54 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



Feb. 



Mitm'^ ialb. 



BAKEE & PHILIiItS - 



PUBLISHERS. 



M. L. PUNLAP, Kditor. 

 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY, 1864. 



The first month of the year has been one of un- 

 usual severity, and long to be remembered. 

 * * » * » 



" 'Twas I, the spirit of the storm. 



He waved hU sceptre north away. 

 The arctic ring was rift asunder. 



And through the heavens the startling bray 

 Burst louder than the loudest thunder. 



The feathery clouds, condensed and furled, 

 In columns swept the quaking glen ; 



Destructiou down the gale wiis hurled. 

 O'er bleating flocks and wandering men." 



The destruction of sheep, of hogs and cattle has 

 called us back to the days of the Ettrick Shep- 

 herd, when the wraith swept the best flocks from 

 the hills of Scotland. 



One of our large flock master.*, counted two 

 hundred and fifty dead c-heep on New Year's day. 

 The delayed railroad trains turned out their thou- 

 sands of dead hogs — frozen stiff and stark during 

 the storm, while in the timber portion of the State, 

 where the store hogs usually run out in the wood- 

 land, the frost king counted his victims by scores 

 and hundreds. These may be called lessons in 

 unth ift, calling for more barns, more sheds and 

 more shelter of all kinds. 



Our shelter belts though young hiive proven val- 

 Qable in this trying time. They hold the snow and 

 prevent the drifts from forming, in and about the 

 sheds. 



Such a visitation of cold did not come for the 

 first time, nor will it be the last. That it swept 

 farther south is only from the fact, that the clear- 

 ing up of the forests permitted its onward unob- 

 Btructi'd sweep. Elsewhere we give pretty full ac- 

 ,eounta of the damage to trees, but Ihe full summing 

 no must be delayed to May, when the damage in 

 all its sad significance will have become fully appa- 

 rent. 



Stab Hobticultd^i, Society. — A large amount 

 of the space for January was occupied with a re- 

 port of the winler meeting. With the exception 

 of the essays, it wi}l be found to contain all of much 

 value that will be found in the transactions. We 

 have not heard what progress has been made to- 

 wards printing them. 



Byron, sends us specimens of this bark louse. We 

 have never seen it in our grounds, nor do we think 

 it will prove troublesome. It is without doubt a 

 native and identical or similar to that described 

 by Dalman in the "Transactions of thoRoy:d Acad- 

 emy of Sciences of Stockholm," under the naL.e of 

 Coccus Cryptoganius. A full account of it is given 

 by Harris, in his "Insects Injurious to Veget.»- 

 tion." 



Smith's Cider and Willow Twig. — A. S. Coe 

 of Port Byron says in a recent letter, " If you are 

 not troubled with the blight, you will find Smith's 

 Cider, all you desire for a market apple." 



"Although Willow Twig is 2d and perhaps 3d 

 rate as a dessert fruit, I find it by far the most 

 profitable apple for market that I have as yet 

 grown." 



Mr. Coe had four thousand bushels of apples last 

 year, and ought to know something of v.uietiea. 

 Along the Mississippi, Smith's Cider appears liable 

 to blight, but on the east side and interior of the 

 State, we have not observed this tendency, and 

 therefore shall plant it largi^Iy. The Willow Twig 

 is gaining fi iends where known. The tree is hardy, 

 an abundant bearer, the apple a good keeper and 

 in use when the market is r^ither bare of fruit. The 

 tree is a slow and feeble grower and not popular 

 with nurserymen on this account. How long tree 

 planters will bow to the behe-ts of nurserymen 

 we know not, but the day must come wlii^n nurse- 

 rymen w'll be compelled to grow those sorts that 

 are re;illy valuable, or planters will set out seed- 

 lings and graft to suit themselves. 



-*—■ 



yjeus Whim Bark Lorsx.— A. S. jSqe. of pprt 



Trkes and Tree Planting. — We are in receipt of 

 a package of pamphlets with the above title, sent 

 out by order of the State Horticultural Society, 

 by J. Periam, Thornton Station, H. D.; Emery of 

 the Prairie Farmer, and 0. B. Galush a, of Lis- 

 bon, Kendall com ty, who will supply copies to all 

 applicants inclosing a two cent stamp, or we can 

 send them on the same terms. 



The pamphlet contains much valuable informa- 

 tion. As it can be had at little cost, we do not 

 propose to repnblish it. 



Doolittle Black Cap Ra.spberrt. — Among the 

 small fruits the Black Cap deservedly holds a high 

 place. Last year, Mr. S. Hood of Springfield, this 

 State, gathered from a half acre 1459 quarts, for 

 which he received $182 85; and he says the pros- 

 pect the coming season is for a third larger crop. 

 The price per quart was not large, being only 



