to do? M:uiy strong, healthy, in- 

 dustrious men want work, and they can't got 

 it. Go to the builders and they have more 

 laborers than they can employ. Go to the 

 brick-yards and they have the pick of work- 

 men. No public works are going on. The 

 railroads di.scharge every man they can get 

 along without. 



Farmers, give us work I "We want it. 

 "We need it." 8hull we stance? 8hall we 

 steal? What shall we do? Last Sunday 

 night a laborer, not knowing what to do with 

 himself, without money and with friends, 

 went to the city prison andbegged for a chance 

 to- sleep in a prison cell, which was given 

 him. 



Laborer.i will work on farms at such rates 

 as farmei-s can pay. We must do this. We 

 cannot dictate terms. We must must work 

 or do worse — ^•n to your alms-houses. 



A LABORER. 



[The above is a pretty fair picture of the 

 condition of many good hearted laborers. It 

 is a sad thing to think that the laborers who 

 a year since had full employment in con- 

 structing railroads, arc now thrown on the 

 world without means to live.] 



^^Op thoroughly. I intend to plow my corn 



ground in the same manner, and cultivate 



-*•*- 



What can he Done? 



Editor of the Farmer: — Prices of produce 

 are likelv to rule low; and to avoid some of 

 the troubles which may follow, I will tell you 

 what I design to do. I intend, by good cul- 

 tivation, to make my lands produce about 

 double the usual crops. Last spring I plow- 

 ed my ground for spring wheat with a subsoil 

 (Double Michigan) plow. T bought Canada 

 club wheat at two dollars a bushel, for seed. 

 The laud yielded me at least thirty-three 

 bushels an aere. 3Iy ground was old, had 

 been accustomed to being shallow plowed, 

 and deep plowing brought the rich soil to the 

 surface, made ^fc mellow, ;.nd, in fact, never 

 was ground in better order to receive the 

 seed. The berry of the wheat was plump 

 and fine, ;ind it required good judges to tell 

 it was spring A^heat. I sold it to one of your 

 city millers at a price above that usually paid 

 for wbeat. 



Now, I state these things to show what I 

 have done by cultivating the land for one 



the corn well, and I am sure it will pay me 

 for all my extra trouble, and if I cannot get 

 as high price for my corn, should I desire to 

 sell it, as I did two years ago, I shall certainly 

 have a good deal more of it. I intend to try 

 the same plan with my potatoes — and, in 

 future, I mean to cultivate less gi'ound than 

 I have done, and cultivate the same well. If 

 I have more land than can be thus cultivated 

 as fast as I can I will put it into grass. 



There is no need of farmers hanging down 

 their heads and looking so sad as some do. 

 Our business Is to go ahead. If prices are 

 low for produce, we must raise more of it. 

 If labor is too high, we must hire less, pitch 

 into work ourselves, and cultivate the farm 

 in such a way as to reduce the amount of labor 

 required. 



The main staples of the West pay well- 

 hogs and beef. Wheat is down now, but will 

 come up to a reasonable price after a little. 

 But little corn should be sold from the farm; 

 — it should be fed out on the farm. 



May 6, 1858. G. V. 



Trial of Plows at the Fair. 



Editor Earmer: — I need not speak of the 

 importance of a thorough trial of the plows to 

 be put on exhibition at the next State Fair. 

 That trial can be made one of the most inter- 

 esting features of the Fair. Every farmer in 

 all this bi'oad State is interested in knowing 

 which are the best plows made in the State, 

 and their adaption to the different kinds of 

 work. W^e want to see the work of the dif- 

 ferent breaking plows; the deep tiller plows; 

 the ordinary clipper plows; the double Michi- 

 gan plows — the work of all the plows that 

 can be presented. Why cannot this trial 

 commence just as well on Thursday morning 

 of the week as later? I respectfully suggest 

 this matter to the consideration of Mr. Mills, 

 superintendent of the plowing match. 



I am told that the best kind of ground can 

 be had for plowing near the Fair Grounds. 



PLOUGHBOY. 



-«•»- 



Derre's Two-Horse Breaking Plow. 



Editor of the Farmer: — Some two weeks 

 since traveling in the central counties in Illi- 

 nois, in company with some farmers, stopping 

 a moment at Bloomington, we examined some 

 plows of the manufacture of John Derre, at 

 Moline, Illinois. These have the name of 

 the "Moline Plow." We admired their 

 workmanship and the scientific principles on 

 which they were constructed, by which they 

 were light, strong, turned a good sized fur- 

 row, requiring little power to draw them. 

 These conclusions were readily come to; but 

 some of the company could not believe that 

 the two-horse breaking plow could be drawn 

 profitably by two horses. Near Pana and 

 close by the railroad a man was break- 

 ing prairie, with two horses, and it was 

 readily seen that he was using one of Derre's 

 plows. The furrows were well turned, and 

 the ground broken was beautifully done — 

 better by far than plowing with the big plow 

 drawn by five or six yoke of cattle. The 

 mnn observing our admiration of his work, 

 stepped out of ihe furrow and his horses moved 

 on rapidly Avithout his touching the handles 

 of the plow ! In admiration of the perform- 



ance and of Derre's two-horse breaking plow, 

 we voted unanimously that the plow was a 

 perfect one — ^more easily handled and more 

 economically used than any breaking plow 

 we had seen. 



I notice that in the Farmer these plows 

 are advertised, and so much do I admire 

 them, that I have thought it not amiss to 

 send you this communication. 



May 17. * " 



D. F. 



-*%*- 



"Spare the Birds." 



Mr. Editor : — I was very much interested 

 in an article in the Farmer [in the Fcbrury 

 number] with this title. The statements 

 madcTin that article added to the convictions 

 I had felt before, that man ought to "spare 

 the birds," if for no other reason than that 

 they lived on insects which devoured his 

 crops of fruit, grain, and the young vegeta- 

 bles found in the gardens. But there were 

 other reasons which induced me to "spare 

 the birds." Their company about home is 

 pleasant, theii' music cheering, and their 

 habits interesting. I have noticed at times, 

 for several days, the movements of a pair of 

 wrens who have made a home within the 

 weather-boarding of my house, where a knot 

 having fallen out, a hospitable shelter was 

 opened to receive them. 



Of the habits of the wren, it may be said 

 that he generally reaches this counti-y from 

 the South by the 10th of May, and then he 

 loses no time in finding himself a home. 

 This is usually a hole in some tree, under 

 the eaves of a house, a crevice in some stable, 

 or barn — and sometimes in boxes which 

 friendly lads put on a pole or attach to a 

 dwelling. Wilson says on one occasion, a 

 workman left his coat hanging up in a shed, 

 and three days after having use for it, he 

 thrust his arm into the sleeve and found the 

 wrens had been there and formed a nest. 

 In his retreat, he was foUoAved by the wrens, 

 who scolded him with great vehemence on 

 account of his ruining the whole economy of 

 their household affairs. They make their 

 nests of dead twigs, leaves, grass and feathers, 

 and sometimes lay nine eggs, of a purplish 

 color, finely spotted; and often produce three 

 broods of young in a season. 



The little fellow hates cats, aud especially 

 does he scold when he sees them about the 

 garden, under the gooseberry and currant 

 bushes — places which he considei-s as belong- 

 ing to himself, where he feasts upon bugs 

 and caterpillars. The cat often strikes at the 

 wren fatally. A box near a window Avas 

 taken possession of by tAVO wrens. The nest 

 had been made and two eggs laid. Grimal- 

 kin lay in ambush near the window which 

 was open. The female wren looked in to 

 reconnoitre, and she was instantly the victim 

 of her temerity. It Avas curious to witness 

 the acts of the survivor. At first he sang 

 with great vivacity. Then he went off and 

 was gone half an hour; and returnii'g, he flew 

 to the top of the house, the stable and cherry 

 tree, and sung as before, that 'he might hear 

 him. He looked for hev, — stretching his 

 little neck around in evory direction. He 

 theu Avent to the AviudoAv and g-azed in sus- 

 piciously, siuging in a Ioav and melancholy 

 notOv He returned to the box nnd seemed 

 at a loss Avhat to do, but after a while flcAV off 

 and away out of sight. Towards afternoon 



