THE ILLINOIS IT^RIMEII. 



143 



small stream from the bluffs were carried 

 in a ditch to the Wabash, and made to 

 do duty, by crushing corn in the -white 

 man's morter. To keep the banks of 

 this ditch from being washed by the 

 overflow of the big waters, cuttings of 

 willow were set along its borders, these 

 are now fine trees of a foot in diameter 

 and make a most magnificent avenue, 

 along side of which is the highway. The 

 sun was casting its last glance into the 

 valley as we drove along this shaded 

 avenue, with the old Indian cornfield on 

 the left and the river lawn to the right ; 

 not long ago studded with huts around 

 which played the young Indian, little 

 heeding tha^. the white man's rifle would 

 so soon deal Clttath to his parents and 

 drive him from so peasant a home, but 

 such was the change i the huts were 

 burned, the young corn cm. down, the 

 red man driven from his home utkJ the 

 toiling ox broke up the corn hills tha,t 

 for centuries had been heaped into min- 

 iture hills by the busy squaws. Other 

 cornfields of broader margin have since 

 been carved out of the heavy timbered 

 river bottoms, whose forest wal^ are fast 

 receding to give place to tb3 tasseled 

 corn, that so well repays its culture in 

 those rich argillacious .depojits of river 

 drift. The small streams -hat come in 

 from the west, have not as yet to any 

 great extent cut througl the masses of 

 sandstone, and consequently make falls 

 of from fifty to a hwidred feet as they 

 pour into the valby. One of these, 

 called the "Cliffs," is but a short dis- 

 tance above the old Indian corn field. 

 On the high p#int above the falls are 

 several pine tress. The soil is sandy 

 and filled with half disintegrated sand- 

 stone, out of whicZi spring the pines,and 

 under which is a luxuriant growth of 

 whortleberries. 



This is a l)eautiful spot for the lover 

 of nature; here is one of the great 

 chemical laberatories, the alembic in 

 which the rocks are crumbled into soil. 

 Here is the working machinery, the 

 little rivulet, born of a ' summer cloud, 

 that is busy crumbling down and disin- 

 tegrating these sandstone masses and 

 grinding them to powder, to fertilize the 

 river bottoms, that they may return 

 such wealth of food. Doubtless, when 

 the waters swept the base of this cliff to 

 the west, and the Wabash was as yet un- 

 born, that the family of Conifers 



waved their dark masses over the rugged 

 sandstones that have since been dissolved 

 to form the yielding loam of this garden 

 of Ceres and of Pomona; but here 

 where we now sit and gaze far down the 

 valley of the placid Wabash, with all its 

 wealth of scenic beauty, is the last point 

 to yield up its primeval wealth of Silu- 

 rian deposites, and from whence the last 

 conifer shall be hurled into the deep abyss 

 as the waters and frost shall undermine 

 its now solid foundation. 



We have seen no place of such deep 

 interest to the young stud^ent in geology 

 as is here presented; the lessons are 

 written in legible characters and will well 

 repay a visit. We need not travel a 

 thousand miles to seek places of interest, 

 we have them at hand, if we would but 

 investigate their merits. 



tm* ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 



A New System of Corn Cnlturc. 



We call this a new system, not 

 that it is entirely new,- but one that has 

 not bfton fully tested. The main feature 

 in this system is in drilling the corn, 

 rolling, an.I in new implements of cul- 

 ture. 



PkepARikg the land. 



If stubble land, it should be plowed in 

 the fall, or as soon after harvest as is 

 convenient ; plow shallow, just sufiicient 

 to turn under the stubble and weeds, if 

 it can be subsoiled at this time, all the 

 better. Commence to replow in the 

 spring as early as it will do to plant, 

 (and even before, if you have a large 

 amount to plant,) after plowing, and 

 when you are ready to plant, roll the 

 ground, harrowing will not be required 

 on the fall plowed land; the plowing 

 now should be six to eight inches, which 

 will of course be below the buried 

 stubble, which with the w^eds and seeds 

 will go to the bottom again. As fast as 

 plowed and rolled, it is ready for the 

 planter, which should plant in drills 

 three and a half-feet apart, dropping one 

 or at most two kernals in a place, and 

 these some inches apart. Great care 

 should be taken to have the rows per- 

 fectly straight and of equal widths. 

 This in planting broom corn is so ac- 

 curately done that all the rows are 

 alike. This is done by pfacing a culti- 

 vator tooth on an arm at each end of the 

 drill, and which being placed half the 

 distance of the rows apart, by returning 

 in them they form an accurate guide. 



These teeth are not set quite as deep as 

 the drill teeth and make a smilar mark, 

 which is easily distinguished from the 

 true corn rows. After planting the 

 roller should be again passed over, this 

 will not only pack the soil on the seed to 

 insure germination, but will hide it from 

 vermin. Should a heavy fall of rain 

 occur before rolling, the rolling can be 

 done after the corn is up. The rolling 

 will also facilitate the culture, as the 

 rows will be more distinct. 



THE SAVING OF LABOR. 



In the usual way of planting, a large 

 field must first be prepared before we 

 can plant, in this case the weeds »re 

 coming up on the part first plowed, 

 and should rainy weather set ir»> the 

 land at the time of planting ^i^ ^® 

 filled with weeds, and befo^'e the corn 

 is ready for worV^-g it is no small 

 matter to clean the crop ; but when 

 planted in fresh plowed ^ Ian''? "'^^^ P^^- 

 verized and rolled, *^^ corn is up in a 

 short t}w> **°d th® smoothness of the 

 ourtace admits of ready working before 

 the weeds can gain any headway. Thus 

 the young plants have a certain and 

 vigorous start of the weeds, which are 

 ersily subdued. With straight rows 

 the cultivator can work close to the 

 rows, and therefore no need of cross 

 working. 



THE CULTIVATOR. 



There are several new cultivators, one 

 of which by Prof. Turner, we men- 

 tioned in the August Farmer. These 

 are to be worked by two horses, the cul- 

 tivator to be attached to a frame placed 

 on wheels so that the driver can ride and 

 guide his implement ; he will complete 

 a row at each passing through, that is, 

 he will do two half rows at a time, 

 which will be equivalent to tight acres a 

 day, which now we usually pass twice 

 through the rows at four acres a day. 

 We thus gain the time of one man and 

 do the work much better. The com- 

 mon shovel plow will soon go out of 

 date for corn oulture, but its value in the 

 potato field has xxot yet been fully ap- 

 preciated. One man with two horses 

 can work sixty acres, as he can work 

 it four times, from the fifteenth of 

 May to the middle of July, when it 

 should be laid by. With the new cul- 

 tivator the crop can only be worked 

 when the corn is small and not up to the 



