w.-'\- 



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800 



THE ILLINOIS FA^RMEH. 



ering the fleece, •which is pulled instead 

 of being sheared. I have recently 

 weighed the fleeces from one, and it 

 turned out three pounds ten owices, (3 

 lbs. 10 oz.) semi-annually. The entire 

 yield o£ the Company's stock has been 

 engaged in the city of New York, at 

 ^8,50 per lb., from -which point it will 

 be sent +o Paisley in Scotland, for man- 

 ufacturing into the Shawls. I beg 

 leave to enclose a sample of my rais- 

 ing. 



It may not be out of place in this 

 connection, to remark, that great credit 

 is due to Dr. Davis, of S. C. for the 

 enterprise he exhibited in the introduc- 

 tion of the Goat to this country. He 

 was at the time, in the employ of the 

 Turkish Government at a salary of 

 ^15,000, engaged in experiments upon 

 the growing of cotton in the Sultan's do- 

 minions. He went out upon the re- 

 commendation of President Polk, to 

 whom application was made by the Tur- 

 kish Government, for the services of 

 some competent Southern gentleman, 

 familiar with the cotton culture. While 

 there he determined to procure the Goat 

 from its native wilds. The story of the 

 journey would be too tedious for my 

 brief letter, and I will merely add, that 

 with an expensive outfit at Constantino- 

 ple, a perilous journey for months, and 

 the loss of many men and camels, he 

 succeeded in capturing and carrying of! 

 eleven of the famous animals whose 

 fleeces in the shape of shawls are so 

 highly prized and coveted by the ladies 

 of all civilized notions, and for which 

 prices almost startling have been paid 

 by the wealthy. On his return home 

 Dr. Davis visited London, and exhibited 

 his flock, at the British Museum, attract- 

 ing great attention, an account of which 

 may bo found in the files of the London 

 Times of that date. They were also 

 afterwards exhibited at Paris. 



After a careful examination of the 

 whole subject, I cannot avoid the con- 

 clusion that the introduction of the ani- 

 mal will constitute an era in manufac- 

 turing, which cannot fail to result in 

 great profits to those engaged in it. — 

 There has not been a single instance up 

 to this date, where the Cashmere Shawl 

 Goat has brought at sale, less than 



$1,000 each. Rickard Allen. 



••» 



City Horticultural Exhibitions. — 

 Those arc increasing in our State. 

 There were exhibitions the present sea- 

 son at Springfield, Bloomington, Deca- 

 tnr, Galesburg, and Chicago. These 

 exhibitions will undoubtedly advance the 

 taste for Horticulture in all the places 



where they are held. 



— -.«» — . 



The Apple Crop. — The apple crop 

 of Central Illinois will be very light. — 

 Those who have apples will find u good 

 market for them in the fall. 



Premiums for Mowers and Reapers. 



The Illinois State Agricultural Socie- 

 ty, offer for the Mowers and Reapers at 

 the State Fair — for the best Gold med- 

 als, and second best, silver medals. 



-• — ^- 



Sycamore, June 22, 1859. 



Sir : — You will please note in your pub- 

 lication that the DeKalb County Agricultu- 

 ral Fair will be held at Sycamore on Thurs- 

 day and Friday, Oct. 6th and 7th, 1859. 



The Fair grounds contain ten acres of 

 land, enclosed with a board fence, eight feet 

 high, on the banks of the Kishwaukee river. 

 The Executive Committee are making ex- 

 tensive preparations for the accommodation 

 of visitors, and from present appearances 

 they feel confident of having and displaying 

 the largest and best country Fair ever held 

 in the State. The adjoining counties are 

 expected to be present at the Fair and par- 

 ticipate with us. Very respectfully, 



"W. H. Beavers, Scc'y. 



-•••- 



Report on the Experiment to Test the Fossibil- 

 itj of Transmutation of Wheat into Chess. 



Some two years ago, a gentleman of Bufia- 

 lo, N. Y., offered a premium of §100 to any 

 one who would give evidence satisfactory to 

 a committee to be appointed for the purpose, 

 that he had grown chess on the same stalk 

 and head of wheat, or had found wheat 

 changed into chess, in the natural course of 

 growth. Col. B. P. Johnson, Secretary of 

 the New York State Agricultuaal Society, 

 was requested to make the preliminary ar- 

 rangements, and appoint the committee, who 

 were to make the experiments. According- 

 ly, C. Dewey and L. B. Langworthy, of 

 Rochester, and John J. Thomas, of Union 

 Springs, were requested, and consented to 

 act as said committee. 



Dr. Samuel Davidson, of Greece, in Mon- 

 roe county, an intelligent and successful far- 

 mer, proposed to establish the required proof 

 of transmutation, provided his directions 

 were followed. The committee agreed on 

 the plan to be pursued, to prevent any mis- 

 take or deception, which was acceded to by 

 Dr. Davidson, who it was further agreed 

 should carry out the same experiment, upon 

 the plan of his own suggestion, upon his own 

 farm, as well as each member of the com- 

 mittee upon their farms. 



According to the report, it appears that 

 the four went into the experiment in good 

 earnest, subjecting the wheat plants to all 

 the mutilations of freezing and thawing, &c., 

 which are the supposed necessary agents in 

 this mysterious transformation; and yet each 

 Liember reports, that from seed wheat sown, 

 he was unable produce any other return than 

 genuine wheat, with no resemblance or kin- 

 dred to chess. 



Dr. Davidson, who supposed he had been 

 succes.sful in a previous experiment in pro- 

 ducing chess from wheat, in the present in- 

 stance (as well as each member of the com- 

 mittee) adopted two precautions which were 

 neglected by the Doctor in his former ex- 

 periment. These precautions were : 1st. 



To boil the earth, in which the wheat was 

 to be sown, in water for two hours, till every 

 seed in it should be destroyed. 2nd. To 

 grow the wheat in pan, so that no seed should 

 send up a stem from the earth below or 

 around it. 



These experiments not only satisfied the 

 committee, but also Dr. Davidson, who waa 

 sanguine of success, that wheat cannot be 

 transmuted into chess. 



At the conclusion cf the report, the chair- 

 man of the committee, Mr. C. Dewey, re- 

 marks upon the characteristic differences 

 between chess and wheat as follows : "The 

 head of wheat is short, thick and relatively 

 close-fruited, or, as it is called, close-spiked; 

 but the chess has no like form, but is a 

 long diffuse pannide, the little stems of which 

 bear the small and short separate heads of 

 the seed, rising in clusters at several points 

 along the stem; the small heads bearing a 

 very different number of seeds from the 

 separate spikelets of the wheat head. Add 

 to this the difference between the seeds of 

 wheat and chess, in their composition, mat- 

 ter and value. What a transmutation — the 

 plant not yielding seed after its kind! 



• We might add to this that there is such 

 a wide distinction in the botanical develop- 

 ment ot the two plants as to render it im- 

 possible for a wheat seed or plant to produce 

 a grain of chess. We hope that this care- 

 fully conducted experiment, carried out by 

 four different persons, in different places, 

 upon the plan laid down by one of the par- 

 ties to the trial will set at rest all further 

 discussion upon the subject. — Valley Far- 



mer. 



Met AMOR a, 111. June 25. 



Secretary of the State Agricultural Society of Illinois: 



Dear Sir : — The ofiicers of the 

 Woodford County Agricultural Society 

 were duly elected on the 28th of May, 

 and are as follows : President Jesse 

 Hammers; Vice-President John J. Perry; 

 Treasurer John W. Page; Secretary I. 

 J. Marsh. Our Society is in a prosper- 

 ous condition and all are expecting a 

 good time at our fall fair. Any com- 

 munications, books, or other valuables 

 which you may be able to send us will 

 be thankfully received, and rightly ap- 

 preciated. 



Direct to I. J. Marsh Secretary 

 Woodford County Agricultural Society 

 Metamora Illinois. 



Respectfully &c. 



I. J. MARSH, 



Sec. W. C. A. S. 



»t 



Editor of the Farmer : — To Mr. J. 

 R. W. — In your last number. Can the 

 underground pirates viz: the Gopher, be 

 exterminated ? Is there any remedy 

 &c. In reply I send the following dir- 

 ections and will insure him a complete 

 victory over the Gopher. R. arsenous 

 acid gr. ij. 



Directions. Take a potatoe of the 

 size of an egg make three or four incis- 

 ions and put in the arsenic. Dig down 

 to the Gopher's hole and put in the po- 

 tatoe, and cover up the hole — as many 



