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1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



55 



The Illinois Farmer. 



BAILHACHE & BAKEB PX7BLISHEES. 



M. L. DTJNLAP, EDITOR. 



SPRINGFIELD, FEBRUARY, 1862. 



Editor's Table. 



With February begins the active duties of the 

 new year, and from this time onward one duty 

 after another is brought to our view. Thefarm- 

 er's life is an active one, but the duties are not all 

 arduous, for genius has brought to his aid mus- 

 cles of iron and sinews of steel, that take from 

 his broad shoulders, sun-browned brow and horny 

 hands a large part of their burthen. It is well, 

 for we have now become so accustomed to what, 

 not long since were deemed luxuries but now ne- 

 cessaries of life, that we must have new fields of 

 productive labor open to us to allow us to indulge 

 in (he new mode to which we have become accus- 

 tomed. Free tea, free coffee and free spices, with 

 other free luxuries, are fled, and we may yet go 

 back to them a^ luxuries and not as necessities. 

 The new year opens an unwritten page, with pa- 

 per of a sanguine hue, but we hope it will grow 

 brighter and brighter to the end. 



The Polo Advertiser says that in the south- 

 ern part of the State great efiforts are being made 

 to produce a crop of cotton ; let us of the north 

 make a corresponding effort to grow a crop of 

 flax, and next year we can go well dressed in our 

 own domestic fabrics, and at the same time assert 

 our independence of Secessia and England for our 

 comforts and good appearances. 



Cotton Seed. — The seed of our native cotton, 

 as well as the seed from New Orleans cotton 

 planted in this State are green, as is proved by 

 samples in our office ; we also have samples from 

 seed of North Carolina seed grown in Urbana, all 

 of which is of the same color. The following, 

 headed " Cotton Seed for the Northwest," is from 

 the Chicago Tribune: 



" The discussion of the question of the intro- 

 duction of cotton culture into the southern part 

 of this State, or rather the revival of its culture 

 there, has awakened wide attention among all in~ 

 terested, and there is an eager inquiry for seed. 

 One thing, however, seems well established by 

 concurrent testimony of those who are excellent 

 authority in the natter. The scheme of looking 

 to the islands of Beaufort will fail and give no 

 good result. What is wanted is the green seed 

 known as the Tennessee upland cotton. The Sea 

 Island cotton has a black seed, and nothing can 

 be expected from its introduction here but disap- 

 pointment. As to the green seed, we learn that 

 nearly half enough seed will be furnished in 

 Southern Illinois from last season's crop, and the 

 remainder can be procured from the Southwestern 

 States." 



Cotton Culture in the West is becoming the 

 Court talk, as well as in more humble circles. We 

 need have n 9 fear of a want of seed; two and a half 

 months will accomplish no small amount in this 

 direction. 



" The Commissioner of Patents has issued a 

 circular in which he says the cultivation of cotton 

 in the middle portions of the Free States is be- 

 ginning to attract general attention. It is, how- 

 ever, a principle in vegetable physiology, that 

 tropical plants can sever be acclimated in the 

 North, except by a repeated reprcducion of new 

 varieties by seed. The attempt to grow Sea Isl- 

 and cotton, such as now brought fr( m Hilton 

 Head, would prove a failure in any portion of the 

 Free States. The only variety capable of suc- 

 cessful cultivation in those sections now seeking 

 its introduction, is the green seed cotton, such as 

 is now being raised extensively in Arkansas, Mis- 

 souri, Tennessee, and portions of Kentucky, and 

 which produces whole fibre. Seed should be ob- 

 tained from the?e localities. The modificatir-ns 

 of soil and climate will influence the size of the 

 plant, the length and fineness of the fibre, and 

 the product of the crop. Effortsarenow making 

 by this department to procure the proper seed for 

 distribution." 



Coffee in Egypt. — The following is the cor- 

 respondence of the Chicago Tribune : 



Spkingpield, Jan. 15, 1862. 

 The Hon. S. W. Moulton, of Shelby county, 

 informs us that he has tested a sample of coffee 

 grown in Effingham county the past season, by 

 Mr. Geo. L. Hoffman, residing eight miles north- 

 west of Effingham Station, on the Illinois Central 



