}94 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



Oct. 



>room corn — the latter mixture being verj preja- 

 licial to the making of good sirup. 



I have spoken thus far of the sorghum or Chi- 

 lese cane in reference to making sirup: Sugar 

 an be made from it — or at least from the best 

 irup — but the process of making a good article is 

 .ttended with some difficulties which render its 

 )roductiou less profitable than sirup. But Mr. 

 Jelcher has strong hopes of making sugar advan- 

 ageously from the beet. Some trials in reference 

 o this were made last fall; and Mr. B. has shown 

 ne a sampl« of beet sugar which he made in a 

 ilacksmWs shop, of excellent -grain and good 

 iavor, though, not having been refined, of dark 

 iolor. He informs me that within one hundred 

 niles of Chicago, there are 300 acvess of ground 

 n beets, besides one hundred acres in small patch- 

 is, the sole object in their cultivation being the 

 nanufacture of sugar. Professor Mot, a French- 

 nan, who made some experiments in beet sugar 

 nanufacture in Ohio, last year, is here, endeavor- 

 ng to extend the cultivation of tlie beet and the 

 naking of sugar from it. A professional beet 

 lugar manufacturer from Paris (whose name I will 

 lot attempt to write, having only heard it,) is also 

 lere on a reoonnoisance. Professor Mot told mi', 

 n an interview I have just had with him, that 

 nost of the poil here is better for the beet than 

 my in France, and th;it the root grown here is 

 jonsidentbly richer in saccharine matter. 



On the whole, the problem whether the West 

 ;an supply its population with sugar and molasses 

 or something better than molasses,") and perhaps 

 lave a surpltj, for exportation, and make the busi- 

 less profitable, is rapidly approaching a solution 



Reasons Why Horses do not Breathe 

 Through their Mouths! 



The soft palate, as it Is technically called, velum 

 oalati, is a sort of curtain affixed to the roof of 

 ;he mouth, in the region of the palatine arch ; it 

 las a free edge which rests upon the epiglottis. 

 [t slants in a posterior direction, so that anything 

 n the shape of food coming from the mouth, raises 

 md pushes it backward ; but anything coming 

 Tom the oesophagus or trachea, pushes it forward 

 md downward, closes it, and thus prevents all 

 ?gres3. So that air is expired and respired through 

 ;he nasal outlet, and all matter vomited from the 

 ;tomach must also be ejected through the nostrils, 

 in the act of coughing, however, which is a spas- 

 nodic action, the air returns in body and with 

 brce sufficient to raise velum palati, so that a 

 passage through the mouth is, at the moment, 

 secured. 



The mechanism of the soft palate is as follows : 

 its composition is nearly the same as that of the 

 lard palate, yet it abounds more in glandular sub. 

 itanoe and muscular fibre ; by means of the leva- 

 ;or palati, its substance is raised. On the lateral 

 md internal portion of the membrane we find 

 )undle3 of muscular fibres, constituting a pair of 

 nusclea known aa depressors, which aid in retaining 

 ;he palate in its place, viz., on the epiglottis, 

 ^rom the above brief remarks the reader will per- 

 ;eive tliat it is not natural for a horse to brea,the 

 hrough his mouth, , 



A Productive Kitchen Garden. 



When the Tremont house in this city was opened, 

 in 1855, the proprietors found it difficult to obtain 

 a supply of vegetables and fruits, especially in the 

 early part of the season. They were forced, even, 

 to send to Cincinnati for these articles, the cost of 

 which, when they reached Chicago, was of course 

 great, though they were more or less injured in 

 quality. To obviate this difficulty, Mr. George W. 

 Gage, one of the proprietors of the house, pur- 

 chased fifty acres of land eight mileS' south of the 

 city, for the purpose of cultivating, chiefly, vege- 

 tables and the smaller fruits. 



The land was then unbroken prairie. A ridge 

 near the centre of the lot, coraprieing, perhaps, 

 ten actes, is of a loose, sandy character; the rest 

 is mostly a black soil, naturally of such tenacity 

 that after having been wot it baked so hard as to 

 bid defiance to the ordinary means of tillage. 

 Under these circumstances Mr. Gage was obliged 

 to confine his cultivation to the lighter soil, from 

 which, by the aid of manure, h« obtained early 

 and abundant crops, except in very dry seasons. 

 The flat land was generally so wet in the spring 

 that nothing could be done with it, and, as before 

 intimated, when it became dry, it was too hard. 



Mr. Gage and his superintendent, Mr. Emery, 

 (formerly of Maiden, Massachusetts,) determined 

 to see what effect drainage would have on this 

 land, and in the fall of 1858 commenced with a 

 few brush drains. The effect of these was so 

 favorable that it was resolved to drain all the 

 heavy land. In the fall of 1859, twenty acres 

 were drained with the mole plough, three feet deep, 

 at intervals of forty feet. The effect of the drains 

 was seen to some extent the succeeding season ; 

 but their full benefit was not realized till the second 

 season. The change which has now been effected, 

 might astonish persons who had seen nothing of 

 the kind before. The land which formerly baked 

 hard, is now so mellow that onions are grown on 

 it. i have not seen more promising crops of this 

 esculent than are now growing on what was for- 

 merly some of the heaviest of Mr. Gage's land. 

 In fact a yield of 800 bushels to the acre was 

 obtained hervj last year, and there is every prospect 

 that the present crop will equal or surpass the 

 former. They usually bring seventy -five cents a 

 bushel. 



The drains which were first made continue t» 

 operate well, and I see no reason why they may 

 not do so for a long time. The cavities made by 

 the mole preserve their original shape, and discharge 

 water freely whenever there is a surplus in the soil. 

 It is obvious, however, that this system can only 

 be successful on tenacious soils. Where there is 

 sand it will drop into the cavities and sooner or 

 later close them up. Mr. Gage says he has not 

 lost a crop, or had one injured from wet or drought, 

 since the drains were made. The effect of the 

 drains in preventing the soil from baking, is easily 

 explained. Before the drains were made the rain 

 water remained so long on" the surface that the 

 soil was puddled, and it settled into a compact 

 mass when the water evaporated. After the drains 

 got into fuU operation, they kepf the soil so open 



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