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THE ILLINOIS EA^mVIER. 



171 



ening was cleared up very clean, and 

 with the rest »£ the field sown down in 

 wheat. In 1843, the season of universal 

 rust, the old ground yielded 20 bushels to 

 the acre, of full grained wheat, 62 lbs. 

 to the bushel, straw very bright and 

 elastic, whilst every straw in the new 

 ground rusted, and not one grain of 

 wheat could be found. A few scattering 

 Blue Stems did not rust, but continued 

 the straw building process until the frost 

 bit them down. By this time the straws 

 had acquired the propoi*tions of small 

 corn stalks, without being unusually high. 

 The next season the field was divided 

 and one half planted in corn and the oth- 

 er in oats. The division of the field left 

 about half the new ground for oats, and 

 although they were well put in, and the 

 ground rolling enough to drain well, 

 every straw on the new ground rusted at 

 about two-thirds its height. The corn 

 did not rust, but produced an enormous 

 crop, two and three ears being common 

 on the stalk. The corn on the old ground 

 " fired," we suppose, for want of " vege- 

 table manure," as "plant food," to keep 

 up the sap, and complete the develop- 

 mental process. Too much water in the 

 soil prevents the sap from drying, and 

 the fiber from maturing ; whilst the want 

 of plant food, incident to super-satura- 

 tion of the soil, arrests the sap circula- 

 tion, by withholding the motive power, 

 leaves the sap stagnant and thus invites 

 fermentation. This will rust any plant 

 not aquatic in its character. It rusted 

 oats this year. 



We have been thus tedious in stating 

 the cause, knowing that if we are right 

 in this, the remedy will suggest itself to 

 every man's mind. 



Fortunately for agriculture, the "rem- 

 edy" is in the direct line of every man's 

 interest, if there were no such thing as 

 rust. This is it : 



1st. Sow nothing but early wheat. 

 2d. Sow it early. .-.■.-. 



3d. Sow it thick on the ground. 

 We regard these three rules an infal- 

 lible remedy for nine years out of ten. 

 If in addition to these, the soil is well 

 ventilated, by under— drains, by deep 

 plowing, and kept sweet by rotation, and 

 well supplied with plant food, the mine- 

 ral always predominating, the remedy 

 will be absolutely infallible for nineteen 

 out of twenty years. This is our opin- 

 ion. 



On very well drained soils, which 

 seemed to be balanced in the elements of 

 plant food, we have seen fine fields of 

 oats, free from rust the present season. 

 We observe in the economy of nature, 

 running through the whole vegetable 

 kingdom, that earl^ growth and earli/ 

 maturity are the conservators cf vegeta- 

 ble life. 



-••• 



jg^^-Putyour agricultural implements 

 under cover. 



: Equestrianism. 



BY CAPT. STEWART, LATE OF THE BRITISH 

 _ LIFE GUARDS. 



The Art of Riding. — Modern riding 

 is of two kinds, viz : military and jockey 

 riding, of which the former is the most 

 graceful, but the latter is the most prac- 

 tically useful. In mounting, be careful 

 not to allow your toe to touch the horse's 

 side, which would make him start, in 

 which case you would inevitably fall. In 

 sitting upon horseback, you must not sit 

 stijQf nor cramped, but pliable, for by 

 sitting thus, you avoid all rough motions 

 of the horse; your legs should hang 

 graceful and easily from the hip ; you 

 should sit upright, and your shoulders 

 well back. When your horse is at all 

 inclined to be restive, you should not 

 throw your body forward, as is usually 

 the case on such occasions, for that mo- 

 tion moves you from your catch, and 

 throws you out of your seat ; the best 

 way to keep your seat or recover it when 

 lost, is to advance the lower part of the 

 body and bend back your shoulders. At 

 all flying and standing leaps the rider is 

 most secure in keeping himself well back; 

 have the stirrup-leathers a hole or two 

 shorter in crossing the country than on 

 the road. 



MoDNTiNG. — Place the whip or switch 

 in the left hand, handle upward ; take 

 the bridle between the third and little 

 finger, the latter separating the two sides, 

 and if it be double, the hind half loosely 

 held in one with. all the fingers. The 

 buckle being exactly at the top, will 

 show if the sides are of equal length. 

 Carefully examine that the curb-chain sit 

 loose and the girth be firm before mount- 

 ing. If, in fixing the curb, jou turn the 

 chain to the right, the links will unfold 

 thenaselves and then prevent further turn- 

 ing. Seize a handful of the main with 

 the same hand, and with the other take 

 hold of the crupper- end of the saddle. 

 Take your position with your left side 

 toward the fore-leg of the horse, so that, 

 if vicious, he can neither reach you with 

 it striking forward nor backward, nor 

 with his hind-leg, which you are espe- 

 cially exposed to when standing square 

 with your saddle. Press the side of the 

 knee on the saddle as you place the left 

 foot in the stirrup, and spring up, chang- 

 ing the hand from behind to the pommel 

 as you turn. Sit then as close to the 

 pommel with the fork as possible, and 

 keep the shoulders well squared, and 

 never allow either toe to touch the horse ; 

 taking care not to lapse into the prevail- 

 ing habit of advancing one before the 

 other — to which the left one seems most 

 liable from the pull of the reins. 



Fall Planting. — A New Englander, 

 traveling in the West, says of an old 

 nurseryman who has been setting fruit 

 trees for seventeen years, that those he 



sets in the spring were indifterent bearers; 

 and remarks that his own experience and 

 observation satisfy him that fall setting 

 is much the best, aside from this consi- 

 deration-. They should be well mulched 

 the first winter, to protect the roots from 

 frosts, and the next summer to guard 

 from drought. 



Work, and Taint Not. 



There are times when a heaviness 

 comes over the heart, and we feel as if 

 there were no hope. Who has not felt 

 it ? For this there is no cure but work. 

 Plunge into it ; put all your energies into 

 motion ; rouse up the inner man — act — 

 and this heaviness shall disappear as mist 

 before the morning sun. 



There arise doubts in the human mind 

 which sink us into lethergy, wrap us in 

 gloom, and make us thiak it were boot- 

 less to attempt anything. Who has not 

 experienced them ? Work ! that is the 

 cure. Task your intellect ; stir up your 

 feeling; rouse the soul; do! and these 

 doubts, hanging like a heavy cloud upon 

 the mountain, will scatter and disappear, 

 and leave you in sunshine and open 

 day. : 



There comes suspicion to the best men, 

 and fears about the holiest efforts, and 

 we stand like one chained. Who has not 

 felt this ? Work ! therein is freedom. 

 By night, by day, in season and out of 

 season, work ! and liberty will be yours. 

 Put in requisition mmd and body ; war 

 with inertness ; snap the chain-link of 

 selfishness ; stand up a defender of the 

 right ; be yourself ; and this suspicion 

 and those fears will be lulled, and, like 

 the ocean-storm, you will be purified by 

 the contest, and able to bear and breast 

 any burden of human ill. :..;;:.. 



Gladden life with its sunniest features 

 and gloss it over with its richest hues, 

 and it will become merely a poor and 

 painted thing if there be in it no toil, no 

 hearty, hard work. The laborer sighs 

 for repose. Where is it ? Friend, who- 

 ever thou art, know it is to be found 

 alone in work. No good, no greatness, 

 no progress, is gained without it. Work, 

 then, and faint not ; for therein is the 

 well-spring of human hope and human 

 happiness. — Cincinnatus. 



Stenton's Improved Prairie Breaker. 



At a trial of this plow, in our town, 

 last week, twenty-four inches of prairie 

 was broken with tivo horses^ on a draft of 

 725 lbs, by dynamometer. We have 

 been invited to see the plow that has ac- 

 complished this heretofore unheard of 

 feat. It was manufactured by the cele- 

 brated plow maker of the West, Mr. 

 John Deere, of Moline, for Mr. R. S. 

 Stenton, of New York, the patentee <>f 

 the plow. 



The plow consists of two of Deere's 

 twelve inch breakers connected at the 

 point by R. S. Stenton's Patent inter- 



