332 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Nov. 



[For the Illinois Farmer.! 



TisKiLWA, Bureau Countv, III3., ) 

 October 3d, 1861 / 



Ed. Farmer: — Wishing to have our county 

 represented in the columns of the Illinois Fae- 

 MEB, I will jot down a few items for the benefit 

 of your readers. 



THE CEOFS. 



The spring wheat crop is light, owing, in a 

 great measure, to the wet, cold spring, which 

 gave it a poor stand, and prevented its tillering 

 ont as usual. 



The threshing machine is demonstrating the 

 yield to be not over twelve, and may be as low 

 ten bushels to the acre. 



Corn wil turn ouc a little better. The ears 

 are very short, and many fields are seriously in- 

 jured by the " White Grub," and in some in- 

 stances, large patches are destroyed, so that the 

 crop, on the whole, wi'.l be a light one, in no 

 case exceeding forty bushels, and on an average 

 of not over twenty to twenty-fivo bushels per 

 acre, while to the north of us it will be much 

 below these figures. 



Rye is a fivir crop, though the " Army Worm " 

 damaged it to some extent. They eat off the 

 blades, but did not appear to injure the berry. 



Oats and bay are a fine crop. 



The White Grub came in here for a shnre, and 

 the tinotby mepdows suffered by them. In 

 many places they eat off the roots so that you 

 can pull up the turf by gra?ping a handful of 

 the heads and lifting them up, and if Ihey are to 

 continue anoher year, they will ruin many of 

 our meadows. [Probably they won't rouble you 

 for the next two years. See page 282, Septem- 

 ber No. — £d ] The lafe rains are injuring the 

 grain in the stack very seriously. 



Potatoes are a light crop, not more than a 

 supply for home use, and as the rivers to the 

 South are closed against this vegetable, perhaps 

 it is just as well the crop is a light one. 



FBUIT 



Is better in this county than for many previ 

 ous years. We have but few old orchards, and 

 thet-e are doing well. The young orohards are 

 doing better for many reason.", the selection of 

 Tar..i.eH n iiingt instances being very unfortu- 

 nate, i" faf^t, people did not know what varieties 

 were best adapted to our soil and climate. Many 

 old eastern varieties do well here, while others 

 are not worth taking as a gift; better pay fifty 

 cents for a tree that will bear one-half to a 



bushel of fruit the third or fourth year after set- 

 ting, than to take as a gift others that will not 

 bear for eight or ten years, and then but spar- 

 ingly- 



Allow me to tell some of your readers who 

 have not set trees, and others (hat have orchards 

 that do not bear, how I succeeded in starting an 

 orchard. 



Five years ago last May, I settled rn a new 

 farm, and the next spring I set in my garden 

 seventy-three trees, mostly fall and summer fruit, 

 of these, fourteen varieties have borne the past 

 season. Four Early Pennock that had Kbout 

 three pecks each, four Tompkins, one half to 

 one bushel each, two Cooper's Early White, one 

 bushel each, six Fall Wine, one bushel each. 

 Some other varieties had very good specimens, 

 but shy bearers. At the same time, many trees 

 that did not bear are very thrifty, large trees, 

 I suppose they will come into bearing bye and 

 bye, and any person who has been wiihoiit fruit 

 for years can estimate the value of early bearing 

 varieties. 



1 Three years since, I planted out one thousand 

 trees, all winter apples, and only twenty-two 

 varieties. This season some thirteen or fourteen 

 varieties have fruited, the following being the 

 most prolific : 



Willow Twig and Wagner, average one-half 

 bushel to the tree. Sweet Romanite, Turner'} 

 Seek-no-further, Dominie and Winesap, about 

 one- fourth bushel. 



Many other varieties are hardy and early bear- 

 ers. Before I close, allow me to say that I get 

 my trees at the Pleasant Hill Nursery, of Verry 

 Aldrich. I think he keeps the very hest trees, 

 and the best varieties in the couniry. 1 have 

 seen the Wagner loaded with fruit in the nursery 

 rows at four years, and this season I am told 

 that even three year old trees are bearing. 



Mr. Aldrich's trees are headed low, which I 

 think is necessary in this climate. 



In your September No. you speak of the Gray 

 Willow ; please tell us what it is. 

 Yours Truly, 



M. G EENMAN. 



— Mr. Greenman has been very successful in 

 fruit growing, that is certain, and we suspec 

 that much of it is due to the low headed trees of 

 our friend Aldrich. This subject is pretty well 

 set forth in the October number of the Fabher, 

 but will 1 ear repeating. The Early Pennock is 

 among the most valuable of our summer varie- 

 ties, its growth is vigorous, hardy, and fruits 

 very young, three valuable qualities that cannot 



