1863. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



at the time above mentioned, has been practiced 

 advantageous! i?. We believe it is the best time to 

 seed them. .\n inteival of comparative leisure to 

 the farmer generally follows the harvesting of hay 

 and small grain. If he has any time to work on 

 his pastures, none can be more favorable than this. 

 He can get the ground in good order before the 

 seed is sown, and if stock is kept off the young 

 grass during tha ;;aturan, it may be grazed the 

 following season. Sheep, however, will graze it to 

 the best advantage. They will not hurt the young 

 plants by breaking the roots and treading them 

 out of the j^'ound; but by cropping the blades 

 and slightly conipn .;sing the soil they cause the 

 plants to tiller, and thus produce a close, fine 

 sward. 



A word in rcgar i to the grassess for hay and 

 pasturage. R,ed top and Herds grass or Timothy 

 {Phleum prateutif) a' o the species preferred for 

 hay in this section mixed somewhat, where the 

 soil is favorable t'^ iheir growth, with red and 

 white clover. We tiiink these are generally the 

 best species for hay for our climate and soil, though 

 some experiments may be advisable ^ith others. 

 In one or two instances we have known orchard 

 grass (Da:tyllis glomerata) cultivated as a hay grass 

 in this vicinity with apparent success. It comes 

 into blooin with the early, or what is sometimes 

 called the western clover, and with it in the pro- 

 portion of about hair of eacli, makes good hay. 

 It also starts immediately after being cut off, and 

 makes a large second growth which consists almost 

 wholly of leaves. On deep loamy soils it will do 

 very well for hay. But it is for pasturage that 

 orchard grass is most valuable. Perhaps there is 

 not a large pnrt')n of the land adapted to pastur- 

 age in Now England, on which this grass would 

 flourish, but it is well worthy a trial on some of 

 the strong soils, :i )t too wet, of Worcester and the 

 more western counties. 



Of other species which deserve a trial, we may 

 mention the Kentucky blue grass {Poa pratensis) 

 and meadow fescue {Featuca pratensis). The former 

 is to be sure already established to a considerable 

 extent, coming in spontaneously or without being 

 sown, in many of our best pastures ; but in seeding 

 for permanent grazing, it would be well to sow the : 

 seed, having, of course, regard to the character of j 

 the soil. It does not show itself to advantage i 

 except on pretty good land, and it is only on such 

 that it is an oiyect to sow it. A bushel of good 

 seed ought to be sown to the acre. If the land ig 

 well adapLod to it, no other seed will generally be 

 required. White clover enough to give about the 

 right mixture in the feed will be likely to " come 

 la " ; but if there is good reason to believe that 

 there is not enough white clover in the ground, a 

 pound or two pounds of the seed may be sown. 

 Thp meadow fescue is not generally appreciated in 

 this country. It is a good grass ; starts early and 

 grows till very cold weather sets in. Cattle eat it 

 well ; on some moist, pastures it is about the first 

 species to afford a "good bite," and the avidity 

 with which cattle eat it when first turned out, may 

 have been noticed. The seed probably cannot be 

 had in our markets, but if a little care were taken, 

 enough of it might be saved from what grows 

 spontaneously, to increase the quantity in a few 

 years to an indefinite exient. But if the soil is 

 rather thin, red top {Agrostis vulgai'is)m ^omii of 

 ito- varieties, will succeed best. 



From the Country Gentleman. 



White Purkey and Lambert Wheats. 



Enclosed I send you a few heads of White 

 Purkey wheat. I have raised this variety 

 two seasons; but one piece has failed this 

 year. It did not come up well in the fall, owing 

 to the excessive dry weather, and was attacked by 

 the weevil and rust. It has also some smut in it. 

 The other piece was sown the 16th and 17th of 

 Oct., and is better, but is very thin on the ground. 

 It is well headed and well filled ; but there is some 

 smut in this, though not so bad as the other. It 

 has also escaped the weevil and rust, and I think 

 will make a fair yield. 



The straw of this wheat is large and strong, and 

 will stand in rich ground, where other varieties 

 will fall. It stools out thick wh re it is not sown 

 too thick. It also yields better than other varie- 

 ties, where it does well, making from 20 to 40 

 bushels to the acre. If we could get rid of the '^ 

 weevil, this kind would prove a valuable acquisi- 

 tion to wheat growers. 



The Lambert or Weevil-proof wheat proves to 

 be all that is claimed for it. I find that it is surer, 

 and fieer from rust or smut, than other kinds. As 

 for the weevil, I have not seen one in the grain 

 yet, and I had it side by side with the White Pur- 

 key, which was nearly ruined bv that pest. The 

 field was examined by others as well as myself. Its 

 earliness is a very desirable object in regions in- 

 fected with the midge, being from three to five 

 days earlier than the Mediterranean, and a week 

 earlier than the White Purkey. It makes first 

 rate flour, and is preferred by "our folks" to any 

 other we have or raise. I am better pleased with 

 it than ever, and intend to sow more this fall than 

 formerly. f. c. w. Columbus, 0. 



Large Sugar Works. 



From a West Indian, who recently favored U8 ] 

 with a call, we learn that Signer Zulueti, a planter 

 in Cuba, is now putting up on his immense sugar 

 estate the largest apparatus in the world. His 

 mill is being made in Glasgow, Scotland. The 

 rolls are 7 feet long, 36 inches in diameter; the 

 main journals, 20 inches in dinmeter, b, st wrought 

 iron. The works are propelled by a high pressure j 

 engine. Diameter of cylinder, 22 inches; stroke, 6 

 feet. Five double flue boilers, 36 feet long and 5 

 feet in diameter, are employed to run the mill and 

 pans. The syrup after being clarified and filtered 

 through bone coal, is boiled down in vacuum pans, 

 of whfch five of the larger sized are used. The 

 cane is brought to the mill by a locomotive and 

 and cars, which run on regular railroad tracks 

 leading to all parts of the plantation. The cane i 

 is unlo'aded from the cars directly upon the apron \ 

 which conveys it to the rolls, and the body of cane 

 which is fed to the mill is fourteen inches deep, 

 reaching from end to end of these rolls. The feed 

 roll is set seven-eighths of an inch from the main 

 roll, and the delivery roll three-sixteenths of an 

 inch. The bagasse is burned by a peculiarly con- 

 structed furnace, which affords all the heat re- 

 quired. The product of the estate amounts to 

 from three to four hundred thousand dollars a 

 year. — Sorgho Jour 



