i-yirT^T^ 



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THE ILLIiS^OlS F^I^MER 



anu it is an obvious truth that the young 

 farmers of the present day are given 

 to investigation, and are using mind 

 With as much advantage as muscle, in 

 carrying on successful farming. 



We venture to say, that witli right 

 views, no young farmer — or old farmer 

 — can attend our State or County Fairs, 

 and not find himself richly rcumnerated 

 for the time and money spent on such 

 occasions. 



•'Manny Premium" fi»r Twenty Acres Win- 

 ter What, ihe Growth of le*6l). 



Office or Con. Sko. Ill State An. SnnvTT. 1 



Spriiisflfld, July I'J, IfcS'J. J 



To the Farmers of Illinois. 



Fur the purpo e of stimulating the enterpris- 

 ing faroiera of Illinnis, to produce, by proper 

 and iinprove'l cultivation, large crops of 'theat, 

 from year to year regul.n-ly, upon a givei. 

 qaantity of land, Messrs. Tulcott, Emerson & 

 Co., of Rockford. have donated to the State 

 Agricultural Society a "Manny's Combined 

 lleaper an' Mo'ver" — to be made in the best 

 possible manner. 



In order that this magnificent premium may 

 be productive of the must gojd, it is oflfercd for 

 the bfSt crop of winter wheat, to ba grown 0:1 

 twenty acrtsof land in Illinois, and to be har- 

 vested iu 18G0. 



The object of publishing this notice at this 

 early period is tOMtiuiulate the investigation by 

 our farmers, accompanied by experimenta, of 

 the best course of culture to secure good crop-*, 

 if popsiole irrespective of the sens'tns being 

 what are commonly called favorable, or not. 

 It is not de.sired to award tlii.s premium on who- 

 ever chances to have the be^t fidd, by acci- 

 dent, but to encourage investigation?, to try tiie 

 effect of frequent plowings of the land— ol 

 deop^ub-a>il pl)vving— of alternating crors — 

 of surface draining — of underdraiuing~of thor- 

 ough harrovvir.g — uf bro.idjast and drill s )\v- 

 in^ — oi rolliog the ground aiter tjowing. It is 

 desired also to exjieriment with the different 

 kill-is of wheit, now nuinorou^ — and the beno- 

 tit>j of ofiOii changing the -eed. 



Ill a word, the object of thi< pretniuin in io 

 induce thorough eultivation, and secure a basis 

 on which a system of cultivali )n can be iiiaug- 

 uraied by v^hioh go.id crups ol wiicat can gen- 

 erally bo secured by a tlior.iugh system ol cul- 

 tivation. 



l'rogres^sive farmerd will appreciate tlu mo- 

 tives of Mo.-srd. Talcott, £mer-on &, Co., i.' 

 au'horizing the Slat-* S^ ciety to award ihit< 

 premium; and, we are eontident tliey will t ike 

 such measures to secure the rich prize as wili 

 be of vaht Wt^netit hi reaiier to the iurmers ol 

 Illinois, a'.d to the interests of the S^ate, do 

 pending upon their sue-ress. S Fhancis, 

 Cor l5e>'. Ill State Ag. Society 



fiS^It is linped that every paper in Illinois, 

 agricultural y)'ditical and religious wili speed- 

 ily publish the above notice. 



■ — ••• 



To the Farmers of l>lin<ils. 



I am authorized by the PicNident (d' tiie lili- 

 no s Sti.te Agiiciihural S eiety, to atmounee 

 that tiiC largo tent of tiie S :ciety will be at 



your service, to be occupied each evening dti- 

 ring tiie fair in diwcu-siog m.-.tters cunnectfd 

 with your interest-'. Tlie first meeting will be 

 held Tuesday evening, the Gih of September, 

 at 7^ o'clock p M., and each evening thereafter 

 during the fair. Subject,Tuesday evening, Chi- 

 nese and Afiiean sucar canes; their culti.re and 

 value f)r sugar, syrup and forage. 



S. Francis, 

 Cor.S?c Stite Ag. S oiety. 



Wc arc infurmel in additim to thfi nbove, 



that an effort will be made t > secure the read- 

 inji of brief, practical papers, on the liest meth- 

 od for the manufacture of the cane into syrup 

 and sugar, from men qualified to give infor- 

 mation. 



Premium Crop of Whrat for ISfiO. 



Wc invite attention to the notice of a pre- 

 mium (Mannys' Reaper) for the best twenty 

 acres of winter AVhcat to be harvested in 

 18G0. The premium lias been olTercd thus 

 early to secure the best cultivation of a crop 

 of wheat for the premium. Hitherto the 

 premiums have been ottered after the seed 

 was in the jrround, and probably not a field 

 was sown with the special design, to obtain 

 by improved cultivation, a great crop. There 

 is now ample time to secure, by good culti- 

 vation, a premium crop of wheat. 



If a farmer believes he can make a crop 

 by half plowing bis ground once; by sowing 

 shrunk wheat broadcast over his cround 

 filled with weeds; half harrowing it in; leav- 

 ing the ground so that water will stand in 

 the furrows and on the low places all winter 

 and spring — and perhaps not sow his wheat 

 till October; he will jro on in that old mode 

 of cultivation; for such a farmer jirobably 

 never takes an agricultural paper, and has 

 an entire contempt for book farming. Such 

 farming will be likely to produce just such 

 crops as we have seen this year — weeds and 

 cheat. A premium crop cannot be made by 

 such fanninir. 



But if a flirmer will commence now and 

 give his land a thorough deep plowing, (he 

 should bare done it before;) — if he will plow 

 it the second time, harrow it well, drill in 

 his seed in season; roll the ground after seed- 

 ing; see to it that the ditches are all right — 

 that the w^ater does ' not stand upon the 

 ground — the prospect will be fair for a good 

 crop, and that the JMauiiy premium may, in 

 time, be his. 



Nothing can be expected in the way of 

 securing the Manny I'rcmiuiu by slovenly 

 culture. Every success may be expected 

 from thorough cultivation. We anticipate 

 an exciting coiuputition for the "Manny 

 I'rcmiuiii." \\'\\■^i county will take it t AVe 

 know tliat cllort.s will bo made to obtain it in 

 Sangamon and Morgan. 



Wheat. 



The wheat crop in this section of the State 

 is of good (juality, but lacks in([uantity. A 

 good deal of it was winter-killed and much 

 of it was thin on the ground. There were 

 some excellent fields. New and drained 

 ground, if sowed early, generally yielded 

 well. 



We regret to say that in our opinion the 

 prices of wheat will be low. The crops are 

 good throughout Europe, and in this country 

 there will be a surplus of wheat, for which 

 the foreign demand will be next to nothincr. 

 Nor do we think there is any chance for high 

 prices within the next twelve months — 

 unless all Europe shall be engaged in 

 War. 



We have looked for an advance in wheat 

 in consequence ofthc present European War, 

 But trade has proved tliat Europe does not 

 want the wheat of our farmers or their beef 

 or pork in any quantities. Europe wants 

 our gold; and she is carrying it ofi" in large 

 amounts. She is crowding upon us her 

 manufactured goods — a good portion of the 

 value of which is made up of wheat and oth- 

 er provisions, the product of European farms; 

 and our people, farmers as well as others, 

 when they purchase foreign goods, purchase 

 European breadstufis and provisions, which 

 make a part of their cost. Europe as wc 

 have said, does not want the produce of our 

 farms, for the produce of her looms, forges 

 and mines; she only wants our gold. Last 

 week 91,500,000 of gold was shipped to 

 England, and a steady current of gold has 

 been flowing out of our country to Europe, 

 to pay for foreign goods, for the last six 

 months. 



AVhat a blessingit would be toour farmers 

 and the business of this countrv, if we had 

 a market for our produce within our owu 

 country ? IIow can the farmers of the West 

 anticipate high or even fair prices lor pro- 

 duce while the present state of our foreign 

 trade continues ? 



-•••- 



The Sugar Cane. 



There has been a good deal of Sugar 

 Cane planted about this count}^ — not in 

 large fields, but in small patches. The 

 Cane is likely to be very fine, good size 

 and rich in juice. Well, it is about 

 time now to make some arrangements 

 for working it up into Sugar and Molas- 

 ses. Do not wait to do this until there 

 is no time to make the necessary prep- 

 arations. A few farmers should unite 

 and get mills and boilers. These wi 1 

 last many years and Molasses can be 

 made that will not cost the farmer 25 

 cents per gallon. 



We have no mills or boilers for sale, 

 but can procure such for those who de- 

 sire them. 



