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SPRINCJFIKLD, JANUARY 1, 185«J. 



agi^Thcre is little traveling now except by 

 railroad. The city i^ nearly out of wood, 

 quite out of butter, has little money. Whis- 

 ky plenty. 



«•> 



|®i°"Some of the oldest citizens tell us 



that we have only about the same quantify 

 of rain every year. If that be so, it is about 

 time that rains should ccapc. 



T^i^sThere is a very large amount of 

 Chinese Su^ar Cane syrup being made 

 in Iowa this season. In some localities 

 it is selling fur twenty-five cents a gal- 

 Ion. 



t&'J. T. Little, of the Dixon Nurseries, 

 has 150,000 saleable apple trees, healthy 

 and fine, of varieties which have been proved 

 in Illinois, on sale. His nursery is also well 

 supplied with all the articles usually in de- 

 maud for the farm, the lawn, the flower and 

 the kitchen garden. His motto is ""Western 

 Trees for Western Orchards." 



-<•► 



)I55t»Chinese sugar is a regular article on 

 sale in Oregon, and is quoted there at Vil 

 cents per pound. It is not as good as the 

 Sandwich Island sugar, — not being made 

 with as much care. No doubt this Chinese 

 sugar is manufactured from the Sorgho plant. 

 Capt. Perry, in the account of his visit to the 

 Loo Chew Islands, says the people tlierc 

 make sugar of the juice of the sugar millet, 

 (Sorgho.) 



The Native Azalea — This is an inter- 

 esting shrub, generally found in swamps or 

 low land in the Eastern States. It produces 

 bcautilul and fragrant tufts of flowers in 

 May. B.Jj's frequently find upon these plants 

 exudations which are called Honeysuckle 

 Apples, sweet, cool and watery. This would 

 be a very desirable plant in the gardou. 

 They can be found at F. K. Phoenix's Nur- 

 sery, Bloomington, and almost every thing 

 else in the line of trees, shrubbery, and other 

 nursery articles. 



*—■ 



Weioiit of Sugar Cane. — Mr. Coun- 

 cil, station agent of the Chicago, Alton & 

 St, Louis Railroad at Williamsville, last 

 month, had the curiosity to weigh the pro- 

 duct of a quarter of an acre of sugar cane, 

 sent from that station, to the sugar mill at 

 Springfield. To his perfect astonishmont it 

 weighed twenty thousand (20,000) pounds 

 per acre; and it shows the propriety of erect- 

 ing sugar mills on the farm where the cane 

 is raised — a rule scarcely to be departed from 

 except by those farmers who live on the line 

 of railroads. 



I'ikr's Peak liold Diu^inas. 



The information •which is constantly 

 arriving from the Pike's Peak gold dig- 

 gings, is such that "sve apprehend a stam- 

 pede of those "who are not partial to 

 the dull pursuits of common life," next 

 spring to this new Eldorado. Some of 

 the emigrants to that point will be likely 

 to make moderate wages there; some will 

 not, and will find their way back to their 

 poorer than they went, som'e will lay 

 their bones there, and be soon forgotten 

 by their companions. We shall hear of 

 the success of a few, but Ave shall hear 

 of the poverty and distress of the many- 

 But still people will go — n"ven who com- 

 plain of the mud of the past month — 

 and will among the runs and streams 

 near Pike's Peak, stand in the icy 

 water as it comes from the mountains, 

 washing the dirt in their tin pans — a 

 work which money would not tempt 

 them to do in Illinois. 



We suggest that farming would bring 

 in more gold, to some industrious indi- 

 viduals, than this gold w'ashing, in the 

 valleys and canons of the Kocky Moun- 

 tains near the gold placers. The soil in 

 spots is said to be good; the timber is 

 said to be fine; the valleys are sheltered 

 from the snows and winds, and gold to 

 a "ood degree. The climate is more 

 favorable, at many points, than that of 

 Northern Wisconsin and Iowa, and farm- 

 ing can there be made a success. 



What we wanted to say in this con- 

 nection, is this: The wages of laborers 

 will be higher next year than they have 

 been the past year, and farmers should 

 take this matter into consideration when 

 getting in their spring crops. 



Proteclion of Farms anil Buildings Willi Ever- 

 greens. 



The discussions at the meetings of the 

 State Horticultural Society at Bloom- 

 ington, on the subject of evergreens, 

 were very interesting. It was shown 

 that evergreen trees, from nurseries, 

 taken up with care, and their roots pre- 

 served from the atmosphere and kept 

 moist, would live, when planted out, 

 with as much certainty as deciduous 

 trees; while evergreens, taken from their 

 native woods, and planted out in a full 

 exposure, in bad order, would scarcely 

 ever live. The impositions which had 

 been practiced on the community, by 

 tree pedlars, with such evergreens, re- 



ceived a scathing notice. It was also 

 stated, that the taste and demand for 

 evergreens was rapidly increasing, and 

 that this increased demand induced nur- 

 serymen to largely increase their sto«ks 

 and sell them at greatly reduced prices. 

 A committee was appointed at the meet- 

 ing to report the best plan of cultivating 

 evergreens, and the cost of the different 

 varieties, in quantities, and the probable 

 expense of starting protective screens of 

 evergreens. We trust that this report 

 will show that trees for these protective 

 lines of evergreens can be had at such 

 cost as will justify our farmers in procu- 

 ring trees and planting them out, and 

 thus adding great beauty and comfort to 



their farms, dwelling and stock. 



*•» ■ 



Sowing Grass Seeds. 



W. W. Rathbone in the Ohio Farmer, 

 condemns the practice of sowing grass 

 seed with wheat and oats. If with oats, 

 he says the oats will choak the wheat. 

 If with Avheat in the fall, the grass will 

 injure the Avheat. If the grass must be 

 sown with w^heat, it should be done in 

 the spring. The bestplaahe conceives 

 to SOT? grass seed is this : prepare your 

 groimd for the purpose in the spring — 

 prepare well and sow your seed as the 

 only crop. Then you Avill be likely to 

 find your grass well set, and you will 

 find the plan to pay. If you dislike to 

 lose the use of yonr ground for a season, 

 he recommends the following practice : 



In July or August make the corn 

 ground as level as possible with cultiva- 

 tors, and sow your seed, choosing: a 

 moist spell of weather if possible. Cut 

 up the corn at the proper time; follow 

 immediately, while the stumps are green 

 and cut close to the ground; pass over 

 with a roller, and your work is done. 

 _ .*. 



Ibr Wheat Crop. 



So far the wheat generally looks well. 

 Some low spots in the fields the wheat is in- 

 jured, and always will be so long as they are 

 undrained. Judging from what we hear, 

 there must be much less ground put in wheat 



the last fall, than the fall previous. 

 .«. 



Mr. Editor : — I have sown all the varie- 

 ties of turnip seed seitt out by the Patent 

 Ottice; and have found but a single variety 

 that is equal to our old White Flat Dutch 

 Turnip, and that was the "Rasp-Leaved 

 Purple Top." Bo you know anything of the 

 experience of others in planting their seeds? 



[We do not, except what we see in the 

 Patent Office Reports. The "Rasp-Leaved 

 Purple Top" is an American variety.] 



