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THE ILLINOIS FARMEK. 



Jan. 



to marry the village beaux. With such a 

 kindly soil and genial climate, the western 

 farmer had ought to be the most independ- 

 ent, and enjoy the pleasures of life to the 

 fullest extent It is the task of the Illi- 

 NOTS Farmer, not only to teach how to 

 make farming profitable, but to give it a 

 higher position than mere dollars — how to 

 earn and how to use money, so as to insure 

 the best possible returns. 



Invoking the aid of the Great Giver, and 

 asking the forbearance of our readers for 

 any short comings, we wish one and all of our 

 readers a happy, thrice happy new year. 



-«•«■ 



In Memory oi Edward D. Baker. 



BT BATARD TAYLOR. 



-y. 



0^, fa'len he o, nohle friend, 

 ' r s not. ihe iriend I mourn in thee, 



Tlioatih Ciilled, in mid career, to end 

 Thy shiuinR course of v ctory. 



1 dare not- pri-ve, for f tendship'a salie, 

 Ti) l<now thy soldier's Isnell is rung — 



Thnt fharre or glory ne er shall wake 

 The silver trumpet of thy tongue. 



That dim eye whose lightning seared 

 The traitor, through his brHzen mtiil: 



The lips, wh »e smile of sweetness che;red 

 Uur ilarkest day, are culd and pale. 



No selfish sorrow fits thee now, 

 Ant we who loved tiiee s'and a ide 



Wh le she, our mother vails her brow, 

 And in her griel lorgets her pride. 



When half the stars of honor fade 



That (.'emmed her banner's morning sky, 



She s.-ca thrm triumph, wh > betrayed, 

 And he, lier truest chieftain die ! 



When low amb.tion rules the land. 

 And p 'triots ^lav the traitor's part, 



We 1 can spare his open hand 

 We 111 cau sp->re his honest heart. 



When timid lips proclaim th^ir doubt, 



111 chit the ardor of the brave, 

 We niK'shia dauntless battle-shout, 



Thatn- ver truce to treason gave. 



When Freedom' case apostles preach 



Di>hciDor in he sacred name 

 Of Peace, Ws viand, .ndign-nnt speech 



No more shall smite the tewering shame ! 



God ! thou hast sheathed the sword he drew : 

 We bow before thy dark decree : 



But g ve the arms that build anew 

 Our Nation's temple, strength from Thee ! 



F. Iribune. 



5g^"A member of the Academy of Sciences, 

 of Paris, has discovered a simple and unexpen- 

 Bive proce.«s for rendering mushns, laces and 

 all sorts ot light stuffs incombustible. It sim- 

 ply consists of adding to the starch used in 

 Stiflfening them one half its weight of the car- 

 bonate of lime, usually known as "Spanish 

 White.*^ 



[From the Chicago Tribune.] 



The Culture of Cotton on the Prairie. 



Cotton on the Prairie — Three Thousand Acres to 

 be Planted next Year in one County in this 

 State. 



Many of the readers of the Tribune are aware 

 that cotton has been and continues to be grown 

 in small quantities in the south part of this 

 State, and that in the early settlement of the 

 central portion, it was also successfully grown 

 by almost every family. Most people take it for 

 granted that the climate is unsuitted to its profit- 

 able production, hence the discontinuance of i's 

 culture. This is a great mistake, for with the 

 sime propriety we might say that castor beans 

 and hemp, which have been extensively grown, 

 were discarded from the same cause,. 



In the early settlement of the Sangamon coun- 

 try, now better known under the name of Central 

 Illinois, cotton was cultivated on nearly every 

 furm, and was worked up into clothing and bed- 

 ding by hand, and the domestic linseys made of 

 native cotton and wool for a long time filled an 

 important place in every country store, an! even 

 up to 1840, thousands of yards of it were sold in 

 the city of Chicago, brought from the central 

 portion of the State by the farmers, whose wives 

 and daughters carded the cotton by hand, and 

 spun it it upon the big wheel — wove and dyed it 

 by the kitchen fire. Steam on the lakes and 

 rivers so cheapened transportation that other 

 products paid a better profit, together with the 

 low price of cotton and cotton goods at tLattime, 

 80 that its culture was no longer an object. The 

 castor bean was the immediate successor of cot» 

 ton, requiring about the same amount of labor 

 to prepare it for market; next, corn and hemp, 

 which has given place to the great variety of 

 farm and orchard products. Thus it will be 

 seen that the laws of trade have driven out three 

 important staples within the last thirty years. 

 When the culture of cotton was discontinued the 

 price had become reduced to six cents a pound, 

 and domestic sheeting to about the same price 

 per pard. Now, the price of both are more than 

 double that amount, while the staples that drove 

 them from the field are cheapened in the market 

 It is, therefore, evident that this is a favorable 

 time to resume its culture, while it is probable 

 that the castor bean and hemp may at no distant 

 day be again on change. Under this state of 

 things, to say nothing of the rebellion that at 







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