280 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEK. 



Sept 



takes its way from the manufactory in Providence, 

 K. I., to the theatre of its labors at Decatur. The 

 American Horse-Nail Company of the former 

 city are manufacturing a machine of this charac- 

 t«r, which they hope to have ready then for exhi- 

 bition. It is the second they have made, and 

 claiming to be entirely successful, they naturally 

 turn to our prairies as its home prepared by di- 

 vine hands from the beginning. May its triumph 

 be complete. 



The cultivators, one-horse and two-horse, plain 

 and with combinat'ons, for planting, seeding broad- 

 cast and in drills, rolling and harrowing — which 

 our American Inventors have brought to light 

 within the past few years, will, of course, be there. 



We have not space for the enumeration of the 

 entire list again nor is it necessary. 



Entries should be made with the Corresponding 

 Secretary at once, that the Board may hare an op- 

 portunity to make the preparations complete and 

 satisfactory. 



Ex-President Webster, an old practical farmer 

 of great energy, is the Superintendent, and will 

 doubtless see that everything is done "decently 

 and in order." In itself and as a prelude to the 

 Annual Fair of the Society to be held at the same 

 place the following week; and which this Trial is 

 designed to inaugurate. The occasion is one of 

 great and lasting importance to this State, and in- 

 deed the whole country. 



The Coming State Fair. — Is there a man in Illi- 

 nois, whether farmer nurseryman, orchardist, me- 

 chanic, merchant, professional man, office-holder, 

 or citizen at large, who fails to realize and ac- 

 knowledge the obligation resting upon him to sus- 

 tain and cherish the cause of agriculture ? We 

 are sure there is none such among the readers of 

 the Farmer. 



When we say that IllinoiB, proud as we are, and 

 Justly so of her coal fields, her railroads, her mines, 

 her navigable waters, and her manufactories, is 

 nothing unless she is agricultural, we but utter a 

 trueism which is demonstrated every day in the 

 great marts of Europe and America. And yet our 

 vast natural resources are almost untouched ! Mil- 

 lions of acres of lands, as fine in appearance and 

 as fertile in fact as the sun shines upon, are still 

 waiting the plowshare of the husbandman before 

 yielding up their virgin harvest. 



How, then, shall we best serve our country — 

 best assist in the development of its resources — 

 best contribute to the wealth and prosperity of the 

 State ? The answer is, stand by your county and 

 State Agricultural and Horticultural organizations. 

 Aid them earnestly and in good faith to accom- 



plish the work before them. Attend the fairs and 

 take your families with you. If you have an arti- 

 cle of growth or mechanism or art worthy of exhi- 

 bition, take it with you. Identify yourself with 

 every effort to elevate labor and educate the mind 

 of the country in all that pertains to Agriculture, 

 Manufactures, the Mechanic and Household Arts. 



The coming Fair of our State Society at Decatur, 

 demands even more at the hands of our people 

 than is ordinarily accorded to such an occasion. 



There was no Fair in this State last year, there 

 will be none in the neighboring States of Wiscon- 

 sin and Missouri this year. Within the past two 

 years there have been large additions to our pop- 

 ulation. Strangers, hundreds and thousands, will 

 be with us. Let us meet then and give them a 

 hearty welcome. Let us meet each other and ex- 

 change congratulations, as in days gone by, deter- 

 mined to have a good time, and to do our share 

 towards making the Fair of '63 memorable in the 

 agricultural history of the State. 



The Lane Register. — This is a new paper just 

 started at that enterprising town called Lane, in 

 Ogle county. From present appearances it bids 

 fair to be among the most wide awake of our ex- 

 changes; is looking after the local interests of the 

 county, and by it we are kept posted in regard to 

 the weather and crops in that part of the State. 



Now neighbor Otis there is some hundred or two 

 miles of fence grown from cuttings of the white 

 willow in your county, and some of it a few miles 

 south of your village. Cannot you take a short 

 trip southward and give us a report of the condi- 

 tion and prospects of this new style of fence? We 

 think you will be pleased to see the prairie farms 

 belted with these living fences. Please tell us if 

 the farmers continue as well pleased with them as 

 formerly, and if they have been extended the past 

 season. Do the worms and catterpillars damage 

 them to any extent ? 



Drying Hops. 



A "Young Hop-Grower" wishes to know how 

 many square feet of drying room he should have 

 for three acres of hops, how near the pipe should 

 be the drying floor, if the hops can be dried evenly, 

 and the best kind of press. 



As I have three acres of hops, I will contribute 

 my experience. My dry house is 28 by 30 feet. I 

 use one half for drying, the other for storing. The 

 drying floor is flteen by twenty feet. I use two 

 stoves and pipe running around and connecting in 

 the center of one side : pipes about six feet below 

 he drying floor. I find no trouble in drying them 



