376 



THE ILLINOIS FA.Il]MEIl. 



SPRINGFlEIiD, D£|;E:MJBE:R I, 1859. 



Tiie last Farmer of the Tear. 



We are now arranging matter for the 

 last number of the Illinois Farmer for 

 1859. Four years have we prepared 

 the matter for this paper. We have 

 aimed to be of service to the farmers of 

 Illinois. How we have succeeded is 

 best known to our readers. 



The present year has been one of 

 great trials to our agricultural brethren. 

 On its commencement there were bright 

 hopes that it would be a year of good 

 crops and of good prices, that would 

 enable them to pay their just debts, and 

 provide means for their future comfort, 

 so that they might go on their way re- 

 joicing. But the seasons have not justi- 

 fied our hopes. Our grain crops are 

 short; there is not one-third of the crop 

 anticipated, and the price of wheat is 

 lower than its cost. In the northern 

 parts of the State, corn has turned out 

 poorly, while in others it is a two-thirds 

 crop. Oats are light. Potatoes in the 

 north are poor; in the south and centre, 

 good. Grass has given a fair yield in 

 the centre of the State. Take all crops 

 together, the crop season has been a bad 

 one. 



But "We should not despair. Good 

 cultivation would have made good crops 

 in most cases where there have been fail- 

 ures. In wet seasons, corn, wheat, or 

 other grain, will not grow in water or in 

 soil filled with water — mud, we mean. 

 It is the business of the farmer to pre- 

 pare his land so that it shall at all times 

 be in a condition to grow his crops. He 

 must ditch and underdrain as his ability 

 and ground requires. It is not difficult 

 to ascertain what grounds require ditch- 

 ing. The farmers' good sense can dis- 

 cover -what ditching is required by the 

 cast of his eye — if he will cast his eye 

 for that piirpose. Last year we saw 

 fields sown with wheat where the ground 

 was saturated with water for months. 

 The wheat dead. We see now the same 

 grounds in wheat, and no attempt has 

 been made by plowing furrows or other- 

 wise to run ofif the water. It is said "a 

 burnt child dreads the fire." In this 

 case, a burnt man runs into the fire! 



We believe that the great want of 

 success in making crops in this State, is 



attributable to the neglect of draining 

 our lands. A farmer can, if he chooses 

 and has an ordinary farm, raise crops all 

 the time. We venture to say that in 

 this county of Sangamon there have 

 been raised the past season, tolerable 

 crops of wheat and good crops of corn, 

 where, with the ordinary culture, the 

 ground would have yielded neither. 

 Therefore it is not saying too much to 

 affirm, that with proper cultivation of 

 the land, and by ditching and draining, 

 we can always make fair crops. 



We have some other suggestions to 

 make. Let the coming year be marked 

 by industry and economy. Let the 

 small farmers see to it that they have 

 plenty of stock hogs the coming winter 

 and take care of them, so as to make 

 fine pork hogs the coming fall. Hogs 

 always pay fair prices, and what should 

 hinder small farmers, or farmers culti- 

 vating their hundred and sixty acres of 

 land, from having next fall one hundred 

 fat hogs for sale? Can't they do it? 

 Has it not always been a better business 

 than raising wheat? The hog crop is 

 quickly turned — in fact, when your hogs 

 are fat, you can sell them at any season 

 of the year, and always, be it summer, 

 or spring, or early in the fall, at high 

 prices. We venture to say to small 

 farmers, who desire to turn their stock 

 into cash once a year, that there is no 

 stock for this purpose equal to hogs. 



There should be a new system of 

 household economy inaugurated. We 

 should look back to what farmers and 

 farmers' families did in this and other 

 counties of Illinois, fifteen years ago. 

 Then our farmers' wives and daughters 

 never were more pround that when they 

 came to market with their butter, and 

 cheese and lard and chickens, flannels, 

 jeans, linseys and socks and stockings. 

 In this county, butter was a great ar- 

 ticle of export, and the farmers' wives 

 paid for their store goods in the ar- 

 ticles produced in their families. The 

 girls and matrons were as lovely 

 then in their calicoes and lawns as they 

 are in their silks and satins now. The 

 men were aa respectable in their jeans 

 as they are now in their broadcloths — 

 many of which are not yet paid for. 

 Families wore as healthy then when 

 their drink at their meals was milk 

 and water, as they are now when they 



guzzle down strong coffee three times a 

 day. In these past times, it was their 

 pride and interest to live off of the 

 product of their farms, and we have 

 often sat at a well furnished table when 

 we were told that all we saw before us 

 was raised upon the farm except the 

 pepper and salt! The habit our farmers 

 have got into, of living upon articles 

 brought from provision stores, would break 

 down, with present prices and present 

 crops, the best farmers in the world. 



It is a good time for thinking now on 

 these things. "Why should not farmers in 

 the neighborhoods get together these long 

 evenings and talk over the subjects to 

 which we have referred, and others of deep 

 interest connected with their welfare? We 

 sometimes talk very plainly, and it may 

 seem to some abruptly, but we really wish to 

 do the public good service. By pointing 

 out evils, others may avoid them. By sug- 

 gesting new measures of improvement and 

 economy, some may be benefitted. We do 

 not pretend to say that farmers have been 

 more improvident than others, — beCaUse we 

 are sure that many in our cities who are gor- 

 geously attired, and who seem to say by 

 their efiForts to appear in expensive and fash- 

 ionable dress, "look at me," like the snail, 

 carry almost every thing they possess upon 

 their backs! 



But we must close. The next Farmlr 



will begin a new year. We want to send 



our Farmer to all our old and to many new 



subscribers. Will our old subscribers assist 



us? Will they get us new lists? Will they 



lay us under further obligations to them? 



Will they spend a little time in our behalf? 



Every agricultural sheet issued in this State, 



will do good. Our farmers, to keep up with 



the times, must make progress, and thus they 



cannot do without the agricultural paper. 



Then, we ask everybody to give us a lift! 

 ««■ 



Dpeember. 



Then came the autnbiii, all in yellow clad, 



Al though be jnyed iii pl<>nteous store. 



Laden with fruits that made bim langb, fnll glad 

 That h« had banished hunger, which to-fore 

 Had by the belly oft him piDctaed sore; 

 Upon bis head a wreath that was enr lad 

 With ears of com of e'ery sort, he bore, 

 And in his hand a sicklu he did bold, 

 To reap the ripened fruit the which the earth bad yold. 



iS!p«tic«r'i Fairy Quern. 



It is for autumn, that the winter frost 

 has crumbled down the soil, and disin- 

 tegrated the rocks; it is for autumn that 

 the vernal showers moistened the glebe 

 and called the sleeping plants from their 

 hybernation. It was to fill the Decem- 

 ber barns with grain and forage, and 

 the cellars with vegetables and fruits, 

 that the summer sun glowed with its 

 ardent heat — it was for this that the sun- 



