362 



THE ILLIISTOIS F^IIM:JEII. 



would visit lady Washington ; and as sha 

 was said to be so grand a lady, we thought 

 we must put on our best bils and bunds. So 

 wo dressed ourselves in our most elegant silks 

 nnd ruffles, and were introduced to her lady- 

 ship. And don't you think, we found her 

 knitting, and with a eheck apron on ! She 

 received us very' graciously and easily, but 

 after the compliments were over, she resum- 

 ed her knitting. There we were, without a 

 single stitch of work and sitting in state ; but 

 General Washidgton's lady with her own 

 hands were knitting stoc inga for her own 

 husband." 



"The Best Bull." 

 There is much diversity o£ opimon In 

 relation to the justice of the award for 

 the best bull at the St. Louis fair. The 

 animals offered in competition were: 

 ^ew Year's Day, of Ohio; King Alfred, 

 of Illinois, and Second Duke of Air- 

 drie, of Kentucky. The grand prize of 

 ^1,000 was awarded to the latter ani- 

 mal, owned by Mr. Alexander, of 

 Woodford county, Ky. A correspondent 

 of the Ohio Farmer, pronounces in favor 

 of King Alfred, belonging to Mr. J. N. 

 Brown of this connty. He says, how- 

 ever, that tlie decision was a hard one 

 to make. lie furnishes the following 

 measurements of the two animals which 

 show a striking similarity in many de- 

 sirable points, and a superiority in King 

 Alfred in two of the most important 

 points, while he also possesses a most 

 decided advantage in shape of barrel, 

 which the measurements do not indicate: 



Second Duke of Aibprif.. 

 ft In. 



T.enKth (rmiti poU) 7 7 



Thrn»t Latch 4 2 



Girth 7 11 



Oirth of Crops 8 1 



Oirthof F'mik 8 



Depth of Flantr 3 1 



With acro<« Hip 2 



Lenetli cf Knmp to 



point of Hip 2 



PlZ(» of Arm 2 



Fnrti Shank, or Shin.., 



Hind Shank 



PtiH« 3 



Leni^th nf body to cen- 

 ter of hip 2 



Longt-h of Romp 2 2 



Hip to Hock 3 t]/. 



4 



10 

 lOJ^ 



10 



Kino ikLFREn, 



ft. In. 



LpHRth 7 9 



Throat Latch 3 11 



BriBhot 8 9'^ 



Cropii 8 1 



Oirth of Cropu 8 2 



Oirth of Flank 8 2 



ne-pth of Flnnk ."i VA 



Width of Hill 2 2 



Length ff llnmp to 



point of Hip 2 7 



Arm 2 « 



Foro Sliank 9 



Hini S^hank 9^^ 



j-tino 2 10 



L»-ne;th nf body to cen- 

 ter of hip 3 1V< 



T.pncrth cf Rump 2 ?,% 



Hip to Hock 3 10 



E?gs in Winter. 

 These are never more acceptable than 

 in winter. Are you willing to do some 

 labor to obtain a supply? If so, make a 

 little building, tight and warm, with 

 large windows well glazed; have good 

 roosting places, good places for the 

 nests; put clean water, lime and ashes 

 before the fowls to roll in; feed the fowls 

 well with grain and meat; keep their 

 house clean, removing the manure every 

 day, and you -will have eggs all the 

 time. The eggs from a dozen or twenty 

 fowls will pay you well For your trouble. 



Amerlran Horses in Eugland, 

 The late signal triumph of Mr. Ten 

 Brocck's horse, Starke, on the English 

 course, added to the previous winning of 

 the gentleman's horses, have wonderful- 

 ly changed the opinion of the British 

 jockeys in regard to American horse- 

 manship. The London Field gracefully 

 acknowledges the victory, although in 

 the following paragraph it lays more 

 stress upon the skill with which the horse 

 was managed than upon the superior 

 points of the animal. And this is doubt- 

 less true, in general, though perhaps 

 Entjland cannot match "Starke" for 

 speed on a short heat. In most other 

 desirable qualities, also American horses 

 are rapidly improving. The last ten 

 years have shown a wonderful change 

 for the better, and it is evident to every 

 observer that the little State of Vermont 

 for breeding, and the rest of New Eng- 

 land and New York for training and 

 bringing into repute, are developing and 

 a race of horses which bid fair to become 

 as celebrated as any other in the world. 

 Mr. Ten Broeck's winning will give a 

 new impetus to this progress, and also 

 stimulate the English horse fanciers to 

 fresh effort. We quote the paragraph 

 from The Field alluded to above: — 



"The American horse, Starke, put all 

 doubts aside as to the lasting qualities of 

 the importations from the Great West. 

 Ilis running in the Goodwood Stakes 

 proved the cleverness of his owner and 

 his trainer. It has induced habitues of 

 a British race course to believe what they 

 have hitherto denied, that natives of oth- 

 er lands can train and "manage" a horse 

 as well as those of their own ; and it has 

 let them Info a little secret in regard to 

 the American nation in particular, name- 

 ly that friend Jonathan of the New World 

 is every bit as good a tactician in matters 

 equine as his elder brother of the old 

 one yclept .Johnny Bull. The match 

 which this identical nag lost at New- 

 market drove the Britishers off their 

 guard, and enabled his party to invest 

 his money at a capital price. They won 

 a large stake, and have tlmply reimburs- 

 ed themselves for their outlay in the 

 expense of purchasing horses and im- 

 porting them to England. The talent 

 of that go-ahead people will not again 

 be questioned. It has been displayed to 

 wondrous advantage in five Instances on 

 English turf. Winning one with Cccs- 

 arewitch and being beaten by a head 

 only for a second with Prioress; winning 

 a Great Yorkshire Handicap with the 

 same mare ; and now winning a Good- 

 wood Stakes on Wednesday and the 

 Centinck Memorial on Friday, with a 

 horse landed on these shores but a few 

 months since, and a Nursery Stakes on 

 the latter day with a colt imported at 

 the sume time — have set all disputes on 

 the point of cleverness at rest- Civili- 



zation and learning have always traveled 

 westward, and the sons of New York 

 have in horse-racing shown themselves 

 to be the most "learned Thebans." 



Mercantile Business, 

 A good many goods are being sold, 

 and many of these goods on credit. 

 There is no fact better settled than that 

 there is not money to pay for the goods 

 now in the hands of our merchants. 

 There is not produce in the country to 

 sell for money enough to buy the goods 

 now in our stores, and pay any portion 

 of the debts now due from farmers. 

 Merchants can't stand such a business. 

 Eastern merchants of whom they buy 

 them will have the money if they break 

 up the whole country. These truths 

 might as well be told. There is little or 

 no money in the country. There is not 

 produce here to bring any large amount 

 of money. We have not besun to see 

 the bottom yet. 



'{-)' 



Potatoes; 



Capital weather for diging and storing po- 

 tatoes, we had last month. Is it done ? 



Potatoes are coming from the north. Car 

 loads are delivered in Springfield, at 35 cents 

 per bushel. Potatoes will hardly bring 25 

 cents next spring. 



-—*- 



Jesse Frye's Gang Plows. — Jesse 

 Frye, well known to our citizens as the 

 inventor of several gang plows, in 

 which he and others have spent a great 

 deal of money, believes he has accom- 

 plished his great object, invented a 

 gang plow on principles which will se- 

 cure his great aims — a great deal of 

 work with little expense, and do that 

 work in a better manner than can bo 

 done in the usual way. We suggest to 

 Mr. Frye if he desires to sell his plows 

 here, that he send one to us and Ave will 



put it into hands that will give it a fair 

 trial. If it succeeds, as he believes it 

 will, there will most undoubtedly be 



great sales for the implement. 



.«, 



Buckwheat as Food. — A late is?ue 

 of Hunt's McrchanVs Magazine, in an 

 article on buckwheat, thus speaks of it 

 concerning its properties as an edible: 

 Considering the good qualities of buck- 

 wheat, it is probably less appreciated 

 than any other bread grain. Writers 

 on agricultural products seem to eschew 

 it as food for man, and regard it only as 

 a mischievous adulteration of wheat 

 flour, or as a product of poor soil fo 



,.k. >. 



