P?^^-««(^-: 



1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



7« 



a herd of children is called a troop, and a troop of 

 partridges is called a covey, and a covey of btau- 

 ties is called a galaxy, and a galaxy of ruffians is 

 called a horde, and a horde of rubbish is called a 

 heap, and a heap of oxen is called a drove, and a 

 drove of blackguards is called a mob, and a mob of 

 whales is called a school, and a school of worship- 

 pers is called a congregation, and a congregation 

 of engineers is called a corps, and a corps of rob- 

 bers is called a band, and a band of locusts is call- 

 ed a swarm, and a swarm of people is called a 

 crowd, and a crowd of gentlefolks is called elite, 

 and the elite of the city's thieves and ras- 

 cals are called the roughs, and the miscel- 

 laneous crowd of city folks is called the 

 community or the public, according as they are 

 spoken of by the religious community or secular 

 public. — Ex. 



For the Illinois Farmer. 

 Durability of Willow. 



Bloomingdale, Dupage Co. Ill, Feb. 9, '64. 

 M. L. Dunlap, JEsq., Dear Sir : 



In answer to your inquiry in regard to the wil- 

 low trees on the creek bottoms, I have to say that 

 the posts lasted only from six to seven years, while 

 the rails appear very durable. These willows are 

 fast growers : on examination of the stumps I find 

 they have thrown up from four to eight sprouts 

 each, and which are now four to ten inches in di- 

 ameter and fifteen to thirty feet high. 

 Yours truly, 



C. E. KiNNET. 



— The trees alluded to grow along the margin of 

 Mecham's Creek, a small stream that runs through 

 Mecham's Grove. The most of thom were about a 

 foot in diameter, but one that stood out near the 

 edge of the prairie had been broken off -by the 

 wind some twenty feet from the ground, and was 

 two and a half feet in diameter three feet from 

 the ground. It is now about twenty years since 

 these willows were cut for fence posts and rails, 

 and it is probable that the heavy thicket of alders 

 and other dense swamp growth have retarded the 

 growth of the willow sprouts. It is also probable 

 that willow grown in a more open aspect would be 

 more durable for fence posts. 



We wrote to Mr. K. for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining the durability of the swamp willow, so as 

 to form some conclusion in regard to its value for 

 posts. We have not supposed that it would make 

 a durable post unless kianized in some way. The 

 soft woods unless resinous are not very durable 

 when set in the ground. Had all the sprouts but 

 one at each stump been rubbed off, the young 

 trees would now compare very well with the origi- 

 nal in size, but not in hight, as the old trees were 



very tall and of very equal growth for thirty or 

 forly feet before they formed the top branches. — 

 We trust that farmers who have waste places and 

 odd corners will plant them to the willow ; the 

 timber will be wanted for fencing, for firewood 

 and other uses. We do not expect to see a steam 

 sawmill on every section to saw up willow logs, 

 but we do expect to see willow extensively used 

 for firewood and other purposes. — Ed. 



For the Illinois Farmer. 

 Grafting the Cherry. 



Crete, Will Co., Feb. 18, '64. 

 M. L. Durdap, Esq., Bear Sir : 



The May cherry scions came to hand in good 

 time, and up to this date I have set 1,800 grafts. 



We have an abundance of the common Morello 

 cherry here for stock, but which are otherwise 

 worthless except for shade Many of these trees 

 are twenty years old. Three years since I grafted 

 two of these trees standing in my yard, which were 

 four inches in diameter, by cutting ofi'some of the 

 larger branches and inserting some twenty grafts 

 in each tree, of the May or Early Richmond cherry. 

 The second year or in June last, I picked a peck of 

 nice cherries from these two trees. This was quite 

 encouraging for the second year. For several 

 years large numbers of the finer kinds of cherries 

 have been sold here, while from the high price of 

 the Early Richmond few of them have been pur- 

 chased. But none of these finer cherries have 

 proved of any value, and we now depend upon the 

 Richmond entirely. 



Last spring I set for my neighbors 1,600 grafts at 

 the rate of §3 00 per 100 and warranted them. I 

 have now contracted to set some 5000 at the same 

 price and have made a good beginning. I find no 

 trouble in budding the one and two year old 

 shoots, but the bark is too thick on the larger 

 branches. On the whole I prefer the grafting. — 

 This grafting of these otherwise worthless Morello 

 stocks and making them produce good crops of 

 cherries, will be worth thousands of dollars to this 

 part ©f the county, and is creating no little excite- 

 ment. I think my mode of grafting a valuable one. 



Yours truly, 



D. Cornish. 



— For the past two years we have been making 

 an effort to introduce the May cherry, as being for 

 our climate the only one of any value that we have 

 yet had on our grounds. We are gratified to see it 

 becoming popular. We have seen hundreds of 

 trees that had been purchased for this variety, of 

 trae peddlers, both from the East and of our home 

 grown peculators, in fact some of our nurserymen 



