. >*7 ->! y» — "vr^rwiiin 



311 



THE ILI.ljSrOIS FARMER. 



In 1795, the price was quoted in assig- 

 nats. In 1801, there AVas a great failure 

 of the crops, and wheat rose to 37f. in 

 Paris, or ^2,60 per bushel. 



The corn law government charged a 

 powerful house to make great purcha- 

 ses abroad, and in 60 days 317 ships 

 arrived with 4,000,000 bushels of wheat. 

 These arrivals, by quieting alarm, check- 

 ed speculation, and the prices fell. The 

 averages in France, during the war, 

 were were as follows : 

 ir« c 

 14,26, or per bush $0,80 



1796-1800 

 1801-1805 

 180b-1810 

 1811-1815 

 1816-1820 



1841-1845 

 1846-1847 



13,25 



16,36 



22:48 



26,10 



19.76 



24,71 



Thus, in the years of war with Srance, 

 wheat was cheaper than in times of 

 peace, and for the obvious reason, that, 

 under ordinary circumstances, France 

 produces a surplus to export, which 

 cannot be done in time of war. For 

 the same reason, England, which never 

 produces enough for her own wants, is 

 generally embarassed in time of war, if 

 the crops are deficient. With the seas 

 open to each power, there is for the 

 present no prospect of an eflFective rise 

 in grain. — U. S. Economht. 



—9>~ 



The Corn Crop. 



Mr, Editor : — I thought I would, 

 ■with your liberty, just ask farmers to 

 look at their growing corn crops, and 

 see if there is any difference in the ap- 

 pearance of crops on deep plowed and 

 shallow plowed land — on land well drain- 

 ed and on land not drained. 



I saw specimens of the different modes 

 of cultivation as I came to town, and 

 I think it will be well if we take note of 

 the matter. Some of us will probably 

 live to plant corn another year, and if 

 "We cannot learn anything by experience, 

 we shall be likely to live very useless 

 lives. 



The more I see of crops now, the 

 stronger I am impressed Avith the doc- 

 trines put forth by the Farmer^ that we 

 shall need the use of the best agricultu- 

 ral skill to secure constant and large 

 crops even on the best soils of Illinois. 

 This can be done, and will be done; but 

 it Avill require industry and judgment to 

 do it. N. 



Mr. Editor : — lit your issue for June 

 our friend "Rural," of West Urbana, 

 says that the Keswick Codling, Fa- 

 meusc, Fulton and Whitney's Russet, 

 were unanimously recommended for 

 general culture, at the Horticultural 

 meeting at Bloomington, and the only 

 ones out of several hundred named that 

 stood the test. 



There is certainly some mistake here, 

 t is a fact I think, that four varieties 



07ily were recommended at the Bloom- 

 ington meeting, and one of those varie- 

 ties Avas the Wine Sap. I Avas present 

 at the Bloomington meeting and pre- 

 sented the Wine Sap as my favorite. I 

 Avas gratified that it passed unanimous- 

 ly. I make this statement lest some 

 might be led into error, and the repu- 

 tation of that best of winter apples, 

 the Wine Sap, suffer by being found in 

 a secondary position. The Alton meet- 

 ing also recommended it for general cul- 

 tivation in the State. 



Rural, of Macoupin Co. 

 WooDBURN, June 8, 1859. 



■»••- 



The "Manny Premium" for 1860. 

 Editor of the Farmer : — I am glad 



to see the notice of the State Society 

 published in the papers, that the "Man- 

 ny Premium'' — (Manny's Mower and 

 Reaper)^ — is to be given for a crop of 

 Avheat to be raised in 1860. 



Now, brethren farmers, Avho shall 

 have that premium ? He that gets that 

 Dremium, Avill not only get a valuable 

 one, but it will be highly honorable to 

 him. It will be the result of good cul- 

 ture, commenced now and continued un- 

 til the wheat is ready for the reaper. 



No common cultivation will secure 

 that premium. The land must be favor- 

 able in the first place — it must be work- 

 ed well — the variety of wheat must be 

 the best — the land must be drained — the 

 crop must be taken care of when on t' e 

 ground, and when it is cut and threshed. 



I hope that there Avill be many com- 

 petitors. Let us now see the best that 

 the South can do with her best land 

 and best cultivation— let us see Avhat the 

 Centre can do on her rolling and rich 

 lands; and let us see Avhat the North can 

 do, on her best lands, with the superior 

 working and tillage that Arvill be given 

 to it. 



This is a premium offered under cir- 

 cumstances and conditions worthy of the 

 efforts of the best farmers of our State. 

 Where shall that premium go ? I hope 

 to hear a favorable account from the 



Cextrk. 



■••<?- 



Raising Ciiickcns. 



Mr. Editor : — We often fail in rais- 

 ing cliickens. The hens bring off large 

 broods, and many of them sicken and 

 die. A^arious remedies haA'e been pro- 

 posed and some persons happen to have 

 used them successfully. 



The pip is said to be caused by small 

 worms getting into the Avind pipe; and 

 that worms are picked up by the young 

 chickens in wood yards or chicken 

 yards, Avhere they are said to be plenty. 



I have nothing to say about this; but 

 the present season I adopted what was 

 to me a new plan, and it proved success- 

 ful. 



When the hen came off Avitli licr chick- 



ens, I put her with the chickens into a 

 large dry goods box, so that the hen 

 could fly out, but the chickens could 

 not. There I kept the chickens for 

 three weeks and fed them on dry lood, 

 that is crumbs of stale wheat bread and 

 corn bread, and corn and sugar cane 

 seed, gro'.nd coarse, with plenty of water, 

 and occasionally I gave them very small 

 bits of fresh meat. Every chick lived 

 — indeed, none of them were at any 

 time unhealthy, and they are now six 

 weeks old and perfectly healthy. 



This little history of chicken raising 



may be useful to otters. Christo. 



««. 



Crops in England. 



We learn from the Mark Lane Ex- 

 'press, of June 6th : 



The weather this week has been of a 

 most favorable character in all the 

 southern counties of Englad — warm and 

 forcing, with heavy falls of rain at in- 

 tervals, the thermometer being up to 70 

 deg. in the shade at mid-day, with occa- 

 sional thunder storms. The crops gen- 

 erally have been pushed forward very 

 rapidly, spring corn in particular, and 

 grass lands having been greatly benefit- 

 ed. The clover now promises to be a 

 heavy crop, and, from present appear- 

 ance, some may be ready for cutting to- 

 wards the close of next or the be<rin- 

 ning of the following Aveek. The wheat 

 on the heaA-y soils is, if anything, too 

 luxuriant, and on that account, would, 

 with heavy storms, soon be down. This 

 is the danger of the present season, the 

 dry weather previously haA'ing been 

 more favorable for this plant than the 

 present Aery forcing weather — although 

 this appears to ha\'e been confined to 

 about half of England, in the midland 

 and more southern counties. In Scot- 

 land and the wolds of Lincolnshire, 

 there are still great complaints of the 

 want of rain, and the prevalence of eas- 

 terly winds, Avhich, with little exception 

 have lasted for seA'en weeks. 



A heavy hail storm passed over Spal- 

 ding, doing considerable damage to 

 spring crops. In the eastern counties 

 of Scotland, the farmers complain that 

 grass is suffering from the want of rain. 

 There was a thunder storm on the 4th, 



and copious showers. 



— ■ .«. 



A (inestlon. 



Mr. Editor : — Some men are opinion 

 that wheat turns to chess, in conse- 

 quence of hard freezing and thawing. — 

 Now chess is found in Oregon, and in 

 California, where there is no hard freez- 

 ing and thaAving. What makes wheat 

 turn to che.ss in these Pacific States ? 



B^^The s*ring'»it s\mptoni of wisdom in a 

 mun, («ay8 a French proverb,) is his being sen- 

 ei'jie al° Lis uwn iuiliea. 



