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1863. 



THE ILLIIS^OIS FAKMER. 



155 



White Willow. — * * "I know that there 

 is great excitement in the public mind about the 

 white willow for the purpose of making a live 

 fence. Such expectations will end in grievous dis- 

 appointment. 



I am a member of the 111. State Hor. Soc'y, and 

 was present at its last meeting, where the white 

 willow was, by vote, recommended for a live fence. 

 Trom that vote I dissented, and, in connection 

 with several others, sent in a protest against, it as 

 aiding a set of sharpers to defraud the public by 

 selling them an article either true or false, that 

 never can be made a useful hedge. 



" I hope you will not understand me as intima- 

 ting that the white willow may not be found valu- 

 able on the open prairie, &c. 



The proceedings of the Horticultural Society, 

 with the protest, will be published and circulated 

 by the first of March, when you will learn, if not 

 before, something further of the willow." 



— The above is sent us by a friend as an extract 

 from a letter of Smiley Shepherd. We have a 

 high regard for this enthusiastic friend of agricul- 

 tural progress, but we hope his predictions of the 

 failure of this plant for a fence will not prove true; 

 in fact, we know from seeing with our own eyes 

 that it will make a good and substantial fence. 



The publishing committee made bad work with 

 the whole willow question in the translation. The 

 most prominent subject of the meeting has 

 been condensed into two or three pages and hasti- 

 ly Blurred over. We should like to have seen both 

 Bides of the argument, and the protest put on re- 

 cord. 



g, writes 



Fencing.— Dr. Pennington, of Sterlin, 

 as follows : 



" Our people are anxious to move in the fence 

 question. They believe from the high price at 

 which fencing now is, and must continue to rule, 

 that the time is auspicious to act on this subject 

 In fact it will soon be beyond the reach of those 

 of limited means. Are not the people in your 

 portion, as elsewhere in the State, with us on this 

 subject ?" 



Live fence we must have, but what we suppose 

 the Doctor wants, is a law to compel every man 

 t© take care of his stock. This we have labored 

 for, and hope to see a law to that effect ; but so 

 ong as we have so much open prairie for pastur- 

 age, the prospect is not good for such an event. 

 J^ew York has moved in the matter, and Ohio will 

 soon follow suit. We think the law in our State 

 IS plain on this subject, being the English common 

 iaw; but wooden-headed judges have construed it 



against us, and practically take private property 

 for private use, without pay ; for what is it better 

 to compel me to fence out the stock of my landless 

 neighbor. 



The coming session will give us no encourage- 

 ment, for it is mainly composed of wire pulling 



politicians. 



. ••• 



Box Elder — Ash Leaved Maple. — (Our Negunt 

 do Linn.) This small tree, or rather shrub, is at- 

 tracting some attention as a sugar tree, several 

 persons affirming that its sap makes 9, quality of 

 sugar equal to that of the sugar maple, and that 

 the richness of the sap compares well with it. 

 This may all be true, but we suspect that the quan- 

 tity will prove so small that it may not prove pro- 

 fitable. 



The tree grows 20 to 30 feet high, with irregu- 

 lar, spreading branches when growing in the woods, 

 but in the open ground, rather symmetrical mak- 

 ing rather a beautiful tree, well worthy ol a place 

 in every yard. It often grows a foot or more in 

 diameter. The seeds are ripe in August, should 

 be gathered and sown at once. 



-••»- 



Season AT the North. — In the February No. we 

 made a note ol the climate of one of the penin- 

 sulas jutting into Lake Huron, in which it is stated 

 that during the season there is one hundred and 

 fifty days without frost. " iri^^;-;:- 



Gen. Swift writes us that he intended to say one 

 hundred and thirty-three without frost, and one 

 hundred and fifty with but slight frost. Corn and 

 apples grow there »n the banks of the Ausable 

 river. These apples are old Indian orchards. The 

 Gen. says, " I attend free concerts up here by star- 

 light, and hear what appear a thousand voices of 

 wolves howlinsc in concert. '' Distance lends en- 

 chantment to the view." No doubt of it. 



Cotton Culture. — The Com. of Agriculture, 

 Hon. Isaac Newton writes us under date of I7th 

 April, that the cotton seed will be sent to the par- 

 ties whose address we sent him some weeks since. 

 It is from North Carolina. We learn that ke is 

 sending out some fifteen hundred bushels of this 

 seed, mostly to the south part of this State. From 

 numerous private letters we learn that a larg* 

 breadth of cotton will be planted. One of our 

 merchants at this place sold his stock of goods re- 

 cently, purchased a farm in Egypt, and is putting 

 in two hundred acres. He was formerly from the 

 South, and understands the business. We shall 

 plant several bushels if it reaches us by the first 

 day of May. 



This season we shall try the topping pioccsa. 



