216 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



July 



BAEEB & FHILI'IirS . 



FT7BLISHERS. 



M. L. DUNLAP, Kditor. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JULY, 1864. 



Yesterday, June 19t,h, we had a most refreshing 

 shower. Vegetation had begun to yield to the 

 drouth — newly set trees were crisping up their 

 leaves ; the late planted corn lay in the dry soil 

 half swollen and disposed to give up all hopes of 

 sending down its radicale ; the peas would not fil^ 

 out ; the strawberry had ceased to yield other than 

 lilliputian berries ; the oats had a fearful shoit- 

 ness, and the grass refused to become luxurious, 

 while the newly plowed land came uj) in great 

 clods, eloquent of sterility. Now all is changed. 

 The soil has become friable and the whole green 

 surface, whether in rows, broadeuts, meadow or 

 pasture, is wearing the garb of renovation. What 

 a sudden transition for a few short hours ! Day 

 after day we had watched the clouds come and go. 

 The smoke of the passing trains was our weather 

 vane, and the course of the wind became a study. 

 Now it came fiom the northeast laden with the 

 coolness from the surface of Lake Michigan ; now 

 east, when our hopes grow apace ; aiion in the 

 southeast, a sure harbinger that the genii of the 

 Ozark Range was busy planning us a storm ; a 

 sudden shifting to the southwest — the skeleton of 

 the storm had passed, but the storm, alas, was 

 wanting. Thus week after week rolled by and 

 nought but a sprinkle gladdened the thirsty soil. 

 Speculation ran high — shall the sea-on of 18t)3 be 

 repeated — is the corn crop, the great staple of 

 central Illinois, to be another failuie — and wiil the 

 hay crop go down with it ? The latter is already 

 shortened and the f<>rnier cannot fully recover. 

 The signs of rain have all vanished and the sperect 

 of the Ozark has fled. The moon ro.e on [a. 

 cloudL'ss sky and proudly marched over the thirs- 

 ty waste, looking down with a stately aspect which 

 might say, "Boast not of your r ih soil, for with- 

 out the gentle shower that is gathered in the gulf, 

 you will be helpless. Would you win mo'Stiire 

 from the summer cloud, plant trees ; belt your 

 farms with conductors whose green spires shall 

 aid the lightning in staging the swift passage of 

 the clouds until the rain charged cluud shall have 

 the List drop of moisture driven from it by the con- 

 tending currents of air." 



The rain came — delayed it was, hut it came at 

 last Ere the church bells had tolled to the morn- 



ing worship, black clouds lay in lazy folds around 

 the horizon and shut out the sun, the spectre was 

 in the southeast and a low growl of thunder came 

 from the west. The smooth surface of the green 

 tinted sea like clouds bcgau to emerge from below 

 the horizon with the speed of the moving train. It 

 came steadily forward — the scattering drops, the 

 vanguard of the storm like a line of skirmishers, is 

 upon us, followed by the solid columns of moving 

 water. Tlie dust is washed from the drooping 

 vegetation. An hour, and the earth has drunk in 

 the kindly shower, and the flagging vegetation 

 stands erect, glistening v/ith the globules that have 

 kissed the gratified leaflets. 



If the raiu has made buoyant and invigorated 

 ticc and plant, it has also gladdened the heart of 

 tlio cultivator of the soil, and braced him up for 

 renewed activity. The moon again rides an 

 almost cloudless night, but vegetation has no time 

 to di.-;cuss the loss of a segment irom her yester- 

 night full orbed circle, for they must take a new 

 start in life. Thi.^2'^*o''i*'''g every green thing 

 wears a sn.ilirig a.^pect. The adolescent apples 

 peer out from their leafy canopy ; the May cherry 

 glows witli a maturer cheek ; the currant is put- 

 ting on :i ;ii;ge of red ; the strawberry has assum- 

 ed a jiiore pleafing form ; the raspberry is looming 

 into iuipoitaiice ; the cabbage has spread out its 

 leaves, and the grape has put forth another ten- 

 dril ; the corn is fairly laughing down the long 

 rows, v.'hilu the potato i.s being bedecked with 

 ijh'oni, and leaves erect, inviting another passage 

 of the SiLiiford, that shall give a more ample ridge 

 of oiuth for the forming tubers; twenty-five acres 

 of cauary seed with its cone-like beads shall give 

 bette;" proraiso of grain to cheer the bird of song ; 

 the bailey, wjieat and oats shall now have fuU- 

 roe.iiJed and ample berry, while the meadow will 

 send oui new tilkvs to amplify the windrow ; the 

 school gill's leu of Sowers shall glow with richer 

 beauty, v.hile the miitrou's vines climb higher and 

 ca^l c> cr window and lattice a deeper shade. 



Natueal IIlstoet Society. — The second volume 

 of Transactions, we' learn, is nearly ready for the 

 members. 



The folio wir.g are among the articles: 



1st. Prof. Timer's address on Education, at the 

 dedication of the Museum. 



2d. Dr. George Yasey's new Catalogue of the 



Plants of Illinois 



3d. Origin ()f the Prairies, by Prof. Alexander 

 Winchell. 



4th. Trees in Winter, by Dr. Frederick Brendel, 

 with fifty illustrations. 



5th. B. D. Walsh's Papers on Entomology. 

 6th. Natural Resources of oar Commonwealth, 



