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226 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEK. 



August 



caped, or there are the autumn weeds 

 and grasses that grow with matchless 

 rapidity ; —such must be cut down with 

 the hoe, for they draw from the ears of 

 corn, that would otherwise be well till- 

 ed out. 



A large amount of prairie hay is cut 

 this month. Allow it to wilt in the 

 sun, rake it at once and put it in cock 

 to cure. Hay thus cured is worth dou- 

 ble that which is crisped up in the sun 

 and bleached out by the dews. 



Meadow and pasture land can now 

 be turned over for winter wheat or rye, 

 to be sown early next month. If you 

 are short of autumn pasture, sow rye 

 and you will find it valuable. 



The garden should be worked often 

 and not allowed to be lost in a hopeless 

 swamp of weeds ; a little attention this 

 month will repay you in larger vegeta- 

 bles and in the better appearance of 

 your grounds. 



Autumn, or rather summer plowing, 

 should begin the last of this month, so 

 soon as the harvest is over no time 

 should be lost in turning under the 

 stubble. If in a field that can be pas- 

 tured the feed will be valuable, if for 

 the small grains it will have the effect 

 of a summer fallow ; if for corn the 

 ground will be ready without re-plow- 

 ing in spring, merely by stirring the 

 8l^•face, enabling you to plant early, 

 which is a very important consideration, 

 when you come to sell or use the crop. 



Early apples must be looked after, 

 the best sent to market and the poor 

 •ones made into cider or vinegar. Ripe 

 apples are very healthy for all classes 

 and ages of people, but the green are 

 too full of colic to be tasted unless well 

 cooked. 



There are many active duties for 

 August, but not so full of hurry and 



drive as the months past. We have 

 more of finishing up of the summer 

 work, less of the real hard work, yet 

 an abundance of work of odds and ends 

 to keep us busy. This is a bad month 

 in which to overwork one's self, or to 

 be exposed to rain or dew, for such 

 things are brought against us in Sep- 

 tember when we receive the penalty for 

 our ill doing. 



If the overseer of highways has not 

 attended to his duty before, he must 

 not delay beyond this month to put 

 his road in order. Road work should 

 be faithfully done; for at best the roads 

 will be in poor enough order during 

 the autumn rains. 



How a Large Farm is Managed. 



Most people who purchase large 

 tracts of wild lands make their profit 

 out of them by enhanced prices occa- 

 sioned by those who improve the adja- 

 cent lands, thus making a demand for 

 them. In this way the speculators in 

 western lands have wrung millions of 

 dollars out of the hardy pioneer, for it 

 may be safe to say that not one-fourth 

 of the lands of the State were purchas- 

 ed of the Government by those who 

 now own and occupy them. 



M. L. Sullivant, formerly of Ohio, 

 and who was a practical farmer of the 

 Sciota valley near Columbus, having 

 accumulated a large capital, entered 

 mostly with soldiers' warrants, some 

 sixty-five thousand acres of very choice 

 land in this State. Twenty-two thou- 

 sand acres of this land is in nearly a 

 solid body, lying in the southeast part 

 of Champaign County, and south of 

 Hormer Station, on the G. W. R. R. 



Mr. S. conceived the idea that thia 

 body of land could be profitably farm- 

 ed, and some eight years since entered 



