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4 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER. 



Jan. 



provide like the Egyptians of old, against the 

 famine? Then look to it and make your cribs du- 

 ring the leisure of winter, not rail pens covered 

 with the fleecy clouds, but with a good board or 

 shingle roof. 



The winter promises to be one of unusual severi- 

 ty, and it will stand the farmer in hand to shelter 

 his stock so as to economize the short supply of 

 fodder which has been made still shorter by large 

 sales to contractors to the government. 



EFFECT OF THE STORM ON PEACH TREES. 



This morning, knife in hand, we waded out to the 

 peach orchard and examined over a hundred buds, 

 not one of which was alive ; all had the well known 

 brown speck in the center, which but too 

 truly points to the failure of the peach crop. It is 

 not probable that a further investigation will show 

 a more favorable result. 



As the apple trees made a moderate growth, it is 

 not probable that they are injured by the co)d. 



Cellars are reported badly frozen, and of course 

 the remnant of the short vegetable crop will come 

 in for further shorteniRg. 



Rural. 



-«••- 



Climate and Production of Illinois. 



We clip the following from the circular, of 

 Commissioner Phillips of the 111. Cent. R.R. land 

 Department. 



Climate and Soil. — Tlie climate of Illinois 

 is healthy, and here the mortality is loss than 

 in almost any other part of the country. The emmi- 

 grant seeking a location regards the healthfulnoss 

 of the district as matter of primary consideration, 

 and it is not without gratification that we arrive at 

 the conclusion that Illinois, so far as its sanitary 

 condition is concerned, ranks with the most favored 

 States of the Union. The vital statistics collected 

 in 1860 show that in this State the deaths per cent, 

 to the population were in that year only 1.14, while 

 the average of the whole country was 1.27. The 

 ratio of deaths to the living population in Massa- 

 chusetts was 1.76 ; Tennessee 1.39; Arkansas, 2.06; 

 Kentucky, 1.45; Mississippi, 1.57; Missouri, 1.52; 

 Connecticut, 1.35; Kansas, 1.37; Louisiana, 1.76 ; 

 Maine, 1.23; New York, 1.22. For the purpose of 

 this comparison we have selected States in every 

 section of the Union. The figures are accessible 

 to all who will take the trouble to examine the oflB- 

 cial reports, and are a sufficient reply to much mis- 

 representation. Extending 380 miles from north 

 to south, Illinois has all the varieties of climate to 

 be found between Boston, in Massachusetts, and 

 Norfork, in Virginia: in the southern part, the 

 genial climate of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, 

 and in the northern section more nearly resembling 

 that of Pennsylvania, Sout lern New York, New 

 Jersey and Connecticut. 



The soil in the different parts of the State pre- 

 sents very marked characteristics. From the lati- 

 tude of Chicago as far south as the Terre Haute and 

 Alton R. R , the country for the most part is open 

 prairie, with here and there groves of timber, and 

 timbered on the banks of the various streams. The 

 soil in this region consists of a rich black loam, and 

 is remarkably adapted to the produciton of corn, 

 sorgho and tame grasses. For stock raising no 

 better land can be found. South of this line the 



soil is lighter and of greyish tinge — the country is 

 also more broken, and the timber more plentiful. 

 The small prairies in this region produce the best 

 of winter wheat, tobacco, flax and hemp. From 

 Centralia to Cairo, in the South, the country is 

 heavily timbered. In this district, fruit, tobacco, 

 cotton, and the different productions of the border 

 States, are largely cultivated and highly remunera- 

 tive. A large number of sawmills are erected near 

 the line of the Railroad, the lumber from which 

 comman ds at all times a ready sale. 



Indian Corn. — This is perhaps the mo.'st importent 

 crop in the country. It is applied to such a great 

 variety of purposes, and is so indispensable an 

 article for foreign consumption, that however abun- 

 dantly it may be produced, the constantly increas- 

 ing demand will press heavily upon the supply. la 

 1859 the United States yielded 827,694,528 bushels, 

 of which Illinois contributed 115.296,779, about 

 fifty millions of bushels more than any other State ; 

 and from the greater breadth of land which will be 

 planted in 1863, we may fairly calculate that the 

 next harvest will afiford 150,000,000 bushels. Illi- 

 nois stands pre-eminently first in the list of corn- 

 producing States. 



Wheat. — For the culture of wheat the lands of 

 the Illinois Central Railroad are in all respects 

 equal to any in the State. One great advantage 

 which these lands have, is their nearness to the Rail- 

 road, by which the purchaser has the means of put- 

 ting his crop in the market at the earliest or most 

 favorable time, and at a cheap rate of transportation. 

 During last year the stations on this road sent for- 

 ward to market 4,688,755 bushels of wheat, besides 

 567,627 barrels of flour. In Southern Illinois, win- 

 ter wheat is almost certain to yield a good return 

 to the grower. The reaping, threshing and clean - 

 machines, now so generally in use, have made wheat 

 growing a source of great profit to the farmer. 



COTTON. — It seems well established that cotton is 

 to become a remunerative crop in the southern part 

 of Illinois. It was cultivated last year in almost 

 every town south of Centralia, and if wc regard the 

 planting ae an experiment, the result is completely 

 satisfactory. It would be a low estimate to assume 

 that 5,'^00 bales of ginned cotton were grown in 

 this State last year. The reports that come in are 

 in the highest degree favorable, and there are nn- 

 merous indications that the planting this spring has 

 been increased four fold. It would be fair to pre- 

 sume that all, or nearly all the seed grown in the 

 State, has been planted but it is impossible to state 

 the quantity with exactness. In March and April 

 there was a large demand made upon the neighbor- 

 ing States, (particularly Tennessee), for cotton 

 seed, and up to the 1st of May more than one hun- 

 dred tons had been sent forward from Cairo and 

 distributed at the following points on the Illinois 

 Central Railroad. The quantity is given in sacks 

 of fifty pounds each : 



Carbondale, . .711 sacks. 

 Jonesboro, ... 64 " 



Dongola, 117 " 



Villa Ridge,.. 49 " 

 Cobden, 21 " 



Sandoval,. . . .140 sacks, 



Centrlia, 63 " 



Ashly, 115 " 



Richview, 447 " 



Tamaroa, 197 " 



Du Quoin,.. 1245 " 



Tobacco. — It is supposed that fully|ll,000,000 

 fts. of tobacco were grown in Illinois last year, 

 much of it, particularly that produced in the south- 

 ern part of the State, of the very finest quality. 

 It is well known that, besides producing more 



