114 



THE ILLI:N^0IS F-A.II]S1ER. 



orable. He paid the common school a fitting 

 tribute ; hn would encourage thorn ; in thym 

 ">e would have all these industrial pursuits; 

 taught and the idea of sending for some learn- 

 ed professor at p]ast, to teach us how to plow 

 corn, was simply ridiculous. 



Mr. Pavis of Macon, would coincide in 

 what had been said. His speech, if he had 

 any, had already been spoke out two or three 

 times. Formerly men were educated to de 

 fend themselros ; now we have another set 

 of enemies — the great insect tribes — we have 

 yet to learn to defend ourselves from their 

 attacks; and for this purpose we need and 

 require better facilities of education in this 

 department, or at least the same as those 

 extended to the other professions. 



Adjourned to 8 o'clock, p.m. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



Here amid the heats of July, the houseing of the smaller 

 grain and the tasselling of the corn, we again meet at tlie fire- 

 side of the farmer. At our first meeting, in Jaiuinry, the 

 prospects of the farmer had for a long time been shrouded in 

 gloom, and the tone was one of despondency ; 'but brighter 

 skies have brought teeming fields, and the hopes of all, so 

 much before depressed, have become bouyant ; and now 

 every where we meet with cheerful smilesand cordial greeting. 

 The whole country is again on the high road to prosperity, 

 and with a fair share of produce we may bid defiance to hard 

 times. And now, wlien the evening sliade draws on, and the 

 drapery of evening is around us, we will sit down and hold 

 social converse together, give praise to Him who has given us 

 a return of the teeming harve.st, that now gladden the great 

 prairie slopes of the north-west. 



SoMMER Pruning of the Grape. — The art of grape culture 

 is being better and better understood. The most important 

 fact is that but one crop is ever bore on the same wood. The 

 fruit of this year ii upon last years wood, hence an annual 

 renewing of wood is essential to success. The old wood must 

 be cut out as useless, or it will never produce a sound crop. 

 Leave plenty of new shoots, tha*. is, just enough for next 

 year's crop, and rub off all surplus buds. It is no matter 

 whether the vine is trained long or sliort, high or lower, pro- 

 vided that an abundance of well ripened wood, of this year's 

 growth, is provided for the next year's crop. If the vines 

 have not been thinned out at the proper time, do it now, and 

 cut away with a fearltss hand. 



Land Rollers. — When we commenced using the McQuiston 

 roller wo had some misgiving as to the size, only two feet in 

 diameter, hut we find that it does most excellent work, pul- 

 verizing the clods most effectually ; being in short sections, it 

 runs very easy. It is the cheapest cast roller that we have 

 seeu. By the use of a roller in corn jdanting, the labor of 

 rolling is more than saved in the after culture, to say nothing 

 of its value in insuring better germination of the seed, the 

 immunity from vermin and the better growth. All of these 

 directly appeal to the pride of the farm who is pleased with a 

 good stand of corn; to his pocket, in the saving of labor and 

 larger yield. The roller must take its place among the farm 

 Implements in the corn growing portions of the State. 



Amalgam Bblls — When at Cincinnati we saw one of these 

 bells oast, for which five tons of metal was melted. The 

 casting was done at the Niles Works, for Messrs. Hedges, Free 

 & Co. The bell goes to New Jersey, to be used in one of the 

 churches. The cheapness of these bells (12 cents a pound,) 

 has made a demand for them, and ff they prove as valuable as 

 at present indicated, they will make a revolution in the bell 

 trade. They are cast of all sizes, from fifty pounds and up- 

 wards. For farms they will be particularly valuable. One of 

 a couple of hundred pounds, put upon the farm house, can be 

 arranged with signals for each member of the household, who 

 can be called in at any time without much effort by giving for 

 each a certain number of taps. This will save a deal of 

 trouble in looking up any person wanted. We shall hear 

 further from these bells within a short time. 



Prairie BREAKino. — Onr Yankee, neighbor, of whom we 

 made mention last month iu this connection, lias received his 

 new sixteen inch prairie breaker, and is breaking two acres a 

 day with his two horses. He claimed that it was better than 

 ours, and that he coulil do more work ; but our second boy, 

 who by the way is our farmer, filed his prote!?t to this, and on 

 measuring, found that he had averaged a trille over two acres 

 a day with the old plow. Some persons have an idea tliat a 



plow that will cut a foot Is the right width, to all such, we 

 would sny that we have never seen a twelve inch plow breaker 

 worth the freight ; with the sixt 'en inch plow you can cut a 

 foot of you chosen. As the season a<lvances, tlie ground be- 

 coming dryer and roots of grass, red roots and weeds stronger, 

 Iilowing is more difficult for one span of horses, and if the 

 weather is warm, three horses can be used to advantage. 



SwKKT Potatoes. — To-day (June 22d,) we ai-e setting our 

 main crop of sweet potatoes, and we e.xpect to have nearly, 

 or quite as good a show of potatoes in October as from a half 

 acre of plants set a month since. This plant delights in hot, 

 dry weather, and refuses to grow until the ground is hot and 

 dry. A wet cold season, or a warm wet one, is bad for them. 

 Our customers are through getting, few of them willing to risk 

 even the first of the month. Last year we set a small lot in 

 July and had a good yield. 



Lime, Sulphur, the Plums xkd Curcclio. — In the 

 fToundsof J. S. Cook, near Cincinnati, we saw a large num- 

 ber of plum trees loaded with fruit ; under each tree were a 

 few that had been punctured by the Curculio, but there was 

 still almost too many on the trees, which would be all the 

 better for a little more thinning. The trees had been syringed 

 with a mixture of lime water and sulphur, the lime still adher- 

 ing to the foliage. This, Mr. C. says, is cheap and clfectual, 

 which we can readily believe, it is certainly cheaper than the 

 jarring process when one has a garden engine. 



Garden Engines. — Appropo to the above, almost every 

 farmer will find it to his advantage to have one of them, for 

 several reasons : In case of fire, they the can throw a 

 stream of water to the point in less lime than you can put up 

 a ladder. They hold a barrel, and of eourse worth as much 

 as ten pail fulls, and besides you can reach the fire much 

 better. Without any extra hose, they will throw water over 

 any ordinary farm house. They are convenient to wash down 

 windows, syringe trees, water the garden or wet down the 

 walks. We have one made by Downs & Co., Seneca Falls, N. 

 Y,, and sold by H. W. Austin, agent at Chicago, at |20, 

 without extra hose. We have found it a great saving in 

 sprinkling our beds of sweat potatoe plants. One man in half 

 an hour doing the work of two men in two hours. 



Wash your Fruit Trees. — All orchard trees should be 

 washed at once, if not already attended to. We use common 

 sal soda, costing by the quantity about four cents a pound; 

 two pounds, dissolved in seven quarts of water, put on with a 

 woolen swal). Bark lice, woolly aphirs, borers and numer- 

 ous other inserts that lay their eggs on the bodies and 

 branches of fruit trees, will thus be destroyed. You cannot 

 afford to neglect it. Attend to it yourself, and set your hands 

 at other work requiring less care. 



Macon Count? Pair, at Decatur. — AVe are In receipt of 

 the premium list of the above county, which is liberal in all 

 respects. For convenience and beauty of location, we learn 

 that the fair grounds i» among the best in the State. The list 

 is a liberal one, and we may look forward to a fine show. 

 Macon is the centre of the great corn zone, and now that her 

 fanners have taken hold In earnest, we shall see what we will 

 see. October Ist to oth. J. H. Pickeral, President, and Win. 

 J. Usrey, Secretary. Here goes the scissors into the regula- 

 tions: 



"The following preamble and resolution is respeci fully sub- 

 mitted : 



WiiKREAS, Believing that agricultural societies are very 

 often "duped" in receiving entries of thorough bred horses, 

 and that the practice of awarding premiums to pedigrees in- 

 dependent of the merits of the animal is too much indulged in 

 l>y corninittee-men, therefore : 



J'csolred, That we offer no premiums on thorough bred 

 horses as such, but let every horse stand upon its own merit 

 independent of a paper pedigree." 



Good. Let every tub stand on its own bottom, and every 

 horse on its merits. 



"No entry fees are required, citizens of the State of Illi- 

 nois (except such articles as are enumerated for Macon county 

 only) can enter as much stock and as many other articles as 

 they desire without expense. It is hoped that this new plan 

 will induce every farmer and mechanic and ev«ry lady In the 

 county to become exhibitors." 



Hit 'em again. It was those same entry fees that killed 



" Cock Robin." Charge your visitors good Macon county, 



but encourage the exhibitors and you will succeed. 



" The diploma is considered the highest honorary award, 

 and in no case to be given except for superior mcrii." 



Well, that is a set back ; but we are glad to seo that the 

 Doctors don't believe it themselves, for when they wi«h to 

 make the diploma positively efficatious, they add the dollars 

 as per sampe : 



Sweepstakes.— Best stallion of any age or breed, <,-10 and 

 I diploma; best marc of any age or breed, -tl ' an<l diploma; 

 best stallion and ten colts of any age of his get, diploma. 

 This is a little rich. 



" No persons will be allowed to influence any of the mem- 

 bers of the awarding cumiiiittees." 

 or course they wont. 

 " Orators. — There will be agricultural meetings and 



speeches on agricultural, horticultural and mechanical sub- 

 jects, in the city of Decatur, every niglit during the fair; (the 

 place and speakers will be announced in due time.)" 



This is commendable, and we hope will be carried ou*. 

 Keep your lawyers and clergj-men from borlr g your people 

 on the occasion, and you will have a good time generally. If 

 you run short for orators, make a mass merting of the farmers 

 and get up a general talk on farming matters. 



DuPage County Premium List. — This is one of the oldest 

 and most prosperous institutions of the kind in the State, and 

 of course will continue to draw, under its present officers and 

 extended premium list. Fair on September 2Cth,27th and 2Sth, 

 at Wheaton, twenty-five miles west of Chicago, on the 

 Chicago and Galena Union Railroad. H. C. Childs, Presi- 

 dent, and A. S. Barnard, Secretary. 



Art. 3. Ail persons competing for premiums must be mem- 

 bers r.f this Society, and pay such entrance fee as shall be re- 

 quired by the Executive Committee, and be the owner or 

 owners of the animal or article effered. 



Art. 4. No person or persons shall be permlttsd to com- 

 pete for a premium on any article of domestic manufacture, 

 unless the same sliail have been manufactured by such persoa 

 or persons, or by his or their family or families. 



Art. 5. No person or persons shall be permitted to com- 

 pete for a premium on the articles of butter or cheese, unless 

 such person or persons, family or families, shall have made or 

 manufactured the same. 



Art. 6. It shall be the duty of the several committees In 

 awarding premiums to any person or persons, to investigate 

 their chiims, and if ascertained to he valid, to represent and 

 certify to the proper officers of the society, that such jjerson 

 or persons have complied in all respects to the rules and regu- 

 lations of the society. 



Art. 7. Before any premiums shall be delivered to the per- 

 son claiming the same, or to whom the same may be awarded, 

 he shall deliver to the President of the society an accurate 

 description of the process in preparing the soil (Including the 

 quantity and quality of manure applied) and raising the 

 crops, or in fee<ling the animal as may be, and also the ex- 

 penses and product of the crop, or increased value in the 

 animal, with the view of showing, accurately, the profits of 

 cultivating the crop, or feeding the animal. 



Open Doors. — We give no challenge to the world, but In- 

 vite all to show and compete with us at our coming fair. 



AVhat Anti-Association and Fair Farmer has computed the 

 time when we sh<iuld have been in possession of the plows of 

 to-day — but for the patronage of associated agriculturists — 

 aided, as inventors have heen, by the oppertunity afforded at 

 exhibitions for the comparison of skill. 



Our Mowers, Reapers, Tlireshers, Cultivators and Draining 

 Machines, are yearly brought nearer perfection by the same 

 facilities. The same advancement l)y the same cause is being 

 made in rearing stock, producing grain and growing fruit. 



No State or community can he referred to where the hold- 

 ing of agricultural fairs have not tended to give a stimulus 

 for a more thorough culture, tending to increase the wealth of 

 the coniniunity. 



Our National Fairs, collecting the most prominent objects of 

 inttrestina wide country, may serve a good i)uri)ose. Our 

 State Society possesses peculiar advantages, and by collecting 

 the products of five degrees of latitude at her fairs, with the 

 influence she m.iy have in shai)ing the policy of our State Gov- 

 ernment to develop our latent resources may beciune our ac- 

 knowledged parent, eniitled to our confidence and jjatronage. 

 But it is to our County Societies that we must look to accom- 

 plish the general work of agricultural improvement. 



The great mass of our farming population cannot l)e induced 

 to e.Nhibit at or attend fairs at distant points, hence our home 

 or ciiunty societies must ever be depended upon to induce 

 general scientific agriculture, as our common schools are to 

 perpetuate American institutions. 



No county in the State, for size and variety of products, is 

 better adapted to the holding of an annual festival than Du- 

 Puge. 



Our Society has now entered upon its seventh year. At 

 first its friends were few, l)ut resolute. Its first President, 

 Mr. Ellsworth, is now the efficient head of the State or parent 

 society. 



The increased interest in our society from year to year, 

 must be graiifyinglo its projectors. Itsgood influence upon 

 our various pursuits is no less apparent. 



It is a matter of congratulation that while we have, as citi- 

 zens, differeil widely at times relative to our county policy, we 

 have ever been a unite in our agricultural interests, always 

 having acquiesced in the will of the majority; so may we 

 ever continue. — Appeal of President Childs to ihepulilic of 

 1) 11 Page. 



Good sound doctrine that. DuPage is one of the small 

 counties in the State, so far as square miles is concerned, but 

 she is great in the amount of hei products. Almost every 

 acre is inclosed. There are more farm barns in that, than in 

 any other county in the State, and we might add with safety, 

 more good farms. 



Premiums.— They are not designed to pay exhibitors, bat 

 to furnish them a lasting memento of their inilustry and skill, 

 and as a testimonial of esteem in which their acts, to develop 

 the useful and agreeable, are held by their fellow-citizens. 

 •Taking the above view of the object of premiums, the execu- 

 tive committee resolved to offer for premiums, money, silver- 

 plate or periodicals, each article to contain the sociesy's cer- 

 tificate. 



Yes, that certificate, that is what Is wanted to have framed 

 as a " lasting momento," — and the cash to pay expenses. We 

 farmers are a utillitarian people and like to have things pay as 

 we go. 



DuRABLB Wash for Wood WohK.— In viewof theinquir- 

 les recently made on this subject, the re-publication of a 

 recipe, which appeared iu the fourth volume of the Horticul- 

 tiirixt, is not out of place. This wash " owes its dui ability 

 chiefly tothe white vitriol, which Iiardcr.sand fixesthewash:" 

 Take a barrel and slake one bushel of freshly burned lime in 



