298 



THE ILLIISroiS FARMER. 



Premiums for Mowers and Reapers. 



Illinois State Aorkultubal Socikty, 1 

 f I>ringfi(l(l, June 11, l>5.t. / 



TIic Illinois State Agricultural Socie- 

 ty solicit the exhibition for competition 

 and premium at the State Fair, to be 

 held at Freeport on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 

 8th and 9th days of September next, 

 reapers and mowers, manufactured in 

 this State or elsewhere. The society 

 offers for the best reaper, taking into 

 consideration its cost, its lasting quali- 

 ties, and the economy with which it can 

 be worked, the society's hirge gold med- 

 al; 2nd best, silver medal. 



The society also offers for the best 

 mower, taking into consideration its 

 cost; its lasting qualities, and the econ- 

 omy with which it may be worked, the 

 society's large gold medal; 2d best, sil- 

 ver medal. 



The Awarding Committee in Class 

 F. No. 28, (see premium list for 1859,) 

 will be the Awarding Committee upon 

 Reapers and Mowers, viz : Isaac 

 Evans, Galena; Andrew Devinny, 

 Hampton; Stephen Norton, Danville; 

 N. Smith, Lawn Ridge; David Lawson, 

 Macomb; Elliott Stephenson, Jackson- 

 ville; Bcnj. Miller, Newton; Felix Scott, 

 Chairman Belleville. 



S. FRANCIS, 

 Cor. Sec. 111. State Ag. Soc. 



jg^^-The Rat-eating Chinese could 

 make a fat living at this time, in some 

 sections of this State; and the French 

 glove makers (who make kid gloves of 

 rat skins) could find plenty of stock for 

 their business. 



g@^The blackberry crop promises to 

 be good every where; but in Southern 

 Illinois the fruit can be gathered in the 

 season, by tons. A capital Claret can 

 be made of the juice, sweetened a little 

 Avith sugar — not too much; and which 

 will prove to be a great deal better than 

 that made of sour cider, vinegar, poke 

 berries, and such stuff. 



>•» 



Jg;?3^ Jesse Frye, Esq., is now enga- 

 ged in superintending tlie building of his 

 Gans Plows in Detroit. lie says he 

 has made great improvements in thorn — 

 so that one plow will do all kinds of 



plowing. 



••» 



MiT.LET. — It W'iil answer to sow Mil- 

 let until the middle of the present month, 

 and especially so in^caseyou desire fod- 

 der, and not seed. 



Twenty-Five I'ollars Premium, 

 The proprietors of the Prairie Farmer 

 offer the above premium to the boy un- 

 der If) years of ago who shall raise the 

 largest number of bushels of Rutabagas 

 or Flat-Turnips on one acre of ground 

 the present season; the cultivation to be 

 entirely by himself; the quantity of 

 ground and amount of crop to be testi- 

 fied to by three responsible individuals. 

 The amount of seed, time of sowing 

 mode of cultivating, and time of harvest- 

 ing to be furnished by the competitor. 

 All reports to be sent in by the 1st of 

 December, when the award and names 

 of competitors will be announced. — 

 Those who intend to compete will please 

 give notice of such intention at once. 



-••,- 



Literary Notiee. 

 The Scientific American. — The 

 publishers of this widely circulated and 

 popular illustrated weekly journal of 

 mechanics and science, announce that 

 it will bo enlarged on the first of July, 

 and otherwise greatly improved, con- 

 taining sixteen pages instead of eight, 

 the present size, which will make it the 

 largest and cheapest scientific journal in 

 the world; it is the only journal of its 

 class that has ever succeeded in this 

 country, and maintains a character for 

 authority in all matters of mechanics, 

 science and the arts, which is not excel- 

 led by any other journal published in 

 this country or in Europe. Although 

 the publishers will incur an increased 

 expense of ^8,000 a year by this en- 

 largement, they have determined not to 

 raise the price of subscription, relying 

 upon their friends to indemnify them in 

 this increased expenditure, by a corres- 

 ponding increase of subscribers. Terms 

 ^2 a year, or 10 copies for $15. Spe- 

 cimen copies of the paper with a pamph- 

 let of information to inventors, furnish- 

 ed gratis, by mail, on application to the 

 publishers, Munn k Co., No. 37, Park 

 llow. New York. 



Late Frosts. — On Friday and Satur- 

 day nights, the 2nd and 3rd of June, 

 there were severe frosts in the north 

 part of the State, which cut down corn 

 and potatoes, and all the tender garden 



veuctables. AYe think, however, that 

 corn and potatoe crops "will not be 



seriouslv injured. 



•«. 



BucKAVHEAT. — This can be sown as 

 late as August. The middle of this 

 month will do as well. 



A New Enemy. 

 The first planting in many cornfields 

 in this county, and in the counties near 

 as has been destroyed by rats, which 

 are so numerous that they can hardly 

 be estimated. Thousands have been 

 killed in a single cornfield. Dr. C. B. 

 Ostrander, of Livingston county, soak- 

 ed corn in water impregnated with ar- 

 senic, and scattered it over his corn 

 lands. lie gathered up two wagon 

 loads of his dead enemy, and believed 

 he could collect as many more. Where 

 do these rats come from ? — Prom infor- 

 mation, we are rather of the opinion 

 that they have now left, to a good, de- 

 gree, the cornfields; and that the sec- 

 ond planting will not be disturbed by 

 them. 



Strawberry Beds. 

 • ''Rural/' in the the Chicago Press 

 and Tribune says : 



"Now and all of this month is a good 

 time to set out new beds of this deli- 

 cacy. The ground should be rich, fine- 

 ly pulverized, (use no manure;) and 

 plants set before or after a shower, or 

 in the evening, and in that case watered. 

 Rows four feet apart and one foot in the 

 row, where a cultivator can be used most 

 of the season in their culture; next year 

 they will produce a fair crop. Out of 

 over forty sorts that we have tried for 

 family use, we still adhere to "Early 

 Scarlet," "Hudson," and "McAvoy's 

 Superior." The first is of medium size, 

 very early, a good bearer, and of great 

 value to the "Hudson" as a fertilizer, 

 near w'hich it should be planted. The 

 "Hudson" is very valuable for preserv- 

 ing, as it is very firm, and also two 

 weeks later. "McAvoy" is very large 

 and soft, of mild, agreeable flavor, will 

 not bear much handling and consequent- 

 ly unfit for market." 



The editor has these varieties of straw- 

 berry plants to dispose of 



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SoKGHo. — Sorgho seed, sown broad- 

 cast, makes most valuable fodder. It 

 can be used for soiling stock, if desired; 

 and it can also be used for pasturage 

 for horses; and when they have eaten it 

 down, take them from the field and it 

 will soon sprout up again. No good 

 reason can be given why cattle should 

 bo starved in the spring in this country 

 — except it be that farmers are too 

 thoughtless to provide feed for them, 



when it can be done with little labor. 



,^ . 



Corn. — The northern dent corn will 

 produce good crops here, even if plan- 

 ted at this time. 



