1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



IIT 



BAKEE & PHILLI.S - - - PUBLISHEES. 



M. L. PUNLAP, Kditor. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, APRIL, 1864. 



The weeping skies of April, if not ornamental are 

 useful, moisture is needful to expand the buds and 

 to force the germ, we may therefore be well con- 

 tent with April showers. The question has not 

 been fully settled, which of the two gives the most 

 enjoyment, anticipation or participation. In spring 

 we are busy planting, pruning and grafting, in an- 

 ticipation of fine crops in Autumn. The realiza- 

 tion of which is months hence, but the zest with 

 which we now enter upon the duty, and the pleas- 

 ure that we experience must surely be large, so 

 large — well we will not decide this vexed question 

 until the flowers shall have a chance to testify, 

 vegetablesto display their delicate texture,the small 

 fruits have tickled our palates with their rich acids, 

 the larger fruits have proved their melting lucious" 

 ness and the garners have been stored for winter. 

 From now all along the bronzed highway of the 

 summer months shall we watch for and anticipate 

 and enjoy ourselves with vived pictures, not only 

 well filled but set in rich borders. 



Dead Sheep and Shelter. — Sad news of decimat- 

 ed flocks continue to come to us, the efiects of the 

 storm of January 1st. such practical and logical ar- 

 guments and in such overwhelming numbers have 

 never before been offered in favor of shelter. We 

 suspect that it will be the cause of a severe run 

 of barn and shed fevor during the coming sum- 

 mer, In some flocks nearly half have been lost. 

 Talk of wintering sheep on the open praries, or 

 in the corn stalk field, it is the hight of folly, 

 tight yards sheds and barns must be had, or we may 

 and will soon abandon sheep husbandry as not adapt- 

 ed to our climate. We shall look for a change of 

 base in this respect, but it comes after the slaugh- 

 ter of the innocents. 



Gardening — This is the active month of garden, 

 ing, in which we have a deal of planting weeding 

 and hoeing to look after. Farmdrs should remem- 

 ber that upon a good supply of vegetables will de- 

 pend the good health of their respecnive families. 



Bi-MoNTHLT Report of Com. Newton. — ^The Re- 

 port for January and February is at hand, March 

 lith, and is exceedingly valuable. In this No. of 

 the Faruer will be found several extracts from it. 

 Persons wishing the Report should write the Com- 

 mission of Agriculture. 



Blackberries. — The Lawton so far as we can 

 learn are killed to the ground. Our improved 

 blackberry is partially killed but we intend to plant 

 two acres of them this month. 



Grapes. — The grape fevor rages and all sorts of 

 vines good and indiferent are changing hands. In 

 fact the poor sorts have the best of it as |the d«al 

 ers praise them with the most pertinacity. 



Tree Protector. — Dr. Weed has shown us peach 

 limbs cut from his trees under protection, having 

 every bud perfect, and the bark and wood as per- 

 fectly green and beautiful as in autumn, presenting 

 a very striking and favorable contrast with the 

 blackened branches cut from trees outside. 



From Mr. Hovey's Annual Review of the Pro- 

 gress of Horticulture in 1863, we quote the follow- 

 ing commendation : 



"Peaches without glass; on Mr. Weed's plan, are 

 well worthy of attention. He has stated all the 

 facts plainly, and we should be glad to see an at- 

 tempt made to thoroughly test its value. Such a 

 delicious fruit is worthy of every attention. It is 

 only by this mode, or in orchard-houses, that a 

 crop can be relied upon. The latter mode will 

 give a small quantity of superior fruit, the former 

 will supply it in abundance. Of orchard-house ex- 

 perience we hope to give more in our present vol- 

 ume." 



Will Sorgo make Sugar. — F. L. Stewart, of 

 Mnrreysville, Westmoreland Co., Pa., says that he 

 has satisfied himself by numerous experiments of 

 the following facts in regard to true, unadulterated 

 Chinese cane. 



I. The juice of this cane contains uniformly not 

 less than 16 to 18 per cent, of true crystallizable 

 cane sugar. 



II. When completely ripe, all parts of the stalk 

 of this cane contain crystallizable sugar — the juice 

 from the lower half, however, being purer, richer 

 in sugar, and more abundant than from the upper 

 half. 



III. No grape sugar (gluecose) in appreciable 

 quantity is found in the plant after it has fully ma- 

 tured. 



IV. Any crystallizable sugar found in the sirup 

 is a modified form of crystallizable cane sugar, the 

 production of which is incident to imperfect meth- 

 ods of manufacture. 



V. Crystallizable sugar cannot be extracted uni- 

 formly from the best cane, unles certain impurities 

 contained in the juice be removed. 



VI. The soil best suited to the growth of the 

 plant and to its saccharine qualities, is a sandy 

 loam or clay loam, or almost any good upland soil, 

 such as is better adapted to wheat than to Indian 

 corn. The most congenial climate seems to be 

 that of which the mean summer temperature is 

 about "75 "^ Fah. It will ripen generally where the 

 summer mean does not rise above 70 ® , as at 

 Pittsburg, Cleveland, Chicago, Madison, Wis., and 

 southern Minnesota. 



VII. No more difficulty necessarily attends the 

 manufacture of sugar from the sorgo than from the 



