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02 ^^:^^ 



YOL. lY. 



SPRINGFIELD, OCTOBER, 1859. 



NO. 10. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY, ^ 



BY 



BAILHACHE & BAKER. 



JOURNAL OFFICB,...„ SPRINGFIELD, ILL 



S. FRANCIS. Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 



One copy, one year, in advance ~~.. fX 00 



Five copies, " " ~ 3 75 



Ten " and one to the person getting np club ... 7 5o 

 fifteen copies and over, 62^^ cents each, andoae to person 

 getting up club. 



CABU RATIB OF AOVJCBTUIKO : 

 One dollar per eqnare often lines, each insertion. 



ESSAY ON THE CULTURE OF ORCHARDS. 



CONTENTS. 



Essay on the culture of orcbards 337 



Sugar and evaporators 339 



The steam plow 310 



Proposed experiments in wbeat..n.... ■ 342 



Planting Orchards 342 



Cold winter Is coming..... 342 



The potatoe crop c42 



The corn crop • 342 



The next wheat crop .343 



Fairs, (communication) 343 



The Fairbauk's standard scales 343 



The state fair 344 



The United States Fair ~ 344 



Fotatoos 344 



Let us look at home 345 



Chinese sugar cane ~ 345 



More humbugging 345 



Sugar mills - 34^ 



Short norn Durhams 346 



SaDgamon county Fair 346 



Dcvons, Herefords, and Durhams...... 346 



Timothy seed 346 



The National Fair — Award of PremiomB--The steam 



Plow 346 



Cotswold sheep 347 



Osage Grange on bottoms 347 



Wool 347 



Barey taming a vicioas Horse 347 



Cooking food for swine 347 



Training Oxen : ..337 



Summer care of Colts 348 



Camels for plantation work -.. 348 



How to fatten Chickens 348 



Chapter on the sugarcane .> .....348 



Proceedings of Bond couoty Agricultural Society.........349 



Protection to farms 350 



Seeding Timothy Meadows 360 



Markets 351 



Bt C. R. Overman. 



Among all the objects that constitute 

 the charm of rural life, the orchard 

 stands pre-eminent. It is the most 

 cherished spot on the farm — -the treasure 

 house in which is garnered nature's 

 choicest offering to her dependent child- 

 ren. To the young and guileless it is a 

 hallowed retreat, where, perhaps, ft)r the 

 first time, the spontaneous gush of grat- 

 itude to the Bountiful Giver may Tiave 

 thrilled the soul. The generous impulses 

 there formed in the heart of a child will 

 go with him through life. Should his 

 lot in after life be cast among strangers, 

 in a far oflF land, how often will memory 

 revert to the cherished scenes of his 

 "life's morning march,'' and fancy re- 

 paint vivid pictures of 



"The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, 

 And every loved ^pot that my infancy knew." 



But around the orchard will his memory 

 most love to linger, for it was there he 

 reveled in all the fullness of joy. There 

 the quintescence of beauty gladdened his 

 eye, and the perfection of aroma delight- 

 ed his palate. What wonder, then, he 

 paid such sincere yet unconscious devo- 

 tion at Pomona's shrine ! 



Parents, plant orchards, if only to 

 instill into the hearts of your offspring 

 a deeper love of home, to centralize their 

 affections, to counteract the nomadic 

 spirit of the age. Convince them by 

 argument at once potential and pleasing 

 that "there is no place like home.'' 

 In a word, to all you can to make their 

 home attractive, and be assured that 

 they will be less inclined to wander from 

 the paternal roof in quest of forbidden 

 joys. 



Without extending the preface, we 

 proceed to offer a few practical thoughts 

 on the location, planting and culture of 

 orchards, presuming that additional in- 

 formation on Buch subjects may be ac- 

 ceptable to the public mind: 



In treating of the orchard in general, 

 we would be understood as referring to 

 the apple as the essential element ef the 

 orchard, proper. Though other fruits 



fruits are sometimes reckoned "in," 



the 

 apple is acknowledged monarch, and of 

 him we treat. 



In locating an orchard, the first object 

 — and a most important one — ^is to select 

 an eligible situation. An elevated or 

 rolling situation is greatly to be prefer- 

 red, and if the aspect is northern, all the 

 better ; but as such a site is not always 

 to be obtained, yot a level or less propi- 

 tious one may be rendered nearly -equiv- 

 alent by thorough underdraining and 

 subsoiling. Indeed, this system of pre- 

 paring orchard ground, whether high or 

 low, cannot be too strongly recommend- 

 ed, for, though it need upon high ground 

 is not so absolute as upon low, yet all 

 situations, high and low, will be greatly 

 benefited by it. It is worthy of remark 

 that the best natural situations for orch- 

 ards to be found in our country are in the 

 "barrens" and the timber, on the clayey 

 ridges and gravelly slopes. On such 

 localities we have generally found the 

 hardiest and most productive orchard 

 trees. The proprietor should select the 

 most eligible spot on his premises for 

 the orchard, and what it lacks by nature 

 he must endeavor to make up by art. 

 Whether the ground be underdrained or 

 not, the deep plowing or subsoiling 

 should in no case be dispensed with. 

 Perhaps the most effectual way to do 

 this is as follows : Use two strong teams ; 

 with the first a No. 6, old ground plow, 

 set to run deep as it can be drawn ; with 

 the second team use a No. 5, corn plow, 

 set also to run deep ; follow with it in 

 the furrow made by the first team at a 

 brisk walk, and you will throw up the 

 subsoil and deposit it upon the surface, 

 jn this way we have sometimes trench 

 plowed near twenty inches deep ; but it 

 requires stout teams, and bright, scour- 

 ing plows. The fall previous to plant- 

 ing is the time to do this, but if it has 

 been neglected, it is better to do it in 

 the spring than omit it altogether, for 

 no opportunity for i;horoughly subsoil- 

 ing the orchard ground is ever after- 

 wards expected to occur. Another me- 

 thod of subsoiling is to break up the sub- 

 soil as deeply as possible, and let it lie 



