THE ILLINOIS FJV^RMER. 



115 



it, covering the lime with boiling water. After it is slaked, 

 add cold water enough to bring it to the consistency of good 

 wliitewash. Then dissolve in water, and add one iiound of 

 white vitriol (sulphate of zinc) and one quart of fine ea't. 

 To make this wash of a handsome grey stone color, add half 

 a pound of French blue, and one-fourth pound of Indian red ; 

 a drab will be made by adding a half pound of burnt sienna, 

 and one fourth of a pound of Venitian red. 



Kbroskke Oil. — We have used this oil for two y«ars and 

 can bear tsstiraony fo iti value. It pours out a flood of 

 golden light, steady and unflinching as the sun. Since Octo- 

 ber last we have used only gome five gallons in three lamps, 

 one of which has been used all night, of course the wick was 

 turned down so that the light was scarely perceptable, but 

 which at a moment's notice would peur out its floods of light. 

 We had a half gallon of poor quality that persisted in smok- 

 ing, gumingup the wick and giving out an unpleasaat oder. 

 The Boston and similar brands are all right. Last winter it 

 gold at f 1 20 per gallon, it is now sold at a dollar or less. 

 The best lamp we hare is called a hand lamp, costing seventy- 

 five cents ; the others, costing five dollars a pair, are too 

 high, a lower lamp for this oil is the most convenient. 



Sewing Macdines. — Sewing machines have now become a 

 matter of necessity in every household. Fortunately no one 

 maker has the monopoly, and manufacturers must depend 

 upon their skill and fidelity in making a good article, if they 

 w^ish to sell. By our advertising columns it w'll be seen that 

 quite a variety are offered to our readers, at almost all prices. 

 Persons who have but little work to do can suit themselves 

 with a cheap machine, which will last many years, and those 

 who have large amounts, of course will need something more 

 substatial, to stand continaed wear of heavy work. We have 

 one costing forty dollars which does good work, and is never 

 out of order. We would almost as soon think of giving up our 

 coal cook sto\ e as the sewing machine. Formerly the family 

 gewing was one of the most dreaded of the household duties, 

 but for the past three years, with the aid of the machine this 

 care worn phantom has left our fireside, and in its place we 

 have the music of revolving wheals, which sings to the seams 

 as they are rapidly closed up at the bidding of busy feet. The 

 sewing machine, what health is in the very name — the cheeks 

 blanched by toil from early more till the stars shone through 

 the roof are nowglowingwith roseate health, — thanks to its 

 muscles of iron and nerves of steel. Those who have not 

 made their purchase, will do well to consult our pages, as all 

 those establishments are on a large scale, and can sell a, good 

 article at a cheap rate. 



A oocD PLACE FOR Dbuqs. — Dr. Wendell Holmes delivered 

 an address last week before the Massachusetts Medical Society 

 which astonished those venerable gentlemen not a little. He 

 said that the people are drugged too much, and if all the drugs 

 in the Materia Medica were thrown into the ocean it would be 

 better for the world. 



Stir 'em up Doctor. Why, bless your dear soul, we can 

 show you hundreds of cases of calomal poisoning in this beaut- 

 iful and naturally healthy west of ours, which, had it never 

 been cursed with pill and portion, would not have had sus- 

 picion of lingering fever cast over it. And oh ! how many 

 now lie beneath the prairies, who lay down at night with over 

 work preparing the new home, but who through fear of the 

 fever allowed the Doctor to be called in— the fatal draught 

 wasBwollowed — exhaustion and madening fever followed and 

 death closed the scene, leaving the bereaved family without 

 a home, far away among strangers. How much have you 

 quacks, with lancet, calomal and blister, to answer for ? A 

 drink of cold water and a night's rest would have restored the 

 exhausted pioneer, but your greed and want of skill has sent 

 him to an early grave. Now, we believe in the use of med- 

 icine, and have a high respect for the humane physician, but 

 nine tenths of the Doctors of the day are a real curse to the 

 human family, and we honestly think the harm they do, more 

 than over balances the good of the genuine practitioner. But 

 a better day is dawning, the people are becoming more intel- 

 ligent, thanks to the value of printer's ink, and these gentry 

 cannot come their ignorant pretensions over the people as of 

 old. 



Marriid.— In Brooklin, N. Y., May 31st, Mr. H. C. Free- 

 man (Recording Secretary of the Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society,) to Mis« Lizzie K. Brenizer. 



Severed him right. AVhat business had Mr. F. to play old 

 6 joA on one of the largest fruit farms in Egyj t? We wish 

 the new married couple much joy In their beautiful and 

 romantic home on the " Grand Chain," where Pomona holda 

 high carnival, with the blushing peach and clustering vine. 

 We hope at no distant day to feast our eyes on the beautiful 

 panorama that is spread out to the west of tlieir house, a com- 

 mingling of hill and dale enwrapt in the haze of blue, over 

 which light and shade plays fancy sketchings on its deep sea 

 of forest verdure — to be greeted with the prattle of childhood, 

 as with pattering feet and busy fingers they gather th„ 



wild flowers, that ncr-tle under the lea of these old 

 sand-stones. How soft and grateful are the summer 

 zephyrs that come up from the depths of the forest, laden ..ith 

 the aroma of fruit and flowers, as one stands on those prjmd 

 old hills, looking westward to see the sun sink into the deep 

 forest that shuts in the father of waters. 



The Small Fruits. — This is the season of small fruits. 

 With us the strawberry season commenced Slay 2.^th, and to- 

 day we have the last of the season, (JunelSth.) The red 

 raspberry begun to ripen ten days ago, and at this writing are 

 nearly gone. The Black Caps have shown a few specimens. 

 The Purple Cane sent us by Rosensteil of Freeport, show some 

 ripe specimens, of high flavor. This, as Dr. Worder says, is 

 to be the great Raspberry of the prairie region — to which we 

 add the Black Cap. The Egyptian Blackberries have disap- 

 pointed our expectations this season as to fruit, but they 

 are sending up strong canes, and next season may make 

 amends. We have never seen anything in the small fruit line 

 make more desperate efforts to cover the ground. We set 

 two rows in spring of 1859, with plants four feet each way, 

 and now the ground for twelve feet in width is completely oc- 

 cupied by the young plants. If they prove a failure as to 

 fruit, it will require pretty vigorous effort to get rid of them- 

 Some of the canes are now an inch in diameter, and continue 

 to grow. 



Blackberry Wine. — We have several inquiries in regard 

 to the making of this wine ; but we have exhausted the sub- 

 ject as at present advised. See April No., page 64. 



Mblodeoks — We are pleased to hear of several sales of 

 Melodeons to farmers, in consequence of our notice, and the 

 advertisement of Slessrs. Prince & Co., and the agencies in 

 our columns, not so much on account of the manufacturers as 

 the farmers sons and daughters, who have been more largely 

 benefitted by their use. No investment, among what is called 

 the ornamental, adds more to the pleasure of a family than 

 music, whether vocal or instrumental ; a love of music is ai 

 natural as a love of water, and it should be more generally 

 cultivated. In cities, the families of well to do citizens con- 

 sider a piano an indispensible article of the household. These 

 cost on an average $350, and we see no reason why well to do 

 farmers cannot afford their sons and daughters the luxury of a 

 hundred dollar melodeon. Some have made the trial and are 

 entirely satisfied with the result. We hope to see others 

 follow. 



Rye for Hogs. — Some of ou> pork raisers think highly of 

 a field of rye in which to turn their hogs. One of our neigh- 

 bors, J. R. Scott, has seventy acres, and he thinks that no 

 crop pays better. A small lot near his house, containing 

 eight acres, was feed down last full, having been sown about 

 the middle of August, and we should judge that it would yield 

 at least thirty bushels to the acre. His breading sows and 

 pigs run in this lot and are fed on CBrn,they had not com- 

 menced feeding on the rye, though now in the dough state, 

 but they will doubtless discover its value in a few days. 



Revolying Horsr Rake — Maro Bradley, of Dundee, Kane 

 count}-, sent us hist season one of his Premium Revolving 

 Horse llakes, with which we put up some eighty loads of hay, 

 beside.* accommodating several of our iieighl»ors with its use. 

 For raking uj) tlie prairie hay, we have seen nothing that is 

 equal to it. The conimon revolving rake is nowhere beside it. 

 The work is done with ease and celerity. A boy capable of 

 riding a horse can use it. A small cord is attached to the rake 

 and by giving it a slight jurk the rake revolves, lets out the 

 windrow and is ready for more hay. Two boys, one of six 

 and the other of ten, d»'ne up the raking last season; one 

 riding the horse and the other carryinpit around at the ends, 

 and to see where and how large to make the windrows. It was 

 more like play than work for the little fellows, at the same 

 time what had before been no small task was done without 

 much effort; thanks to the ingenuity of Mr. Bradley and his 

 kind forethought for us. All know that the wooden revolving 

 rake will not work at all on the upland prairie ; the teeth will 

 slip on the fine hay ; not bo with these wire teeth, they take it 

 up clean, aswccan attest; all of our cutting last season being 

 of the upland. Those having prairie hay to cut, will find 

 this a valuable implement. Mr. B. has both rakes and 

 county rights for sale at reasonable rates. , 



Chase's Hakd Books. — We are In receipt of No. 2, of thii 

 valualile seriesof booklets. This number treats of the " use- 

 ful and the ornamental." Chapter 1st, the Hedge — material 

 and culture; chapter 2d, the Home. No. 3, Forest Tree 

 Planting; No. 4, Hardy and Valuable Trees; No. 5, Ever- 

 greens; No. 6, Flowers. Messrs. S. C. Griggs k Co., pub- 

 lishers, Chicago. Price 25 cenis ; mailed at 30 cents. We 

 presume that all our country bookstores will order a supply. 

 It should be in the hands of every larmer and every tree 

 planter. It is a plain, practical work, divested of all t-ech- 

 necalities, just what has bten wanted by those who would add 

 the beautiful and the useful in their home surroundings. 



Bee Hives. — Mr. H. B. Gifford, of Danby, DuPage county, 

 the owner of the Phelps' Sectional Frame, and Movable Comb 

 Hives, sent us two hives of each kind. The movable comb 

 hive is a single apartment of some two thousand cubic incheg, 

 with a chamber at ove for two small draws, which will contain 

 about ten pounds of pure honey each. The movable frames 

 have two coiapartments each, and are so placed that they 

 can be taken out at pleasure. This we think the most simple 

 and valuable of any hive that we have seen. The other hive 

 has two compartments or chambers for the bees, of some 

 fifteen hundred cubic inches each, with an apparatus to con- 

 fine the bees to either one at pleasure; above is a chamber 

 similar to the other. This hive i.s more expensive and in gen- 

 eral keeping with patent hives ; its ventilation is very perfect, 

 but we think it of less value than the other, from the want of 

 the movable frame ; but astne proof of th^ value of any new 

 thing is the trial, we have put a swarm in one of these to-day 

 (June 23,) and will thus have a good opportunity to test its 

 value. We have seen a large number of bee keepers who 

 prefer this double hive, and others who have tried them and 

 have thrown them out ; but in one case, a neighbor of ours, 

 the hives were so badly made that the fault is in that, and not 

 in the principla. We have ordered a supply of the movable 

 frames. 



Apples In Centr\l Illinois. — The fruit on all of the 

 young orchards was killed by frost, but the old trees, many of 

 them are loaded, and after all we shall have at least half a 

 crop of this fruit — much more than last year. The fruit is 

 now of good size and promises well. j 



Tub Corn Crop bids fair to be the largest known in the 

 State Their has never been so much planted before in this ! 

 part of the State, the stand is good and coming forward in the ' 

 most vigorous manner. Beef and pork will be abundant and I 

 of the very best quality the coming autumn. Some people | 

 fear that the price will go down to nothing under such a 

 supply, but we have no fears, the west has always found a 

 market for her surplus and will now. Somebody will want it. 

 Don't get alarmed. Work it at least five times before you lay 

 it by, and roll up the best yield you can. 



The Weather, Crops, &c. — Withinthepast two weeks an 

 abundance of rain has failed, and its effects upon the crops 

 have been indeed miraculous. There is a prospect now for a 

 much larger crop of wheat than the farii ers generally ac- 

 knowledge. The straw is short, which will make harvesting 

 more laborious ; but the grain is very plump, and the heads 

 well filled. We never knew corn to grow so rapidly as it has 

 in this section during the last fortnight. With occasional 

 rains from this out, the corn crop will be the largest ever 

 raised in this section. Grass will not be worth cutting gener- 

 ally. Clover fields look tolerably well, but timothy grass 

 amounts to just nothing. A great many farmers have pastur- 

 ed their meadows this summer. Potatoes are in a fine con- 

 dition throughout the country. Farmers in this section have 

 every reason to be thankful for the bright prospects before 

 them. — jFutton JJemoc) at. 



Tub Late ToasAno.— It Is ascertained that one hundred 

 and two lives were lost in Iowa by the tornado, besides a large 

 number more or less injured. The amount of property is 



estimated at si.x hundred thousand dollars. East of the river 



it was less destructive of life and property. On the whole it 

 has proved the severest visitation of the kind known to the 

 north-west. 



Thb Cattle Disease continues to attract attention at the 

 east, and the worst fears are entertained of the result. It ap- 

 pears to be steadily spreading, and we fear, that before we are 

 aware it will be among us. Our farmers should be careful 

 how they allow any new comers among their herds. Should 

 the diseese continue at the east, and the west keep free from 

 it, our cattle farmers will reap a rich harvest ; they have 

 therefor every incentive to WHtchfuIness, iis their future 

 profits will in a great degree depend upon koeping this dis- 

 ease out of the country. 



A Smart Boy. — One of our well to do farmers was conver- 

 sing with his daughter in the city, in the presence of her little 

 four j-ear old, aud remarked that he could not get that tornado 

 out of bis head. After his grandfather had left he remarked 

 to his mother that, that tornado was an awfull thing, and it 

 must hurt grandpa very bad to keep it in his head all the 

 time, and hoped that he \yould get it out afore long. 



Post-Office Change. — The name of the post-office at 

 West Url)ana has been changed to Champaign; will our ex- 

 changes, contributors, and others, please govern themselves 

 accordingly. 



The Orchard. — Now is the time to attend to your orchards- 

 With a stout knife, a small gou):e and a wire, go at the borer- 

 Exterminate them ; they will destroy your entire orchard In 

 a few years. Scrape the rough bark off from the trees and 

 then give them a good scrubbing with a mixture of lye, soft 

 soap and soot or sulphur. This will destroy the eggs or 

 larvae that have been deposited by the insect that breeds the 

 borer. An old broom, cut off stubby, is the best to apply the 

 mixture with. — Quincy Whig. 



Railroad Fares. — The Chicago Jourval takes exception 

 to our remarks in relation to high local fares and official steal- 

 ing. Without answering the points made, the gin is laid to 

 bad indigestion, refusal of a pass or loss of baggage. No, 

 friend Taylor, it is none of these. We had an excellent 

 dinner, good digestion, did not ask for a pass, nor lose any 

 baggage ; but we are a farmer, write as a farmer, and advo- 

 cate the interest of the farmer. That the Conductors of the 

 G. & C. road are all you say, we can easily believe; but to 

 say the same of all their predeces-sors we need not do, nor 

 would the officers ask us to do it. We need a little reform in 

 regard to local fares, but so long as the management of our 

 roads are really in New York and Boston, we must expect te 

 be snubbed. What can a Superintendent do when tied up by 

 a board of old foggy Directors? A railroad pass shall never 

 shut our eyes to the interest of the fiirnxer; the purchase is 

 too cheap altogether. The road mentioned has always been 

 liberal to the press, and to ourself in particular, always giving 

 us a pass when requested. When they put up the rates lart 

 January we warned them of the result — empty trains, — and 

 now they have put them down only in part, the travel has in- 

 creased, but a further reduction must be made to restore the 

 old patronage. 



More Native Wine. — The report reaches us from Bremen 

 that crowds of industrious German vine growers and farmer* 

 are leaving that port, all headed for Missouri. Some three 

 hundred have already reached St. Louis. They are regarded 

 as the very best immigrants that could enter a State, and the 

 branch of agriculture which they pursue is a deeply import- 

 ant one for the country. 



