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330 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEE. 



!N"ov. 



The Husbandman. 



BY F. P. SWEET. 



Within the spongy fallow ground 



I saw the yellow corn, 

 And many a hill the seed hath found, 



E'er sounds the dinner-horn. 



Out in the meadow's dewy calm 



I swiitg the ringing scythe ; 

 The corn-crake knows full well the steel 



That spares her brood alive. 



The passive steers against the yokes 

 Send their stout sticks in twain ; 



And clumsy wheels, with muddy spokes. 

 Bear up the laden wain. 



Swung by my hands, the heavy flail 



Falls on the unshocked grain ; 

 And through the barn the gentle gale 



Bears off the chafFlike rain. 



Askant they gaze, the brindle cows. 



And chew their cud in peace ; 

 The hands that guide the stubborn plows 



The fragrant streams release. 



The setting sun the hill-top lights, 



But shadows fill the plain ; 

 And homeward comes the bird in flights. 



And fowls their roost to gain. 



She spreads the evening board with white. 



My quiet wife, for me ; 

 And sets the children all in sight, 



Their father's face to see. 



The night comes on, and darkness hides 



The children's faces small ; 

 To me they are my earthly guides — 



To them I'm all in all. 



This house is still — the crickets chirp, 



And frogs sing in the reeds ; 

 But underneath the trees, so dark, 



Ive sown immortal seeds. 



The Homestead. 



BY LADY SPENCEE. 



It is not as it used to be, 



When you and I were young; 

 When round each elm and maple tree 



The honeysuckles clung; 

 But still I love the cottage where 



I passed my early years. 

 Though not a single face is there 



That memory endears 



It is not as it used to be ! 

 The moss is on the roof. 



And from their nest beneath the eaves 



The swollows keep aloof. 

 The Kobins how they used to sing 



When you and I were young ; 

 And how did flit the wild bee's wing 



The opening flowers among. 



It is not as it used to be ! 



The voices loved of yore. 

 And the forms that we were wont to see 



We hear and see no more. 

 No more ? Alas, we look in vain 



For those to whom we clung. 

 And loved as we can love but once. 



When you and I were young. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 



Seeding Land to Grass — Turnips, etc. 



The late copious rains have brought the ground 

 into a condition favorable to ploughing and seediiig 

 it to grass. In this part of the country there is 

 much land which yields more profit in hay than in 

 any other crop. If tolerably free from stones it 

 can be ploughed after the grass is cut, and resceded 

 immediately. The time for doing this work may 

 depend something on the season to moisture or 

 the convenience of the farmer — say from the latter 

 part of July to the first or second week in Septem- 

 ber. It is pretty well settled that grass generally 

 takes better when sown at this season of the year 

 than when sown in spring. An important advan- 

 tage of the practice is, that the ground is kept 

 constantly in grass from year to year without the 

 omission of a crop ; for the grass that is sown in 

 summer or autumn, will, if stimulated by manurt, 

 produce a good yield the following summer, 

 although it. may be rather late. 



We have mentioned on former occasions, that 

 turnips have sometimes been sown to good advan- 

 tage with grass seed. More or less turnips may in 

 some cases be got in this way with very trifling 

 cost. But unless the ground is very rich, it will 

 be advisable to apply considerable manure — such 

 as well rotted compost or barn yard manure, super- 

 phosphate of lime, or ground bones. The latter 

 substances are excellent for both grass and turnips. 

 It is well known that bones, in some form, produce 

 a more striking effect on turnips and cabbages 

 than on any other crops. Their effect on grass is 

 to render it more nutritious as well as to increase 

 the quantity. 



It is not advisable to sow a large quantity of 

 turnip seed with grass seed. As the plants are not 

 to be thinned or hoed, it is desirable that they 

 should not be so thick as to check the growth of 

 the grass, or at least not to such an extent as to 

 prevent the ground from becoming well swarded 

 the following season. With an application of 400 

 to 600 pounds of bones to the acre, 500 bushela 

 of turnips to the acre may generally be obtained 

 with no labor except sowing the seed and palling 

 the roots. 



We may here state that the seeding of pastura 



