I -.iu'V^wiiBiniiwiiit,'. 



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210 



THE ILLmolS FAKMEK. 



July 



ter scraping, the plants are thinned to an aver- 

 age of one foot in the drills. Oa a plantation ad- 

 joining, the owner thins to six inches. The rea- 

 son assigned is, that in case planting by choking 

 the growth the crop will mature in better season 

 and though the balls will not be so large, yet the 

 increased number will more than compensate for 

 size. In the bottom lands more space must be 

 given. It is well known that thick seeding of 

 the small grains hastens their maturity, and the 

 same effect may be produced with the cotton. 

 It ia certainly an experiment worth making so 

 near the northern limit of its growth as our own 

 State. The plants are now an avarage of a foot 

 high, and after another working the crop will be 

 laid by. The blossom buds are forming and in 

 a short time the plants will be in bloom. 



Five acres of cotton and five of corn or other 

 crops, is the average per hand. 



The average price of cotton at Corinth is ten 

 cents, which at one thousand pounds per hand 

 would be §100. Deduct from this five dollars 

 for rope and bagging and one-twelfth for ginning 

 and we have left $86.50 per hand for the cotton 

 alone. The corn and other farm products go to 

 subsist the family. Thus it will be seen that 

 even on these light soils, and with poor culture, 

 that cotton culture is very profitable. With the 

 rich soil of the prairie, if cotton can be grown 

 at all, it cannot fail of being one of our most 

 profitable crops. The experiment now making 

 on the prairies will be somewhat conclusive on 

 this point. 



Irish potatoes do but poorly, while the sweet 

 potatoe does well, aud the farmers might, if they 

 would, have an ample supply the year around as 

 ■well as of all other garden vegetables, the seeds 

 for which must be grown at the North. On sev- 

 eral occasions the farmers have apologized for 

 the want of better gardens from the fact that the 

 blockade has cut off their usual supply of seed ; 

 they aver that home grown seed will not produce 

 good vegetables. This is a fact not generally 

 known, but we believe freely borne out by exper- 



ience. 



Harvest in Bond County. — The wheat crop 

 in this county is better than it has been since 

 1855. A large portion of it was cut and 

 shocked last week, but wo presume very little 

 has been cut this week, as it has rained hard 

 and frequently, making the ground too soft to 

 put reapers in the fields. "We fear a great deal 

 of wheat will be lost on account of wet weather. 

 — Greenville Advocate. 



CoRDORA, III., June 19, 1862. 

 Ed. III. Farmer, Dear Sir : — Upon noticing 

 your letter to the Chicago Tribune, of June 12, 

 upon the cultivation of corn and the kind of ma- 

 chine to use for cheapness, finds me with just the 

 machine. 1 have been for sooae time at work 

 upon a machine of just your stamp, one which 

 will plant and roll the ground at one time — six- 

 teen acres per day. The machine in combined ; 

 it is intended to sow all kinds of grain and cul- 

 tivate it in, with the roller to follow and complete 

 its work. I have not yet obtained a patent upon 

 this machine, but havelabored considerable upon 

 it in order to get it up in good style, and now I 

 have come to a stopping place, and that is for 

 want of means to carry it out. I noticed your 

 letter in the Tribune, and would venture to write 

 you and getyour attention. I will send you a full 

 description of the machine, or the model, and 

 see if you would get a patent upon it for me. I 

 feel anxious to do something with my invention. 



Please answer and much oblige. 



N. H. Ketcham. 



— The article alluded to above will be found in 



this number of the Farmer, and we give Mr. K. 



the benefit of one column. We are gratified to 



know that others have seen the necessity of the 



planting to follow the plow, and trust that by 



the next spring we shall have the tools to do it 



with. All we need is simply a pair of planters 



attached to a cast iron sectional roller. Whether 



this is patentable or not we cannot say, but have 



some doubts in regard to it, though the mode of 



combining the two may secure a patent that 



would protect the inventor. It is probable that 



some enterprising manufacturer can be found 



who will take an interest in this matter. The 

 days of the present race of corn planters are 



about checkrowed out. 



Ed. 



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Feeding Oats to Hoesks. — The same quantity 

 of oats given to a horse produce different effects 

 according to the time they are administered. I 

 have made the experiments on my own horses, 

 and have always observed there is in the dung a 

 quantity of oats not digested when I purposely 

 gave them water after a feed of oats. There is, 

 then, decidedly a great advantage in giving hors- 

 es water before corn. There is another bad hab- 

 it, that of giving corn and hay on their return 

 to the stable after hard work. Being very hun- 

 gry, they devour it eagerly and do not masticate; 

 the consequence is, it is not so well digested and 

 not nearly so nutritious. When a horse returns 

 from work, perspiring and out of breath, he 

 should be allowed to rest for a time, then given 

 a little hay, half an hour afterward water, and 

 then oats. By this plan water may be given 

 without risk of cold, as the oats act as a stimu- 

 lant. — Journal d' Agriculture. 



