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VOLUME V. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL., DECEMBER, 1860. 



NUMBER 12. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY, 

 BT 



BAII.HACH£ & BAKER, 



Journal Office, Springfield, Illinois. 



M:. L .DUNLAP*, Editor. 



TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION. 



One copy, one year, in advance $100 



Five copies, " " 3 76 



Ten - " and one to the person getting up club 7 50 



Fifteen copies and over, 62^ cents eacli, and one to person 

 getting up club. 



CASH BATES OF ADVERTISING: 



One dollar per square of ten lines, each insertion. 

 ' » 



SPECIAL NOTICE. 



All business letters should be directed to the Publishers, at 

 Springfield; and all communications for the eye of the Editor, 

 and the exchanges, should be directed — ^Illinois Farmer, 

 Champaign, 111. (The name of the post oflice at West Ur- 

 bana has been changed as above.) 



CONTENTS. 



December 197 



Report on Raspberries 198 



Farmer's Clothes 201 



The Tobacco Crop 202 



Division of Labor among Beea 209 



Farming in 1860 208 



My Experience in using Farm Grain Mills 203 



A sure remedy for a Felon 208 



A useful article 203 



Manures 204 



Macon County Fair 205 



Premiums for Crops Awarded by the Indiana State Fair. 206 



Singular Fact 206 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



Annual Register of Rural Affsdrs 208 



Seed List 208 



The Weather 208 



The Gardener's Monthly 208 



O'Reilly's American Terraoultor 203 



Macoupin County Fair 208 



Gratuitous Advertising 208 



Bat Terriers 20S 



The Columbus (Ohio) Nursery. 208 



The Prairies of the Western States — Their Advan- 

 tages 208 



From Burlington to Quincy 208 



At Mendota ." 208 



Illinois Central R. R. Lands 208 



Mixed Corn 203 



Adams' Corn Sheller 208 



The Flower Gard n 209 



Purple Cane Raspberry 209 



Sorghum Syrup 209 



Rat Terrier .^. 209 



Hams Sugar Cured 209 



State Horticultural Society 209 



State Agricultural Society 209 



The Rural Annual 209 



Transactions of tha State Agricultural Society 209 



Colored Fruits 209 



Farmer's Journal 209 



The Prince of Wales. — Sewing Machines and the 



Royal Family 209 



Delay of this Number 209 



Superior Job Printing 209 



OMMEROIAL 209 



December. 

 To the farmers of the central and 

 south part of the State, December is a 

 busy month. The gathering of the 

 great fields of corn is ^continued in this 

 month, the feeding and marketing' of 

 fat cattle and hogs is not fully over, 

 while at the North the plow is busy 

 turning up the mellow earth, but we 

 know not at what time Jack Frost will 

 turn his key on field and garden, and' 

 lock them fast in frost. It therefore 

 stands us in hand to be vigilant and pre- 

 pare for the worst, to be ready for the 

 reign of winter, v 



The past year has been an important 

 one to the farmers of the North-west, 

 and with a few exceptions the crops 

 have been good throughout the State. 

 Twelve million bushels of wheat and 

 sixteen million bushels of corn have 

 gone forward from the port of Chicago 

 alone this season, and it will be safe to 

 say that an aggregate of fifty million 

 bushels of corn and other grain is now 

 in the farmers hands that will find a 

 market in the ensuing year. This must 

 go far to wipe out the bad effects of ex- 

 travagance and speculation, and if we 

 continue in the present economical 

 course, the west will soon be out of debt 

 and above board. Not only this vast 

 crop that is now going forward will help 

 them out of debt, but a no small amount 

 will be received for lands sold to actual 

 settlers. The Illinois Central Railway 

 Company have made large sales the past 

 three months to actual settlers. These 

 purchases are all in small lots, not aver- 

 aging over eighty acres each. This we 

 look upon as a healthy indication. 

 When farmers buy land t® use we may 

 regard the purchase a safe one, but 

 when people lay out all their money as 

 thousands have done to make the first 

 ' payment, trusting to sales at an advanc- 



ed price, we may well shudder at the 

 result. '•.':- • ■■..-■•• ;-/■:/;.■.. 



Farmers should now turn their atten- 

 tion to improving their farms, that is, so 

 soon as out of debt, for to get out of 

 debt is the first dogma in our creed, the 

 next is to put up good barns, good 

 fences, plant belts . of trees, improve 

 the house grounds so as to make a home 

 that shall have some of the comforts 

 that go to make up a home. We ad- 

 mire the worship of the almighty dollar 

 when that dollar brings to the fireside 

 comfort and real happiness, but when 

 it is only set up as an' idol to be wor- 

 shipped for its cent per cent, our rever- 

 ence ceases, -...-.■^^j^y- ■■:■ i-^- 



There. Hi bo reason why our farmers 

 should noV be the most wealthy, the 

 most contented, and the most happy peo- 

 ple in the world. The sun never shone 

 on a richer soil for the various products 

 of agricultural industry, the climate is 

 healthy, the country is bounded by no- 

 ble navigable rivers and lakes, while 

 rail roads send their long arms far over 

 the wide sweep of prairie to gather in 

 the teeming products of the soil; do 

 we want more ? can we ask more ? The 

 patterns of happy homes are ready for 

 the artist, and shall we not show suf- 

 ficient of energy and of patriotism to 

 carve them out and embellish them with 

 the leafy treasure of the whispering 

 wood ? Shall we not make them glow 

 with floral beauty ? Shall we not plant 

 the small fruits, whose use gives the 

 blood a richer tinge and sends the flushes 

 of health and beauty into the cheek of 

 labor? Shall we not plant the apple, 

 the pear and the peach, that summer 

 and winter may be more joyful for the 

 gifta^ Pomona ? Shall we not plant 

 hedges to give the landscape a cheerful 

 look and to protect our crops, and may 

 we not plant a garden full, aye, full to 



