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THE ILLINOIS FARMEE. 



Mat 



[Written for the Valley Farmer.] 



Farmers Beautify your Homes. 



I often hear it ssiid among farmers, " We want 

 fruit trees, we want something which will bring 

 us some return which will pay." Now, I was 

 brought up as a farmer's boy, and I still love 

 that noble calling, snd must own such expressions 

 sound discordant in my tar. Farmers, you want 

 fruit, and plenty of it ; every farmer ought to 

 have that steady old standby, the apple, the 

 lucious peach, the melting pear, the delicious 

 grape, besides cherries, quinces, and all the 

 small fruits. They are a necessity, and you can- 

 not do without them; you want them for your 

 daily comfort. But is it not a libel on your noble 

 vocation to express contempt for everything 

 whicn does not p<iy, as ycu call it ? Who but 

 the farmer, and the farmer's wife and children, 

 should have as lively a sense of the beautiful? 

 Who but he, in the dewy morning, when nature 

 is awakening, and a thousand bril iant dew drops 

 sparkle from every spray ; and every live thing, 

 from the tiny bird to the lowing cattle, seems to 

 lift np its voice in one chorus of thanksgiving, 

 sbo'dd " look from nature up to nature's God," 

 and glory in the worlss of his almighty ha- d ? 

 Of all callings upon earth, the farmer should 

 have the keenest sense of the beautiful in nature, 

 and he must have it if he has a feeling heart in 

 his bosom. 



Then surround your homes with the bcautifol 

 forest trees, the elm, the maple, the biroh, the 

 sycamore, the linden, and the deciduous Cyprus, 

 whiih will give you and your children grateful 

 shade, and draw the birds around your door to 

 build their rests and sing their ever sweet songs. 

 Plant evergreens, the noble Norway Spruce, the 

 Bals^ira Fir, the Hemlock, Arbor Vitoc and Red 

 Cedar, to male your surroundings more cheerful, 

 wheu winter, with snow and frosts, is upon us. 

 riant f-h'ubs and flowers to cberith and tVstcr a 

 eense of the biight and beauiiiiil in your wile 

 and children ; teach the latter that these arc no- 

 bler delights in their ipimcdiate surroundings, 

 in their every day reach, than the costly and 

 enervating pleasure ot the city, and you will 

 have them g-.own np around you, pure in thought 

 healthy in soul and body, the delight of your 

 old age. It will maije tlem contented and hnppj, 

 and tach them to think that "There is no place 

 like home." And is this nothing? Does it not 

 pay, and pay well? 



Therefori>, as one who heartily sympathises 

 Tfith iJi your true interests, I wcukl gay, plant 



shade trees, everprreens and flowers, instead of 

 looking on them wi'h contempt, as things which 

 will not pay. Geoege Husmann. 



Evergreens. 



Ed. Farmer . — But few of our farmers appre- 

 ciate the cheerful aspect (hat a few evergreens 

 give to the door yard, and especially during the 

 season when the deciduous trees are bare 

 of foliage The large per centnge of loss in the 

 transplanting of evergreens has had a dis3our- 

 aging effect on this most ornamental of our trees. 

 Here the Red Cedar grows most luxuriously 

 about the base of our sand stone hills, yet few of 

 our farmers think of transplanting them, and 

 when they make the attemp:, often fail. 



These trees, if of large size, should be moved 

 on a damp day, but the better way is to put 

 small ones in the nursery and after having been 

 two or three times trfosplanted, they can be 

 s^'ipped any distance with safetj', provided that 

 the roots are not exposed to the sun or drying 

 wind. With deciduous trees, if the roots bcCL'me 

 dry, they again swell out on expos-ure tomoi-nire, 

 and throw out new roots. Not so with evergreens, 

 whose roots are resinous, and when once dry, 

 they never recover, and the tree dies. Cut off 

 none of the longer branches but shorten in the 

 ends, so as to g:ve the tree a symmetrical appear- 

 ance. Red Cedar is very Ejuch benefitted by 

 shearing. Allow no grass or weeds to grow 

 within four feet of them; mulch them with half 

 rotted straw and manure tc the depth of four 

 inches, and to a distance of four feet on each 

 side of the tree. If brought direct from the 

 forest, they should be partially Srhaded the fii-st 

 summer. Should the weather prove dry, water 

 them by wetting both foliage ;ind roots. Get 

 your trees at the nearest reliable nursery, so as 

 to take them in a wagon, for thi; packing of large 

 evergreens is objectionsible, on account of too 

 closely compres.sing the branches. All of this 

 requires both time and care, but they will repay 

 you in their beautiful green, when like gems in 

 the ru«?et landscape they greet the eye when 

 the earth is locked in frost, and all else wears 

 the cheerless mantle of winter. 



I would urge you as you love your family, that 

 you surround your home with these silent, yet 

 pleasant companions to your 'd.e hours, and 

 when your foot steps should linger, admiring 

 their graceful symmetry, and deep green foliage, 



