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204 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMER. 



July 



sow in the pasture field, and are not at the 

 expense of a separate hi. d this 



prove correct in practice, wheat and stock 

 growing would soon become the leading 

 feature of western farming, and their profits 

 greatly enhanced. 



The wheat growing zone is a limited one, 

 ■while the consumption of flour is universal. 

 There is therefore little danger of an over 

 supply of this grain ; while corn and the 

 grosser staples, that have a wider range, are 

 often in excess, and their price subject to 

 great fluctuations. 



We think the experiment well worth try- 

 ing, and as it is too late to commence with 

 June, we can do so with July. The de- 

 struction of our spring wheat will give us 

 the opportunity of testing it, and we have 

 sent South for seed of the May or Alabama 

 wheat, which we shall put in as soon as it 

 comes to hand. White winter rye can be 

 had here in abundance, and we shall repeat 

 the experiment with this also. We are sat- 

 isfied that early sown rye makes one of the 

 cheapest of fall pastures, and is worth sow- 

 ing for this purpose alone ; but if in addi- 

 tion to this we can get twenty-five or thirty 

 bushels to the acre, it certainly is an object. 

 Should winter wheat do equally well, the 

 days of spring wheat will be numbered, and 

 the prairies of our State will stand forth 

 with renewed value. 



it to ger:5iinate. If sown in a dry soil or 

 moderately moist one where the wheat will 

 come up the chess will often remain dor- 

 mantj but the late fall rains generally gives 

 it a start, however small, so that if the 

 wheat is winter killed, it will fill up the va- 

 cant spaces ; but if the wheat is not injured 

 the chess is so shaded that, it amounts to 

 nothing more than a sickly growth, yet it 

 will mature enough seed to keep up the sup- 

 ply. If you have no mill winnow it out in 

 the wind, or wash it out in brine, but we beg 

 of you not to sow it on any condition. 



Keep Out the Chess. 



In sowing winter wheat and rye great 

 care should be taken that no chess is al- 

 lowed in the seed. Four years since we 

 sowed some thirty acres of white wheat, 

 which contained a small percentage of chess. 

 The land on which this grew has been in 

 hoed crops since, and well cultivated, and 

 the chess continues to come up year after 

 year as though the supply was exhaustless. 

 Some persons contend that chess will not 

 grow, but to all such we would say, don't 

 allow yourselves to believe any such non- 



The State Fair. 

 Ti is a matter of congratulation that the 

 officers of our State Agricultural Society 

 have decided to hold the Fair, or rather they 

 have decided not to postpone it. Other 

 States have suspended, and but few of our 

 county societies will this year come up to the 

 good work. It is therefore doubly import- 

 ant that the State authorities do their duty. 

 Because half of our banking capital has 

 been swept away and the other half sus- 

 pended and the price of farm products down 

 to a lower point in consequence, and the vast 

 machinery of commerce" at a dead halt — 

 many think it is to remain so, but of this 

 they will be mistaken; good money will cer- 

 tainly flow into the country and all the chan- 

 nels of commerce again be filled. The ef- 

 fect of the war has thus far been in the de- 

 preciation of our currency with its attendant 

 train of evils, but it will soon be found that 

 a drain of six millions will only check the cur- 

 rent of our prosperity, not bring it to a close. 

 The other six millions in suspense will soon be 

 free ; besides this we have economised almost 

 as much as we have lost, and in three months 

 we shall be in good sailing order again. The 

 State Fair will do us good, especially at this 

 time ; it will bring together the best minds 

 of the State at the great commercial center. 

 They will then see that business is restored, 

 and will return to infuse new life into all 

 parts of the State. Whether the war con- 



sense. The envelop on the chess is hard, 



and requires moisture and warmth to induce ' tinues or not we must find ready sale for our 



