34: 



THE ILLIKOIS FAKMEE. 



Feb. 



no time to cut and haul wood after tlie 

 busy season commences. If you use 

 coal, put it under cover, "with such, a 

 floor that you can shovel it up at the bot- 

 tom, not the top of the pile, in this way 

 the fine savings are valuable as kind- 

 ling to the fire, and you will hear no 

 complaint on account of coal dust. In 

 our next issue we intend to discuss the 

 fuel question more at large, and call at- 

 tention to the value of cobs and coal, as 

 being more economical in most cases 

 than wood. 



Stock of all kuids need good care 

 this month. Shelter is the most essen- 

 tial. "We have wintered cattle on straw 

 alone for several winters, and had them 

 in as good order as when fed on shock 

 corn. We shall again revert to this 

 point. 



Seed grain should now be provided, 

 and thoroughly cleaned. "We once 

 sowed a bushel of rye sent us from Long 

 Island, by which part of our farm be- 

 came seeded with white daises, that can 

 not so easily be got rid of, and it was on- 

 ly the past season that we'cleaned our 

 lawn of several noxious weeds sown 

 with the white clover. We once seeded 

 ten acres with charlock, sown with oats, 

 which required a series of hoed crops to 

 eradicate. Be careful how you sow 

 seeds purchased at a distance. 



Now is the time to put your tools in 

 order and to pm-chase new ones, or at 

 least order them. 



Overhaul your garden seeds and see 

 that they are of the best quahty, and in 

 abundance. The garden is a most im- 

 portant part of the farm economy, 

 and you had better plant five or ten 

 acres less of corn or other field crops, 

 than to neglect it. It wiU not do for 

 you to say that you have no time to 

 look after it, or that the prairie soil is 



of a good g^l^en, and hence we shall 

 during the 



not adapted to the growth of vegetables ; 

 for the first is a libel on your family, 

 and the last is a lie in fact. The garden 

 is too often overlooked or left to the 

 overtasked wife, or negligent children. 

 JSTothing will compensate for the want 



a|^e 



Brrent year. give it more 

 than usual space. WeU decomposed 



BAKN YAKD MANURE is OUC of the mOSt 



reliable materials for general purposes, 

 and this if at hand, can now be hauled 

 and spread out at once. Twenty loads 

 will be an abundance for an acre. The 

 soil of a garden must be naturally dry, 

 or well underdrained. We observe 

 that some of the Chicago dealers are 

 introducing barn dust and superphos- 

 phate of lime for garden manure. With 

 our rich soil and abundance of manure, 

 we think they will find a limited sale. 

 Hot beds are made the last of this 

 month. These are simple and cheap. 

 Use horse stable manure, haul it to the 

 place, let it lay in a heap for eight or 

 ten days, and then place it in a hot bed. 

 In making the hot bed on the prairie 

 soil, put the manure on the surface, 

 making the foundation nearly a foot 

 larger on aU sides than yom* frame. On 

 this place the frame and fill in the earth. 

 This is best from the old hot bed of last 

 year that should have been piled up 

 and weU mixed during the autunm. 

 The seed should not be sown until after 

 three or fom' days. Bank up the out- 

 side with earth to keep in the heat. Af- 

 ter the plants are strong enough to re- 

 move, say when they have four leaves, 

 they should be pricked out into cold 

 frames. Baist's Kitchen Garden is a 

 valuable work on gardening, or his Al- 

 manac and Garden Manual, wUl an- 

 swer in a small way ; the former costs 

 seventy-five cents. Break's Book of 



'i^^JtSiJ. 



M, ■~iM^>l,Kt '_- J (^, J 



■iA:;'..vi;i-',i;'*jf;»>(ii5a.'.-**v*»v. 



. ••'iJ. ,-«.:>*Ai.* 



.■ r--S fc*^^- >. ;- '- y- .^ ' -" 



