164 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEE. 



June 



kettle boiling from the stove, he poured the 

 water thus boiUng on the seed, which he had in 

 a tea saucer. Looking closely at it for a moment 

 he exclaimed, " Myconscience! you have told 

 me rightly. )nly look there!" 



"I looked, and behold, the little sprouts, ab-'ut 

 as large as horse hairs, -were shooting out of the 

 opened ends of the seed ! He did not retain the 

 water on the seed above three seconds, and in 

 less than one half minute after it was poured off 

 the sprouts were projecting from the seeds. 



^iy Iowa friend assured me that this process 

 would advance the growth of the onion from two 

 to three weeks beyond the ordinary method of 

 planting without sproutit g." 



We have found the above floating around 

 loose through the press, as though it was 

 of value, but we now nail it to the counter 

 as base coin, put in circulation by some ar- 

 rant wag, who is deserving of having his 



ears cuflTed 



Ed. 



Fruit Prospects — Never before since our re- 

 collection, in any country we have ever soj..urned 

 in, have the prospects of an abundant crop tf 

 all kiuds of fruit been more flattering than they 

 are now, throughout this portion of Central Illi- 

 nois. Peaches, cherries, plums, currants, goose^ 

 berrie-, &c. are all out in full bloom, and put- 

 ting on a gala-day attire more beautiful than the 

 robes of Solomon; while apples are coming 

 rapidly forward. Should nothing happen to 

 blast the high hopes which present prospects 

 have raised in the hearts of the people, the fruit 

 crop of Illinois, for 1861, will be as abundant as 

 any that ever blessed the State - Cass County 



Union, April 27th. 



«•>. 



The Wheat Crop.— The farmers of Egypt 

 have every reason to be satisfied with the ap- 

 pearance of the wheat crop at this time We 

 have reliable information from many counties in 

 Southern Illinois, giving assurances that during 

 a dozen years past the wheat prospects in the 

 latter part of this month have never appeared so 

 promising as now. The growth is well set, cov- 

 ering the ground — is healthy and strong. That 

 Southern Illinois is well adapted to the growth 

 of wheat as any other section, is no longer a 

 matter of doubt; it matures about four weeks 

 earlier than in the North part of the State, 

 which gives our farmers the advantage of the 

 best prices.— J/<. Carmel {WabasJi Co.) Refjister. 

 We have heard a great deal of twaddle 

 about the growing of wheat in Egypt. The 

 fault, if any, is with the mode of culture, 

 not the soil or climate. Mr. Register, make 

 your farmers plow deep, throw their low 

 grounds in narrow lands, so as to take off 

 the surface water ; sow in season, and use 

 the roller, and we shall hear less of grum- 

 bling. Ed- 



The Perfected Tomato. — I wish to make an 

 inquiry in regard to the "Perfected Tomato." 

 Last spring I procured some seed of J. M. Thor- 

 burn. I planted them carefully, and had good 

 succpss in raising plants, and there can be no 

 doubt that the plants were from the see.) so ob- 

 ta'ned ; but, strange to say, they produced two 

 distinct kinds of tomato, both different from any 

 that I had ever raised before. Some of the 

 plants produced a very large, smooth, bright red 

 tomato, and others, a tomato identical in color 

 to the " Fejee," but smoother, rounder, thicker, 

 ajd more fleshy, with fewer seeds than the 

 " Fejee ;" both very fine, and so nearly equal in 

 quality that I could not decide which was the 

 best, but preferred the " Fejee" colored, be- 

 cause of its more perfect shape. 



Query. — Which of these two is the genuine 

 "Perfected Tomato?" — F. S. J., Lihertyvitle, Md. 



We have not seen this variety, and are not ac- 

 quainted with its history. If raised from what 

 is called the "Fejee" variety, it is quite likely 

 to inherit a tendency to return to it occasionally. 

 — Gardener's Monthly. 



We obtained seed of this same tomato fr^-m the 

 same source, last spring, and grew from onr 

 plants apparently two distinct varieties, one a 

 bright red, and the other deep pink. We saved 

 seed from both of these, and will try them again 

 the present season. Both were excellent toma- 

 toes. — Rural New Yorker, 



We saw at Dr. H. C. Johns, Decatur, the 

 " Perfected Tomato," smooth, round and 

 solid. It must prove valuable. We ob- 

 tained seed of Mrs. Johns, and shall give 

 them a thorough trial. The Tomato culti- 

 vated at Jonesboro and Cobden, for the Chi- 

 cago market, is very similar in form, though 

 not as solid. From the habit of the Toma- 

 to we can grow almost any desired form. 



Ed. 



[From Iho Country Gentl man and Cultivator.] 



L. L. Langstroth's Patent Bee-Hive, 



Eds. Co. Gent: I wish through your col- 

 umns to make some statements to the bee-keep- 

 ing public respecting my patent hive. 



When I applied for this patent, I was not 

 aware th it movable comb hives had ever been 

 used, except those with movable bars or the sec- 

 tional frames of Ruber. The former required 

 the combs to be cut from their tide attachments, 

 while the latter were so costly and demanded so 

 much experience, time and patience to open and 

 close the sections, that notwithstanding they 

 were invented at the close of the last certrry, 

 they were confined almost exclusively to amateur 

 bee-keepers. 



In the first and all the subsequent editions of 

 my work on the Hive and Honey Bee, I have 

 given the plan of the Huber " leaf-hive," and 

 while describing its defects, I never attemptedj 

 to conceal my obligations to this "Prince o^i 



