THE ILLIIsrOIS FA.R1VIEII. 



331 



Look Out for Breakers. 



The papers tell that one huudred and 

 seventy million dollars worth of British 

 goods have been imported into this country 

 within the last six months, against seventy 

 millions imported in the same months the 

 last year. It is also farther said that the 

 balance of the trade against us, will take 

 fifty nine millions of dollars to pay for it — 

 a much larger sum than we receive from 

 California within the year. 



That is startling. The British do not 

 want our wheat unless at lower prices than 

 we can afford to sell. They want our 

 money. 



What is to become of her goods ? They 

 are to be forced by long credits, upon the 

 merchants of the west and other portions oj 

 the United States, aud these merchants in 

 their term are to force them on the people ! 



We say beware ! Merchants who bring 

 large stocks of goods to the west now will 

 injure themselves and injure the country. 

 Few farmers can pay their debts, and few 

 can aflFord to buy goods, or more than neces- 

 sity absolutely requires. Merchants will do 

 well to heed the condition of the country. — 

 Farmers will do well to live on the produce 

 of their farms, dispense with every luxury 

 possible, and wear their old clothes a little 

 longer. 



We say, let the New York merchants bear 



the responsibility of their impudence. Let 



it not be thrown on the west. We have 



suffered and are suffering enough already 

 by bad crops and bad markets. 



Sugar Mills. — There are many sugar 

 mills now in market for the coming cane 

 crop. Hedges', Emraeson's, White & Bar- 

 ion's, Hunt's, and probably twenty others. 

 Hedges' low priced mill, have three upright 

 rollers. These were found to work well in 

 this county, the last season — cost §56. — 

 Emmerson's is a larger mill, has horizontal 

 rollers, and is supposed to embrace a new 

 principle, that of expressing a greater portion 

 of the juice from the cane without bringing 

 out that from the joints, which produces a 

 sort of gum and prevents chrystalization, and 

 at the same time, gives the syrup a grassy 

 taste. White & Bargion's mills arc both 

 horizontal and vertical. The smallest verti- 

 cal will express from 60 to 80 gallons an 

 hour, and cost 890. Hunt's mill is a hori. 

 zontal one — is very strong, simple and dura- 

 ble. The smallest mill will express 60 to 

 80 gallons an hour, and will cost §75. These 

 are large mills of the different kinds named. 

 We are thoroughly iiiipressed with the con- 

 viction that the sorgho will becoiue one of 

 the most profitable staple crops of 

 he country. Our people will learn in time 



the proper process of manufacturing its juice 

 into superior syrup and sugar. When our 

 farmers learn to make superior syrup, they 

 will soon make good sugar. We are 

 agents for several mills, and will explain to 

 all enquirers the particular value of the diff- 

 erent mills, and prices. We are also agents 

 for Kettles, furnace irons, &c., &c. It is 

 now time for the cane growers to make their 



arrangements for working up their cane. 



••» 



The Alanthus Tree. — Professor Her- 

 tet, a French Chemist, of Toulon, France, 

 has made an investigation of the qualities of 

 this tree and have found them to be poison- 

 ous. The bark contains a volatile oil, an 

 antidote for worms, but in extracting it, it 

 produced vomiting and stupor, in his assis- 

 tants whenever they came in contact with its 

 vapors. The poisonous exhalations from 

 these trees may be inferred from the great 

 number of dead flies and other insects found 

 under them, as well as the sickening effect 

 of the effluvia from the blossoms to persons 



of delicate health. 



■ *•• ' — 



Plums. — We acknowledge the present of 



some fine Chickasaw plums, from the nursery 

 of the Messrs. Shaw, of Tremont. They 

 were entirely perfect. No mark of the 

 'little Turk," after them. If these plums 

 escape the ravages of the curculio, they 

 should be extensively cultivated. They are 

 very much superior to the ordinary wild 

 plums of the country; in fact, they are fine 

 in flavor and size. The young trees can be 

 obtained at the nursery of Messrs. Shaw, 

 also every other variety of fruit tree, of fine 

 form and size, and at very reasonable pries. 

 The nursery at Tremont, can supply, very 

 readily, all demands for fruit trees in Taze- 

 well county. 



It ■ — . 



18@^ H. J. Chase, of Peoria county, has 

 nearly a hundred miles of hedging on his 

 farms. He has practiced all kinds of plant- 

 ing and cultivating. He recommends that 

 the ridge on which to plant the hedge should 

 be plowed deep and put in first rate order; 

 that the plants should be placed within three 

 inches of each other; that the weeeds should 

 be kept from among them by good attention; 

 and that in the fall dirt should be thrown 

 among them with the plow, and the furrow 

 made to serve as a drain to carry off the 

 water. One cutting down of the plants is 

 sufficient, and this is done the second year. 



^9- 



B®"" The grape crop will be late in ripen- 

 ing this season; at least ten days later than 

 in the last season. 



Fresh grapes in winter are a great luxury. 

 They can be preserved fresh with some care. 

 Gather them when perfectly ripe, and with- 

 out bruising. Select the finest and plumpest 



bunches. Pick out all green or defective 



berries. Take boxes, say eighteen inches 



long and ten deep. Place a layer of cotton 



batting on the bottom. Put a layer of grapes 



on this, not crowding them. Put on an 



another layer of cotton batting, and on that 



place another layer of grapes. Proceed in 



this manner until the box is filled; making 



three or four layers. This box ought not to 



be light. Place this box in the coolest place 



in the house, where it is dry, and away from 



frost. We have seen grapes kept in this 



manner fair and fresh on the first of 



January. 



«»■ 



When is ttie Time to sow Timothy. 



Now I — The season is veay fine for 

 sowing — The ground is in first rate or- 

 der — and if sown now, it will sprout and 

 get a good root before winter, and will 

 not be likely to winter-kill. 



Plow your ground well; harrow it well; 

 sow four quarts of seed to the acre; then 

 brush it well, ■ ~ 



This is the practice of Jas. F. M'Coy 

 of this county, who has now 280 acres 

 of land in timothy, and who has tried 

 all the plans suggested by others for 

 sowing timothy. His success in getting 

 good crops of timothy is known to most 

 of the farmers of this county. 



• *m»- . 



Cultivation ol Wheat. 



The Genesee Farmer, has a very sensible 

 article on this subject. It says that "wheat 

 likes a firm compact soil." If the ground 

 has been deeply plowed two years before 

 gOwing the wheat, it is well enough. It pro" 

 ccedstosay: 



"We cannot too frequently repeat the in- 

 controvertable fact that freedom from stag- 

 nant water is an indispensible condition of a 

 good wheat soil. If the land is wet, cold 

 and sour, a good crop of wheat, however well 

 it may have been put in, may not be expect- 

 ed. If you must sow such land, plow it into 

 high naiTow ridges — say twelve feet wide — 

 with a gentle elope from the crown to the 

 deod furrow on each side, so that the surface 

 water can readily pass off. Harrow length- 

 wise, and form open drains through the low- 

 est parts, to carry off the. water. On more 

 porous and gravelly soils, the ridges may be 

 wider and flatter, but it is always advisable 

 to clean out the furrows with a plow after 

 sowing, so that the water can pass off more 

 readily. How seldom do we see a wheat 

 field on which the water does not lie in some 

 portions, presenting a sheet of ice during the 

 winter and early spring, and bare spots or 

 light crops in summer, but which easily bo 

 mowed by a few surfiicc drains. . If you can- 

 not afibrd to underdrain, do not neglect at 

 least surface drainage. True, it is very in- 

 adequate, but is better than nothing." 

 *•* 



J5^* Far more timothy will be sown this 

 fall than usual. Seed, we presume, will be 

 plenty. 



