x66'^. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



19r 



merits of growth ? We think not. We 

 have proved the old system not well adapted 

 to our soil and climate, and it is our duty to 

 investigate the facts, and see if we cannot 

 devise a system that will give us at least 

 a better prospect of success. With the low 

 heads we have protection from high winds, 

 and at the same time shade for the ground 

 so as to retain the moisture so much needed 

 to a full development of both trees and fruit. 

 We have full faith in the prairies for fruit 

 when a rational system of culture is adopted 

 and some care had in the selection of vari- 

 eties. We have passed through the old 

 system but to meet with bitter disappoint- 

 ment as our orchards at Leyden have proved. 

 In commencing anew in Central Illinois, 130 

 miles, or two degrees of latitude further 

 south, we relied more on climate than cul- 

 ture, and started on the same system but to 

 meet with another disappointment, but 

 our eyes are open and we are afloat upon a 

 sea of experiment evolving new facts, that 

 we hope will lead us to success. We are not 

 satisfied with our efifort here, yet we will 

 challenge any orchard of similar extract and 

 age to show better results. Our oldest trees 

 are in the fifth year of their growth in or- 

 chard, and are well filled with fruit, most of 

 This is due to a proper selection of varieties, 

 to this we will add shelter and low heads, 

 and we shall be disappointed if the next 

 three years do not show better results than 

 the past four have done. 



August Sown Wheat. 



Last year, as our readers will recollect, 

 we sowed several acres of winter wheat in 

 August, with the view of pasturing. We 

 are not fully satisfied with the trial, nor are 

 we willing to give it up as a failure. In the 

 first place the seed was threshed in a new 

 machine and badly cut up which dams^ed it 

 very seriously for seed. This is so com- 

 mon an occurrence, that we see no way but 

 to resort to the old fashioned flail to beat out 



our seed wheat by single blows as of old. 

 In the next place it was sown too thin for 

 even the best of seed, sixteen bushels on 

 fourteen acres, when two bushels to the acre 

 with such seed would have been little enough. 

 In the last place it was pastured too severe- 

 ly by cattle, colts and calves, that is rather 

 too late, as after the heavy rains it was some- 

 what tramped up. The early pasturing and 

 tramping, when the ground was in good con- 

 dition, appeared to benefit it. The crop is 

 very thin on the ground, as a matter of 

 course, and will be somewhat weedy, but it 

 is free from chess, the tramping had no effect 

 on it in that direction, though we would re- 

 mark we cleaned over a bushel of chess out 

 of the seed. Winter wheat was much 

 thinned by the March weather in this sec- 

 tion of the State, and as a general thing, or 

 as usual, has turned to chess !!! Why this 

 perverse disposition attends our neighbor's 

 wheat and not ours, can only be accounted 

 for in the use of Groodrich's fanning mill, 

 that takes all the chess out of the wheat, 

 and as there is no samples left, the poor ig- 

 norant wheat don't know how to form chess 

 stools without them. 



Farmers who will sow direct from the 

 threshing machine can expect no other re- 

 sult than to have a large share of their wheat 

 turn to chess !! 



On the whole we do not think our crop of 

 wheat will fall much, is any, below that of 

 our neighbors. Had plenty of seed been 

 used the result would have been more favor- 

 able. To guard against this we shall bring 

 into use the old hand flail, whose memory 

 comes down to us from boyhood with no 

 pleasing emotions, for there, day by day, we 

 listened to its measured music as blow by 

 blow it beat out the rattling grain, but with 

 it we will have the assurance of a good stand 

 of grain. 



A field of several hundred acres sown at 

 the same time, and which was not pastured, 

 made a large growth, but was badly winter 

 kilkd. After harvest we shall have more to 

 say on this subject. 



