232 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEE, 



Aug. 



amount of this important staple. We do 

 not mean to say by this that the culture of 

 corn will not continue a profitable branch of 

 farming, for there are other uses to which 

 this crop is put, besides shipping in a bulk, 

 and that so long as beef and pork are used, 

 so long will corn continue the most profita- 

 ble feed to make them, and in many parts 

 of the country it will continue the staple 

 feed for farm teams, To supply these de- 

 mands will require an immense amount of 

 corn — not so much as at present, it is true, 

 yet an amount that will continue to give it 

 a place among the great agricultural sta- 

 ples of the day. 



SUBSTITUTES FOR CORN. 



The extensive use of kerosene in place of 

 alcohol, for lights, and the substitution of 

 lager lor whisky, has cut off two great sources 

 of demand for corn. An improvement in 

 the wine crop has also lessened the demand 

 across the water, where highwines went to 

 make up the deficit in the product of the 

 vine. In fact, the distillery was the great 

 seething cauldron that absorbed the corn 

 crop and maintained its high price, and un- 

 less some new demand shall arise, we see 

 no good reason for a change, only in the re- 

 duction of the quantity grown. With the 

 low freights and improved modes of culture 

 the East cannot compete with the West in 

 this great staple, and we must soon have the 

 monopoly of its growth, but whether it will 

 then be any great object is yet to be deter- 

 mined. The war is not the sole cause of the 

 low price, for outside of that the causes be- 

 fore noticed had sapped the foundation upon 

 which the demand rested. Cheap alcohol is 

 busy adulterating the kerosene, but this will 

 soon come to an end. The war will increase 

 the demand for wheat and oats, and to that 

 extent lessen that for corn. It is possible 

 that the use af hot air in drying may make 

 it more valuable for European shipments, 

 but of this we have little hope. That it will 

 continue the great staple for domestic use 

 there can be no doubt, but as an article of 



commerce it must be confined to those points 

 that will produce it the cheapest. The dis- 

 covery of coal oil and the oil wells will less- 

 en the demand for corn many millions of 

 bushels annually, and throw out of use that 

 dangerous compound af alcohol and turpen- 

 tine, which in spite of its explosive charac- 

 ter had become, on account of its valuable 

 illuminating quality, almost a necessity. — 

 Lager beer, instead of whisky, has become 

 the national drink, and of course to that ex- 

 tent decreases the commercial demand for 

 corn. The making of domestic wines and 

 the disuse of wines fabricated out of whisky 

 is another drawback to its commercial value. 

 The wonderful extension of the spring wheat 

 crop by supplying cheap flour to the masses 

 has made another permanent inroad into the 

 corn crop, The culture of winter wheat is 

 also being better understood, and its produc- 

 tion is not only increasing, but being cheap- 

 ened will displace so much corn for food. — 

 The sowing of rye for fall pasture and using 

 the crop for " hogging down '' — that is, al- 

 lowing the hogs to do the harvesting — is a 

 new item in the pork line that is rapidly 

 trenching on the domain of corn. Rye, af- 

 ter becoming ripe, will fall to the ground 

 and remain sound for months without sprout- 

 ing in the ear, thus making it a valuable 

 feed, and as hogs fatten much faster in warm 

 than in cool weather, the rye by giving an 

 early feed has the advantage; it is true that 



old corn will do the same, but this must be 

 fed daily, while the rye is at all times ready, 

 and at the same time makes a good shade for 

 the lazy porkers. 



It will thus be seen that though corn, like 

 cotton, may claim to be king, yet it is being 

 shorn of much of its power and prestige. — 

 Like all coarse staples, there will be times 

 when from the failure of other crops it will 

 command a high price, but in its permanent 

 position on change it will hereafter occupy a 

 less important place. We have no great re- 

 grets on this score, for other products will 

 supply its place, probably as profitably as 

 corn. The real di£&culty lies in making the 



