SJ^WT 



152 



THE ILLINOIS FA-HIMER. 



Sh^ Hliuoi,$i |avmcv. 



-HN- 



springfil:i.d, October i, i85«. 



The Stdtc rair. 



The State Fair for IS.JS lias passed. 

 The history of that fair has hocn herald- 

 ed by the press over the land. It ^vas a 

 distinguished suceess. In some dep;irt- 

 nients the entries exceeded those of any 

 former fair, and in others less, but tak- 

 ing it altogether, -vve believe it "will prove 

 the most effective fair for irood that h:is 

 ever been held in this State. 



We do not believe that there has been 

 an cxhil)ition of Durham stock in the 

 West, that has excelled in numbers and 

 excellence, that which was on exhibition 

 at Centralia. The horse exhibition was 

 also excellent; and the shovr of hogs and 

 sheep was better than at any previous 

 fair. The department of agricultural 

 implements has been scarcely excelled. 

 There was some fine fruit on exhil)ition, 

 but the season has been against the per- 

 fection of fine fruit. The department of 

 farm products contained many good spe- 

 cimens, but was not as full as desired. In 

 the departments of textile fabrics, fine 

 arts, and natural history, the contribu- 

 tions were respectable in numbers and 

 some of great excellence. 



The plowing match, it seems, did not 

 give general satisfaction. Our opiniun 

 is, that if the manufacturers of plows de- 

 Bire a fair and full trial of their plow-, 

 more time should be taken for the pur- 

 pose than can be found at a State Fair. 

 A trial should be got up by the Agricul- 

 tural Society in some convenient portion 

 of the State, and several (hjs devoted 

 to it — so that a thorough and satisfacto- 

 ry trial cnn be made. We suggest 

 this matter for the consideration of the 

 executive committee of the society. The 

 plow, in truth, is the most important in- 

 strument used by the farmer. 



Wo have said that the lair was a suc- 

 cess. The arrangements of the execu- 

 tive committee were nearly perfect; and 

 they were carried out quietly and with, 

 out difficulty. The holding of a State 

 Fair in the woods, — or rather in a loca- 

 tion which dates its first settlement Avith- 

 in four years, was a new thing. Many 

 doubted its expediency and others pre- 

 dicted a failure. But the committee 

 who took in hand the putting up the fix- 

 ture for the fair, carried cmt their obli- 



gations in good faith — the Central Rail- 

 rood Company gave their assistance at 

 every point required — the people in the 

 region round about Centralia, lent effi- 

 cient and helping hands — the articles for 

 exhibition came in abundance — the peo- 

 ple were present — and the fair closed to 

 the satisfaction of all parties concerned.- 

 We congratulate our readers, especi- 

 ally in Southern Illinois, on the success 

 of this fiir. It will be an epoch in her 

 history. 



-«••- 



Seed Corn. — We again caution our 

 farmers not to neglect providing them- 

 selves with seed corn the present fall. 

 It would be well to secure several varie- 

 ties, — early and late. Much land re- 

 mained unplanted the past season for 

 want of an early variety of corn. The 

 experience of the present year will show 

 whicli of the early varieties is best for 

 this country — King Phillip, Early Yel- 

 low Dent, Yellow eight rowed Hint, Den- 

 ton or New Mexicnn White. A little 

 care now will save a great deal of loss, 

 trouble au'l anxiety next spring. 



Kkepixg Grapes. — Wo have seen 

 the fjllowiug plan fur keeping grapes. 

 ''Gather them carefully on a dry day, 

 remove all unsound or unripe berries 

 and pack thern in small, shallow boxes, 

 with })apcr on the bottom and between 

 tlie layers; set them in a cool dry place 

 for ten days, when they will have passed 

 the sweating ]>rocess, and then close 

 them tight and keep them at a Ioav tem- 

 perature without freezing. A dry cellar 

 will ansvrer." 



|,^S^We b.ave already seen good speci- 

 mens of Ciiinese Sugar Cane syrUp, — a 

 great improvement on the syrup of last 

 year. We nntieipate a su])erior article 

 from the Springlieid Sugar Mill, and 

 hope the public will at once make a gen- 

 eral thing of using it. It will be found 

 t.o be pure, clear — witliout the hundred 

 unmentionables which make up New Or- 

 leans molasics. 



The Ciiinese Sugar Cane is mak- 

 ing a l)etter crop than was anticipated. 

 FfU- the lust fortnight it has been matur- 

 inir finch'. The Springfield Sugar jNIill 

 will be at work in a few davb. It is 

 located at tlie ''Junction." The mill is 

 of sucii ciipacity that it can work up all 

 the cane brought to it. J. C. Depew, 

 proprietor. 



jgigi^'We do not believe that half the 

 usual amount of land will be sown with 

 wheat, in this region, the present fall. 

 We hope that what is sown, will be put 

 in well. The ground is full of weeds 

 generally, and the roller ought to be used 

 in all such cases. . 



Orchards. — The earth is in fine order 

 for planting out trees the present fall. 

 The nurseries of Illinois are abundantly 

 supplied with every description of fruit 

 and ornamental trees, and these have 

 made a fine growth the present sea- 

 son. 



J?©^The Macon County Fair was a 

 very successful one. The entries wer 

 more numerous than before, and there 

 were many specimens of valuable stock. 

 The address by John Davis, on "Anglo- 

 Saxon Destiny, " is full of original 

 thoughts. 



-«•► 



1EJ@=,The Sangamon County Fair will 

 commence on the oth of the present 

 month and continue four days. It is 

 expected that it Avill be a great fair. 

 AVe hope to see all the departments well 

 supplied with articles for exhibition. 



j5@^See to your young fruit trees 

 this month. Clear away about the roots, 

 and replace with har<l earth, so that 

 mice will have no opportunity to nest 

 about them. 



Ig^^In the south part of the State, 

 the drought is a serious obstacle to the 

 sowing of wheat. In this part of the 

 State, the earth is in fair order, and 

 many wheat fields are already green. 



j^j^=^Thc artesian well in this city is 

 already about 900 feet deep. No water 

 has been struck in sufficient quantities 

 to reach the surface. The company are 

 noAV boriniz; throuixh mountain limestone. 



^^^^Experiments for obtaining water 

 on the Southern route for a railroad 

 across the continent, in the region of 

 Llano Estacado, has failed for the pre- 

 sent. 



X^2k Abbott Abiel Cooley, the inventor 



of friction matches, died in Connecticut, 



lately. He was a great genius — a good 



man — but his inventions kept him poor. 



— . -<•• 



r'-^r--Early May wheat the present 



season, produced the best crops. 



