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1862. 



THE ILLIlSrOTS FAEMRE. 



185 



The Illinois Farmer. 



BAILHACHE & BAKEK PUBLISHEES 



M. L. DUNLAP, EDITOR. 



SPRINaFIiiLD, JUNE, 1862. 



Editor's Table. 



The spring has been very backward, what with 

 heavy rains, short help and a general indisposi- 

 tion to plant largely, a less breadth of sowing 

 and planting has been done, than for many years 

 previous. Nothing is being pushed, the farmers 

 are taking things philosophically and we think 

 rationally, they are not likely to be overburdened 

 with work at any time during the season. Hands 

 are scarce, but as the demand for them is limit- 

 ed, no great inconvenience results. Corn comes 

 up remarkably well, especially when the ground 

 has been rolled, the spring grains promise well, 

 aa do also winter wheat and rye. The fruit crop 

 was never more promising than at present. In 

 our own grounds, apricots, nectarines, peaches, 

 hardshell and almonds, are loaded with fruit; 

 the same may be said of apples, while pears did 

 not bloom qui' e as profusely, but they have a 

 fair show of fruit. Strawberries, gooseberries, 

 currants, raspberries and blackberries are full. 

 Our Lawtons, sheltered from the wind but not 

 otherwise protected, are very full. The Purple 

 Cane and Black Cap are in the same condition of 

 fruitage — part of the latter were fully exposed, 

 but have come out all right. We have about an 

 acre of each now planted for field culture ; the 

 plants are set four by six feet apart, the rows be- 

 ing six and the plants in them four feet. We 

 cannot too highly commend these two varieties 

 of our native small fruits, hardy, easy of culture 

 and profuse bearers of most desirable fruit ; 

 they should be in every garden. 



Cultivation of the Sttgar Bekt. — Several 

 parties at Loda, Iroquois county, are making the 

 experiment of growing the beet for sugar. The 

 seed has been imported from France for this pur- 

 pose by Messrs. Belcher & Co., sugar refiners of 

 Chicago, who propose to werk up the beets on 

 shares, the grower paying freight to Chicago. 

 We have no confidence in the success of this ex< 

 periment from the fact that our soil is so strongly 

 charged with the nitrates, which injure the beet 

 root for sugar. It is possible that after taking 

 off some half a dozen crops of the beet from the 

 same ground that the nitrates will be so far re- 

 duced that the crop may prove profitable. With 

 a soil so well adapted to the sorghum we have ns 

 idea that the beet root will make any headway 

 as ft competitor. That the root will prove profit- 

 able to feed milch cows and other stock we have 

 no doubt, when barns and sheds are used for 

 shelter. 



-<••- 



Price of Cokn. — In New York corn is worth 

 fifty-two cents, while in Chicago it is about thirty 

 cents, leaving a margin for freights, commission, 

 insurance and storage of about twenty cents. 

 This will not be materially reduced, and any ad- 

 vance in Chicago will depend on that in New 

 York. The usual price of corn in New York is 

 from sixty to seventy cents. Should the Missis- 

 sippi river be opened for business, it is probable 

 that the demand for corn would advance the price 

 along the lines of railroad connecting with <Jairo 

 and St. Lonis. 



The Peach Gettb. — Mr. Chatton, the exten- 

 sive orchardist at Payson, ten miles from Quincy, 

 says that hog manure, coal ashes or tobacco 

 stems will eflFectually keep away the peach grub. 

 He purchases tobacco stems by the wagon load 

 at the "stemeries," and applies them in the 

 spring to the collars of the peach trees; hogma- 

 nu e and coal ashes are applied in the same way. 

 It is not too late to try the experiment, as the 

 eggs are not laid until this month. 



The Strawberkt Crop in Egypt. — We have 

 a letter from Dongola, s-iying that ih- strawberry 

 crop will be light on account of thp dry weather. 

 Willson's Albany is the kitd planted. We have 

 little faith in planting th's fruit on high land, as 

 done in most oases. This fruit delights in a deep 

 moist soil and is impatient of dioufh. Some- 

 thing is yet to be learned of this fruit; l-'.st year's 

 success is not quite conclusive >n all points. 

 With us the crop is very promising. 



