214 



THE ILLII^OIS FAKMER. 



July 



but have now come to a dead halt in the argu- 

 mect, and must wait for Time, that great Bolacer. 

 to permit us to again resume almost bacli where 

 we began, and repeat over our work and demon- 

 strations. We /eel like the old negro who sat 

 down by the hole in the door where a cannon 

 ball had gone crashing through, "Massa," said 

 he, ''two ball no go tro' one hole." So it miy 

 be that two tornadoes will not follow the same 

 path, vfct it is possible that we, like the old Afri- 

 can, may be mistaken. 



New Music. — We are in receipt of the follow- 

 ing pieces of new music from that popular pub- 

 lisher, A. J. Higgins, 40 Clark street, Chicago, 

 Illinois . 



" The Little Boy that died ;" a very affecting 

 song, the music and words both expressive. 



" Down with the Traitors' Serpent Flag;" a 

 new piece just suited to the times. The words 

 are patriotic and the music good. 



" The Farmer's Boy ;" one of the Hutchinson 

 Fam ly songs, composed by J. W. Hutchinson ; an 

 exact portrayal of a farm scene. Every farmer 

 boy should have it. 



" Mabel Clare;" words by Rosetta Lunt; mu- 

 sic by H. J. Higgins ; a sentimental song, and 

 just what it was intended to be, a first rate piece. 



Mr, Higgins deals largely in music, and al- 

 ways has the latest publications for sale. Send 

 for one of his priced catalogues. Fathers and 

 mothers should not forget that if 



" Music hath charms 

 To soothe the savage breast," 



It certainly will prove valuable in the household. 

 We believe in a rigid economy in these times, 

 but not in niggardness. Therefore senito Hig- 

 gins for music and save money and_g&tihat which 

 will be of value. Music is great on the " blue 

 devils," as we have found since the hail storm 

 swept off our crops. 



Young's Cultivator — This implement we be- 

 lieve generally disappointed the expectations of 

 purchasers last season, the difiBculty was in ex- 

 pecting too much of it ; in rough ground it is of 

 no value, while in well cultivated, clean land it 

 ie a nice thing. Where the land is suitable for it 

 a boy and horse can work eight acres a day 

 and do good work. In garden culture and in 

 the nursery it can be made useful. W^e hear of 

 none being made, and we presume they will give 

 place to some other new aspirant ; not so much 

 from any innate defect in the implement, but like 



some quack medicine its friends insisted that it 



was adapted to all diseases that soils are heir 



to. 



«•» 



The Value of the "Iron Roller." — We would 

 almost as soon thiiik of doing without the har- 

 row as without the roller, in fact we do not use 

 the barrow half as much in consequence of hav- 

 ing the roller ; if we have a rough piece we first 

 roll it to break the cl. ds and smooth it down that 

 the seed may all be placed at the same depth ; it 

 is then sown and harrowed, a. id again rolled ; in 

 this way we make a saving of labor and at the 

 same time have our land in better tilth, the seed 

 at the proper depth, and to cap the climax, abet- 

 ter crop. We have taken two sections from one 

 roller making a little over two feet and rigged in 

 a frame with thrills for one horse, and used it 

 wherever the ground is cloddy, especially in the 

 nursery, and find it of no small value. The day 

 is not distant when the roller will be numbered 

 among the implements of every farm as certainly 

 as the cultivator or harrow. 



The Crops. — In the south and central part of 

 the State the wiuter wheat is excellent. In the 

 South it is cut. Good judges put the average 

 crop at thirty bushels to the acres. In the cen- 

 tre it is filling out with no appearance of rust. — 

 Spring wheat sown early also promises well. In 

 the north part of tlie State we hear of less favor- 

 able accounts ; cold, dry weather has shortened 

 the head, and late rains have tended to rust the 

 leaves, but with favorable weather we shall hope 

 for a fair average crop, even under what now 

 seems a discouraging aspect. Leaf rust is not 

 a serious evil to the wheat crop. There can be 

 no question that the wheat crop will at best be a 

 moderate one at the North, but the farmers there- 

 away should not complain, as they had a most 

 abundant yield last season. The corn crop is 

 backward everywhere — at the North the stand is 

 poor, attributed to bad seed and cold, dry wea- 

 ther, the cut worm and other enenries have also 

 been busy ; at the centre and the south it is also 

 backward, but the best stand that we have seen ; 

 in fact, farmers have in many instances been 

 through to cut out part of the surplus. The 

 army worm did one good turn by supplying the 

 birds and other vermin with food, while the young 

 corn was coming up. In this section the roller 

 is being extensively used. This allows of more 

 shallow planting and prevents the squirrels from 

 finding the hill until up, and makes it more diffi- 

 cult or rather almost impossible for the birds to 



