1861 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



81 



The Illinois Farmer. 



BAILHACH£! & BAXEB FTJBLISHEBS. 



. »* ■_ — 



M. L. DUNLAP, EDITOR. 

 SPRINGFIELD, MARCH 1861. 



Editor's Table. 



The Administeation Organ. — It has become a 

 well settled j rincipal that no President of the 

 Unitad States can do without an organ; they 

 must have a medium through which to send 

 out their views to the world, and in which to put 

 oat feelers to try the public pulse. In this re- 

 spect Mr. Lincoln is no exception to the general 

 rule, but in the selecting of that or^^an, the great 

 Rail Splitter has shown his independence and 

 kind regard to the industrial classes who 

 have thus honored him as the head cf the nation. 

 And we have now the pleasure to announce that 

 hereafter, and until further notice, the Illinois 

 Farmer will be the organ of the President, in 

 which capacity it will give its readers, from time 

 to time, in advance of all other sources, and by 

 authority, his views on all important subjects 

 touching: the welfare of this great nation. Our 

 long and some?fhatintiraato acquaintance with Mr. 

 Lincoln will enable us to present his views from 

 the true stand point. Our arrangements are 

 such that whatever the difficulties at the seat of 

 government, we shall always be posted, l^ith- 

 out further parley, we will assure our readers 

 that in future, as heretofore, the Farmer will be 

 conducted with strict regard to its orthodoxy 

 on all subjects pertaining lo practical agriculture; 

 that its editorials will shadow forth the policy of 

 the incoming administration; that it will use 

 plain language, and call things by their right 

 names ; that to prepare himself for any great conx 

 flict that may arise, the editor will inure him- 

 self to labor, that his muscles may become strong 

 to enable him to lead on the hosts that will be 

 marshalled in the industrial army, whose tread 

 will be like the march of kingdoms in their pro- 

 gress ; his plow shall glisten in. the morning sun, 

 as it turns up the rich deposit of diluvial drift 

 of the prairie swells, and the declining sun shall 

 find him busy with epade or pruning knife, hoe 



—2 



or rake, in the adornment of his home, but when 

 the midday sun showers down his heatt, fashion- 

 ing the plants into forms of beauty, he will take 

 up the pen in defense of the Rail Splitter and 

 his constituents. But a few dajs, and the new 

 President will, from the steps of the cap tol, 

 proclaim his principles to the gaping worli, and 

 as his organ, it is no more than our duty at this 

 early day to shadow forth his views on the 

 subjects of the day. 



It is said that charity, like a great blanket, 

 covers a multitude of sins, or rather, it covers 

 our modesty when we would do a good act 

 Kansas suffering needs our friendly aid in send* 

 ing them food and seed ; continue in the good 

 work. 



In the cultivation of the soil, the President 

 would recommend that you do not undertake too 

 much; that you lay your plans so as to drive 

 your work instead of having it drive you. Do 

 not, therefore, plow more than you can thor- 

 oughly cultivate, that is, do not cut off more rail 

 cuts than you can split, for if you do, the wood 

 will become dozy. So far as you, can you should 

 build tenant houses for your bired help, so that 

 they can board themselves, and thus relieve your 

 wife and daughters from a species of vassalage ; 

 (it has been Mr. Lincoln's practice to hire by the 

 day, thus enabling Mrs. Lincoln to spend her 

 evenings in the parlor with her husband and the 

 boys), on a par with house servants at the South, 

 (don't this show that mankind is about the same 

 North and South ?) It is especially recommended 

 to those about to sow spring wheat and oats, that 

 there is no time to be lost, and these grains 

 should be got in at once. Suppose the clouds 

 should descend and open their flood gates upon 

 us, we would be too late for a good crop. "Thrive 

 is he armed," &c., is an old adage in the song, 

 and thrice is he prosperous who takes time by 

 the forelock, and thus has his work done in sea- 

 son. For further views of the incoming adminis- 

 tration, we must refer our readers to other parts 

 of the Farmer, all of which has been gotten np 

 >>ith the especial view of onr organism. 



To the President elect we return our most cor- 

 dial thanks for thus freeing himself from the 

 political newspapers of the day, compelling the 

 immaculate Chicago Tribune, the State Journal 

 and other (^sbltioas papers^ to mind their own 

 business, and to trust his fame in the keeping of the 

 masses, and to fortify himself with the regiments 

 of the great industrial army, fully armed with 

 the implements of their respective callings. 



Come on. Democrats, Republicans, Belleveretts, ' 



'^^a/S^'.-^-i 



