1861. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



23 



of labor. On meadow land, the sooner the top- 

 dressing can be done after the crop is gathered, 

 the better. We are liable to some weeks of 

 drouth soon after the commencement of haying, 

 and the top dressing answers not only as a fertil- 

 izer, but as a mulch to protect the roots from the 

 hot sun and drying winds of the season. If we 

 could manure but a portion of our land, next af- 

 ter the garden would be the meadows. 



It has been the custom among the Germans 

 near Chicago to haul and spread a large part of 

 the manure during the winter, fresh from the 

 stables, and with most beneficial effects. The 

 work is done at a comparatively leisure time and 

 when the ground is frozen or covered with snow, 

 and ready for the spring crop, generally of corn 

 or potatoes. The spring is the worst possible 

 time to get out manure in this country, on ac- 

 count of the soft conditian of the soil. For this 

 reason we have practiced hauling and spreading 

 our manure in the fall or during winter. We do 

 not wish to plow it under, but simply hxrrow or 

 work it in with the cultivator. Of course it is 

 spread on fall plowed land. 



In all cases orchards should be top-dressed, and 

 when plowed to kill the weeds, two to two and a 

 half inches is a sufficient depth. In manuring it 

 is becoming apparent to a large majority of our 

 most intelligent farmers that the proper place for 

 it is on the surface. If the soil is deeply culti- 

 vated the whole of the salts are leached from the 

 manure, but in case of a hard surface and a 

 heavy rain a portion might be washed off into 

 the streams, but this will in any case be found a 

 small amount. Many of our farmers are now 

 looking to the manure heap to enhance the profits 

 of their crops, more especially grass lands and 

 orchards. Ed. 



Cotton in Illinois. 



We would recommend to the earnest considera- 

 tion of our farmers the exceedingly interesting 

 article in the Jhicago Tribune, on the subject of 

 cotton raising. It has been proved beyond ques- 

 tion that the middle and southern portions of this 

 State are well adapted to cotton culture, and the 

 industry and enterprise of our farmers, if once 

 directed to this branch of agriculture, would soon 

 render cotton a profitable and staple article of 

 product. Cotton is produced in the greatest 

 quantity and of the finest quality, between the 

 30th and 40th degrees of latitude, north of the 

 equator, although in China, cotton is cultivated 

 with success, and as a staple, as high as the 43d 

 N. latitude. The Chinese cotton is of the same 

 species as the American, viz : " Gossypium her- 

 baceum," the yellow or Nankin cotton, used in 

 the manufacture of " nankeen," appearing to be 



merely a stunted variety of the same species. — 

 The specimens we have seen of the Sea Island 

 cot'on, raised in several parts of middle Illinois, 

 while it is said to be of somewhat shorter staple, 

 or length of fibre, yet loses nothing in size of 

 bolls, or fineness of quality. 



There is no doubt that wherever the soil is not 

 of a clayey chnracter, but loose, friable and rich, 

 south of parallel 41° N. Lat., cotton can be cul 

 tivated with success. A close investigation of the 

 habits and hi-tory of the cotton plant goes far to 

 prove that success in cotton eulture depends in a 

 greater degree upon the character of the soil 

 than upon the climate. The famous Sea-Island 

 cotton being an example of this, being superior 

 in quality to even the same variety grown a few 

 miles back from the coast in the same latitude. 



The difference in soil is very evident!}' the 

 cause of this. The predominant soil of South 

 Carolina is clay, except the rich alluvial bottoms, 

 or rather swamps, bordering on the rivers. 



Especially in the south-east portion of the 

 State it is of a close, stiff character, while the 

 Sea-Islands are of an open, sandy character. 



The soil, therefore, of Illinois appears pecu- 

 liarly adapted to the raising of cotton, while 

 nearly two thirds of the State is within the par- 

 allels in which cotton will grow. The profitable- 

 ness of the crop is beyond all question, and ere 

 long we ^ope to see the attention of our fsrmers 

 directed to this subject. 



The cultivation of sorghum is settled, and the 

 results of the trial attended with far more flat- 

 tering results than the first attempts at raising 

 sugar-cane and making sugar, even in the State 

 of Louisiana. A few years' experience will pro- 

 dace as good sugar and larger yields, in Illinois, 

 thon in the South ; and should this war lead to 

 the successful cultivation of cotton, it will be 

 productive of a lasting- benefit to our State, at 

 least. — Bloomington Pantagraph. 



We believe the Panto graphic in error in regard 

 to the Sea-Island cotton. We had supposed that 

 climate had much to do with this variety, as it is 

 exclusive to the low lying islands along the coast, 

 and when taken inla;:d becomes long or short sta- 

 ple, according to elevation and distance from the 

 sea. With cotton at forty cents and corn at ten 

 we may feel certain that the cotton quession will 

 find a solution. Ed. , 



-••»- 



SoBGHUM. — Mr. B. C. Dutcher, who is exten- 

 sively engaged in the ci;lture of sorghum, has 

 had far more orders this season for the saccha- 

 rine fluid than he can possibly fill. Among these 

 orders are a number from the State of New York. 

 It is probable the sorghum made in this county 

 is among the best, if not absolutely the best made 

 in the United States, and as its quality becomes 

 better known will of course become much in- 

 creased. We look for a largely increased crop of 

 sorghum next year, from the greater number of 

 cultivators and an increased breadth of laiid de- 

 voted to its production. — Davenport, {lo.) Gazette. 



