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THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Mat 



The Illinois Farmer. 



BAILHACHE & BAKER PUBLISHERS. 



M. L, DUNLAP, EDITOR. 



SPRINGFIELD, MAY 1861. 



Editor's Table. 



" The trumpet's voice hath roused the land." 



Since our last issue a great change has come 

 over the country — the booming ot cannon, the 

 hissing of shot and the gathering of hostile 

 squadrons, have aroused the nation to a fearful 

 pitch of excitement, The plow is being left in 

 the furrow and the yeomen are preparing to de- 

 fend their country's flag, which traitors have de- 

 termined to pull down and trample in the dust. 

 Fields may grow up to weeds, the plowshare may 

 rust out and grim-visaged war stalk over the 

 land, the hdls and valleys may send back the 

 echo of the loud mouthed cannon and the sharp 

 crack of the deadly rifle, until the last traitor to 

 big country is laid cold and stark upon the battle 

 field, and the stars and stripes again, as of old, 

 float proudly out upon the breeze, for an assur- 

 ance that our homes are worth contending for. 

 Without the protection of the stars and stripes, 

 without a government to execute the laws and 

 give protection to its people, of what use would 

 be the teeming soil of the matchless prairie ; of 

 ■what value the homes that the sun browned brow 

 of labor have carved out of its ample bounds. 

 The slogan is sounded and freemen will rally for 

 th« right. 



" A hundred hills will see the brand, 

 And wave the sign of fire." 



We deprecate this stern necessity, this calling 

 upon our rural population to leave the peaceful 

 pursuit of the culture of the soil, for the tented 

 field ; but it is one that we cannot disregard. 

 Anarchy, with its fearful and blood stained hand 

 is on the March, and unless we meet it like men 

 our homes will be of but little value. Before 

 this number of the Farmer is mailed, hundreds 

 of our readers will be far away from those they 

 hold most dear, and ready to do battle for the 



right. When such men grasp the sword we may 

 rest assured of their valor, with the foe before, 

 their homes and loved ones behind, they will 

 stand a wall of fire to guard our rights. Let us 

 then extend to tho fimilies of the absent ones all 

 of kindness and consolation that they may need. 

 Those of us who remain at home should redouble 

 our care and industry ; we must of course plant 

 less, but this should be an incentive to better 

 culture and a strict economy in the application 

 of labor. Let us not only work, but think ; we 

 should lay our plans with care and execute them 

 with fidelity ; we shall soon have heavy taxes to 

 meet, to pay the expenses of this most unholy 

 war, forced upon us by a set of desperadoes, and 

 it therefore stands us in hand that we are pre- 

 pared to meet it. We must pursue for the time 

 a rigid economy in our expenses ; it is now no 

 time to deal in luxuries, when there will be so 

 many who should receive from our hands the ne- 

 cessities of life. We need no apology to our 

 readers for these remarfes, lor our homes are 

 of no value without a goverouicat strong in its 

 protecting arm, and under which courts and ju- 

 ries are respected aud where their decisions are 

 enforcfd. 



< 8» - 



Yield of Bskries per Acrk. — A writer in the 

 Ohio Cultivator says that two thousand quarts 

 per acre is not an uncommon jield for the first 

 crop of the American Black Cap Raspberry, and 

 that an average yield of three thousand quarts 

 per acie can be obtained by a careful selection 

 of plants and good culture. This, however, does 

 not equal the strawberry crop of a farmer in 

 Northeastern Ohio, whose average product this 

 season, from about thirty varieties, was at the 

 rate of 2,240 quarts per acre, whilst Monroe scar- 

 let, Moyamensing Pine, and Wilson's Albany, 

 gave 5,000 quarts per acre. 



We have on several occasions called the atten- 

 tion of our readers to the value of this native 

 fruit. It stands second to none of the small 

 fruits, but should rank with the currant, the 

 gooseberry and the strawberry. Its cheapness 

 and ease of culture should place it in every gar- 

 den In the State. It is now too late to plant, but 

 not too late to cut them back, so that the fruit 

 will be much larger and the season extended. We 

 are now satisfied that when the canes are strong 

 that cutting back within two feet will answer all 

 the purposes of staking and tying up, which is so 

 expensive. We have to thank Dr. Warder for 

 the suggestion, and have put it in practice on 

 our plants. We are setting out about an acre of 

 plants, which, with those now ready forbearing, 

 will demonstrate the doctor's system of training. 



