1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



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dollars, even at the present "war pricps " but a 

 load of butter equal in weight to forty bushels of 

 wheat (2400 lbs.) would bring between four and 

 five hundred dollars; or the same amount of cheese 

 would bring nearly three hundred dollars. We 

 have again and again alluded to this subject, and 

 we would urge all who possibly can to arrange 

 their fields and pastures with a view to dairying 

 gome. 



In dairyins you have your harvest everf day, 

 aight and morning, you can do your labor in the 

 cool of the day, and you aie sure of a good arti- 

 cle to obtain a good price, war or no war ; folks 

 will eat, and every bo'ly almost, likes to have his 

 brea*! butter d, "to make it go down easy hie." 



We have kept dairy for a number of years and 

 should keeo one now were we living on a farm, and 

 we know whereof we nfBrm. There is no more 

 profitable branch of farming, one year with anoth- 

 er, excepting perhaps the keeping of sheep, than 

 to keep a dairy of cows for the manufacture of 

 butter and cheese. — Rockford Register 



Home-Brewed Ale. 



G-. Burton, in the Rural New Yorker, gives his 

 method of making home brewed ale as follows. — 

 " The art of brewing is very easy to be understood, 

 for it is exactly similar to the process of making 

 tea. Put ii handful of m 'It into a tea-pot ; then 

 fill it with wat'T — the first time rather und'^r boil- 

 ing he 't. After it hns stood some time, pour off 

 the liquor ju«t as you w< mid tea, and fill up the 

 pot asain with boiling wat'T. In a similar manner 

 pour that off, and so go on filling up and pouring 

 ofi'till the malt in the pot is tasteless, which will 

 be the case whf-n all its virtue is extracted. The 

 liquor or malt tea must then be boiled with a few 

 hops in it. and when it becomes cool enough — ^that 

 is about blood heat — add a little yeast to ferment 

 it, and the thing is done. This is the whole art 

 and process cif brewing ; and to brew a large quan- 

 tity requires the same mode of proceeding as it 

 would to make a tea breakfast for a regiment of 

 soldiers. A peck of malt and four ounces of hops 

 will produce ten quarts of ale, and of a better qual- 

 ity than can usually be purchased." 



Vice's Illustrated Catalogue op Seeds. — ^This 

 is a pamphlet of forty-eight pages, containing not 

 only a list of seeds, but pretty full instructions for 

 their cultnre, in fact a valuable work for the farm 

 and vegetable gardea. 



" I t ike pleasure in offering to the lovers of 

 beautiful flowers and choice vegetables my New 

 Illustrated Seed Catalogue for 1864, which for 

 beauty and real value, I think, has no equal. It 

 will be found to contain not only a complete list of 

 the leading floral treasures of the world, with full 

 and accurate descriptions, but such plain yet com- 

 plete directions for culture as will enable all who 

 heed them to avoid the failures so common yet so 

 vexatious to those who love flowers but lack expe- 

 rience in their culture. My Catalogue for the 

 present season is a complete Rural Directory or 

 Guide for the Flower Garden, and may be consul- 

 ted with profit by those who wish to select seeds, 

 or learn how to treat them after they are obtained. 



The habits of the diffi-rent varieties, the best loca- 

 tion, .^oil, etc., distance t* part at which the phmt 

 should be grown, best method of sowing the seed, 

 transplanting, and all other necessary directions, 

 are given in full with each variety, so that the 

 most inexperienced amateur need not fail In ad- 

 dition to this, I have given fine, life-like engrav- 

 ings of many of the most popular and b^-autiful 

 flowers, which, with the descriptions, cannot fail 

 to give a correct idea of their character." 



The above will give an idea of the value of the 



work. Send for a catalogue. We have had flow- «f 



er seeds of Mr. Vick, and have always found them 



of superior quality. 



A New Grafting Wax. 



Several of our friends who have tried the follow- 

 ing composition as a grafting wax, have been 

 much pleased with it. We see it also recommen- 

 ded in some of the horticultural journals — to wit : 

 One pound of rosin, five ounces 95 per cent, alco- 

 hol, one ounce beef tallow, one table spoon of 

 spirits of turpentine. 



Melt the rosin over a slow fire, add the beef tal- 

 low, and stir with a perfectly dry stick or piece of 

 wire. When somewhat cooled add the turpentine, 

 and last, the alcohol in small quantities, stirring 

 the mass constantly. Should the aloohol cause it 

 to lump, warm again until it melts. Keep in a bot- 

 tle. Lay it on in a very thin coat with a brush. In 

 a room of moderate temperature, the wax should 

 be of the consistence of molasses. Should it prove 

 thicker, thin it down with alcohol. It is always . 

 ready for use, is never affected by heat or cold, 

 and heals up wounds hermetically. — Germdntown 

 Telegraph. 



«•> 



Ohio Pomologieal Society. 



This society held its winter meeting at Cleveland 

 last month. Grapes occupied considerable atten- 

 tion. The Clinton was returned in the list, altho* 

 a strong attempt was made to throw it out. Cuy- 

 ahoga white grape was said to mildew badly 

 when young. Delaware was highly commended. 

 Concord still held its position at the head of the 

 list for the million. F. R. Elliott stated that in 

 the county in which Cleveland is located there 

 were TOO acres in vineyard, 400 of which was in 



bearing last season. 



. ,^» 



Making Cider. 



We have seen several samples of cider in which 

 bi-sulphate of lime was used. It makes the cider 

 very clear, but an excess spoils the cider taste. 

 Ten ounces is the rule for a barrel, but it is prob- 

 ably three or four times too much. The making 

 of cider is becoming annually of more importance, 

 and a good article is desirable. 



These cheap cider mills make a great waste of 

 the raw material, as they are not capable of pr< ss- 

 ing out more than half the juice. One mill in a 

 neighborhood costing four or five hundred dollars, 

 buildings included, would be worth moie to the 

 orchardist than twice that amount in cheap mills. 



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