12 



THE ILLmOIS FAKMEE. 



Jan. 



ceuntenance tell her how my s jeep would skip 

 and play -vvlien let out of tht-ir comfortable lodg- 

 ing?, or that some of my ewes had lambs and do- 

 ing finely, an 1 instead of her.ring the old reply of 

 "Oh pshaw!" I would receive a smile of cheer- 

 fulness in return. 



I would like to give my \iews and experienceg 

 and manner and amount of feeding, and somethine 

 on the cost, etc., more fully, if it would removk 

 any doubts on this subject, but perhaps you thind 

 this is enough for (be present. But I must and 

 that for the gre.iter part of this nice state of af- 

 fairs, ig;ve credit to information obtained from 

 the CuUioator. 



-*<>> 



Profits of Wheat vs. Com. 



A few evenings since, we listened to a 

 discussion of the above at one of our dis- 

 trict school Ijceuius. Most of the disput- 

 ants were large fiirniers, whose experience 

 on the subject is valuable. The question 

 was treated with great candor and fair- 

 ness on both sides, and we take pleasure 

 in transferring the leading features of the 

 debate to the pages of the Farmer. Ac- 

 cording to the census, the crops of wheat 

 and corn for the year 1859, in the county of 

 Champaign, were, for wheat, eleven bushels, 

 and of corn, thirty-one bushels per acre. 

 This average makes no allowance for waste 

 land and for highways, which would make 

 the average much higher. The year 1859 

 was below the average in both these staples. 



Mr. E. opened the discussion on the side 

 of wheat, and set down the expense as fol- 

 lows : 



Plowing one acre $1 50 



Sowing and harrowing 1 75 



I^oUing 50 



Seed 1 00 



Harvesting 1 50 



Stacking and threshing 2 25 



$7 50 

 Eleven busliels wheat at 85 cents 9 35 



Leaving for use of land ^1 g5 



The above is for^ winter wheat. 



CORN. 



Plowing §1 50 



Harrowing 50 



i;larking, planting and rolling j 50 



Cultivating four times 2 00 



Harvesting 2 00 



Shelling 1 co 



$8 50 

 By thirfy-one bushels corn at 30 cents.... 9 30 



For use of land $0 80 



Difference in favor of wheat 61 05. 



In the above the yield is based upon the 

 crop of 1859, whicli was below the average. 

 The same speaker set the average of wheat 

 for 18G0 at eighteen bushels, and forty of 

 corn. The wheat at seventy-five cents 

 would show a profit of six dollars, while 

 corn at twenty-five cents would only leave 

 one dollar and fifty cents. 



Mr. V. followed on the side of corn. He 

 put the expense of wheat culture at $7 50 

 also, and the yield at eight to fifteen bush- 

 els, with a few exceptional cases, a little 

 higher. The cost of corn culture per acre, 

 at four dollars per acre, and the yield at 

 sixty bushels per acre, worth twelve dollars, 

 leaving a profit of eight dollars per acre. 

 He estitrated the wheat at twelve bushels, 

 worth ninety cents a bushel, say 810 80, 

 leaving a profit of 83 30. Eifference in 

 favor of corn §4 70. 



Mr. V. said that taking his crops for the 

 past five years, the average has been forty- 

 eight bushels per acre, and the average 

 price had been at the crib twenty-five cents, 

 leaving corn, on an average, ahead of wheat 

 six dollars per acre. The most scientifio 

 farmers, he said, had failed to make the 

 culture of wheat profitable, while farmers of 

 ordinary abilities could always make good 

 crops of corn. He further insisted that 

 farmers would still enhance the value of 

 corn by feeding, and that to do so was the 

 true policy ; corn he looked upon as a safe 

 crop, while the uncertainty of the wheat 

 crop made its risk for the small farmer too 

 great. 



Mr. J . D. B. replied in favor of the wheat 

 crop. He took the ground that the estimate 

 of Mr. V. in regard to the cost of corn was 

 two low ; that the farmers had mainly failed 

 with winter wheat, sowing wheat after wheat, 

 or rather sowing a mixture of wheat and 

 chess, the latter being the most hardy, had, 

 after two or three sowings, proved the most 

 abundant. His experience with spring wheat 

 had led him to believe that it would pay 

 better than the winter wheat. Had he 



