178 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEH. 



JtHNTE 



of the soil makes good crops, it follows that 

 it is economy to crush these lumps at once. 

 "We hope our plow maberti will look to this, 

 and now that the plow itself is about per- 

 fect, that they mount it in such a way that 

 half of the power is not lost in friction. 



NEW CULTIVATORS. 



It should not be forgotten that at our last 

 State Fair that near a dozen different pat- 

 terns of wheat cultivators were for the first 

 time on exhibition. All of these were for 

 two instead of one horse, as in the old plan, 

 and several of them constructed with a view 

 to have the driver ride on them. We hear 

 little from these inventors, but we must not 

 from that infer that they have been idle, for 

 we doubt not every one of them is doing the 

 best he can to supply the demand in their 

 own neighborhoods. "We know it to be a 

 fact that several of them are making large 

 numbers, but the demand is so much in ad- 

 vance of what they can turn out that they 

 have had no occasion to advertise or in any 

 way attract attention ; we have letters ad- 

 vising us of this fact. Instead of a dozen, 

 as at the State Fair, we are safe in saying 

 that there are at this time at least twenty 

 different patterns of these two-horse cultiva- 

 tors now being made. Of course these will 

 be more or less valuable, but not one of those 

 at Jacksonville but is far in advance of the- 

 shovel plow and common cultivator. The 

 first premium was awarded to the one that 

 we think will need an extensive improve- 

 ment to bring it up to its less noted cotem- 

 poraries. Now, as all of these implements 

 are intended to work the corn but one way, 

 that is, in diills, it will be seen that we are 

 to have a change in the system of corn cul- 

 ture. 



THE NEW MODE. 



We will now return to farmer B. and his 

 forty acres, and see what he will do with the 

 drill system. He has the common plow, 

 harrow, planter and roller ; he plows a land 

 the length of his field, say four acres, he 

 harrows it one way ready for planting, he 



takes his " Brow's " or other corn planter, 

 ties strips of red flannel on the wheels of the 

 planter, sixteen to eighteen inches apart, and 

 adjusts the planter to two kennels of seed, 

 works the planter whenever the red comes 

 opposite the lever, and the result is his corn 

 is drilled in, he goes over it with the roller 

 and proceeds as before. In this way he be- 

 gins to plant the first of May, and though he 

 does not finish any the sooner than before 

 indicated, yet he has but little of the late 

 planted; besides this, when he is done plant- 

 ing his first corn is ready to work ; it has start 

 of the weeds ; and our word for it, it will not 

 require more labor to keep the field free of 

 weeds thus planted, than it would to let the 

 field lie until all is plowed, so as to check- 

 row it, thus giving the weeds a week the 

 start of the corn. Now, if he can obtain 

 by purchase or loan, one of the two-horse 

 cultivators, he will make rapid work with his 

 forty acres, which, with the late season and 

 customary course it is impossible for him to 

 get ready and plant even out of season. — 

 The great breadth of corn last season was 

 due to the long, dry favorable spring to pre- 

 pare the lanS, while this spring we have 

 in contrast, a short, unfavorable one, re- 

 ducing tne crop at least one-half. In view 

 of the large number of laborers that will be 

 drawn off by the war, it behooves every far- 

 mer to look well to this subject, for our 

 expenses are like to be large, and it is of no 

 small importance that this State should make 

 at least a fine average crop of this great 

 staple. Our present large stock will soon 

 melt away, and we must bend our ener- 

 gies to recruit the supply. At the next 

 State Fair we shall see a large array of 

 two-horse cultivators, when it will be time 

 to disctiss their relative merits, but at pres- 

 ent we can but use such of them as we 

 can get hold of, without hoping to get the 

 best. Before this reaches the reader we 

 expect to have one in operation among the 

 small trees in the nursery. It is also ar- 

 ranged for a corn planter, and next season 

 we hope some of our shops will turn out 



