Feb. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



52 



§pif 



c^^ 



Abandon the Red Curn. — At a fanners iiicctinp; 

 in Ottcivva, recently, a grain bnyor present urp-ed 

 farmers to abandon tUo cultiu'e of the red or red 

 mixed corn. He said it would bring three to four 

 ceuts less than eitlier yellow mix(>d \Yith while, or 

 either of the latter pure — in the same niarket. A 

 letter on this subject was also received by tlie sec- 

 retary of the meeting, from the proprietors of a 

 grain elevator in Chicago, and heavy grain dealers, 

 Messrs. Muiigcr & Armour, from wliicli I make the 



following extract : 



° « 



" It has occured to us that it would be a favora" 

 ble time to present to fai-mers the propriety of 

 changing their seed corn to tiiat of yellow or yel- 

 low mixed. The red corn, wl)ile it is not more 

 productive or less expensive in ils culture than 3-0!- 

 low or yellow mixed, realizes on an average four 

 cents per bushel less tlian yelloAv, and about one 

 and one and a half cents loss tlum yellow mixed, 

 in the same market. * -' * "We have had a 

 large and long experience in handling, selling and 

 shipping all kinds of cereals, and in doing so, we 

 have found red corn difficult of sale in this market; 

 still more so on the scabo;i,rd ; and in Xcv,- England 

 where corn is wanted for me;ding purposes, it is 

 altogether unsaleable. It is obvio^is that wliere 

 • there, is not a ready demand for n,n article, such as 

 red corn, sellers are compelled to submit to tlie 

 terms 'bf the buyers, and in conseiiuence the prices 

 realized are often the source of comjjlaint and dis- 

 satisfaction to the owners. With yellow and yel- 

 low mixed corn, there is alvvays a ready market at 

 current prices. It may also be mentioned, tiiat in 

 ware-housing red corn, here anil elsewher(\ it has 

 frequently to be mixed in bins with corn of a more 

 desirable color to the loss and injury of ware-house 

 men and the holders of tlie better :rrade." 



Seedsmen and Bad Seeds. 



A late number of the "Horticulturist" containd 

 a sprightly communication on tlie frauds of seeds- 

 men, which we intended at tiie time to have copied 

 in part, with some comments, but were interrupted. 

 Since then the " Rural New Yorker" has inserted 

 nearly the whole, with some very just comments. 

 We wish to say a few words on tlie same subject. 



The communication referred to sjiokc of the 

 miserable stuff under the name of flower seeds, 

 that is put up by irresponsible parties, and placed 

 for sale in various obscure country stores, and sold 

 to those who cannot be expected to hunt up tlie 

 original offenders. These seeds arc old refuse 

 gtuff, too old to grow, under true or filse names as 

 the case may be, and perhaps witli a small portion 

 of fresh seed mixed, that grow freely, to prevent 

 detection. Often big names are given to these old 

 or common seeds, and a price charged as big as 

 the name. When they grow, great novelties prove 

 to be very common things, and the purchaser is 

 not a little chagrined to find that what he bought 

 for "Dianthus Chinensis Hedwiggii Flora Plenao 

 Hybridus Imperials," proves to be a very plain 



pink. The purchasers of these seeds are thus not 

 only cheated out of their purchase money, but the 

 ground which they had so carefully prepared, is 

 encumbered with worthless grovrth, and they also 

 defrauded of their labor and of a year of their 

 lives, so far as the garden is concerned. This is 

 one part of the story, and the practical deduction 

 is, buy seeds of good, reliable men of established 

 character, even if you liuve to send a long distance 

 and incur additional expense. It is better to give 

 six dollars tiian th.ree for a collection of seeds, if it 

 vrill insure the buyer against a loss of tifty dollars 

 or more in cultivating his land a whole year for 

 nothing. The extensive advertisers in our columns 

 each spring, give, we have no doubt, good seeds 

 generally and are worthy of confidence ; wo now 

 speak of one of them from our own knowledge, 

 (James Yick, of Ilochester), from whom v,-e pur- 

 chased last spring the seed of a beautiful ecllcction 

 of anuals, which gave a most brilliant and satis- 

 factory display through the summer. Tiicy were 

 in the hands of a skillful gardener, it is true, and 

 this brings us to the second chapter of our re- 

 marks, namely, on the importance of right man- 

 agement as well as go(»«l seed. We have often 

 known seedsmen to be denounced, vrheii accident 

 showed all the fault was with the gardener. Ex- 

 cellent scf^l have failed entirely from too deep 

 planting, from a hard, sterile soil, from a want of 

 moisture, from a rough, cloddy surface ; and often 

 when tl'.ey have grown tliey have failed to give sat- 

 isfa.ctory results simply from neglect, a want of 

 culture, being allowed to grovr too thickly together 

 and from other bad treatment. It would be as 

 reasonable to buy a gold v,-atch and use it for a, 

 candle snuffer, or a huly's liat and use it for a coal 

 hod, auii then find fault with the jeweler and milli- 

 ner, as to cast censure on seedsmen for the neglect 

 of the gardener. 



As a sidi- illastration of this point, we give 



brieflv 



^edote from the same number of the 



" liural New Yorker," of a man who was very un- 

 lucky in preserving fruit trees from tlse nursery. 

 The writer of that article says that when traveling 

 in western Canada, he observed a house standing 

 on a good farm alone and bare, without fruit or 

 shade trees. The owner, who happened to be near, 

 said he had tv.ice pla.nted an orchard, but not a 

 ti'ce v.'ould grow — the trees were half dead and 

 worthless v.-hcn they came — he thought nursery- 

 men generally a dishonest set, whose business was 

 to hnpose on honest farmers. He had taken good 

 care of his trees, but all died. He would set out 

 no more, and preferred buying his apples. Pass- 

 ing On a short distance, a beautiful orchard was 

 seen on another place, about six years old, and as 

 thrifty as could be desired. The owner Was asked 

 hov.- he succeeded in raising such fine trees when 

 his neighbor failed. " I take care of them," was 

 the reply. "I don't buy them to throw away or 

 make kindling, or for cattle browse." The failure 

 of the unnamed neighbor was then alluded to. "I 

 know who you mean," was the reply, " my trees 

 v,-ere bought with this lot. He planted his in a 

 wheat field, followed a year or two with grass, 

 where the cattle had full range, and then with 

 wheat again. He calls that good care, but I dont." 

 — Country Gentleman. 



|^°The latter part of this month is the time to 

 make hot-beds. 



