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THE ILLINOIS FA-HIVEEII. 



121 



The Wlieat Crop. 

 Tho wheat crop has been principally 

 cut in this State-. As a ^enpral fact', 

 taking the whoie whole State together, 

 there m not half an average crop of 

 wlieat. In Southern Illinois, the wheat 

 perhaps has made a two-thirds crop. In 

 some of the Eastern central counties 

 there were fine fields of wheat. In Cen- 

 tral IllinaivS) in some localities the wheat 

 was good and in others .hot worth cut- 

 ting. Fcr instance, iii Baugamon coun- 

 tj) thete Was, probably, near half a crop, 

 and in McLean not a sixteenth of a crop. 

 In Northern Illinois, possibly there may 

 have been half a crop. On the whole, 

 we come to the conclusion first announ- 

 ced, that the wheat ^vill not amount to 

 more thfih half a cvhp Ufeie tiie whole 

 Statv5 of Illinois together. 



We desire here to make a few remarks 

 on the cultivation of wheat as a great 

 staple in Central Illinois. We have 

 good authority for saying, that in North- 

 ern Illinois, taking a feW years together, 

 wheat has never paid the costs of culti- 

 vation; The same fuct can be stated in 

 ^egArd to the cultivation of wheat in 

 Central Illinois. We have heard one of 

 our best and most reliable farmers say, 

 that in the twenty years ho has grown 

 wheat in Sangamon county, he has not 

 succeeded in obtaining over two supe- 

 rior crops. Central I^liriois ?s tlot a 

 wheat »ccuntry, and the same truth may 

 be stated in regard to Northern Illinois. 

 Southern Illinois, with proper culture, 

 will return, uniformly, good crops of 

 wheat, / 



We are impressed with the belief that 

 farmers in Central Illinois, who make 

 wheat their great staple^ will find in a 

 series of years, that they lose money. 

 We might go further and say, what a 

 distinguished stock farmer observed to 

 us, that in the long rUn a wheat raiser 

 will break himself upi 



The history of wheat culture for the 

 last few years, is readily given. Our 

 farmers had fine crops of wheat at a 

 time when European wars created a good 

 demand and high prices for it. At the 

 period referred to, many crops of wheat 

 paid expenses of cultivation and cleared 

 to the owner from $17 to §22 per acre. 

 These good crops and better prices 

 stimulated our farmers to increased cul- 

 tivation. They bought wild lands on 



credit, attached them to their farms j broke 

 iip tbe prairie and spwed it with Whfeat. 

 They "expected good crops and good 

 prices. There was an entire failure of 

 the crop. Last fall a greater breadth of 

 land was sown with wheat than ever. 

 There has been another failure — not 

 total as before— and prices of wheat are 

 so low under the stiite of peace in Europe, 

 that the crop. Will not pay the c-^st '^f its 

 cultiVaticn. In the meantime the interest 

 on the unpaid debt for the farmer's land is 

 accumulating, and to save his land, he has 

 to pay the money he receives for his 

 wheat, and the farmer's debts to his mer- 

 chants and his mechanics go unpaid — 

 creating general distress iniong a,ll 

 the. business roeri cf th*? couiitryl 



What is to be done? Do the best our 

 farmers can and the difficulties of the 

 the times will not be remedied for two 

 years. We repeat, what is to be done? 

 We say, let our farmers sell off* some of 

 their lands which they cannot cultivate 

 to advantage;— let them sell their crops 

 as^ well .^as they can: — and pay their 

 debts. Many a merchant has not money 

 to do business, because the farmer has 

 got his goods and has not paid for them. 

 Many a mechanic is in the same condi- 

 tion. Prompt action on the part of the 

 farmer will, most likely, save his own 

 property, and benefit thb?e 4hb have 

 furnished him with the means of living 

 and comfort. 



But we again_, repeat the question, 

 What is to be done by our farmers? 

 Central Illinois is naturally a stock 

 country. Horses, mules, cattle, hogs, 

 sheep, can 'be raibcd here with success. 

 Our soils produce corn, clover, the 

 grasses, oats and barley, AvUh scarcely a 

 failure. There need be no failure, if our 

 farmers have small farms and cultivate 

 them well. We were told by a farmer 

 who has been in Sangamon for many 

 years, that his crops this season, which 

 have matured, were reasonably good, 

 and that the prospect for the later crops 

 is fair. He said that in cultivating his 

 crops he always had an eye to the neces- 

 sity of draining his lands. He always 

 plowed them in a way "to deepen the 

 furrows between the lands," and when 

 he had put in his wheat and oats and 

 barley, he made furrows so deep that 

 water would not stand on his lands. The 

 same practice he followed with his corn 

 grounds. Ills lands were of the class of 

 black soil and level prairie;— and yet 

 this season, with all the rain which has 

 fallen on them, his crops are good so far, 

 and he has fine prospects for later crops. 



He 4id n6t beiifere thCrfe troiild be faiihd 

 bti.t few lands in Sapgamcn county that 

 could not be drained. 



We have said that Central Illinois is 

 the country for stock. We can raise tho 

 means to feed them with great certainty. 

 Our climate is good, and our soils can- 

 not be beaten for fertility. Stock bring 

 good prices; Where are there bettet 

 horses, muleS and pattle than are pro- 

 duced in Central Illiriois r Where can 

 better hogs be found than those of San- 

 gamon county? Where do sheep thrive 

 better? Horses and mules pay well — 

 cattle produce paying prices — hogs have 

 been raised at a profit for years — and no 

 branch of farming pays better than sheep. 

 It seems to us that the facts presented 

 in this {article, and Which must .be ton-: 

 firmed by all OjUr; fEirmers wbo have Jtteen 

 observers^ will show that the best busi- 

 ness of farmers in Central Illinois is the 

 raising of stock. The cultivation of 

 wheat as a staple is unsafe, and gener- 

 ally the cultivator is a loser in the long 

 rnn. The raising of stock is safe if con- 

 ducted with skill and economy. An^ 

 all branches of farming, in this age, for 

 for their success^ require the exereiseof 

 industry, skill and econbmj^. , , •.; 



We trust bur farming readers will re- 

 flect upon the matters we have herein 

 presented for their consideration. 



4»» 



STATE FAIR. 



The Executive Committee of the State 

 Agricultural Society met Centralia on the 

 21st. Thoy found the work upon the fair 

 grounds progressing well. The fence is com- 

 pleted, several of the buildings and many of 

 the stalls, and materials for other work on 

 the grounds. The committee of Centralia 

 have done themselves great credit by the 

 progress already made in the preparations 

 upon the grounds. The whole country 

 South is alive to the interests of the State 

 Fair. We shall see such a fair at Centralia 

 as has never before been seen in Illinois. 



The following is a minute of the proceed* 

 ings of the Executive Committee at Cen- 

 tralia : 



Meeting of the Execdtive Committee. — 

 Present — C. W. Webster. President ; J. N. 

 Brown, Ex-President; L. Ellsworth, Wm. Kile, 

 H. S. Osborn, J. E. McClun, Vice Presidents ; 

 J. Williams, Treasurer ; S. Francis, Cor. Sec- 

 retary. 



Subsequently appeared — S. A. Buckmaeter 

 and A. B. McConnell, Vice Presidents, and P. 

 Warren, Rec. Secretary. 



The subject of postponing th« State Fair was 

 takeu up on motion of Mr. Brown. 



After discussion, in which members of the 

 Board participated, and gentlemen from South- 

 ern Illinois expressed their views against a 

 postponement, and gave their reasons therefor, 



On motion — 



Resolved, That it ia inexpedient to postpone 

 the time for holdins the State Fair. 



The resolution was adopted without dissent. 



After the transaction of other ntinor busines 

 the Board adjourned. 



