1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEU. 



153 



interference of the atmosphere, which refuses to 

 have that much weighed and accredited. "A 

 pound is a pound, &c.," hardlj holds good in such 

 a case, and when a transaction of weighing to 

 and from becomes large, a» in these cases, it is 

 / sufEicient to be felt sensibly. — F. A. Hubelt, in 

 Sdetitific American. 



Advantages of Draining. 



Edward G. Faile, Esq , in his late valedictory 

 address as President of the Ni*w York State Agri- 

 cultural Society, made the following remarks. 



" From observation of the results of the thorough 

 drainage of land, in which I have had a close per- 

 sonal interest, I am so entirely convinced of the 

 importance of the subject, that I think it cannot 

 be too persistently urged upim the attention of our 

 farmers. I have seen a large meadow of rank, 

 coarse grasses intermixed with rushes, which 

 was wet throughout the year, and did not yii-ld 

 '; even in pa-^turage, a tithe of the amount of the 

 interest on its cost per acre, thorough drained with 

 tile in the spring and early summer, fallowed, and 

 the following summer yi^l()ing a fnir crop of barley. 

 In another case the land was a swamp, yielding 

 absolutely nothing, and within one year, by 

 thorough drainage, it was made to produce a crop 

 of 54 bushels of shelled corn to the acre, which 

 was followed the next season by a good crop of 

 oats, and is now sown to winter wheat, which gives 

 extraordinary promise. There are small portions 

 of similar wet land on many thousands of the farms 

 in this State alone, which in the aggregate would 

 make a large tract, now lying waste and useU-ss, a 

 large portion of which could undoubtedly be 

 reclaimed by tile drainage, and, being gener:illy 

 rich, strong soils, made to yield a good interest 

 upon the outlay, to the owners, ami at the fame 

 time add to the healthfulness of the neighborhoods, 

 and the wealth of the of the State. In thus speak- 

 ing of the reclaiming of wet lands, I would by no 

 means be understood as considering the beneficial 

 effects of tile drainage as confined to them. On 

 the contrary, the testimony of the leading agricul- 

 tuists of Great Biitain, where the system has been 

 most extensively practised, is uniform as to its 

 wonderful effect in increasing the productiveness 

 of their clay lands. * * » * We are not 

 without instances of extensive draining by leading 

 farmers of this State, and with strikingly favorable 

 results; but with u^ it is exceptional, and not gen- 

 eral, as in Great Biitain, and I would urge upon 

 our farmers the importance of giving the subject 

 more con-^ideration than it has yet received. I am 

 convinced that in Tile Draining there is a mine of 

 wealth, that if worked wonid add millions to the 

 value of the agiicultural productions of our State." 



Barly Food for Bees. 



Eds. Praimk Fakukr: — I am pleased to rea;d 

 from .<»o many correspondents that bee culture is 

 receiving so much attention. A late article on bee 

 pasture reminds me of the importance of producing 

 some p:isture or feed during early spring, say at 

 least for two weeks before the early or spring 

 blossoms and flowers app^^ar. There are many that 

 osed flour, rve or wh(>at, (generally unbolted.) I 

 hope such will give thea experience aa to its irtil* 



ity. Having used it myself say f om 50 to lOOBbs. 

 to 100 hives, dailv for at L^ast ten suceessive davs, 

 ( such as the hees can work,) I c n but n port 

 favorably, so far as I hive been able to ju<1{;e of 

 its u^e, I noticed howevr, about the tenth day, 

 a floury di-sch rge from the be s, after which I 

 discontitiued its use. This was a4)0ut. the time 

 when the first flowers appeared. I think th'^re is 

 no question as to its utility in preventing r- bbery 

 and in supporting the young, but how much can 

 be safi Iv and profitably u ed, is a question which 

 those engaged in bee culture should better under- 

 stand. Ij. S. Pknningtom. 

 Whiteside County, Ills. 



A Country School house and its sur- 

 oundings. 



Two miles north of Phiio station on the Great 

 Western R. R. is a sohool house known as the 

 Eaton school house. The hou e is twenty-f ur by 

 thirty feet, Painted white with green blinds and 

 patent seats. N 'thing remarkable in all this 

 ceitainU, for we often se white school houses with 

 green blinds and p tent seats, but we do tiot so 

 often see an acre of play ground snugly fenced in* 

 set with shade trees and embossed with beds •f 

 flowers, tastefully laid out and nicely cultivated. 

 Such gems on the wide sea of prairie verdure, just 

 being redeemed into farms do not occur so often 

 and for this reason we take the more pleasuie ip 

 putting it upon the record. 



Let us look a little more about this yard and see 

 what trees and shrubes are planted. The Silver 

 Maple forms the vascular system the stat<ly out- 

 lines of the plan, among which are Larches, Pmes, 

 Spruces, Balsims, Arborvitae, Horse Chestnut, 

 snowballs When these g'-ounds become full mbed 

 with their summer drapery we intend to make a 

 pilgrimage thither: We have an idea that the 

 children who attend that school will be more n at 

 and tidy in their appearance, more respectful and 

 intelligent than those in school houses standing 

 out in the open highway, around which the cattle 

 gather from the open prairie in fly time, »o seek 

 the shade, brush the flies or lis: en to the noisj 

 conning of half studied lessons. 



STBA.W^ni&ISS AND PCAfmKS AT CoBOKW Ghag. 



Calby of Cobden (South Pas^ P. Office) writes m 

 that "the Strawberries are coming out finely and 

 that nearly one hundred acres will be set out thia 

 spring. The Willson is almost exclusively planted. 

 Young Peach trees all right, while larg' seedling 

 trees and those which bore large cropis iaat aeaeoa 

 are iojured and in many cases dead " ^ s 



Srx TaevsAiH) of Wood's Prize Mower were 8<4A 

 lut«eaMa. See adTertaemeni. > 



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