■*^i»V-)«5K:3E^K|^f^.^'!>?«:?y-";; .x-"?t?'T .^/'.vl^'^'-|.' *-■ . /^.f .y^''^'j^jBMMjpr-^?^s^'^!gig!gy5»^ 



THE ILLI:^^OIS farmer. 



167 



the conclusion that it won't pay. But 

 depend upon it there was a screw loose 

 somewhere. Thej have either had an 

 inferior flock or they were badly man- 

 aged. There is a great difference in 

 sheep, probably more than in any other 

 stock. While some flocks will shear but 

 2 to 3 lbs of inferior wool, I know of 

 others that will cut from 4 to 5 lbs of 

 fine wool. So any one can readily see 

 that it is an important matter to start 

 right if they expect to succeed ; and I 

 will remark hci'e that if any person in- 

 tends to commence the business they 

 must give their flock the care and atten- 

 tion that they require, or they had bet- 

 ter let it alone. 



The estimate I shall mak-e is upon 

 such sheep as are kept in our large fine 

 wooled flocks of Sangamon county. 



EXPENSE^!. 



To 4000 bushels of com ac 20 cts. . $800,00 

 To Shephe'd and hoard for one year . 354,00 

 To washing and sheariag at Sets p. head 80 00 

 To six barrels of salt at 3 per lb. . 18,00 

 To int'st on capital invested at 10 p. ct. 300,00 



$1,552,00 

 RECEIPTS FROM SHEEP. 

 4000 Iba of wo>l at 40 cts. . . |l6fl0.00 

 800 laoibs at $2 50 per head . 2000,00 



Deduct expenses 



?3600.00 

 1552,00 



Leaving a balance of $2048,00 



The above estimate may be considered 

 outside of the mark by some, but to such 

 I will say give it a fair trial and I will 

 guarantee that you will raise less wheat 

 and grow more wool. 



A. B. McCONNELL. 



Springfield, Oct. 25, 1858. 



' ••» 



Beginning the World. 



Many an unwise parent labors hard 

 and lives sparingly all his life, for the 

 purpose of leaving enough to give his 

 children a start in the world, as it is 

 called. Setting a young man afloat 

 with money left him by his relatives, is 

 like tying bladders under the arms of 

 one Avho cannot swim : ten chances to 

 one he will lose his bladders and go to 

 the bottom. Teach him to swim, and 

 he will never need the bladders. Give 

 your child a sound education, and you 

 have done enough for him. See to it 

 that his morals are pure, his mind culti- 

 vated, and his whole nature subservient 

 to the laws which govern men, and you 

 have given what will be of more value 

 than the Indies. To be thrown upon 

 his own resources, is to be cast into the 

 very lap of fortune, for our faculties 

 then undergo a development, and dis- 

 play an energy, of which they were pre- 

 viously unsusceptible. 



— ••• — ' 



Texan Wild Grasses.— A corres- 

 pondent writes that " two species are 

 most esteemed above all others, and 



greatly sought after by stock. Mesquit 

 grass is found after leaving the low 

 country in great abundance. It is short, 

 very fine and nearly matted, sweet and 

 tender. Cattle, horses and hogs eat it 

 greedily. Grama grass is longer, 

 coarser, and more plenty in dry locali- 

 ties. Its value for stock of all kinds is 

 very great, and some graziers prefer it 

 to the mesquit." ^:\; 



— ^ '-—»- — '■ — — - — ' 



l!@°'The grain crop of Europe for 

 1858 is fully reported in the English 

 papevs, from which the following state- 

 ment has been condensed by the Boston 

 Journal : . ' 



" In the following countries bordering 

 upon the Mediterranean the crop is var- 

 iously reported, but upon the whole may 

 be regarded as equal to, if not exceed- 

 ing, an average. Egypt will furnish a 

 full average. Spain and Portugal will 

 not require any supplies from other 

 countries. In Belgium and Holland 

 there is an average crop, while in the 

 Baltic regions, including Northern Ger- 

 many and Western Russia, the yield is 

 below an average, although high prices 

 may induce exports to some extent. In 

 France there is a fair crop of wheat and 

 rye, oats being inferior. The cereal 

 crop of England exceeds the average, 

 and a portion of the extraordmary wheat 

 yield of last year still remains in the 

 hands of farmers, to be added to this 

 y-ear's harvest. Other breadstuffs are 

 somewhat under the average. In Ire- 

 land all kinds of produce are abundant, 

 compared with recent years. The wheat 

 crop of Scotland is excellent, other crops 

 being medium, and possibly below. On 

 the whole, the United Kingdom will this 

 year require smaller imports of grain 

 than in ordinary seasons. The supply- 

 ing power of Central Russia is not yet 

 determined." 



'■«•>- 



Pine Tree Culture. — Major Phin- 

 ney, of Barnstable, Mass., has been 

 very successful in the cultivation of pine 

 trees from the seed. Eleven years ago 

 he planted ten acres of wornout and 

 otherwise useless land, the soil of which 

 was productive of little else than lichens, 

 with seed from the pine cone, and the 

 result is that now he has a vigorous 

 young forest of pines, the average height 

 of which is twenty feet, with trunks 

 from three to six inches in diameter. 



California Fruits. — Some of the 

 fruits exhibited at the California State 

 fair were extraordinary. Among them 

 Avere a pear weighing four lbs., a bunch 

 of grapes weighing fourteen lbs., an 

 apple weighing two lbs. three ounces, a 

 peach measuring twelve and one-half, 

 and a strawberry six and one-half inches 

 in circumference. 



Sugar from the Chinese Sugar 

 Cane. — Josiah Sawyer, of Tremont, 

 who took the first premium of the State 

 Agricultural Society, on Chinese Sugar 

 Cane Syrup, entered for exhibition at 

 the late fair in Tazewell specimens of 

 both sugar and syrup. The committee 

 appointed to examine the articles, say : 



Two specimens of sugar manufactured 

 from the Chinese sugar can, by Josiah 

 Sawyer. Although there was not 

 eno gh presented to ensure a premium, 

 still, we found one specimen, marked by 

 the manufacturer, No. 2. well worthy of 

 the first premium. That marked No. 1, 

 is a fair specimen of good sugar. A 

 specimen of maple sugar was examined, 

 which was deemed a good, but not a 

 prime article. . /'■;-'. 



Mr. Sawyer gave the following speci- 

 fications of the manner in which the 

 syrup and sugar were made : 



The samples of Chinese sugar cane 

 syrup and sugar herewith presented 

 were made as follows : 



Sample No. 1, of syrup. Immediate- 

 ly after the juice' was expressed, it was 

 clarified with milk and eggs and boiled 

 down to syrup without further prepara- 

 tion. 



Sample No. 2. Pursued the same 

 course, with the addition of two table 

 spoonsful of lime water to every two and 

 a half gallons of juice. 



Sample of sugar No. 1. Pursued the 

 same course as with No. 2 syrup, with 

 the addition of two ounces of ivory black 

 to the gallon of syrup, and it commen- 

 ced to granulate soon after it became 

 cool. - ■ - '" ■ : ;.-\-; -•■•::.■ ■■■.■•-„■.„ . 



Sample No. 2. Treated as No, 1, 

 with the addition of a small solution of 

 nut galls. It began to granulate in 

 about three days, and about half sugar 

 and the other syrup. J. Sawyer. 



mt 



Things Lost Forever. — The follow- 

 ing words from the pen of Lydia H. 

 Sigourney, are full of instructive mean- 

 ing: 



" Lost wealth may be restored by in- 

 dustry ; the wreck of health regained by 

 temperance; forgotten knowledge re- 

 stored by study ; alienated friendship 

 smoothed into forgetfulness ; even for- 

 feited reputation won by patience and 

 virtue ; but who ever looked irpon his 

 vanished hours, recalled his slighted 

 years, stamped them with wisdom), or ef- 

 faced from Heaven's record the fearful 

 blot of wasted time? The footprint on 

 the sand is washed out by the ocean 

 waVe ; and easier might we, when years 

 are fled, find that footprint than recall 

 lost hours." 



j|@=='Specimen8 of molasses and sugar 

 from the juice of the Chinese sugar cane, 

 were exhibited at the Rockford fair. 



