The Illinois Farmer. 



VOL. YII. 



SPRINGFIELD, NOV., 1862. 



NO. 14. 



November. 



The November winds are busy with the 

 leaves that summer has passed over to the 

 keeping of autumn, a donation with which 

 to mulch the roots of her forests, her orch- 

 ards, and to protect the tender plants of her 

 lawns — a wise and prudent provision of na- 

 ture to guard against the winter frost, and 

 to furnish a rich and valuable fertilizer to 

 the soil. 



Just now, before the corn husking com- 

 mences, is the time to set out the orchard 

 and to prepare the garden. 



Manure should be hauled out to the 

 meadow and spread out evenly over its sur- 

 face. This we have recommended to be 

 done immediately after haying, but when 

 that has been neglected, now is the time. 

 Orchards should be top-dressed in the same 

 way. Ten acres of orchard thoroughly cul- 

 tivated is worth three times that amount not 

 attended to. 



The White or Timber Willow is becoming 

 a mania, both for fencing, fuel, shelter and 

 shade. If you want to make a fence of it, 

 prepare the ground this fall, as the cuttings 

 must be put out as soon as the frost is out 

 of the ground. To a great extent, this tree 

 will supercede the use of Osage for fencing. 



Bury your cabbage heads down, in a dry 

 place. Beets should be placed in pits out 

 of doors, but well secured from frost. Su- 

 gar beets are valuable for milch cows as well 

 as those fattening, Do not forget to send 

 samples to the Sugar Refinery for trial. 



Don't allow your stock to stand out in the 

 cold autumn storms, but put them under 

 some kind of shelter. A cold storm is 



worse on stock than the coldast weather of 

 winter. 



Do all the fall plowing possible ; it will 

 bo so much ready for spring. Land for 

 spring wheat must be fall plowed. Cotton 

 and tobacco are to be the new things for the 

 producer next season. Fit your lands for 

 them by fall plowing, and hauling out ma- 

 nure. 



Great political changes make great chan- 

 ges in the products of the country. In our 

 case, cotton is to become the great staple of 

 the south part of this State ; and tobacco, 

 throughout it? whole extent, will soon be 

 among the most prominent. Wheat will be 

 more largely grown, and corn take a Jess 

 prominent position. The reopening of the 

 Mississippi, which will soon occur, will give 

 such an impetus to. the agriculture of the 

 west, that old pioneers will be astonished. 

 The eastern railroads will no longer hold the 

 monopoly of the carrying trade , and prices 

 must advance in proportion to a decline in 

 freights, which, at this time are almost ruin- 

 ious to western produce. Let us, by all 

 means, hasten the day when our great wes- 

 tern staples shall again find an outlet to the 

 ocean by the way of the Father of Waters. 



-«•»- 



A Chapter on the Potatoe. 



The potatoe harvest is now nearly over, 

 and we can sum up the season's yield. In 

 the south part of the State it is nearly a 

 total failure ; in the central part below a 

 medium crop, and in the north about a 

 fourth of the usual yield. The rot has made 

 bad work at the north, and done considera- 

 ble damage in the center of the State ; while 



