■'V_:''-:.''.rr7Jj7' 



-■».- ij^ji5ip,ifpvj. ''.^^^i;i 



1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



277 



Hints on Manure. — The following hints on the 

 treatment of manure, from the Massachusetts 

 Ploughman, should be observed by every farmer. 

 Manure should not be permitted to lie uncovered 

 any length of time after being spread upon the 

 ground. Exposure to a hot sun or a dry wind 

 for a few hours dissipates a large share of its 

 virte. 



"Manures for corn must work early in order 

 to hasten the ripening of the ears. But in order 

 to do this, they should not be buried deep, for 

 deep burying keeps them cold too long and not 

 active enough for corn. 



Many writers have asserted that there is no 

 risk in burying manures deep in the soil. They 

 talk quite learnedly of the loss of ammonia 

 when manures lie near enough to the surface to 

 breathe a little. But manures must have some 

 air to give them action. When cattle are per- 

 mitted to beat down a heap of manure in the 

 yard so that it cannot have air, it ceases to fer- 

 ment, and will lie quite safe in the yard through 

 the summer. 



Manures may be permitted to ferment mode- 

 rately, in heaps thrown up lightly, before they 

 are spread over the field. Then a harrow will 

 bury them deep enough in case they are spread 

 over fresh furrows, They will produce better 

 corn than they will when buried quite deep. 

 Yet writers, who are not practical farmers, are 

 generally slow in learning this." 



— About half right, Mr. Ploughman. When 

 manures are plowed in the advice is good, but 

 under all circumstances, we prefer them used as 

 a top dressing for meadows, corn fields, pota- 

 toes, etc. Ed. 



>«•»- 



Vaiue of Hay Compared wita other Milk- 

 Pboducing Substances. — Several French and 

 German chemists estimate the relative value of 

 several kinds of food for milch cows, according to 

 the following table : 



That 100 pounds of good hay are worth 200 

 pounds of patatoes ; 460 pounds of beet root 

 without the leaves; 250 pounds of carrots; 80 

 pounds of clover, Spanish trefoil, or ve'ches ; 

 50 pounds of oil-cake or colza; 260 pounds of 

 pea-straw and vetches ; 300 paunds of barley or 

 oat straw; 400 pound=i of rye or wheat-straw; 

 25 pounds of peas, beans or vetch-seed ; 50 

 pounds of oats ; and 500 pounds of green trefoil; 

 Spanish trefoil, or vetches. . 



B^„ "Papa," said a little boy just furnished 

 with a drawing slate and pencil, *'please get 

 down on your hands and knees!" "Why so, 

 my son?" ''Because I want to draw a donkey!" 



-«•»- 



_ is stated by correspondents at the 

 London exhibition that the United States will 

 carry off more premiums in proporlion to the ar- 

 ticles exhibited than any other nation. 



^^"Intelligence 

 reedom. 



is the primitive source of 



The Illinois Farmer. 



BAILHACHE & BAKES PTTBLISHEES 



M. L. DUNLAP, EDITOR. 



SPRINGFIELD, SEPTEMBER, 1862. 



Editor's Table. 



The seasons have traveled through the frosts 

 of winter, the rains and sunshines of spring, 

 the heats of summer, and now we have the mild 

 days of autumn, crowned with a fair crop of 

 earth's products, but the laborers are few to 

 gather and market them. The last call for troops 

 has drawn from the most industrious classes and 

 we shall seriously feel their absence. And yet 

 another drain is to be made that shall take in its 

 sweep the heads of families and the larger farm- 

 ers — if drafted, the chance for a substitute will 

 be small indeed. For the past two months we 

 have been short of hands to keep the weeds 

 down in the nursery, but not a hand to be had 

 at any price, and the consequence is that weeds 

 do wonderfully abound. The almost continued 

 rains that have fallen in this part of the State 

 have prevented the working of corn, and but 

 little of it has received more than two plowing?, 

 and much of it but one. Yet, where the ground 

 is dry, the crop looks well. On low or flat lands 

 the crop is ruined — this will probably amount to 

 a fourth part of the crop. We know of thou- 

 sands of acres now in weed fallow that will not 

 be disturbed by the plow this year, and probably, 

 more will be added to it next season. We hope 

 the war will close during the winter, but have 

 little faith in such an event. 



— ••• 



" When to Dig Diseased Potatoes. — We be- 

 lieve there is a great deal of labor worse than 

 lost, in attempting to save diseased potatoes by 

 digging. If a potatoe is affected at all by the 



