•■■:"5f 



186 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



June 



as well done. Six dollars on twenty acres, or 

 thirty dollars on a hundred acres, or three hundred 

 dollars on a thousand acres, or thirty thousand 

 dollars on & hundred thousand that will be plant- 

 ed in this part of the State — who will supply this 

 demand ? t^ new implement is called for, who 

 will invent it and pass it over to the farmer ? We 

 have been threatened with the use of one this 

 spring, but, thus far, the threat has not been put 

 into execution. 



Perhaps we shall have further reductions to 

 make next spring, with the use of Comstock's Ro- 

 tary Spader. Come ahead, gentlemen inventors, 

 the prairies were made just to give you a chance 

 a wide field for your genius. 



Culture of Potato. 



In the first place our land was plowed lait fall, 

 (stubble land.) We should have planted in April 

 but the wet weather and hurry of tree planting 

 prevented. The first spring operation was to roU 

 the land to crush the lumps ; it was then laid off 

 three and a half feet wide with a Stafford cultiva- 

 tor, using five shovels, this gave the surface a pref 

 ty thorough culture. The seed was cut one to two 

 eyes on a piece, and these pieces dropped ten 

 inches apart, and covered with the cultivator. After 

 ten days the whole was thoooughly harrowed and 

 rolled, which brings the work down to May 20th, 

 when the plants are nearly up. The vines, all 

 planted, have cost 5 days, plowing, 1 day's rolling, 

 \\ days' laying off, 1^ days' covering, \\ days' 

 harrowing, and 1 day's rolling — 11^ days' team 

 work^; to which add 4 days' dropping seed. The 

 cutting was done rainy days and at odd times, and 

 no account kept. We will charge the crop up to 

 date : 



Use of land, $5 per acre $45 00 



Eleven and a half days' team work 84 50 



Four days' dropping, $1 25 per day 5 00 



Fifty-four bushels seed (small.) 27 00 



Gutting seed 5 00 



or $13 per aero. 



facts. 



$116 00 

 This is no estimate but actual 



Small Potatoes for Seed. 



Small potates may be planted for one year, and 

 perhaps the product may be as good and abnndant 

 as if the large and fair ones had been used for seed. 

 But it is bad policy to select and plant small pota- 

 toes from year to year. We once followed this up 

 for five years, for the purpose of testing the theory, 

 and we found that the fifth crop was hardly worth 

 digging, the potatoes were so iew and small. They 

 were literally "small potatoes," tops and all. — Cor. 

 Coun. Gent. 



The Germans near Chicago furnish a large por- 

 tion of the supply of potatoes for the city, and it is a 



rule with them to plant the small potatoes. This hag 

 been done for the past twenty years, and ihey con- 

 tinue to grow as good potatoes as any that is 

 brought to market. For more than ten years past 

 we have adopted the same plan as a general thing, 

 with an occasional trial of large ones, but we have 

 not been able to see the difference in the growth 

 or fairness of the tubers. Our potatoes always 

 command a ready sale, and generallyabove the 

 market for their fineness. We should have said 

 that the Germans think the crop better from small 



than large seed. 



«•• 



Comstock's Rotary Spader. — We have a letter 

 from W. L. Sullevant, of Homer, who has four of 

 these spaders to work, and is delighted with them- 



We intended to have seen them at work but have 

 been too busy planting and other spring work to 

 leave home. 



The Weather. 



THERMOMETER I.V THE OPEN AIR. 



Day of Month. 



1864. April 



1 A. M. 



2 p. M. 



i( 





. 9 

 .10 

 .11 

 .12 

 .13 

 .14 

 .15 

 .16 



.m 



.18 

 .19 

 ,20 

 .21 

 .22 

 .23 

 .24 

 .25 

 .26 

 .27 

 .28 

 .29 

 .30 



Means 



40 



40 



40 



45 



43 



44 



42 



54 



52 



43 



48 



46 



38 



42 



38 



32 



30 



36 



38 



43 



54 



54 



59 



53 



46 



48 



46 



45 



47 



49 



42 



58 



62 



44 



48 



64 



58 



54 



56 



54 



52 



52 



48 



56 



51 



46 



48 



48 



57 



58 



56 



64 



62 



50 



54 



62 



49 



59 



66 



52 



9 p. M. 



44 



46 



48 



42 



46 



50 



64 



46 



46 



46 



60 



44 



44 



46 



40 



42 



44 



44 



42 



50 



52 



58 



50 



50 



54 



62 



44 



48 



61 



50 



27* 54i 48i 



Mean for the month 49 



During the month we had frost on four occasions, 

 17, 19, 20 & 29th. with a brisk snow storm the 

 16th. On the whole a cold backward month, 

 though favorable for wqeat rnd fruit. 



