m^- ■■■ 



THE IIl.Il.I]N'OIS IT'.A.IlMiEIl. 



38 



machine that will perform satisfactorily 

 as a grain reaper, header or mower. *_ * 



A farmer ought to have a machine 



that can reap, head and mow; (3) this 



can be done, and is done in my machine 



* by a change of motion in the sickle. 



What say you to this proposition? 



Yours truly, G. H. Eugg. 



Remarks. — The manner of awarding 

 premiums on reapers and mowers at our 

 fairs, is one of the most glaring "hum- 

 bugs" of the day, and should be discon- 

 tinued; such awards are of no value and 

 only tend to bring the whole system of 

 premiums into contempt. 



1. The same interest that prompts 

 our friend Eugg, will probably prompt 

 others who have also made valuable 

 improvements, and we think an actual 

 trial in the harvest field would be of 

 great value in advertising these new im- 

 provements. Go ahead gentlemen, our 

 pen shall be at your service in setting 

 forth the new values, and pointing out 

 your defects. 



2. Bah! A GRAND GOLD MEDAL. 



Medals belong to the war department 

 and are awarded on the sanguinary 

 field, not the field] where waves the 

 golden grain, bending its wealth of food 

 beneath the keen blade of the reaper. 

 Give us the approval of the farmers who 

 buy reapers, mowers and headers, and 

 your gold, pewter or leather medals may 

 go to the dogs. A statement of actual 

 facts; the quantity and quality of the 

 work, the cost and durability of the 

 machine on the ground, are the grand 

 disideratum in such a contest. 



3. The heading might be left out of 

 the contest, or made a special matter. 

 But few reapers can he so changed as to 

 be used for headers. In Central and 

 Southern Illinois, headers are valuable, 

 but in as damp a climate as that in the 

 vicinity of the lakes, they are of less 

 value. -■.■■;.;■-■■■ 



We vote for the trial, and would sug- 

 gest that the State Agricultural Society 

 offer liberal premiums, and charge an 

 entrance fee of $20, to make up the 

 premiums to be awarded pro rata. 



Ed. 



-ff 



Underdrainlng. 



The cost of tile draining is made up of 

 three items — the digging, the price of tiles 

 at the kiln, and the expense of hauling them. 

 It will readily be seen that each of these may 

 vary considerably, and the total cost of the 

 improvement be influenced accordingly. 



If tilet are made on the farm, or in the 



immediate neighborhood, the cost of haul- 

 ing is reduced to its lowest figure. Where 

 they must be drawn several miles, the trouble 

 and expense are great; five hundred of the 

 smallest size being ail that can readily »nd 

 safely be put in a common two-horse wagon. 

 Taking this item into account, the desirable- 

 ness of concert of action among farmers is 

 apparent, if several can agree to enter upon 

 such improvements at the same time, they 

 may manufacture in company, or what is bet- 

 ter, give their contracts to the nearest and 

 best brick maker, and get their tiles made at 

 the most convenient point. Every farmer 

 should consider it his interest to sustain any 

 tile maker who has enterprise enough to 

 commence the manufacture in his vicinity. 

 There ought to be one or more good tile 

 yards essablished immediately in every 

 township in the State. 



The price of tiles must vary in different 

 localities, the cost of manufacture depending 

 on the nature of the clay, the price of fuel 

 and of labor; but these matters relating to 

 the manufacture of tiles may be deferred to 

 another timei. - ; v ;. V ' ^ 



Tiles are at present sold in Ohio at prices 

 ranging from §8 to 812 per 1,000 for the 

 smallest size, or two inches in bore. Four 

 inch tiles are about double the cost of the 

 two inch, and six inch tiles are about double 

 the cost of the four inch. A thousand tiles 

 of ordinary length will lay sixty rons — thus, 

 at the lowest figure stated above, the cost of 

 tiles is a trifle over a shilling a rod. 



The cost of digging, where men accus* 

 tomed to the work, and proper teols can be 

 obtained, will not exceed a shilling a rod for 

 a three feet drain. The cost is proportion- 

 ally greater for deep drains than for shallow 

 ones; so that if the depth is diminished one- 

 third, the priee should be lessened one half; 

 or if the depth is increased a third, about 

 half the original price should be added. It 

 will doubtless appear to some that such 

 prices are low, compared with what they 

 have been used to pay for ditching; this dif- 

 ference arises from the fact, not more than a 

 third of the earth is' removed in making a 

 drain, that • must needs be lifted in making 

 an open ditch of the same depth. 



The cost cf thorough draining will de- 

 pend, of course, on the frequency of the 

 drains. At two rods asunder, there will be 

 eighty rods to the acre, and this, at the prices 

 already stated, or two shillings a rod, will 

 amount, to twenty dollars. To this, it will 

 be sometimes necessary to add ten per cent, 

 for main drains In general, about one-tenth 

 of all the drains in a field are main drains, 

 and made at neany double the cost of the 

 minor drains. The profit or loss of under- 

 draining, at sueh prices, will next be con- 

 sidered. — Ohio Farmer. 



Could our brick makers be persuaded to 

 try the experiment of tile making, we have 

 no doubt that it would pay as well, if not 

 better, than the making of brick. Thousands 

 of rod* of wood drains have been laid the 

 past year — on our farms — in cellar drains, 

 and kitchen drains^ and which have cost 

 more than for tile, at the same time will last 

 but a few years, when the same process must 

 be repeated. It will be seen tile draining 



costs but little more than mole draining, 

 while in the real value there is no compari- 

 son. Ed, 



STEAM PLOWS. 



■ lawkfi, Waters, Bassett. \^ 



Such is the heading of an article in the 

 Kewana Advertiser and we give below ita 

 main points. • •; - '^--^irrj^'r^^':;:- 



We hope friend Bassett will be patient and 



not make a fortune too soon. Steam plows 

 are a success} that is, they will plow; but an- 

 other point is yet to be settled, and that is, 

 "will they pay?" We hope they will, but 

 we must wait patiently for this solution. 



We have paid considerable attention to 

 this subject of steam plowing, but we must 

 confess that the paying point of the enter- 

 prise itill looms in the £e^ oft distance. 



Ed. 



* * But just at this time the hopes of 

 the public seem almost to have been "crush- 

 ed out" in consequence of the failure of 

 those which have been produced, to meet the 

 expectations of their inventors and the public. 



* * The causes of their failure are 

 natural causes, easily accounted for and will 

 enable others to profit by their experience. 



* * Samuel K. Bassett, of Galesburg, 

 has partially constructed a steam plow, which 

 is pronounced, by the best judges, practical 

 engineers and machinists, to possess every 

 quality necessary to obviate the difficulties 

 which have existed in those which have been 

 exhibited to* the public, and that there is not 

 a reasonable doubt that when completed it 

 will prove a complete success. We have 

 ourselves examined this machine and we art 

 convinced that it will answer the purpo.se for 

 which it was intended, and not only prove 

 the practicability, but the utility of such 

 machines for farm purposes, on a large or 

 small scale. 



Mr. Bassett's machine will not weigh or 

 cost over one half as much as either of the 

 others, and the ease with which it can be 

 managed — turning on a small space of ground 

 — the faciUty with which it can be changed 

 from a moving to a stationary power, and its 

 adaptation to travelling over common roads, 

 must make it the favorite machine for iaxax. 

 purposes. :■' . ■ ;; ■ .>^j-:^- ; ' '~-:--\ ;; . 



From the New York Daajr Tribune, Jttly22, 1S5». 

 Prepared Glue. — Little conveniences for gen- 

 eral family use, are often of more value than 

 what are called "great inventions." There is no 

 housekeeper that has not been often annoyed by- 

 squeaky, rickety chairs, sofas, tables, etc., which 

 have become so by the joints where thej"^ are 

 put together becoming shrunken and loose, and 

 so long as furniture is left in this condition, there 

 is constant danger of a general smash-up. And 

 again, such accidents as breakage of furniture 

 do occasionally occur "in the best regulated 

 families." To remedy the annoyance and per- 

 plexity occasioned by these troubles, we keep in 

 the house a small quantity of Prepared Glue, 

 which can be applied to the affected parts by any 

 person of ordinarj^ skill, with much less trouble 

 than sending the article to a cabinet-maker, to 

 ssig nothing of the saving of expense. The kind 

 we use is labeled "Spalding's Celebrated Pre- 

 pared Glue — useful in every family," and as we 

 have found it a valuable addition to our cabinet 

 of "little conveniences," we fully concur in the 

 sentiment of the labeL . ., :. ..: " 



