244 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



Aug. 



Corn after Bukwheat. — A. correspondent of 

 the Country Gentleman asks "brother farmers to 

 give tlieir 'experience on raising corn after buck- 

 "(vbeat." I well recollect, -when a lad, that my 

 father plowed and planted a field to corn, on a 

 small portion of ■which was raised buckwheat 

 the year previous. The soil of that part on 

 which the buckwheat grew was precisely like 

 that ot the other part, and the crop on this lat- 

 ter, which preceded the corn, I think was rye. 

 It was all plowed and otherwise treated alike ; 

 no manure on any of it. Now for the result, 

 on the buckwheat land corn enough was not ob- 

 tained to plant the same ground again, while on 

 the other part a fair crop was raised. 



Again, I know a farmer who insists that corn 

 can be raised afier buckwheat, and that the buck- 

 wheat makes no difference with the corn crop. 

 He has tried it under my own observation, and 

 has succeeded in raising some corn, a fair crop, 

 but then he takes land already in a high state of 

 cultivatin, and by manuring highly, and perhaps 

 appl> ing other fertilizers, he does raise so»e 

 corn after buckwheat, but in all probability not 

 near the amount he otherwise would by applying 

 the same manure, etc., on land not immediately 

 preceded by a crop of buckwheat. 



One correspondent says that "he would like to 

 know the reason why corn cannot be raised after 

 buckwheat." I cannot give the reason, but will 

 say that facts are stubborn things to contend 

 with, and I think we can more profitably spend 

 our time, labor, etc., than by trying to raise corn 

 directly after buckwheat. 



— We have seen the attempt made to' grow 

 corn after buckwheat, but it has in all cases 

 proved a failure, and we think it may be consid- 

 ered a settled principle that no amount of good 

 culture can materially change the result. Oats 

 succeed quite well, and we now follow buckwheat 

 with oats. We have sown spring wheat after 

 buckwheat, also, with good success. Potatoes do 

 badly. Vi'e therefore recommend only oats to 

 follow buckwheat, as the buckwheat that will re- 

 main in the crop will not injure them for feed. 



Ed. 

 t%t 



Trouble in the Pear Trees. 



A quantity of limbs from pear trees is exhib- 

 ited this week by J. Breck, Esq., ot Brighton, 

 President of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, on which the leaves have suddenly 

 turned black. 



These limbs are from fruit bearing troes, and 

 the young pears on them will never approach any 

 nearer to the eatable condition. The complaint 

 is not common to all kinds of pears, as yet seen. 

 But many trees in his grounds are much injured 

 by this sudden change in the apparent condition. 

 On cutting into the limbs and and splitting them 

 from end to end, no traces of worms could be 

 seen. At least it seem-i to be required to call the 

 disease a " sap blight." It probably results from 



sudden mutations of the weather at a previous 

 period — Mass. Ploughman. 



— The above is a species of blight that the 

 West is but too well acquainted with. Last year, 

 in Adams county, we saw pear trees six inches in 

 diameter, loaded with fruit, killed outright with 

 this kind of blight ; nor is it confined to the pear 

 alone, for apple trees are killed with it. A tree 

 struck with this blight, is affected in whole or in 

 part ; sometimes the whole top of a pear tree 

 will have its leaves blackened and killed ; and 

 again the trunk may have a band of tht bark 

 thus killed and the top remain green, though the 

 supply of sap is cut off. In this case the fruit 

 will sometimes mature. The leaves of apple 

 trees turn brown instead of black. When the 

 supply of sap is cut off, the leaves soon turn 

 yellow and fall off, the fruit seldom maturing. 

 We have a Keswick Codlin, four years set in or- 

 chard, with a band of the bark thus blighted, 

 from which we took half a bushel of the ^alf 

 grown fruit, the tree will of course die. We can 

 see no difference in its attacks on thrifty or un- 

 thrifty, seedling or grafted trees. Of all forms 

 of the blight this is the one that we most dread, 



Ed. 



A Young Man's First Lessom. — Timothy 

 litcomb is guilty of uttering very many blunt 

 truths, and here is one from his letters to the 

 young : 



" I take it that the first great lesson a young 

 man has to learn is that he is an ass. The ear- 

 lier this lesson is learned, the better it will be 

 for his peace of mind and his successes in life. 

 Some never learn it, and descend into the even- 

 ing of their existence, their ears lengthening 

 with their shadows as they go. Some learn it 

 early, get their ears cropped, and say nothing 

 about it ; while others sensibly retire into modest 

 employments, where they will not be noticed. A 

 young man reared at home, and growing up in 

 the light of paternal admiration and fraternal 

 pride, cannot readily understand how any one 

 can be as smart as he is. He goes to town, puts 

 on airs, gets snubbed, and wonders what it all 

 means ; he goes into society and finds himself 

 tongue tied ; undertakes to speak in a debating 

 club, and breaks down or gets laughed at ; pays 

 atttention to a very nice young woman, and finds 

 a very large mitten on his hands, and, in a state 

 of mind bordering on distraction, sits down to 

 reason about it. This is the critical period of 

 his history. The result of his reasoning decides 

 his fate. If he thoroughly comprehends the 

 fact that he does not know anything, and accepts 

 the conviction that all the world around him 

 knows more than he does, that he is but a cipher, 

 and whatever he gets must be won by hard work, 

 there is hope for him." 



