The Illinois Faemer. 



VOL. YI. 



SPRINGFIELD, SEPTEMBER 186L 



NO. 9. 



September. 



To write for September wlien the air is 

 all aglow with solar fire, from the August 

 sun, when the thermometer stands at around 

 hundred in the shade, when ice is at a pre- 

 mium and woolens at a discount, is no easy 

 task. Just returned from a three weeks 

 tour with the " Farm Committee/' travel- 

 worn and dusty, we resume the pen rather 

 reluctantly, but amply stored with fact and 

 fanev, gleaned in our route through all parts 

 of the State, we shall wipe oft" the sweat 

 an'l dish theia up to our readers. 



The grain crop of the State will be abun- 

 dant: all that we could reasonably ask, 

 while in fruits we have never had its like ; 

 not that the season is more than usually fa- 

 vorable, but from the fact thr-t thousands of 

 young orchards have just come into bearing 

 and older ones have had another year's 

 growth added to them. Apples and pears 

 can be grown in all parts of the State, not 

 so of peaches, nor can all of the small fruits 

 be crown everywhere with the same results. 

 These fac!s are all of value, and when prop- 

 erly preseutod will be of vast use to the in- 

 telligent planter. 



The last faint notes of the busy reaper is 

 lingering on the heated air of the northern 

 counties, and the steady hum of the thresher 

 has become the music of the day. The 

 quality of the wlieat from Cairo to the north- 

 ern line of the State never has been better, 

 nor a better average yield. The corn crop 

 will be hardly up to a fair average yield, 

 though a favorable fall may make some 

 amenus for the lateness of the season. 



The army worm ha3_^ played sad havoc 



with the hay crop ; in some instances Hun- 

 garian grass has been sown as a substitute, 

 but in most cases the corn will be cut early 

 for this purpose. 



Potatoes will be a fair average, though not 

 abundantly planted. Sweet potatoes and 

 garden vegetables are more than usually 

 abundant; what with the increased quantity 

 of fruits and garden products the farmers 

 are living in a more healthful and rational 

 manner, and at the same time making a 

 large saving over the old order of hog 

 and corn bread, with calomel and quinine 

 for dessert. The truth is, our country has 

 become distressingly healthy lor the good 

 enjoyment of the doctors, and they have 

 been the first to enlist for the war, as the 

 the great army of them that had come West 

 were out of employment and were ready to 

 engage in any enterprise that affords good 

 pay with a reasonable amount of glory. We 

 have never seen farms and gardens better, if 

 as well worked as at present, and the sub- 

 stantial progress making everywhere is but 

 another evidence of the good genius of 

 school houses and the influence of our agri- 

 cultural journals on the young farmers. With 

 the prospect of good prices and certain mar- 

 kets, the farmers are looking forward with 

 renewed hopes, which we cannot think pos- 

 sible will meet with disappointment. 



Winter and spring wheat have become 

 the great staples for exportation, and as their 

 culture is being better and better understood, 

 the certainty of the Ci'op is enhancing the 

 value of prairie lands. 



Sheep husbandry is taking a high stand, 

 fine wool and poor mutton have given place 



