842 



THE ILLINOIS FAliMER. 



Nov. 



garden must of necessity be attached. They 

 need not be on an extensive scale, in fact, should 

 be limited "to the usual size of our minimum 

 farms, sayeiglity to a hundred acres, and on this 

 farm the whole routine of farming should be con- 

 ducted, not by the students, but by as'-istants 

 "who understmd their business most thoroughly- 



The University of Chicago, we understand, are 

 about making, or have made arrangements to 

 have an agricultural college, with a farm and its 

 appliances, to be located at Cottage Ilill, sixteen 

 miles west of the city on the Chicago and Galena 

 Kailroad. 



Whether the University is to be removed to 

 Cottage Ilill or separate building- erected, we do 

 not know, but thi> we do know, that the euter- 

 prise is ia good hands, and that it will result in 

 practical good to the agricultural interest. Prof. 

 J. II. McChcsney, the late State Geologist, is the 

 most active in this good work. The land to be 

 used we arc well acquainted with, it is part, of 

 the fiivm of T. B. Bryan, antl lies on the left b:ink 

 of tlic Silt creek, or ralhcron the western slope 

 of the divide between this creek and the river 

 DesTl lines. The soil is prairie, snd rests on 

 the Niajrara group of lime-tone wlieh crops out 

 at several points in the neighborhood, and is well 

 selected for the purpose of testing c;ops an J 

 culir.re for prairie farming. The corporatcrs of 

 the in litution are gentlemen of eminent piac i- 

 cal ahiliiy, and we think they cannot fail of ma- 

 king the institution useful to the rising genera., 

 tion of farmers. 



AunusT Sown Wheat. — Our wheat sown Au- 

 gust 12t;i has made a fine growth, au'I afforded 

 a large amount of green feed. Stock of all 

 kin.'s a.-e so we'.l pleased with it that they keep 

 it we'.l fed down. The ground having been rcdled, 

 the bUiface is in good condition to pasture close. 



-•«» 



Sort out the Small Por.iTOES. — At a late 

 meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, Solon 

 Kobln.'on said that farmers woul 1 save one-fourth 

 on tlteir price by separating the lirgo from the 

 small potatoes b'fore sending them lo market. 

 When mixed, tlie small potatoef? only fill up the 

 interstices and lessen the value of the whole, 

 while, when separated, the large ones will bring 

 a good price and the small ones sell for so-nething 

 for use by the bakers and otherwise. Or, if de- 

 g'red, the small ones could be kept at home, and 

 are as good for family use, in most cases, as any. 



Can we use Coat, for Cooking ? — We s.ay yes, 

 most decidedly, yet we have considerable to say 

 on the subject. Most people suppose that all 

 Illinois coals are of the same quality, when the 

 truih is, there is a wide difiFerence in them. The 

 out crop being more or less weathered, is of little 

 va'ue, and it is this quality that is used to a 

 great extent. Then, some of it is filled with 

 su'phurand calc spar, so intiraiitely blended that 

 its separation is out cf the question; then, there 

 are "horsebacks,' largely charged with su'phur, 

 iron and cliy sha'e, with ju'st enough of carbon 

 to make one believe that it i^ coal, and often 

 when the sulphur occurs in flakes, it is not ex- 

 cluded by the miner, and becimes mixed with 

 the ctal. For the past ten years we have used 

 more or less of coal for cooking, and have gone 

 tbiough the whole list of Illinois coals. For the 

 past three years, we have almost exclusively 

 used coal from the "St. John" Mines, located in 

 what is called the PuQuoin coal fitdd, and some 

 two miles north of the village ff that nam?, 

 Thi'* coil is equal in all respects and similar to 

 the "Briar IlilU' coal sold in Ci icjigo, and of 

 vvhicli we have u=ed f(ir some three or four years. 

 It burns with a bright flame, lesives a light ash, 

 but no clinker,", like most oih'r Uinois coal. 

 \Ye have a jioud wood lot co taiiiinir an abund- 

 ance of maple and hickory, but we find th' coal 

 cheaper than to cut and Iiaul the wood. In 

 burning coal we u^e a coal stove, which is not 

 adapted to the u-e of either wo( d or cobs, at 

 the same time we have a first class wood stcre, 

 in which wood and cobs are used In this we 

 use up tl'.e chips and trimmings of fencj posts, 

 old broken po.-ts, the tops of trt-e-, cut for farm 

 purposes, and cobs, but we cut no timber 

 on purpose for wood. Much of the complaint 

 of the use of coal, for cooking purposes 

 comes from the u-e of that class cf stoves 

 " adapted to both wood and coal " Such a stove 

 we would not have about us at any price. For 

 the use of coal the flues in tlie stove must be 

 larger than for wood, and also a draft hide to 

 admit air on, as well as under the burning coal, 

 that the combustion may be perfect, or what ii 

 called buvniig the crude gasses that would other- 

 wise pass off with the smoke. The pipe must 

 also be larger, not less than seven inches, to give 

 a good draft. 



All coal containing sulphur is very objectiona- 

 ble for cook stoves, as much of the gasses 

 escape ihto the room, but as the sulphur which 

 is found in all our coal mines it^ its various forms, 

 in the St. John Mines is in bands, and easily 



