VOLUME V. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL., AUGUST, 1860. 



NUMBER 8. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY, 



BT 



BAIIiHACHE & BAKER, 



JOUBKAL OrriCB, gPRINGriBLD, Illwoib. 



M:. Xr. DUNLAP, Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 



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fifteen copies and oTer, 62>)^ cents each, and one to person 

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SPECIAL NOTICE. 



All baslnvsi letters should be directed to the FtibUthera, ftt 

 Springfield; and all communicattons for the eje of the Editor, 

 and the exchanges, sh«uld be directed— Illinois Fakiur, 

 Champaign, HI. (Th« uanti^t the post offic« at West Ur. 

 bana has been changed as aboT«.) 



CONTENTS. 



August ...;... ... . .121 



The Cattle Disease 122 



Ornamental Gardening .123 



Crops in Adams County 128 



LeUer from "Egypt" 128 



Letter from Tamaroa 124 



The Bishop HiU Colony 126 



Report of Wisconsin Fruit Growers Association 12$ 



Illinois Natural Hiistory Society 126 



Rats ...126 



The Culture of Broom-Corn 126 



Fairbanks' Scales 126 



Amount of Rain for 1859 127 



Please Observe This 127 



Bpaulding'g Prepared Glue 127 



The Cattle Disease 127 



Our. Canadian Visitors 128 



The Season 180 



Horse Taming 180 



History of the Steel Plow 181 



Strawberries 132 



Rust and Smut in Wheat 133 



Linen and Flax 184 



Agricultural Lecture 184 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



Introductory ^ 184 



Peach Trees and Silver Maples 134 



Drilling Wheat .134 



Peddlers Trees 135 



Bees on the Prairie 135 



Adams County Fair 135 



School and Family Readers , 135 



Ogle County Fair 185 



Fawke's Steam Plows v ' 185 



The Best Tomato Pickles 185 



To Clean Knives 135 



Letter from Tennessee 1.35 



Kxhibition of the United States Agricultural Society. .185 



Hancock County Fair 136 



The Next Great Fair 185 



The Cattle Disease 185 



Curing Hay 187 



Sugar from Chinese Sugar Cane 185 



The State;Fdr 135 



From North-WeBtern Missouri 186 



The Farmer's Zeitung 186 



Bees 136 



Strawberries 186 



The State Fair Grounds 186 



An Important Invention 186 



Our Exchanges 186 



MARKETS 186 



Angnst. 

 The last month of summer is at hand, 

 crowned with the golden sheaf, the rip- 

 ening corn, the apple and the peach. — 

 Nearly allof the small fruits have passed 

 away and given place to the larger and 

 longer keepers. The great corn fields 

 are standing out in the August sun, and 

 ripening up the huge ears under its ar- 

 dent gaze. The sweet potatoe is coming 

 in use, adding another to our creature 

 comforts; melons abound,' and yield up 

 their lucious sweets, much to the gratifi- 

 cation of all. August is laboring with 

 herculean strength to perfect the gifts of 

 summer, ready to pour them into the lap 

 of autumn. The sound of the reaper 

 and of the thrasher a the^masie cf the 

 morning, and all through the sultry day; 

 the sun-browned . brow of toil is moist 

 with dewy sweat, as the*golden sheaves 

 bend to the sharp sickle, or are sent 

 through fast revolving cylinders to rob 

 them of the yellow grain. The banners 

 of the season float out on the gentle 

 breath of August withj|deeper foilage, 

 all mature and ready for the change that 

 is so near at hand ; the reapers will soon 

 close their labors for the year, and all 

 the golden glories of luxurient summer 

 will soon pass to the garner of Autumn. 

 The season has been one of deep inter- 

 est and of stirring activity, as its genial 

 smiles gave promise of abundant^crops, 

 60 long withheld, it nerved the arm of 

 labor and made glad the brow of care. 

 The roseate flush of heath mantles the 

 cheek of toil, and the summer zephyrs 

 . that kissed the waving grain, has left its 

 impress of robust health on the cheek of 

 youth and beauty. The graneries of 

 the Northwest will be stored with ample 

 harvest, and her farmers, her mechanics 

 and her merchants shall sing a jubilant 

 harvest home, and bow down in thank- 

 fulness to the great Giver for the abun- 



dance that the August sun is now finish- 

 ing up for their use. With^all the re- 

 turning blessings that abundant crops 

 always bring in its train, if we are pru- 

 dent, if we are industrious we may bid 

 hard times defiance, and look a bad sea- 

 son in the face with comparative impuni- 

 ty. But if in good season we live up to 

 our means, no_,wonder that a bad season 

 crushes but our hopes. And now when 

 success flushes upon us when the August 

 sun is pouring down its blessings, and 

 every thing is joyous, let us resolve that 

 in the future we will live like rational 

 beings; let us resolve to live for our- 

 selves and for our families, let us cease 

 Xhe worship of broad acres that^we can- 

 not use; let nis oeor^e -tntt lioineBteads . 

 that shall glow with contentment and ' 

 abundance ; let us enjoy the substance 

 while the shadow is passing ; let our 

 homes be shrines for the household to 

 which in after life the young members 

 may look back with feelings of pleasure. 

 To do this we have but to cultivate less 

 acres, but to^ cultivate them better, to 

 plant trees and flowers,ffor now when 

 the sun is pouring down his heats is the 

 best time to enforce the value of shade, 

 and the necessity of planting, trees now 

 when the evening calls to repose, when 

 the toil of the day is over and the dra- 

 pery of flowers would be most agreeable, 

 but that the spring time called for too 

 much labor and they were not planted. 

 It is a good time to cast back and see 

 when we gave the bond that has bound 

 us to all toil; it was of our own free will, 

 but was it not unfortunate ? Had we 

 not have better stipulated for time to 

 plant a few flowers, to plant a good gar- 

 den, to plant an abundance of small 

 fruits, whose sharp acid is so agreeable 

 in the heats of summer, and to plant the 

 larger fruits that are so desirable in win- 

 ter? Now when the golden^harvest is so 



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' .A-t^Masii ^'Skiiii tmAT ^^^. (' 



