^^y^'^'^^?^*^}^^^^^'^^!^!^^'^^^ 





..•••• m-' 



92 



THE iLLinsrois F^nnvcEn. 



60 (lays for working off crops andsteam — aftcr- 

 wirds, perhaps, GO more, for refining, &c., &c., 

 — as no doubt very much of the syrup of the 

 country around would be sent in for refining 

 Such an article is now selling here at retail for 

 80 cents per gallon, and those using it are be 

 coming every day more attached to it. [A 

 word to you printers; the most inferior article, 

 dirty, scorched, vi.scious and repulsive to the 

 taste, is making good rollers for printing — wo 

 are getting 30 cents for some sent us for that 

 purpose that would not fetch 10 cents for any 

 thing else, try it.] Thesooneryuu could report 

 to me for Mr, Ware the better. He thinks he 

 could afford to pay about four dollars per day 

 for steam priviledge, and would work up cane 

 for one half proceeds. 



Yours truly, I, A. Hedges. 



«•» 



The Mangoel Wnrtzel. 



Editor of Farmer: I have had some 

 experience in the cultivation of the lar£.'e 

 beet, known as the Manguel Wurtzell, 

 for cattle. It can be said in favor of 

 this root, that if the seed is planted in 

 good, kind soil, in proper time, it will 

 not fail of producing large crops. I 

 "would not be surprised if a rich and well 

 cultivated acre would produce thirty- 

 five tons of the roots. Cattle are fond 

 of this root. It will greatly increase 

 the quantity of milk, and add to its 

 richness, if fed to milch cows. It does 

 not impart, as turnips and Ruta-Baga 

 sometimes do, a bad taste to butter. 

 On the contrary, butter made from the 

 milk of cows fed with this beet, has a 

 fine flavor, like that of May butter. 



I do not suppose that our farmers will 

 go largely into the cultivation of roots 

 for stock ; but some who are curious, 

 and who wish to " try all filings, and 

 hold fast to the best," may try the cul- 

 tivation on a small scale. The seed may 

 be planted in drills, 12 inches apart, and 

 the plants be suftered to grow at the 

 same distance in the drills, and thus cul- 

 tivated, the ground in a good season 

 will be covered with a mass of vegetable 

 roots, a foot or more in depth. Our 

 soil and seasons, usually, are just the 

 thing for the Manguel Wurtzell, but not 

 so good for the Ruta Baga. 



low Piices. 



In 1849, prices of produce vrere (^uite 

 as low as they now arc, A letter Avrit- 

 ten by Hon. Anson Miller, of Rock- 

 ford, 111., on the state of agriculture in 

 Northern Illinois, in 1849, gives the 

 following list of prices : 



Prices of produce at Rockford, Maixh 

 15th — Wheat 45 to 50c ; superfine flow- 

 er ^3 25 to 83 50 per barrel ; corn 20 

 to 25c per bushel ; potatoes 20 to 25c ; 

 oats 18 to 20c ; pork $2 25 to $3 ; but- 

 ter 10 to 12c ; honey 10 to 12c; eggs 

 6 to 8c per dozen, will soon be 5 to 6 

 cts ; chickens 10c each ; ({uails 2c do ; 

 prairie grouse do ; 6moked hams 5c per 

 pound ; venison saddles w'th pair of 



i^vtiotttut^* 



Grape Culture in Missouri. 



Professor Swallow, of Missouri, re- 

 cently read before the Scientific Associ- 

 ation, in session in Baltimore, an elab- 

 orate paper, designed to demonstrate 

 the adaptation of the climate and soils 

 of Missouri for the cultivation of the 

 grape . He believed that the high 

 grounds in the south-west part of the 

 State were the best portion for that pur- 

 pose, though much would follow the 

 cultivation in other parts. Professor 

 Swallow thus speaks of the success of 

 grape cultivation at Booneville, Ham- 

 burg and Hermann. He says : 



"Notwithstanding the many difficulties 

 our vine-dressers have had to contend 

 with, and notwithstanding some of their 

 vineyards are not— to say the least — in 

 the most favorable localities in the 

 State, their success has been very flat- 

 tering. 



The vineyards of Booneville have 

 yielded the present season about 6,000 

 gallons, Avorth ^12,000. Five acres 

 gave a clear profit of 82,000, or $400 

 per acre. Mr. Haas made 1,550 gal- 

 lons from three acres. 



The vintage of Hermann was about 

 100,000 gallons from less than 200 

 acres. At one dollar per gallon, which 

 is much less than the value, it will give 

 a profit of at least $400 per acre, or of 

 $80,000 on the 200 acres in cultivation. 



One small vineyard at Hamburg — 

 Mr. Joseph Stuby's — yielded over 1,000 

 gallons per acre. 



The entire cost of vineyards, prepa- 

 ring the soil, setting and training the 

 vines till they come into bearing, varies 

 from $200 to $300 per acre. 



Annual cose of cultivation after that 

 time, $50 to $60 per acre. 



Ten per cent on first cost, $20 to $30 

 per acre. 



Total expense for each year, $70 to 

 $90 per acre. 



So that an income of $100 per an- 

 num for each acre is sufficient to pay 

 the interest and expense of cultivation. 



Judging from the statistics before 

 me, I would suppose all our vineyards 

 have yielded an average of at least 250 

 gallons per acre since 1849, which at an 

 average price per gallon of one dollar 

 and sixty cents, would give an annual 

 income of $400, and a yearly profit of 

 $300 per acre. So that the vinedresser 

 even in the poorest seasons can scarcely 

 fail of a handsome profit, while in good 

 years his gains will far surpass those 

 derived from any other department of 

 husbandry. But the profits of our most 

 successful cultivators have been much 



horns 5Q to-4^ j 4)reef :$2^Ala_$3* l-gr^ater. Mr. Preschel, of Hermann, is 



said to have made over 400 gallons per 

 acre for the last ten years, and an annu- 

 al profit of more than $500 for each 

 acre. 



Such are the favorable results legiti- 

 mately derived from the experience of 

 our vinedressers in their early efforts in 

 a new country, with a soil and a climate 

 unknown to the cultivators of the grape. 



All must admit that they are most 

 satisfactory. Even if our climate does 

 not become more dry, if no more im- 

 provements are made in the modes of 

 culture, and if no more favorable locali- 

 ties are obtained, grape culture must in- 

 crease very rapidly, and become an im- 

 portant element in our agricultural and 

 commercial interests." 



In our own State, wherever it has 

 been attempted, the grape has been 

 successfully cultivated. But it is man- 

 ifest that high grounds are better adapt- 

 ed to its cultivation than our level prai- 

 ries, having heavy soils, or the bottoms 

 along the courses of our rivers and 

 streams. Of the country best suited 

 for the grapes, relying on the views ex- 

 pressed by Professor Swallow, we have 

 sufficient to employ a large population. 

 The results of an extended cultivation 

 of the vine. Professor Swallow deems 

 important, as " the pure, nourishing 

 juice of the grape would take the place 

 of the vile, maddening compounds used 

 in the names of wine and brandy ; 

 drunkenness v.ould give place to sobri- 

 ety ; and our people, nourished by the 

 grape and its pure wnnes, would become 



as robust and hardy as they are now da- 

 ring and indomitable." 



Grapes 



The cultivation of grapes has been before 

 the society, aud someusefulinformation elicit- 

 ed. Dr. Underhiil, of New York, gives his 

 experience somewhat in the following lan- 

 guage : "I think vineyards may be success- 

 fully cultivated in the United States from tho 

 latitude of Albany to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 They arc; more sure than ajiy other fruit, for 

 they do not blossom until after the late spring 

 frosts. Tlie Isabella and Catawba are the 

 best varieties for general cultivation for the 

 tabic and fur wine. They can be grown in 

 any soil that will raise a good crop of corn. 

 The ground should betinely pulverized to the 

 depth of at least eighteen inches ;;nd uader- 

 drained. 1 make a trellis by planting posts 

 twenty feetaparlandstretcliing wires between 

 theui ju.st tight enough to give a slight motion 

 to the vines when the wind blows. Mildew 

 does not trouble me. I thi'ik this is caused 

 by forcing the vine to grow too fast with hot 

 manures, and by growing them in positions 

 which do not admit of a //re circulation of the 

 air. The vine need.s the fullest exposure to 

 the winds possible. To pb'ut them in posi- 

 tions where this cannot be secured, or to pro- 



