THE ILLIISrOIS FA.IIME]R. 



his hogs, and feeds and fats them on 

 corn, is doing a losing business. To be 

 a source of profit, the hog must attain 

 his growth by grazing and by *' staying 

 waste," more or less of which inevitably 

 follows stock raising and many farming 

 operations. For this purpose, a larger 

 and hardier breed is wanted than the 

 SuflFolk, or the pure Berkshire. The 

 Irish Grazier is no doubt an excellent 

 breed; so is the Chester county, of 

 Pennsylvania, and so are numerous oth- 

 ers ; but the testimony seems to be in 

 favor of a stock of hogs, got out of our 

 best native sows, large, long and deep, 

 by the pure black Berkshire. The pro- 

 duce of this cross grow as large as the 

 best native stock, but make a great deal 

 more flesh and fat on a less quantity of 

 food, and in less time. It is of the first 

 importance to to the farmers of Illinois, 

 whose hogs almost entirely go into the 

 hands of the packer, to get a large breed 

 of hogs, and make them weigh well. — 

 Two hogs- that weigh 800 pounds are 

 worth more than five that weigh 1,000 

 pounds. Indeed, two hogs, or two hun- 

 dred, that weigh 400 pounds each, will 

 bring $40, or f4,000, much more readily 

 than five, or five hundred, weighing 200 

 pounds each, will bring $40 or $4,000 — 

 the first being rated at $5, and the sec- 

 ond at $4, per hundred. In short, the 

 packer views a hog as a log of wood is 

 viewed by the miller : valuable according 

 to the square of its weight, or diameter. 

 Experience and observation have estab- 

 lished the fact, that in propagating spe- 

 cies, among domestic animals, the male 

 gives the form and the female the size. 

 Hence, mules sixteen or seventeen hands 

 high are got out of roomy, hardy mares, 

 by jacks, high bred, but comparatively 

 diminutive. The Berkshires brought 

 into this State in August, 1857, by the 

 Illinois Stock Importing Association, (a 

 body of men who deserve the heartiest 

 thanks of every farmer in Illinois,) have 

 been largely bred to native sows, and 

 this stock has furnished some of the 

 heaviest lots of hogs that have gone to 

 market this season. 



For the benefit of some of the foreign 

 readers of yonr paper, we will give an 

 outline of the method pursued by our 

 farmers in raising swine and producing 

 pork. This method, or one near akin to 

 it, must be pursued in order to render 

 the growing and feeding of hogs profit- 

 able. The sows are bred to farrow in 

 April and May, and pick up a good 

 living, during winter, among the cattle 

 and horses. In April or May, accord- 

 ing to the forwardness of the season, 

 they are turned, sometimes with other 

 stock and sometimes by themselves, into 

 a timothy, clover and blue grass pasture; 

 or meadow, and remain there until the 

 stubbles are ready, which they are ex- 

 pected to glean in July and August. — 



The pigs make a strong growth, and the 

 sows sustain themselves well under the 

 same circumstances, care being taken to 

 furnish plenty of water and shade, if 

 convenient. They then return to tho 

 pastures till corn is ripe, or out of the 

 milk — generally by the 1st of Septem- 

 ber. If the sows are intended for an 

 early market, they are, together with 

 the stock hogs, turned into a lot adjoin- 

 ing the corn, and fed plentifully and 

 frequently, and put on from ten to 

 twelve pounds for every bushel of corn 

 fed. The rapidity with which hearty, 

 vigorous hogs, which have besn pastured 

 well during the summer season, will lay 

 on flesh, when high fed with green corn, 

 is wonderful. This is due to the pre- 

 paratory course of summer feeding, 

 which has put them in the healthiest 

 condition, enlarged their stomachs, and 

 endowed them with great capacity of 

 digestion and assimilation. Meantime, 

 the pigs and stock hogs, intended to be 

 kept over, and those selected for a later 

 market, are kept on grass until into 

 November, and sometimes^ as in this 

 season, into December. During the 

 winter the spring hogs run with the cat- 

 tle, go to grass in April or May again, 

 and at eighteen or twenty months old, 

 are fatted on the incoming corn crop, 

 and, if well cared for, should weigh 

 from 275 to 350 pounds, average. 



The Berkshire hog is surely, and in 

 some places swiftly, winning its way to 

 general favor, and promises in a few 

 years to take the eminent rank among 

 swine, that the noble Short Horns do 

 among our cattle. It is possible we 

 have done injustice to the Suff'olk, and 

 that the objectionable features we see in 

 this breed of swine have not the origin 

 and do not come of the causes we have 

 imputed. But as there has been; for 

 several years, a system of steady praise, 

 if not puffery, in its favor, we have 

 thought a little talk on the other side 

 of tho question, and in favor of a breed 

 of such eminent merits as the Berkshire, 

 was due in fairness and honesty. 



BENJ. F. JOHNSON. 



West Urd an a, Champaign County, Dec. 1859. 



Town and Country. — We wish that 

 any hints we can offer might induce our 

 stalwart young men who are struggling 

 for a livelihood in towns and cities, to 

 go forth into the country, throw off the 

 livery of conventional life, put on the 

 frock, and, with uprolled sleeves, seize 

 themselves the plow, and "greatly inde- 

 pendent'' live. The prolific bosom of 

 mother earth has enough for all her chil- 

 dren who will seek their supplies from 

 her abundance, for giving doth not im- 

 poverish her, and scattering her bles- 

 sings but increases her D^o^ins. — [Horti- 

 culturist. 



For tho Tllinoii Tanner. 



Springfield, Nov. 21, 1859. 



Dear Sir: — Inclosed will you please find 

 two specimens of winter wheat taken from 

 the model farm connected with the Normal 

 University at Bloomington. This wheat 

 was drilled in on blue grass, (ploughed dur- 

 ing the summer,) on the 6th of September; 

 come up finely, and did well until about 

 October, when the small kind was attacked 

 by the fly. • 



The large kind is from seed raised in 

 Michigan, and called the Amber wheat — a 

 very large red wheat — ^brought two years 

 since from Maryland. The small specimen 

 is from seed grown in McLean county, said 

 to be the finest red wheat raised in the 

 county. These iwo kinds were drilled in, 

 side by side, at the same time and in all re- 

 spects treated alike. I have been unable to 

 find a single fly on all the large wheat, while 

 over one half the small kind is in the con- 

 dition of the stem inclosed. The specimens 

 sent you were pulled within ten inches of 

 each other, or the distance between the drill 

 teeth. 



In all cases where the wheat lias bcsen af- 

 fected by the fly, a second growth has put 

 out like the one inclosed. '-■ ' 



Having stated this much, I beg to make 

 the following inquires: 



1st. What kind of fly is it in this wheat? 



2d. Were the eggs, which are now hatch- 

 ing out, in your opinion, deposited on the 

 kernal of the wheat before it was sowed; or 

 were they deposited after the wheat came up 

 on the footstalks? 



3d. If the latter, why has the lar^ wheat 

 no flies in it? 



4th. Will these eggs hatch this fall if the 

 cold weather does not come on too soon, 

 and if it does, will they remain till spring, 

 and then hatch out. and destroy the re- 

 mainder of the *rheat? 



5th. Will the new shoot now putting out 

 produce wheat or cheat? 



I£ you have a moment to spare, I shall be 

 exceedingly gratified to receive a brief reply 

 to my several queries. 



Very respectfully, yours, 



W. H. Powell. 



Remarks. — The two samples of wheat 

 are dissimilar. The "Amber'' wheat is very 

 large and healthy looking, while the sample 

 of "May wheat" is small and sickly. There 

 is a natural difference in the growth of the 

 two varieties, the latter not being of as large 

 a growth, but it has long been a very popular 

 variety, from its early maturity. At the 

 south part of the State it ripens sometimes 

 as early as the last week in May and always 

 the first of June. 



1st. Pupa of the "Hession Fly," (^Ceci- 

 domi/ia destriictor, of Sa,j.) 



2d. Tho eggs are deposited on the blades 

 of the wheat, and after hatching, pass down 

 between the sheath and stem and injure the 

 plant by sucking its juices. 



3d. When the insects are not abundant 

 they can select the place of deposite of their 

 eggs. The May wheat has become well 



