278 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Sept. 



rot, even in the slightest degree, digging, in our 

 opinion, and exposure to air, hastens its decay. 

 We believe with a writer in the Valley Farmer, 

 that ' it is batter to leave the potatoes in the 

 ground than to dig them as soon as the vines are 

 dead, as all those affected will rot in the hill in- 

 stead of the cellar ;' and when dug late the rot- 

 ten ones have pretty much disappeared, whereas 

 if dug early and stowed away, many that appear 

 unaffected will rot, and ve cannot always detect 

 the slight signs. The stench aleo is a great ob- 

 tion — this late digging will obviate." 



The Rock ford Register says that during the 

 first two weeks of the present month the unpre- 

 cedented amount of seven inches of rain has 

 fallen in that section — as much as sometimes 

 falls during a whole season. The rain storm on 

 Sunday last was one of great severity. 



The Farmers' Advocate, Chicago, is hereafter 

 to be published monthly instead of weekly till 

 the close of the war. It Is an excellent paper, 

 and we shall be sorry to lose its weekly pres- 

 ence. 



Other weekly agricultural papers will probab- 

 ly follow suit. In fact, it is no time for agricul- 

 tural papers of that class that cater to the fam- 

 ily fireside. The blanket weeklies from the city 

 loaded with war news at half their cost, are fast 

 putting them aside. We have had no reason to 

 change our views on this point — an agricultural 

 paper should be what it purports to be and not 

 attempt to fill the place of a newspaper : each 

 man to his trade, say we. 



Straws reies. — Dr. Beckwith of Cobden, 

 had thirty-three square rods of Willson's 

 Albany, and received net proceeds after paying, 

 commission freight and losses, §110. 



The Dr. used seventy-eight quarts for the 

 family. Next month we shall give other figures 

 in this fiuit trade. 



-«•»- 



A New Use For Kerosene Oil. — An old and 

 valued friend writing us from the North part of 

 Wisconsin, says : " One of my Concord grapes, 

 set last spring, tried hard to die, — lost its leaves 

 and buds. For two or three weeks I poured 

 kerosene oil on the stem, and in a week, new 

 buds came out, and have made a growth of four 

 feet. I doctored one apple tree in the same way, 

 and it has made healthy growth since." 



Butternut Stock For Peaches. — The Prairie 

 Farmer states that *' an extensive peach grower 

 of St. Joseph, Michigan, lately informed us that 

 he was intending to try butternut stock for peach- 

 es quite extensively next year. He is confident 

 of success, claiming that the borer which is now 

 causing much trouble in that section will not 

 harm them. We have known of experiments of 

 this kind but have no report of the success after 

 bearing commenced. What have our Western 

 tree planters to say of the promise of this 

 stock ?" 



There can be no doubt of the value of the but- 

 ternut for a stock, especially a stock of boards. 



Corn Stalks for Mulch. — We have used corn 

 stalks for mulch the present season and find 

 them the best of any substances that we have 

 tried ; we shall use them largely on our currant 

 bushes and other plants next season. It will 

 pay to save them for this purpose. It is our in- 

 tention to cut up several acres of corn with the 

 view of using the stalks for this purpose. 



Horticultural Fair at Chicago. — No one 

 should forget this fair, it being the first one held 

 by the State Horticultural Society. We shall 

 expect a large show of orchard and garden pro- 

 ducts, as well as florist flowers and plants. 



Premium Lists of County Fairs — Many of 

 the County Fairs that have been announced, will 

 not be held. The State Fair is postponed. The 

 last fair appears to have disgusted every one. 

 The place of holding it was distasteful to the cit- 

 izens of Chicago, but the floods of rain falling 

 at the time, would have made a "big muddy" of 

 any grounds except a sand hill in the State, and 

 of course untenable. 



Among the premium lists received since our 

 last issue, is the Lee county, to be held at Dixon 

 from the 6th to the 9th day of October. Lee 

 county always has a good fair. Whitesides 

 county, at Morrisana — §2 000 in preiums offer- 

 ed. This will also be one of the live shows. St. 

 Clair at Belleville. St. Clair is one of the first 

 counties in the State, having St. Louis for a mar- 

 ket. S. B. Chandler, formerly connected with the 

 State Society, is Corresponding Secretary, one of 

 the ableei men in our State in the management 

 of an institution of this kind. 



Tha fair will be held Oct. 7 th to the 10th. If 

 possible we shall be present. 



