=5??^?;?S?fW4.>7ps^j^.TJ"Jiy«T^ ft. 



■;b^"v/-':- v--,^ 



a 



W^~^^- SlfT v. ::fv 



>^ J 



■^:/- 



148 



THE ILLINOIS FAHMER. 



and many otlier Lranclics equally as impor- 

 tant. 



It is too apt to lie the case with our young 

 men that if they can drive oxen and horses, 

 plant or hoc corn and potatoes, mow, rake, 

 pitch hay, shovel dirt, and liarsest corn, pota- 

 toes, and cider apples, kc, that this is about 

 all that is needed; but if you should question 

 them about yood plowing, composting, and 

 application of manure, the quantity of the 

 different kinds of seed per acre, their quality, 

 the best time, and manner of sowing, the 

 feeding and management of the different 

 kinds of stocks, the care and management of 

 fruit trees, the kitchen garden, &c., and 

 you will find that will tell you that their 

 lather never taught them anything about it; 

 at least I have found it so in a large majority 

 of cases. 



I think that the present is a very favora- 

 ble time to discuss this question, on account 

 of the largo number of men out of employ- 

 ment and the general depression in the man- 

 ufacturing and mechanical part of business 

 throughout the country, and I hope to hear 

 from some of your numerous correspondents, 

 what their views may be about it. — Cor. 

 iMass. Flovghman. 



mers with farms of forty acres, lend money 

 to thier neighbors who have farms of six hun- 

 dred acres. This looks very probable, and it 

 is known to be true. Yes, and it is true, 

 when they each began with their farms paid 

 for, the one having apparently ten times the 

 advantage of the other. There is nothinfr 

 like being able to manage ably and thorough- 

 ly what ono undertakes. We have but just 

 couimencod to tax the mind and the soil to 

 their liighest capacities relative to the bci>t 

 mode of tanning. A few years from this time 

 will bring about greater improvements than 

 the previous twenty years have done. There 

 fore be patient and persevering, and we shall 

 reap the results of the inventive age in which 

 we live. A. S. R., 



//•; /Ac Connecticut Homestead. 



Waste Lauds. 



■\VnO HAS MONEY TO LOAN? 





. It IS a fact that cannot be denied, that many 

 of our farmers, notwithstanding the light 

 thrown in their path, remain nearly stationary 

 without making any radical improvements. 

 The principal reason is obvious — to-wit : 

 they possess too much land. One half has 

 to run to waste and to weeds. But few oi 

 the farmers arc able to dofull justice to their 

 lands, owing to the very good reason, that 

 they cannot till so much, cither profitably or 

 scientifically. Land that pays nothing; land 

 that is worth next to nothing iu its present 

 state; land that is nearly a nuisance, from the 

 many noxious weeds it germinates and scat- 

 ters broadcast over some of our best farms, 

 causing quiet, snug farmers to be tormented, 

 harassed and perplexed therewith, and by the 

 miserable fences that enclose it. There is 

 more truth than poetry iu this assertion. 

 Many farmers of this stamp seem indeed desi- 

 rous, but know not how to win fortune's favors 

 for the very good reason they will not learn 

 when they are told. Farmers holding such 

 lands stand right in the way of their being 

 benefited by the improvoments of the age. 

 And to find u remedy for their very small in- 

 come at the end of the year, in many instances, 

 only make the matter worse by adding more 

 acres to their larms. This is their crowning 

 fault. If they would sell, and put themselves 

 in a way ofimproving to advantage whatthey 

 would have left, it would be a very great rebel 

 to their neighbors, who have to bear the curse 

 of their weeds, the seeds of which are con- 

 stantly spreading all over the adjoining farms. 

 It would save them also the very great mis- 

 fortune and nuisance of good-for-nothing 

 fences, and the (^iiarrcls that originate from 

 this cause. 



No man ought to own more acres than he 

 can fence properly, and improve to the best 

 advantage. Small farms, with a limited capi- 

 tal, pay the best interest. It is said that far- 



SUMNKII I'Ul NINO OF THE GkAPE, AND 



JS'ew Kociii'.i.iiE Blagkbeuky. — The fol- 

 lowing is from the Countri/ (;icntlcmans re- 

 port of the doings of the Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation of AVcstcrn New York : 



",T. .Salter of Rochester, was engaged ex- 

 tensively in grape raising — his practice was 

 very close summer pruning — raises fruit on 

 the spurs, and training his vines all over his 

 trellis — after the fruit has set, cutting off the 

 vine three buds above, and keeping off all 

 unnecessary growth of vines. 



J. Crane of Lockport, has practiced sum- 

 mer pruning on the Isabella for fifteen or 

 sixteen yeiirs, and hud almost ruined his vines 

 — he was fully convinced that the Lsabella 

 would not bear close summer pruning. It 

 needs long vines to keep up the vigor of the 

 vines. 



11. B. Warren of Gcncssec county, said that 

 winter pruning increases the vigor of the vine, 

 and summer pruning weakens it. As a gen- 

 end rule we do not prune enough. He had 

 grapes, kept till the Tilth of last month, in a 

 goiid state of preservation. 



11. N. liangworthy said the only reliable 

 way was the rin<icn( nj/atrm. All the other 

 methods require close pruning, and then you 

 must leave smne long vines or you will weaken 

 your plants. 



Mr. Johnson of Xaplos, said the grape rais- 

 ers in his vicinity had practiced summer prun- 

 ing with great iii^iudranfiujr; f,jr a time they 

 cut back to within two or three buds of the 

 Iruit — but did very badly. lie pruned in 



sjtring Avith great success. They have all 



abandoned summer pruning by cutting off 



the main vine. 



J. Crane lutd seen the bearing branch of a 



grape vino girdled below the fruit with great 



increase iu the size and early ripening of the 



fruit, but on t!ie whole he would not recom- 

 mend it fiir gencnd practice, as in tinic it 



would injure the vine. 



11. A. Langworthy had often girdled peach 



limbs ami could succeed in obtaining fruit on 



such limbs two or three weeks before their 



season, and nmch larger and finer. JIc had 



raised many bushels of such fruit. 



J. Salter of lioehester, thought the buds 



below the ^'n'ii<j" on the vine would be worth- 

 less. His practice frequently was to tie a 



piece of ba.ss matting around the vine under 



the fruit. This produced a good effect, and 



did not injure the vine us much as girding, ment" stores. — [Ed. Farmeu.] 



The girding method was generally disapprov- 

 ed of. 



In reply to an inquiry relative to the har- 

 diness of the new Eochclle blackberry, it was 

 stated by several cultivators that they will 

 stand the winter better by being planted upon 

 dry soil, where they ripen their canes well, 

 than on a moist soil, which induces a late 

 succulent growth — very good success had at- 

 tended the efforts of nearly every cultivator 

 of this berry. 



After a sitting of two days, the society ad- 

 journed to meet at Rochester in the fall, at 

 some day to be fixed upon by the council. 



The Wheat Crop of 1859. 



Editor of the Illinois Farmer: — A vast 

 deal of seed wheat has been and will be put 

 into the ground the present fall in this coun- 

 ty. W^e have devoted a great amount of 

 land to this crop. W^e cannot sow it all in 

 grasses; we do not want it all for corn, or oats, 

 or barley, and we cannot afford to have it lay 

 idle. The conclusion is, we must sow it with 

 wheat. 



The experience of the last two years should 

 be useful to us in putting in the seed for this 

 crop. Under favorable circumstancec the 

 crop runs many risks from the vicissitudes of 

 the weather, to which this country is subject. 

 It is a fact, I believe, that we have more poor 

 than good crops in this section of this State. 

 Everything happening right, we get a toler- 

 able good crop, — otherwise we fail. 



The extraordinary rainy weather of the 

 last spring season, seems to have caused an 

 immense growth of weeds upon our wheat 

 lands. Most farmers plow in these weeds in 

 the most effective way they can. In rolling, 

 they enrich the ground and make it light. 

 They fill the ground so full of weeds, that the 

 drill cannot be used. Hence the seed wheat 

 must be sown broadcast. 



Now, with unfavorable winter, or early 

 .i^pring season, with this culture, the earth is 

 in just the condition in which the frost will 

 affect the roots of the wheat and kill it. 

 Hence, so far as this practice is followed, pro- 

 vided the winter should be unfavorable — with 

 little snow, dry and cold — we may expect 

 much of the next crop of wheat to fail. 



We do not desire to alarm our wheat grow- 

 ers unnecessarily; but we should learn some- 

 thing from experience. The best thing that 

 can be done under the circumstances is to 

 roll the wheat ground, after sowing, with a 

 very heavy roller, and make the earth as com- 

 pact as possible. This practice will save much 

 wheat, I feel assured; and I repeat, that with- 

 out this is done, the chances are that much 

 wheat will be lost. 



Another truth should not be lost sight of 

 — the ground must be so cut with drains as 

 to carry off surplus water, if we should have 

 repeated the deluges of last spring. W, 



Note. — There is a drill that will work well 

 even if the ground is filled with weeds. It 

 is "Emmert's Rolling Drill;" works rapidly 

 and is cheaper than the common drills and 

 will last quite as long. It is strange that our 

 farmers do not make themselves acquainted 

 with the advantages of this drill. They are 

 for sale at many of the "Agricultural Imple- 



