THE ILLINOIS F^HMER. 



13 



paw, etc. We are pleased to learn thata 

 man so well known for Lis success in 

 landscape gardening, has put forth views 

 so nearly in accordance with our own. — 

 In the laying out of our grounds last au- 

 tumn we made the various fruit trees as- 

 sume a prominence in the ornamentation 

 of our grounds. Ed. 



The Egyptians Moving. 

 The "Horse Apple" spoken of, is a valu- 

 able fruit for drying. The tree is a rapid 

 upright grower and an abundant bearer, and 

 is becoming deservedly popular in the south 

 part of the State. It ripens the last of July 

 and first of August, just at thst season 

 favorable for drying. It is probably the best 

 apple we have for summer drying. The 

 Early Harvest is becoming a popular summer 

 market apple and is also well adapted to the 

 south and central part of the State. It is 

 not an annual bearer, though producing 

 good crops alternate years, with but few or 

 no specimens at other times. Our South 

 Pass (Cobden,) friends have an excellent 

 soil and climate for the full development of 

 fruits; at the same time they have an army 

 of destructive insects to contend with. We 

 hope to hear from them often, and have no 

 doubt they will find decided profit in these 

 meetings: Ed. 



HoRTicuLTURAri SOCIETY. — The South 

 Pass Horticultural Society's monthly meet- 

 ing was held on the 18th of November. 

 The President and Secretary being absent, 

 J. A. Carpenter was elected President pro 

 tern., and Mr. Clark, Secretary. 



Benjamin Vancil said, twelve years ago 

 he planted four apple trees, of the horse 

 apple variety. They bear alternate years. 

 This year three of them bore thirty bushels 

 of marketable apples. Next year the other 

 one will bear, and those that fruited this 

 year will not. 



Mr. Gow gave a very favorable account of 

 the early harvest apple, and said he had been 

 trees in New Jersey that were large old 

 trees bearing heavy crops annually. 



One of Mr. Wm. Kimmel's specimens 

 was a spice apple. It will keep until apples 

 ripen next year; hangs well on the tree; and 

 is free from the bitter rot. Mr. K. has an 

 orchard of seven hundred trees, all budded 

 by the proprietor from bearing trees, the 

 varieties of which are all well adopted to 

 tbis soil and climate. Two hundred of his 

 trees fruited this year. 



The meeting adjourned for four weeks. — 

 Jonesboro Gazette. 



g@* The State of Texas is a model 

 in financial matters — out of debt, five 

 millions on hand, a school fund of ten 

 millions of five per cent., and taxes 

 lighter than any other people on the 

 globe. 



Another Competitor for the $500 Premium of 

 the 111. Cent. R. B. Co., for the best Ditching 

 Machine. r " 



Harrington & Co.'s Ditching Ma- 

 chine. — This machine, invented and manu- 

 factured in Chicago, made its appearance on 

 our farm a few days since, but the sudden 

 freeze put an embargo on its working, and it 

 is resting in masterly inactivity^ patiently 

 waiting a thaw to try its prowess in the miry 

 sloughs of Central Illinois. It has not been 

 tried, and therefore, is only an idea, to grow 

 into a fact or sink out of sight — a phantom 

 of the brain. It is expected to cut a ditch 

 three feet deep, three feet at top and twenty 

 inches at the bottom. It has a set of rotary 

 cutters in front and the earth is discharged 

 through a spiral screw upon the Archimedian 

 principle, and is worked by a horse on a com- 

 mon capstan windlass. It is, of course, in- 

 tended for an open drain. Genius has gen- 

 erally been at loggerheads with Paddy and 

 his spade, and in attempting to monopolize 

 ditching has been sent to the wall. But 



Pratt's Digger shows some evidence of pro- 

 gress, and we hope this new candidate may 

 win fame in the handling of the muddy fur- 

 rows. Should Faddy lose in the contest, the 

 farmers will have plenty of work for him in 

 the handling of the heavy crops that a sys- 

 tem of thorough draining will and must 

 bring as a certain result. Soon as the frost 

 is out this machine will have traveling or- 

 ders, not up salt river, but up one of the 

 sloughs not yet invaded with the spade. 

 We hope to have the result for our next 

 issue. 



How to Preserve Fence Posts. — At 

 a recent meeting of the Farmers' Club in 

 Hudson, N. Y., one of the members exhibit- 

 ed a post which previous to being placed in 

 the ground had been soaked in a solution of 

 blue vitriol — one pound of vitriol being used 

 to twenty quarts of water. The post was 

 pine, and when taken up was as sound as 

 when first put down, eight years since. This 

 solution is good for all kinds of timber ex- 

 posed to the weather — spouts, shingles, 

 stakes, bean poles, etc. 



Posts soaked in a solution of copperas 

 (sulphate of iron) or even strong brine, will 

 last much longer than in the natural condi- 

 tion. We have no doubt but that it would 

 pay well to treat all our fence posts in this 

 way. The top instead of the butt end of 

 posts should be set down. — Ed. 



It is said that the mummy of 

 Nebuchadnezzar has been found. There 

 was some uncertainty about the identity, 

 but some grass in the stomach settled 

 the question. 



<•. — . 



J^^A series of fossil fishes have 



been at the Smithsonian Institution from 

 a coal mine in Ohio. They are said to 

 appear like fish cast in brass. 



Difference between Eastern and Wcitern Farm - 



There seems to be a vast difference between 

 Eastern and Western fanning; and several 

 causes may be assigned for this difference. 

 In the first place, the Eastern States are 

 densely populated, and labor is plently, and 

 consequently, the balance must be expended 

 in producing the raw material, or in com- 

 merce or manufactures. The latter branches 

 can exhaust but a certain quantity of that 

 labor, consequently, the balance must be 

 expended in the former channel of industry, 

 viz., agriculture. The natural sterility of 

 the soil, which exists in many parts of the 

 East, can be overcome by an extra amount 

 of labor ; and as the individuals whs com- 

 pose the agricultural population are limited 

 in the quantity of land which they occupy, 

 they are necessarily compelled to resort to 

 every means within their reach, to draw 

 from the bosom of the earth, in their respec- 

 tive localities, all that she is capable of pro- 

 ducing. Not so in the West. Here, we 

 have generally an abundance of land. Every 

 farmer possesses at least forty, and the ma- 

 jority of them eighty or one hundred and 

 sixty acres, and many of them even far more. 

 They are anxious to cultivate as many of 

 their broad acres as possible. They think 

 they cannot afibrd to hire help, especially 

 when times are bo hard and labor so high, 

 and connsequently they run over a large 

 amount of land, with the vain expectation of 

 realizing as much per acre, as if it had re- 

 ceived all the attention required to bring it 

 to the highest state of cultivation. The 

 difference no one can fail to observe any 

 where in the western country, to a greater or 

 less extent. It should not be so. If every 

 farmer would but consider that it is much 

 less labor to cultivate twenty acres well than 

 to cultivate forty acres poorly; and that the 

 same labor expended upon the twenty acres 

 would produce the same amount of grain or 

 other crops, he would be very likely to come 

 to the conclusion that farming upon a large 

 scale, for tlie honor of it, would scarcely re- 

 pay the investment. We say, then, that one 

 great difference between eastern and western 

 farming, consists in our western farmers 

 trying to cultivate more land than they 

 ought, with the amount of help which they 

 employ. Cultivate thoroughly every acre 

 which you attempt to cultivate, and you will 

 be repaid in various ways. You will invest 

 less money in land and fences — less labor in 

 cultivating your land — ^your crops will be of 

 a better quality, and in greater quantity, and 

 your farm will be in a far better condition 

 for another year 



But the difference of which we have spo- 

 ken, is not the only one which exists be- 

 tween eastern and western farming. In the 

 East, farmers consider themselves at home. 

 They improve their farms and buildings in 

 such a manner as to render them permanent, 

 useful, convenient and comfortable. Their 

 houses are built with a strict regard to the 

 comfort and happiness of themselves and 

 families, and supplied with all that can re- 

 ally render them so, without regard to ex- 

 pense ; while, at the same time, a rigid econ- 

 omy in matters of show or display, can al- 

 ways be observed in their dwellings. Their 

 barns are always erected with strict reference 



