lO 



THE ILLIISTOIS F^mMEH. 



committee, and the 

 meeting resolved to 

 hold another exhibi- 

 tion in this citj on 

 Tuesday, the 6th of 

 Deccmher. 



The great feature 

 of progress which 

 transpired at this 

 meeting, was the ex- 

 hibition of cane juice 

 completely defecated, 

 ready for boiling 

 down in any simple 

 pan or kettle. The 

 usual practice is to 

 perfect the separa- 

 tion of the gum and 

 other foul elements in 

 the juice, by constant 

 skimming during the 

 application of heat, 

 but by this new pro- 

 cess the foul elements 

 are all precipitated 

 before the juice goes 

 FRENCH MERINO SHEEP. to the boiler, and a 



The above picture was made by J. R. Page at the Summit Farm, Cook county, in this State, of f^*™P^^ of syrup made 

 a French Merino Buck and two Ewes, where they and their stock can still be seen. There are also V the exhibitor the 

 a few Bucks for sale. Address Charles L. Reed, care of Hon. John Wentworth, Chicago, Illinois. 9^7 before the meet- 

 ~ — . — mg, on a common 



,K«^i"^W' 



rapidly, and elicited unmistakable signs 

 of commendation, as usual. 



At the National Fair specimens of 

 both of these grapes were exhibited, and 

 were very fine. The Delaware is a small 

 grape but one of the most palatable that 

 we have met with. We find the Dela- 

 ware a slow grower, while the Concord 



is quite rampant, we hope to fruit both 

 this year. Ed. 



Crops— Advantages of Fall Plowing. 

 Knowing that information about crops 

 are always acceptable, I send you a few 

 items. The wheat crop through South- 

 ern Wisconin is not as good as expected 

 before it was threshed — only averaging, 

 on the prairie, from sixteen to eighteen, 

 and in the openings, from nine to elev- 

 en bushels per acre. The quality is 

 very good. 



Two facts, which were generally no- 

 ticed, are worthy the earnest considera- 

 tion of all farmers. 



First, the crops on fall plowing were 

 better than on that plowed in the spring ; 

 and on heavy lands, I think this will be 

 found invariably the case. This is ow- 

 ing to the disintegrating powers of the 

 frost on the soil, and rendering soluble 

 the mineral elements, that they may be 

 more readily taken up by plants. 



Again, the soil is better prepared to 

 absorb the ammonia which is collected 

 by tlie rain and snow as it falls through 

 the air — there being a good deal of truth 



in the old saying, that "snow is the 

 poor man's manure.'' 



Second, those who took the most 

 pains in getting in their crops thorough- 

 ly, realized the most abundant harvest. 

 One farmer who well prepared his 

 ground, and drilled in his wheat on a 

 piece of thirty acres, had an average of 

 26-^ bushels ; while adjoining fields of 

 equally good land yielded only sixteen 

 to twenty. These facts show that there 

 is a profit in good farming, while negli- 

 gence reaps a negative reward in poor 

 crops. Oats were good. — iV^. W. Farmer. 



Every day brings us new evidence in 

 favor of the value of fall plowing. With 

 our long, pleasant autumns we have 

 abundant time to do up all the necessary 

 fall plowing ; plow afXany time when 

 the frost is out. The frost will pulver- 

 ize the soil and kill thousands of insects. 

 In Southern Illinois this is absolutely 

 necessary to succeed with many crops. 

 Will they heed it? Ed. 



-«•»- 



cook stove, was the best we ever saw — 

 better than some we had last year, that 

 had been double refined in a sugar refin- 

 ery in Cincinnati. The discoverer of 

 this process is Mr. D. F. Boyd, of 

 Mansfield, who retains the secret of his 

 disocvery for the present. We look upon 

 this as the greatest advance step of the 

 season in the sugar cane business. — 

 [Ohio Cultivator. 



■ 4«> ■ ■ ■ 



Amount of Rain in 18§8. 

 Blodgett, in his admirable work on 

 Climatology, gives the average fall of 

 rain for Central Illinois at forty-five 

 inches. Last year was characterized as 

 a very wet season. The amount of rain 

 which fell here was as follows : 



Month. 



Sugar Cane Convention. 



The Convention of Sugar Cane grow- 

 ers of this county and vicinity, met ac- 

 cording to notice, at J. L. Gill & Son's 

 Warehouse, and though the day was ex- 

 ceedingly snowy, there was a very fine 

 show of syrups of home manufacture, 

 besides some excellent samples from the 

 Evaporators of Cook and Harris, and a 

 fine sample of sugar from Cook's Evpor- 

 ator. Premiums were awarded by the 



JaDuary.... 

 February.., 



March 



April 



May 



Jnae 



July 



August 



September.. 



October 



November.. 

 December.. 



Inches of rain and Ifumber of 

 vulUd snow. rainy days. 



Total 



Arvtage.. 



Excess . 



January 8th the 



down to 12 deg. below zero, and on the 



22d to 9 deg. below, killing the peach 

 blossoms. In a few days we shall have 

 the figures correct for the year 1859. 

 At this date (Dec. 9th), we have had 

 about as sharp a frost, but the peach 

 buds are safe thus far. 



