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-frcV' ^•'Iv^^^v^iK^. 



218 



THE ILLIlSroiS F^HISIEII. 



Crops — A Movement in the Right Dircetion. 



Several of the Legislatures of the 

 North Western States have made pro- 

 vision for ascertaining the amounts of 

 the staple crops of their respective 

 States yearly. The object of which is 

 to prevent speculation injurious either to 

 the dealer or purchaser. At this time, 

 if operators derive to make the impres- 

 sion general that crops are ample, they 

 find no difficulty and in purchaing low . 

 After being able to control the market, 

 and they choose to find that crops are 

 small they can sell at high prices. — 

 What is wanted is, that there should be 

 some reliable authority in regard to the 

 amount of crops, embracing the cereals, 

 hoffS and cattle. These statistics can 

 be obtained every spring by assessors. 

 They can learn the amount of crops of 

 the previous year, of hogs, slaughtered. 

 &c. and they can also learn the amount 

 of land sown with wheat the previous 

 fall and of corn in the spring, oats, &c. 

 We do not suppose that an accurate ac- 

 count can be obtained, but we do believe 

 that sufficient information could be had to 

 be of vast service to the interest of Agri- 

 culture. We believe Ohio, Wisconsin and 

 Michigan have made a movement in this 

 direction, which should be followed by 

 Illinois and Indiana. Farmers pay most 

 of the taxes, and to ask a little expendi- 

 ture in increasing the duties of assessors 

 fer their benefit — ( and Avhich would be 

 of great general benefit) would not be 

 unreasonable. 



The Wheat Crop. — We have taken 

 some pams to learn the present state of 

 the crops in the ground. That which 

 is on high rolling grouad, or ground 

 which is drained well, looks very fair ; 

 but wheat on fiat ground, undrained, 

 and which has been saturated with 

 water, thawing and freezing all winter, 

 is in a bad state. The wheat in 

 many such fields which have been exam 

 ined, is thrown out of the ground by 

 the action of the frost, and tliere is no 

 possibility of a crop on grounds where 

 the wheat is thus thrown out. Our 

 opinion is, that less than usual extent of 

 ground was put in wheat last fall, and 

 much of the crop is already lost. — 

 jg^^'Our farmers can nev*»r be certain 

 of raising good wheat until their 

 grounds are thoroughly drained, and the 

 seed put in in the best manner."^^ 



Last fall the ground before plowing was 

 generally covered with high weeds, and 

 these weeds were plowed in, the soil 

 thus left light, and porous, the seed 

 sown broadcast; every circumstance 

 attending tlie putting in of the crops 

 was calculated to kill it out by, just such 

 a winter as we are now having. 



HuNGAiiiAN Grass. — A communica- 

 tion from Mr. J. K. Young, of Menard 

 county, who received from the editor of 

 tnis paper five years ago, a paper of 

 Hungarian Grass Seed, which came 

 from the Patent Office — puts a damper 

 on that humbuging story that a handful 

 of the seed was brought to this country 

 by a poor Hungarian exile, who after 

 delivering it to an Iowa farmer was 

 immediately missing, taken up by a 

 whirlwind or something of that sort. — 

 Mr. Young has now considerable seed, 

 which he will bring te us to dispose of. 

 We are apprehensive that the demand 

 last year stimulated unprincipled men to 

 sell Italian Millet Seed for the Hungar- 

 ian Millet or Grass — which makes a 

 much coarser and not by any means as 

 good forage as the Hungarian. 



-«•► 



McCormick's Reaper. — An effort is 

 now being made at the Patent Office, to 

 get an extension of the patent for 

 McCormick's Reaper. If this succeeds, 

 it will be most disastrous to the farmers 

 and a large number of mechanics of 

 Illinois, — for, it is understood, that M. 

 McCormick claims improvements that 

 have been for sometime used on all the 

 other different reapers manufactured in 



the State. 



M> 



Morgan Horses — Seem to becoming 

 quite popular in Kentucky. Mr. Elias 

 Dorsey; is breeding this stock, and last 

 year at St. Louis, Centralia and Louis- 

 ville, and other fairs, received on his 

 stock more than thirteen hundred dollars 

 in premiums. This is simple evidence 



of the high character of his stock. 



••» 



Country School Houses. — James 



Johannot has got up a work, giving the 

 elevations, plans and specifications for 

 country school houses. We are told 

 rhat is a most valuable work. If so, it 

 is much needed in our State, while our 

 people are building .school houses, they 

 may just as well build such as are con- 

 venient, and pleasant, as such unseemly 

 structures as we sometimes see in the 

 country. 



From wliat we Receive our Reveuue. 



The Auditor's Report shows that when the 

 last assessment was made, (1857) the number 

 of horses in the State of Illinois was 467,531, 

 and their assessed value $25,434,171, or an 

 average of |54 40. In the same year the 

 number of neat cattle was 1,351 209, and their 

 value $10,171,830. or 11 97 a head. The num- 

 ber ( f mules and asses was-s 28,882, and their 

 value $1 969,284, making $68 18 tho in .ividual 

 average. There were 760,602 sheep, ivjcluding 

 rams, valued at $881 126. or $ 16 a head. The 

 hogs numbered 1,893,685, and were valued at 

 $4 032,588. 'ihere were 173,580 carriages and 

 wagons, at $5,806,415 ox $33 45 each. Clocks 

 and watches to th3 number of 145,688, and of 

 the value of $881,000 were enumeratoi in that 

 ye*r — 1857. Pianog to th« number of 2,320 

 responded to ten times the number of fair flying 

 finjrers. "Gnodh and merchandise" were valued 

 a' $14 173,205; "bankers' property' at $3,729,- 

 940; •'maduf.KHurei articles" at $1,296,758; 

 ••m.-uey and credits" at $19,183,421; 'bonds, 

 stocks" Ac, at $752,621; "unenumerated prop- 

 erty" at $15 327,503. 



The foregoing do>8 not include the counties 

 of St. Clair and Moultrie, which are marked 

 blank in the report 



Sanga^non county ranks next to Cook; (Chi- 

 cago) and Peoria next. The total value of the 

 real and pergonal property of Cook, is $45,680,- 

 333. 



'I he valuation of Sangamon is $12,000,000; 

 of Peoria $9,867,000 ; of McLean $9,211,000 

 and of Knox $9,093,000. All the other coun- 

 ties range beetwcen one and eight millions. 

 <•• 



Great Western Railroad Traffic. 



We are indebted to the politeness of B. Stock- 

 well, Jr., Gent-ral Fi eight Agent of the above 

 railway Company for the f ILiwing statement 

 of the traffic ol the road for 1858. It shows a 

 great increa.-e of business on that p jpular 

 road, and will be read with nterest : 



Statif'iics of Freiyhf trauffpiHed oDei- the Great 

 Western liailruud of li's., for the Fear 



1858. 



A. gortfd iiitTch'dise Ibg 33.521.252 



Wlieil jbusb -l^oAiO 



llyo. " 'LY'd 



C..r, '• 16^3;U 



OoKts. " 17.133 



Hniley '< s.f.lS 



I'.itHtoi'S " £,.626 



Kloiii, Itig 10.' 42 



W liiskey, libl -.i.r.fiS 



I'o'k, '• ti,711 



IJe.f, " 40 



Al'ples, ' 1,173 



Lima an:l Ccmt- utbbl 2,7.H 



Lird Ibd 1587 



l.ard, t'ici-8 l.siu 



Salt. bl'lH 9.;il4 



.■< It, siii'kH 7.3(14 



Iron, lbs „ S,ol9.o7t> 



CortI, tons 1H.J7S 



DreHsM piirk l,583.2v!8 



:<nii(l. I.inieuud Cla.v iii 'oilk, tuut iX'-io 



Woiid, cordo l.tiiiS 



.Stwiie. f>tiR l,S8i} 



MiiluKaiid (lores. No 1,340 



Sheep. No S,(»17 



n..g» (live) No 113.695 



Cat tie. No .*.li,9!»l 



LiiiiibiT. Wnt 12,825. Mil 



■ liiiipbs iiii I l.iitbs .M 7.521 



VVu.d lb- 299,1 13 



C'Dttuii brtU'ti 5.920; Iti-t 2,bo7,Oll 



Kutiiies and teuderp 6 



(;ir u.s curs 29 



Illt.V, bHie.i 41'Q 



UblH, StiiveH, cur load.-* ]6rt 



Ice, &c 32 



— «•• 



Camels. — The government have forty 

 nine Camels near St. Antonio, Texas — 

 ten of which are quite young. 



