20 



THE ILLmOIS FARMEK 



Jan. 



Michael Taylor, aged 52 — post ofBce DuQuoin, 

 Perry county; native of Illinois; raisefl cotton 

 lor ten years — until spun thread could be bought 

 cheaper than it could be made; planted from 1st 

 to 10th of May, and picked in September, had 

 no trouble from frost. 



Richard E. Taylor, aged 63 — came from South 

 Carolina in 1803; raised cotton for thirty years 

 after 1820; used native seed; planted in May; 

 has raised as good cotton on Big Muddy as he 

 ever saw raised in Tennesse; thinks it grows best 

 in the timber. Post ofiBce DuQuoin, Perry coun- 

 ty 



John Robinson, aged 69 — post office Elkville, 

 Jackson county; came from Tennesse in 1805; 

 has raised cutton for about forty-five years past; 

 used Teflnesse seed; occasionally touched with 

 frost; planted in May, and picked in September 

 and October; thinks it will do well here. 



Thomas Robinson, aged 38; native of Illinois; 

 ha* raised cotton ever since he was old enough 

 to pick it; used native seed; planted as early in 

 May as the ground would permit, and picked in 

 September; has yielded, with good culture, 800 

 pounds to the half acre of &eed cotton, equal to 

 200 pounds clear cotton. 



Louis Weils, aged 80; came from South Caro- 

 lina in 1810; raised cotton for twenty years, till 

 cotton goods could be bought cheaper; used na- 

 tive s^ed; planted in May and picked during the 

 fall. He had no trouble from frost. 



Daniel Day is dead. His wife saya they came 

 from North Carolina in 1820, and raised cotton 

 for fourteen years; gave upraising because they 

 preferred buying their cotton goods; used native 

 seed; planted first of May, and picked during 

 September; had no trouble from frost; post office 

 DuQuoin, Perry county. 



— The above constitute an array of evidence 

 in favor of the cotton crop, certainly enough, 

 under the present prices and condition of things, 

 to warrant a thorough trial as far north as Peo- 

 ria, McLean and.Fcrd counties. The deep, rich 

 clay loam of Central. Illinois, with its more equa- 

 ble amount of rain,.w3 think will prove nearly 

 or quite as valuable for this crop as the basin of 

 Egypt. In our next we hope to be able to an- 

 nounce an abundance of seed for all who may 

 •wish to try their hand at this crop. Ed. 

 tmt- 



— The cup of patience iscarved by angelic 

 hands, set round with diamonds from the mines 

 of Eden, and filled at the eternal font of good- 

 ness. 



-*»*- 



— A chap writing from Denver says: "On 

 the 6th of June, Cherry creek had a volume of 

 water suflBcient to run a grist mill, and ten days 

 afterwards, it was as dry as a doctrinal ser- 



mon. 



[From the Chicago Farmer's Advocate.] 



Uncle Job's Hen - Txu'key. 



Messbs. Editors : The representative of that 

 picture of that American bird — that noble bird 

 that calls into action the salivary glands of all 

 lovers of good cheer — the bird that is the crown- 

 ing glory of a multitude of tables at Christmas 

 and New-year — 'he bird that occupies the largest 

 platter at the festive board of the merry dancers 

 — the bird that satisfies the hunger of millions of 

 our fellow citizens on the day of the great na- 

 tional jubilee of Thanksgiving, deserves our at- 

 tention, our care and our gratitude. The turkey 

 has become a widespread and valuable domestic 

 institution, and thousands of boxes filled with 

 the well- atter.ed bird^, find a ready market iu 

 that great vortex of consumption, New York, an- 

 nually. The genuine wi'.d turkey still finds a 

 home in many localities of the West, uncontami- 

 nated with barnyard associations — his plumage 

 untarnished with the dust of conventional civili- 

 z ition, and his proud spirit unchafed by the bra- 

 vado of his rival, chanticleer- Lotjg may he 

 pluck worms in the deep forest — dress bis glossy 

 feathers in the free sunlight, and strut in proud 

 superiority on the green carpet of his own native 

 boudoir. 



But I took up my pen to speak briefly of our 

 hen-turkey, and what came of it. Her color is 

 " contraband," but otherwise apparently like all 

 other hen-turkeys ; and yet a close observer 

 would notice adon't-careative look about htr, in- 

 dicative of results out of the ordinary routine of 

 henturkeydom. Her education waschiefly of her 

 own getting, and as she was but nine months old 

 when she set up for herself, she could not have 

 obtained graduating papers according to law, 

 unless, indeed, she was the victim of a remarka- 

 ble precocity. But hush ! do you not know that 

 our wise philosophers sweepingly confine reason 

 to man, and assert that all the actions of animals 

 are the results of instinct? Of course, then, I 

 am on the wrong scent, and must not doubt the 

 philosophic say-so of wisdom's chief pillars. 

 Well, this hen-turkey early last spring, whether 

 from instinct or reason, or whether mainly from 

 foolishness I wot not, but she did commence to 

 sit in spite of our combined efforts, did actually 

 sit four m-^nths and fifteen days. She commenced 

 on hons' eggs, and if driven from the nest one 

 hundred times, would as often return, showing 

 conclusively that the instinct of perseverance was 

 tremendously developed. When one nest was ut- 

 terly destroyed her chief concern was to find an- 

 other, as she was very anxious not to lose any 

 time. When she began to sit, she had never laid 

 an egg, and what to us was remarkable, during 

 the whole four months and a half she did not lay 

 a single egg. At the expiration of this time, I 

 suppose the instinct of a sitting had oozed out, 

 and as she was getting thin in flesh, she needed 

 recreation and grasshoppers to restore her 

 strength and get a new supply of sitting instinct. 

 Ordinarily the laying instinct is first in order, 

 then the sitting, but in her case there seemed to 

 be but the one instinct, but awful strong. After 

 rusticating for about two months, getting fat and 

 sleek, she all at once was missing, and we gave 



