1S64. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



CI 



Cjl 



You may provide for jour poultry everything 

 generally accounted necessary, such as grain, meat, 

 lime, ashes, good shelter, regular feeding, &c., &;c., 

 and yet they will not do well. Poultry pick up 

 many a thing of which a poultry yard, even of one 

 or two acres, soon becomes destitute. Most vari- 

 eties are :dso pugnacious, more particularly the 

 males. Confining many hens in a poultry house 

 even with the utmost care on the part of the own- 

 er, will breed vermin, Hens will likewise quarrel 

 about their nests, no matter how plenty of nests 

 there may be, and so on to the end of the chapter. 



As far as our experience and observation goes, 

 we think from ten to twenty hens a sufficient stock 

 in the sp: ing. Should you live any great distance 

 from town or market, it is not profitable to market 

 eggs after a very few weeks in the spring ; they will 

 hardly pay the cost of transportation. 



The number of hens m.entioned above will fur- 

 nish all the eggs a family ought to consume, (for 

 although very nutritious, they are not accounted 

 very wholesome if partaken of every day, and as 

 some families are wont to do every meul, and pre- 

 pared by frying in fat,) and also furnish sufficient 

 for incubation. We do not consider it difficult 

 to raise a hundred chickens in a season and still 

 -have eggs enough for an ordinary family, from less 

 than twenty hens. You should allow one cock to 

 about twelve hens ; you should also change your 

 males often. 



We like the cross of the Cochin, Shanghai or 

 Brama with our common barn-yard fowls. Such a 

 cross are not so pugnacious, do not scratch so 

 much in tlie garden, and are every way more do- 

 mestic. Tkey are also better nurses than the pure 

 of the above named breeds, attain a greater weight 

 than the ordinary kinds, and we think the meat is 

 more juicy than the former. 



Turkeys can be made profitable where they can 

 have the" range of a piece of road way or pasture 

 and meadow. Three hens and a gobler are better 

 than a greater number. The black and bronze va- 

 rieties are esteemed hardiest and best. They will 

 mate about February or March. Take the first 

 litter of eggs and set under common hens ; the 

 turkey hens will soon lay again ; now let them 

 have all the eggs they can well cover, and set. 



When the young are hatched, you should so di- 

 vide those hatched by the common fowls as to be 

 taken care of by the turkeys ; confine the small 

 chicks in a small pen, made of a few boards, on a 

 well covered grass plat, and change the pen every 

 few days. They should also have shelter in case of 

 storm." Feed bread crumbs and hard boiled eggs, 

 chopped fine. Avoid corn meal unless first baked 

 and soaked in milk. Young turkeys are very ten- 

 der, while the grown bird is very hardy. In pas- 

 ' ture or meadow we think them very useful, because 

 they feed on and destroy innumerable insects, 

 while for "Thanksgiving," "Christmas" or "New 

 Years," they are a proverb and a by-word, and not 

 bad to take. They are almost the only bird Amer- 

 ica has contributed to the kitchen of the world. 



To those who desire to keep geese, we recom- 

 mend the "Bremen" variety, because they are 

 white, which adds to the value of the feathers, and 

 are also larger. For ducks, the Cayuga is domes- 

 tic, large and of good flavor for the table. — Boek- 

 ford Register. 



Farming in California. 



No finer farms, orchards and vineyards c:m be 

 found in our State, than those of Nnpy (cuiu;.. 

 The fine farm of G. 0. Yount, Esq., is oi)'' of ti^e 

 most interesting in the county, frojn t'::e Ciiily 

 associations of this venerable pioneer. V>'c hr.ve 

 often spoken of this place, its orchard and vineyard, 

 the fine flouring mill, and all its interesting asso- 

 ciations. 



Oak Knoll, too, is one of the prominent fenti-rcs 

 of this county, one of the finest location^, and a 

 farm that, had the proprietor been perraimd to 

 live, would have been a model farm. 



Oak Knoll Farm contains 1600 acres as fine Innd 

 as " lays out o' doors." The orchard coniain.s SO,- 

 000 trees — a splendid orchard. The air.ouiit of 

 packages of fruit sent to San Francisco, loNov. 1, 

 were 8,000. Seven and a half tuns of d.ioi f uit 

 were also put up at Oak Knoll this seaso>ii. The 

 farm produce for the large dairy stock is. SCO tons 

 hay, 50 acres of wheat, 10 acres of oats. The wheat 

 yielded about thirty bushels to the acre, oi-.ts ffty 

 bushels. 



The dairy stock numbers 60 cows at present, in- 

 cluding 25 milkers. Some 150 pounds of butttr is 

 made a month, and the yield of milk, besides sup- 

 ply of farm, etc., is SO gallons a day. There are 

 seven full blood Ayrshires ; four of thcs'- were im- 

 ported, three as the increase. The stock is in gdod 

 order, the farm and orchard doing as well as can be 

 expected under the misfortunes and embarrass- 

 ments that have befallen it. 



The farm is under the charge of Mr. At. drew 

 Bouton, the foreman, to whose care and attention 

 it is indebted for its present order. 



When at Oak Knoll, on both occasions, we visit- 

 ed the tomb of Mr. Osborn. There beneath the 

 majestic oaks is the grave of him recently so full of 

 life and hope, even amid the storm clourls of this 

 world, that were howling around him. We stood 

 at his grave ; a neat white paling marked the spot. 

 Within its inclosure the hand of endearing aifeciir.n 

 had spread the earth with emblems of etfinitj; 

 the grave wa's beautifully covered with gv<;en, ar.d 

 upon the head of the grave was a cross mcii^ of ivy 

 and the berry of the snow drop. It was, and ever 

 will be beautiful in our memory, this grave of the 

 pioneer, hallowed by the hand of affection, ei dless 

 as eternity. 



As we gazed upon this spot, and remembered the 

 orphaned children, and that widowed one, as we 

 looked upon that grave so tenderly guarded by her 

 care, it seemed to say : 



Ever green shall thy memory be. 



And I will bear my cross. 

 My life was thine. I lived for thoe. 



Now daily mourn thy loss. 



Among the farms of Napa which we visited, wa« 

 that of 0. Steinback, Esq. — a farm of 215 acres, 

 principally a grain farm. He has also some fine 

 stock. Mr. S. located here in 1859,has a very pleas- 

 ant residence, with fine scenery from every point 

 and with every desirable surroundiug to make ^ 



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