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THE iLLiisrois fa^rm:er. 



®lvc ^Uinofe gmwcL 



SPRINGriEI.D, MAY I, ISOO. 



B AILHACHE & BAKER, Publishers 



M. L. DUNLAP, Editor. 



The cultivation ot the farm grasses 

 and clover have been too much neglected, 

 and should receive more of our attention. 

 Throughout the northern counties, this 

 is done to somo extent, and red clover 

 and Hurd's grass are receiving a fair 

 share of attention, but on the stock 

 farms of central Illinois the common 

 prairie grasses and the cornfields are the 

 main reliances. To this there are some 

 excellent exceptions, and among these 

 stand foremost C.ipt. J. N. Brown, of 

 Sangamon county, Tvith his immense pas- 

 tures of blue grass, the most valuable of 

 all the cultivated grasses for pasture. 

 On farms intended for grain mainly, the 

 red clover will prove of great value, it 

 makes good pasturage, excellent haj, 

 and is a valuable fertilizer for wheat, 

 oats and corn. Our farmers do not ap- 

 pear to understand its nature, and often 

 complain that it runs out, and will not 

 stand well for pasture. Rod clover is a 

 biennial, that is, it only lives two years. 

 The second year the plant dies, and un- 

 less new seed is sown, or seed enough 

 ripens and falls on the ground for a new 

 supply, ttic stand of clover is gone, or 

 run out, as many farmers say. Now if 

 this is a fault, it is a valuable one, for 

 the long tap roots of the clover pump 

 up from below the sulphate of lime, 

 (plaster) of which to form in part the 

 upper portion of those roots, and upon 

 their decay leave this rich fertilizer m 

 a free state, ready to be absorbed by the 

 more delicate tissues of the cereals, thus 

 clover is of the greatest value in a rota- 

 tion of wheat, either spring or winter. 

 Clover sown on wheat or rye in March, 

 will produce an abundance of feed after 

 the wheat is harvested, the next season 

 a crop of clover hay can be taken off 

 and another crop of clover for seed, add- 

 ed to this a large amount of Fall feed. 

 In this case considerable seed will be 

 shattered out to re-seed, and then the 

 crop continues, but when closely pastur- 

 ed the second season, so that no seed 

 matures, the stand of clover will bo 

 found dead the following spring, much 

 to the disappointment of the coufidiiig 

 farmer. In the curing of clover hay, 



mucli of it is spoiled, instead of allowing 

 it to become dry in tlie swath, it should 

 bo only wilted, and then put in cocks to 

 euro; tiien if the season be wet, should 

 be covered with cotton caps made of 

 shirting, but in this part of the State, 

 these are seldom required, as the natural 

 continental dryness of the atmosphere is 

 sufficient to insure them to cure out. 

 No night dew should be allowed to fall 

 no the newly cut clover, it should always 

 be cut in a dry day, in the forenoon, and 

 towards evening put up in cocks to cure. 

 Hurd's grass is now assuming no small 

 importance as an article of shipment 

 south in the form of baled hay. Thou- 

 sands of tons have been sent out of the 

 State the past winter, and it is still be- 

 ing shipped at a good round profit. — 

 There is no reason to suppose that there 

 will be a falling off in the demand, but 

 every reason to believe that it "will in- 

 crease. Ohio meadows have heretofore 

 furnished the supply, but wo cannot see 

 how they may successfully compete with 

 the prairie soils, which are so natural to 

 the grasses, and which produce the hay 

 crop with almost unerring certainty. — 

 Hurd's grass seed is in great demand, 

 and the purity of Illinois seed is such 

 that it is eagerly sought after in all of 

 the other markets. Hurd's grass, (tim- 

 othy,) is of little value for pasture, as 

 its bulbous roots are injured by the tramp- 

 ing of cattle, but as a hay and seed crop 

 for export, is valuable. Blue grass for 

 stock farmers for pasture, is invaluable, 

 its ability to continue green and succu- 

 lent throughout the frosts of winter, 

 makes it unrivaled for winter out door 

 feed. It is bad policy for our farmers to 

 depend upon the prairie grass for pas- 

 turage, 



«•• 



[From tlie Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] 



The rii'uro-Pncumoiiia Epizootic. 

 This contagious infectious cattle dis- 

 temper is very justly exciting much at- 

 tention among the owners of cattle not 

 onlv, but also among all other classes, 

 for all are consumers of beef, milk, but- 

 ter or cheese, and have therefore a deep 



interest in the subjeet. Hence the ex- 

 ecution of tlie late law passed by the 

 legislature, by the commissioners appoint- 

 ed for that purpose, though a terrible 

 necessity, is looked upon with very gen- 

 eral approval, as it should be. 



Jts contagious character seems to be 

 confirmed beyond a doub;, though some 

 of the V. S. practitioners deny it, whicli 

 is about a.s reasonable as it Avould be, to 



deny any other well authenticated his- 

 toric fact. Every case of the disease is 

 traceable to one of two sources — either 

 to Mr. Chenery's stock in Belmont, into 

 which the disease was introduced by his 

 importation of four Dutch Cows from 

 Holland, which arrived here the 23d of 

 last May, or else to one of the three 

 calves which he sold to a farmer in North 

 Brookfield, last June. 



The Commissioners appointed by the 

 Governor consist of Mr. R. S. Fay of 

 Boston, Mr. Amasa Walker of North 

 Brookfield, and Mr. Paoli Lathrop of 

 South Iladley, the latter a well known 

 breeder of improved Short- Horns. They 

 have commenced the killing and burying 

 of carcass, hide and horns of such herds 

 as are infected with the malady. Dr. 

 Joseph N. Bates of Worcester, and his 

 brother in Boston, who is also a physi- 

 cian, have been employed by the Com- 

 missioners to assist them, and they have 

 been remarkably successful thus far in 

 detecting diseased lungs by percussion 

 over the parts affected, and then judging 

 by the resonance of the sound thus pro- 

 duced, the condition of the lungs. 



The only hope of exterminating the 

 disease at present, is in the entire de- 

 struction of the infected herds, with a 

 thorough fumigation and of purification 

 of the stables with the most approved 

 disinfectants. 



This disease, new to American far- 

 mers, is creating no small excitement 

 among the farmers of New England. 

 From the decided stand taken in regard 

 to it, we hope that it will be fully arres- 

 ted, but if it is half as contagious as 

 represented, we can hardly hope for so 

 desirable a consummation, and may ex- 

 pect that it will gradually spread itself 

 over the country. In this case, it would 

 not be reasonable to suppose that all 

 parts of the country would suffer alike, 

 as there would be many counteractinn- 

 cases to prevent. In case it be not ar- 

 rested, every precaution should be used 

 to prevent its entering the great herds 

 in our State. There is no doubt that it 

 is greatly exaggerated, and that reme- 

 dies for arresting it in its early stage will 

 soon be found. We shall keep an eye 

 out for it, and post our readers upon its 

 progress. Ed. 



From the Independent, New York, July 2S, t'5,59. 



Glue. — Our advertising cohinins contain somo 

 testimonies to the value of a new article known 

 as "Spalding's Prepared Glue," u.^eful to house- 

 keepers for mending furniture. It is prepared 

 with chemicals, by which it is kept in the pro- 

 per condition for iratnodiate use, the chemicals 

 evaporating as soon as it is applied, kaving the 

 glue to harden. We can a.s.sure our readers that 

 this article has the excellent phrenological qual- 

 ity of "lartre adhesiveness." 



