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The IllAois Farmer 



VOL. VIII. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL., JUNE, 1863. 



NO. 6. 



lift* f itoiis ^mmu, 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FARM, THE ORCHARD AW THE GARDEN, 



PUBLISHED BT 



BAILHACHE & BAKER, 



SPfilNGFIELD, ----- ILLINOIS. 

 M:. Hi. JDTJNJLiJkF, Editor. 



All business letters should be addressed to the 

 publishers. 



_^^£xcnAN6ES and all matters pertaining to the 



editorial department^ must be directed to Illinois 



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



that point, and is seldom at the ofi5ce of publication, 



from which he is distant over eighty miles. 



%* For terms see prospectus and special notices in 

 advertising department. 



June. 



Summer has now come, and tlie sea- 

 son of planting is nearly over; tlie 

 trees are in their fullest livery, and 

 making rapid growth; everything is 

 struggling to do its best in the way of 

 growing ; but the weeds are the most 

 vigorous, and this month, generally 

 termed the month of roses, might as 

 well be termed the battle of the weeds 

 for it is now, if ever, all conqueror. 

 Eternal vigilance and constant labor 

 is the price of good crops. 



We now begin our summer pruning 

 of fruit and ornamental trees. Wounds 

 will now heal over readily. It is a 

 matter of some doubt if the total neg- 

 lect of pruning is not better than the 



usual mode of severe and indiscrimin- 

 ate slashing off of limbs from our bear- 

 ing orchards. For one we prefer the 

 let alone system, at the same a moder- 

 ate and judicious thinning out the heada 

 of our trees is very desirable. Re- 

 member that summer pruning induces 

 fruitfulness, not growth ; the autumn 

 is the time to prune for a large growth 

 of wood. 



Yines will need careful watching for 

 the striped bug — dust them when the 

 due is on with ground plaster, or soot ; 

 ashes will sometimes answer a good 

 gurpose. ^ "^ ! ^i ; 



Cabbage and sweet potatoe jpliafftts 

 should be set out. The former should., 

 have a deep, rich soil, well manured, ' 

 and the latter will do best in 



Constant stirring of the soil and kill- ■' 

 ing of the weeds is almost the chief 

 work of this month. :"' .: 



We now have currents, gooseberries, 

 strawberries, and May cherries, or at 

 least those who have been sufficiently 

 provident to plant them. The May 

 cherry ripens the 10th of this month 

 and will last over two weeks. Although 

 not so delicate as the heart cherries, yet 

 as they cannot be grown here we may 

 put the May cherry — ^not Early May of ^ 

 the East — at the head of the list. These 

 early jfruits when abundant will do * 

 much to ward oflF the bad effects of the ^' 

 summer heats, and are certainly great 



tim^l^tmkiuitsimtiimtbi 



