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The Illinois Farmer- 



VOL. VI. 



SPRINGFIELD, DECEMBER 1861. 



NO. 12. 



December. 



From out tlie valley of autumn we now 

 commence to ascend the rugged slopes of 

 winter; the music of the thresher is no 

 longer heard, the vegetables are housed, 

 and the merry huskers are bu.sy with the 

 rustling leaves of the golden corn, the sharp 

 frost has crisped up the grass, and the cattle 

 browse the blades of the husked corn, or 

 lay snugly under the lea of some kindly 

 shelter. But a few days and the year 1861 

 will have passed away and taken its place 

 on the historic page, where it will occupy a 

 broad and interesting space. It is said that 

 revolutions never go backwards — of this we 

 have our doubts. If they do not, ihey make 

 some wonderful somersaulfs. 



In the Northwest, corn has essayed to be 

 king, and a persistent effort has been made 

 to give him the patent of nobility, but up 

 comes the oil wells, and the kerosine throws 

 out her floods of light more brilliant and 

 fascinating than fluid or eamphene.; lager beer 

 has usurped the domain of whisky, and rye 

 is setting up on its own account. Thus King 

 Corn will be compelled to divide the king- 

 dom with other products of the farm, and 

 to assume less important dimensions. 



We are in the midst of a political revo- 

 lution that will make vast changes in the 

 great staples of the "W est, and it is impor- 

 tant that we properly appreciate these mate- 

 rial changes, and be prepared to act accord- 

 ingly. : • / .. ;. , ^ 



Corn, from several causes, is no longer the 

 best paying crop, and other products must 

 in part be substituted. Sorghum has be- 

 come one of the necessitiesi to the western 



farmer, and next year will see thousands of 

 acres of cotton planted ; more wheat, more 

 flax, more tobacco, and everywhere less corn. 

 Thus in making these changes from the 

 regular routine of farming, we must study 

 anew. Those who plant cotton should do it 

 understandingly ; those who grow large fields 

 of sorghum must make free use of figures 

 to equalize the machinery to the product, or 

 the profits may come up unbidden on the 

 wrong side ot the ledger. Those who sow 

 flax should learn its habits, and those who 

 sow more wheat will do well to select the 

 best variety of seed, and consult the proper 

 time of sowing Those who plant less corn 

 should carefully consider what other crop is 

 best suited to their soils, the condition of 

 the market and their facilities for its growth. 



These subjects shall engage our earnest 

 attention in the early numbers of the Far- 

 mer for the incoming year. We must learn 

 to grapple with this new condition of things 

 and become master of the situation ; for yeara 

 there has not been so great an occasion to 

 study the markets, the various products of 

 the field, the garden and the orchard, as 

 now, for within the past generation there 

 has not been such a revolution in the pro- 

 ducts of rural labor. 



Cotton, once the aceompaniament of every 

 homestead in Central and Southern Illinois, 

 within the last thirty years, is again to take 

 its place in the list of field crops ; thousands 

 of acres will present their rich blossoms 

 to greet the first zephyr of summer, and the 

 August sun shall open out the downy staple; 

 ofiering the first picking of the season to 

 the hand of free labor. Flax, for its seed 



