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THE ILLIIS^OIS E^IIM:ER. 



213 



appointment fr'^m the Resent, Misa Ann Pn- 

 mela Cunningham, o the Vice Reu;ency for 

 Illinois, propones to commence at oiee a c im- 

 prehpnisive orgr'inization, iu the confident apsun 

 ranee of a hearty co-operation, in a Slate, which, 

 if it can boast no ilhistriou«t Revolutionary 

 antecedents, no Banker Iliil. Saratoga or York- 

 town, can clrtim for its citizens a share in the 

 common elorv as descendants of tho8e who 

 followed the Great Leader to victory, and freely 

 ehed their blood hy his side ; and can «1emand 

 fur them the privilege and the right, as common 

 recipients of the blessings of that freedom 

 which Wat-hington bequeathed to all, to unite 

 with those who would thus enshrine his mem- 

 ory, and those lofty sentiments of patriotism 

 of which be was the noblest embodiment. 



The movement of thi^ Association extend^ to 

 every State of the Union; and it is intended 

 that nil persons, every man, woman and child, 

 shall havethe privilege of contributing their 

 dollar or their dime, and thus obtain a personal 

 in'erct and ownershin in this one great ral- 

 lying h >me of the nation's affection. 



The name, sum and residence of everv sub- 

 Bcri^ier will be recorded by the Vice-Regent, 

 and a dnnlicate forwarded to the Regen', 

 "which will hereafter be trans^ferred to honks 

 that are to be bound and placed at Mt Vernon 

 and in the archives of each State, that it may 

 be known forever who purchased and consecra- 

 ted the H me and Grave of iVashington." 



Anj citizen who contributes one dollar, be- 

 comes a member of the Association, and by 

 pa'ving the same sura any subsequent year, 

 will he entitled to a vote at the annual meeting 

 ef that vear. The names of such donors will 

 be published. 



Lis 8 of contributors and of sums given by 

 individuals, associations, &c , legibly written, 

 should he sent to Mrs. William Barry, Rich- 

 mond House, Chicasro; and ail eontributiuns, 

 with a duplicate list of the namesof stibseribers 

 to Lutber Haven, E<:q., No. 42 Lake street, 

 Chicago. Elizabeth Wh.lard Barry, 



Vice Regent for Illinois. 



Chicago, January, 1859. 



The undersigned, approving the patriotic 

 design of !he Mmnt Vernon Ladies' Asaocia- 

 tion of the Union, cordially unite with Mrs. 

 Barry in her appeal to the pe iple of Illinois in 

 behalf of its obi>>.'ts, and will tnke pl-^-^cure in 

 assisting her efforts to secure their entire success 



William II. Bissell, 

 Joel A. Matteson, 

 John Wood, 

 William B. Ogden, 



Mark Skinner, 



■ •♦. 



Wants a Farm. 



3Ir. Editor: 



I have always been a subscriber to your 

 paper. Some years ago I came into into 

 Sangamon county, and pitclied my tent fif- 

 teen miles away from Sprinjrfield on a good 

 tract of land. It was then near one of tlie 

 great thoroughfares of travel. Since the 

 era of railroads has come and I found myself 

 off the road. This did not suit me ; but a 

 forehanded farmer came along, who it did 

 suit, and I sold him my farm ; and now I 

 want another; and I will just tell you what 

 kind of a farm I want. One hundred and 

 sixty acres of land will be enough, and twenty 

 of that should be timber. I 'would be glad 

 to have it somewhat improved. Tlie lay of 

 the farm must be rolling— rolling enough to 

 carry off the water. The soil I would' like 

 to be rather light— I mean in distinction 

 from heavy black prairie soil. I would like 

 the soil to contain more sand and less clay 

 than the heavy black soil. I want livino- 

 stock water on the farm; and I want it with° 



in one or two miles of a railroad and within 

 ten miles of Springfield. If I can get such 

 a pice of land, with the means I have, and 

 with my disposition to improve, I will make 

 it a model farm, and if there is as much as 

 you say in thorough cultivarion, I will make 

 crops all the time. 



Though I am now " foot loose," I have no 

 disposition to go to Pike's Peak or anywhere 

 out of the world to get a large plat of land 

 and slave myself and family all the balance 

 of my days for the benefit of others. I want 

 to make a home. I had a pretty good one, 

 but it didn't suit me. 1 believe I can suit 

 myself better. Now, if you can hear of a 

 place for sale that answers my description, 

 with a price to meet the times, I want to 

 purchase and to take possession next Octo- 

 ber, when I shall want from you fruit trees 

 and vines and shrubbery and ornamental 

 trees, to start with. E. D. Es 11. 



Our friend E. is probably hard to 

 suit. Scarcely any place can be found with 

 all the advantages he asks for. We will 

 only say that he is in earnest in the desire 



to purchase a farm. 



— — — <•» ■■•■■ 



Small Farms for Rent. 



Editor Farmer : 



Among many farmers, there is a strong 

 conviction that large farms, mainly devoted 

 to the raising of wheat, are, and must be, 

 unprofitable. Besides being unprofitable, 

 they are diflieult to manage, requiring much 

 hired help, and merely furnish- the means to 

 pay this help. I have heard, lately, that 

 there were many " llenters" in the country 

 who desire to rent farms, and that no small 

 farm, which has on it buildings at all com- 

 fortable will fail of beiu": taken at a fair cash 

 rent. 



All these facts' taken together, have led 

 me to the conviction that persons who have 

 large farms will find it for their benefit to 

 divide their farms, put up small houses and 

 other fixtures on the difierent divisions and 

 rent the same. A man, who has a family, 

 and is working for himself, as a general 

 thing, will do better for himself than if work- 

 ing by the day or month for another. The 

 owner of the land can have a general eye to 

 their management, and if the renter does 

 not please him he can make a change in a 

 year. I believe that a farmer, who has a 

 large farm, diflieult to mjmage, will find many 

 advantages in adopting the policy here pre- 

 ferred for making his lands profitable. 



In getting up these " renter's houses and 



fixtures," a little care will make them com- 

 fortable and pleasant, and sach will induce 

 good renters to hold on for some time. Make 

 your house for the renter comfortable. Se- 

 lect some spot for it where the ground is 

 high, and if possible where there i^ some 

 shade; have the well convenient; havethe 

 house large enough to admit of sleeping 

 rooms, an d^eood kitchen ; a cellar, if po.ssible; 

 have a garden. These preparations, started 

 right, will not cost much, and they attach a 

 renter to his home. He is a man, and 

 loves comforts, and HIS wife can appreciate 

 them. I care not if the house is of logs, it 

 can be made comfortable and have a certain 

 air of taste and refineojent. Many persona 

 compelled to rent farms, have as fine a 



sense of what should constitute a home, as 

 other men. 



I have been led to make these remarks, 

 Mr. Editor, by the fact, that there are many 

 large farms now, or have been in cultivation, 

 and the owners do not know what is best to 

 do with them, and by another fact, that there 

 are many persons in the country who desire 

 to rent small farms. I. S. C. 



Potatoes. 



Mr. Editor : 



I do not fail in getting a crop of potataes 

 every year, and in some years they are better 

 than in others, — but I always have enough 

 for my own family use, at least. When I 

 have more than I want for the family, I find 

 them useful for stock. 



My feeding ground is always dry. I se- 

 lect for this purpose rolling ground. This 

 ground I reserve for my potatoes. At the 

 usual time of planting I plov, and plant my 

 potatoes in every third furrow, and cover 

 them as I go along. The tramping of the 

 ground iu winter, and the manure left on 

 it, seem to suit the crop ; and when the crop 

 needs plowing, I plow it, sometimes twice 

 and give myself no further trouble about the 

 crop until digging time. I then plow the 

 potatoes up with a shovel plow, gather them, 

 aud put them into my cellar. This is the 

 way I raise my potatoes, and, as a general 

 thing, I am satisfied wiitli my crops. 



Griffith. 



What is to be Done? 



Air. Editor: 



The season has nowarri^ed, when we must 

 adopt plans for the cultivation of our farms 

 the present j'ear. The two last years have 

 been trying on farmers. Many of us have 

 lost our crops, and we must now save our 

 selves if we possibly can. What is to be 

 done ? We must so prepare our grounds, 

 plant our seed and cultivate ourx?rops,'as to 

 make crops despite of an adverse reason. — 

 This is the true science of farming. And 

 this to a great extent can be done : and that 

 farmer who does not aim to raise crops in 

 bad seasons, and accomplish his aim, will 

 never be a successful farmer. That is a fact 

 which will force itself on the minds of all 

 who will give attention to the subject. 



We have many farmers who have made 

 money all the time through the late adverse 

 reasons. They know that their fllat grounds, 

 unlss so drained that the accumu- 

 lation of waters of wet seasons will 

 run off with fait to produce crops. They 



know that we have five bad .spring seasons 

 for getting in crops, where we have one good 

 one; and like prudent men their work shows 

 that their kncwledge is worth something to 



them. There are flat farms within a mile 

 or ten miles of your town that produced 

 abundant crops the last season — wheat, corn, 

 ' grasses, Hungarian miJlet, potatoes, atid oth- 

 er things — not so much as they would have 

 produced in a more favorable season, but 

 good paying crops. These formers pay their 

 store bills promptly, and have money on hand. 

 They don't run up bills and then have to be 

 sued on theL:i. They do not carry off goods 

 because they can get them on credit — and 

 then when the money is wanted from them 

 they go off and purchase at other stores, 



y.% 



