»??f5;^!?^^raifB5B^?S?^!??5!^5R'5?5IBW^^ 



iJSPpjpiwiMWSiB"^ 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



f217 



Morrill's Land Bill. 

 This bill, ■which passed the lower 

 house of Congress last month, and is now 

 before the Senate, has received, on 

 motion of Mr. Davis, of Stephenson, the 

 unanimous approval of the House of 

 Representatives of this State. The bill 

 if it should pass Congress, and be ap- 

 proved by the President, will amply 

 endow Agricultural Colleges in every 

 State. We hear that the bill will not 

 pass the Senate this Winter; and if it 



does, we have heard it intimated, tha* 

 the President may veto it. We hope, 

 however, for the best. 



-••«> 



A Wrong Done. 

 A few days ago a bill was before Con- 

 gress in relation to preemptions on public 

 lands. An amendment was offered, provi- 

 ding that no public lands should be brought 

 into market until ten years after the same 

 should be surveyed. The object was to se- 

 cure those who designed to make farms for 

 themselves the benefit of selections of land 

 for that time. The measure was defeated 

 by a few votes. Capitalists and speculators 

 desire that lands shall be offered for sale 

 immediately after they are surveyed, so that 

 they can select all that are choice and sell 

 to poor settlers at ten times their cost. 



-<•► 



Strawberries. 



Farmers who hare plenty of ground and 

 do not cultivate a bed of strawberries, de- 

 prive themselves of a great luxury. They 

 are a healthy as wt 11 as a delicious fruit. — 

 Nor is it great labor to have them in abun- 

 dance. The plants can be had at any of 

 the nurseries and at very low rates. There 

 ought to be twenty acres of strawberries in 

 the market gardens near this city to supply 

 our citizens with this fruit. Cincinnati 

 gardeners make a good business of selling 

 "fine, large, delicious strawberries" at 8 

 and 10 cents a quart, and at these prices the 

 masses can afford t) eat them. 



Eurgreens. 

 No man in Illinois has had more ex- 

 perience in the culture and management 

 of Evergreens than Samuel Edwards, 

 of Lamoile, Buroau county. He has 

 cultivated all the staple and fancy va- 

 rieties, and gives the following list of 

 kinds suited to and hardy in this cli- 

 mate: 



•White Pine 

 ♦Au-'rian " 

 Caoi'Tian " 

 •Norway '« 

 Grey " 



•i-ofch " 

 American Arbor VKeb 

 *-ib--'ian " 

 •SwedibU Juniper 



•Vorwuy Sprue* 

 •Black " 



Rh({ Hiid whit* " 

 •n^-ml. ck " 



Rf d Cfdar " 

 •B-ilsam Fir 

 Parin 



T'Hiiiug Hemlock 

 ♦Iri'li Juniper 



Trai Ing Juniper. 



All these varieties succeed well, and 

 are worthy a place in extensive grounds. 



•Varieties thus marked are Tery crnamental. 



Premium Crops. — The Connecticut 

 State Agricultural Society awarded pre- 

 miums on last year's creps 5th January. 

 Corn, Dwight Hine, of Middlebury, 

 eight rowed yellow corn, 118 bushels 

 per acre; A^Tm. H. Putnam, Brooklyn, 

 110 bushels per acre. Winter Wheat, 

 Street Williams, Willingford, 24 4-9 ts. 

 bushels per acre. Rye, Edward Shep- 

 pajd, Portland, 51 bushels per acre 

 white rye. Oats, Jabez P. Manning, 

 47 bushels per acre. These are good 

 crops, especially the Corn and Rye, not 

 often surpassed here. 



At the late meeting of the State 

 Horticultural Societo at Bloomington, the 

 catalogue of apples was read, and members 

 were requested to object if they had objec- 

 tions to the fruit, as bad, unproductive, &c. 

 The result was that not more than four va- 

 rieties passed through this ordeal — showing 

 conclusively that some varieties of apples 

 were suited to particular localities, and 

 would not answer for others. Benoni was 

 one of the apples that passed successfully 



through this trial. 



-••»- 



An old mountaineer says that in the 

 vallies in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak, 

 as well as in the country on the Cherry 

 Creek, the winters are not colder than in 

 St. Louis. Miners were working in their 

 shirt sleeves on Cherry Creek on the 4th of 

 November, though snow was four feet deep 

 on the mountains within twenty-five miles 

 of them. 



The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 

 Railroad. — The difficulties on this 

 Rail Road have been settled. The com- 

 mittee on the part of the employees 

 have declared themselves entirely satisfi- 

 ed with the management of the road by 

 Gov. Matteson. The whole emeute, it 

 seems, was got up by the agents of some 

 of the bondholders, -who were seeking 

 their own advantage, and not that of the 

 employees on the road. 



Country homes are wanted for 



two hundred German, Irish, Swedish, 



African and American boys, from one to 



fifteen years of age. Persons who can 



do justice to'such boys, in all respects, 



may address E. C. Newcomb, Chicage. 



— .•* 



Salsify. — This plant is now excellent. 



They can be taken from the gardens while 

 the frost is out of the ground, Cooked and 

 dressed as asparagus, no vegetable is more 

 delicate, and it is peculiarly desirable at this 

 season of the year. 



JB^" There is more inquiry for Osage 

 Orange plants than we have ever known at 

 this early season of the year. Those who 

 have had no faith in the Osage Orange, are 

 among those now most anxious to get plants. 

 We suggest that on prairie farms, where it 

 is desirable to break the force of winds, as 

 well as to secure a good hedge, to put out 

 the hedge in two rows, six inches apart, 

 thus: . ■ , ' , . '-^ ■ ' ■ ■ 



Cultivate your hedge and keep it clear of 

 weeds. Let the plants grow two years, and 

 in the spring of the third year cut them 

 off close to the ground, and afterwards let 

 them grow. They will make a tight fence 

 and a protection from winds to some extent. 

 If they should get too high and you wish 

 to top them, do so 



Good. — The Moultrie Express is collect- 

 ing the statistics of the Chinese Sugar Cane 

 culture in that county. Many farmers there 

 have made their own syrup. Among them 



E. W. Brooks, 29 gallons; J. Ray, 10; Wm. 

 Ray, 10; J. J. Dixon, 20; R. Randall, 10; 



F, Redman, 20; R. G. M. Henry, 63; J. 

 Millyen, 84; R. Rutherford, 21; A. M. 

 Pheeters, 80. Moultrie will make her own 



sweetning next year- 



••» ■ ■' , 



Sheep. — E. B. Hopping, a few milos 

 south of this city, who has the care of 5000 

 sheep, did not feed them until the month of 

 January. This is decidedly fortunate, while 

 corn is worth fifty cents per bushel. By- 

 the-byc our wool growers have fine prospects 

 as we notice that wool -is quoted higher at 

 this time than at any time for many years 



past. 



. — -%» ■ 



Upright Honeysuckles. — These make 



beautiful shrubs; grow some ten ieet high, 



if they are in good soil, with a fair exposure. 



The varieties are three — having a general 



resemblance — bearing white, yellow and 



pink fiowers, succeeded by small berries. — 



When large their flowers are numerous. A 



neat shrub, not gorgeous, but pleasing. 

 11 



Syrup in Wisconsin. — P. Allen writes 

 us from Allen's Grove, Wisconsin, that he 

 made 300 gallons of Chinese sugar cane 

 syrup, the last season, some of which was 

 very fine. The seed of the plant does not 

 ripen there, however, and he will have to 

 supply himself with seed from central Illi- 

 nois. 



We hope our farmers have supplied 

 themselves with seed corn for Spring. A 

 great crop of corn must be grown in central 

 Illinois the present year, as we feel appre- 

 hensive that the wheat will be light. 



