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i A V* « 



LLINOIS J^AEMEK. 



YOL. VIIL 



SPSINGFIELD, ILIk, APRIL, I8&i. 



NO. 4. 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FAEM, THE OECHAED AW THE GAEDEK, 



PCBLISHED BY 



BAILHACHE & BAKER, 

 SPRINGFIELD, ----- iLLmOIS, 



All business leiters should fee addressed to tho 

 publishers. 



_^S*'BxcnANGES and all matters pertaiaing ta tbe 

 editorial d€partmeut, must be directed to Illispois 

 Faemek, Champaign, 111., as the editor resides at 

 that point, and is seldoEi at the office of publication, 

 from which fee is distant over eighty miles. 



*4(.* For terms see prospectus *nd special notices ia 

 advertising department. 



April. 

 How steadily the months march on- 

 ward, bringing in their train continued 

 changes, not only in the weather, but 

 in the labors of the field. But a little 

 while ago and winter held its fitM 

 sway ot snow, of mud, of frozen streams 

 and embai^joed roads. Later, the birds 

 of passage h^ingered the Spring, then 

 came the busy farmer into the field 

 that yet lay under the russet hues of 

 Winter, the seed was cast forth, and 

 now the faint germ of the upspringing 

 blades give token of active plant life; 

 the buds are beginning to swell, and 

 the crocus and the daffodils are peeping 

 out along the garden border. The hot 

 beds of the gardner are covered with 



^J^^v- 



green plants, wh2e the strawberry is 

 putting forth its long leaves, the bu^s : 

 of the lilac are ready to burst, and the 

 June berry will soon put forth its flag 

 of white as a tokeu'of truce with Win- 

 ter. The mud under foot, the fickle 

 showei', an'd the slowly springing grass 

 may put us at times a little out of temi- 

 per-,. yet April with its pressing duties 

 and rapid changing of the sere and 

 brown of Winter to the gauzy haze that 

 first woke up the forest, ready for^' 

 May to dress in the full robes of 



Summer. ^, xf/."vv^.>-e..;;;^,:^.: ■ ,;r- ■-;<.-■. r 



Dming March the fences have beeii 

 put in order, the spring wheat, barley, 

 grass and dover seed sown. I^ow 

 comes the sowing of oats, of flax and 

 the planting of the garden ; the setting 

 of fruit, shade and ornamental trees of 

 hardy perennial shrubs and plants. 

 About the middle of the month the 

 cornfields become the center of attrac- 

 tion, and in this part of the State, the 

 planting begins about the twenty-fifth, 

 just at the close of the season for the 

 planting of trees. ., ... 



April is an important ihonth, for it is 

 then we lay the foundation of the Spring 

 crops, which if badly done no after care 

 can fully remedy. 



The planting of trees is one of the 

 most important duties of the month, 

 and should on no account be neglected.*^ 

 These give to the homestead a pleasing 

 feature that cannot be supplied by any 





-if : ' 



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