AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
277 
ity, entirely failed to get ahead of Jack Frost, and 
we have left them in the field to “ sprout ” again 
next year if they will. 
The whole importation of African Impliee was 
carried south and planted on something over a 
hundred acres. Ex.-Governor Hammond of South 
Carolina, and Richard Peters Esq., of Atlanta, 
Ga., with commendable public spirit undertook the 
labor and expense of testing the claims of the 
ne w plant. We may add that, while we were 
glad to have thorough experiments made 
under the anspices of our intelligent friends, we 
had our-fears awakened as to the result with them, 
and so we stated to Mr. Peters, and others, during 
the Summer. 
Several curious reports respecting these exper¬ 
iments having recently reached us indirectly, we 
wrote to Mr. Peters, requesting a statement for 
publication. His reply we give below, adding, that 
we think Mr. Wray, as well as Mr. Yilmorin, 
must have been themselves in some way deceived 
in regard to the worth of the Imphee, and espe 
cially as to the quality of the seed. Mr. Wray, 
certainly could not have hoped to have made any¬ 
thing among intelligent Yankees by monopolizing 
the sale of a hybrid seed It is due to Mr. Vilmo- 
rin’s reputation, as a careful and reliable seeds¬ 
man, that he should make some explanation of 
the matter complained of below. 
Further, while on this topic, we would inquire 
what has become of Mr. Wray’s Patented pro¬ 
cess for making sugar from both Sorghum and 
Imphee 1 We have not heard of its successful 
application during the present season. 
LETTER FROM RICHARD PETERS, ESQ., ON 
“IMPHEE” AND SORGHUM. 
■ Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 14, 1857. • 
Orange Judd, Esq., Dear Sir: 
I have not a word to write in favor of the 
•* M v ray Impheeit together with that received 
from Mons. Vilmorin, of Paris, proved to be mixed 
with “ Dourali Corn,” and other trash of the Mil¬ 
let tribe, and I can not for the life of me under¬ 
stand their object in introducing such a mass of 
worthless varieties of the Millet. 
There' may be some of the kinds that will prove 
of some value, but I am not prepared to say fiom 
the trial of this season, with 36 acres planted, that 
any one sort will be equal in every respect to the 
sorgho as a syrup making plant. 
I have made between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of 
very superior syrup from my crop of sorgho, and 
have sold it by the barrel at 50 to 75 cents per 
gallon. 
I have not made trial of the sorgho syrup in 
the way of graining for sugar, for my cane juice 
this season was of an inferior quality as compared 
with other crops, caused by much of the cane hav¬ 
ing fallen down by too close planting on rich land, 
during a wet season. 
You may rely on the sorgho being all that has 
been said in its favor as a syrup making plant, but 
for sugar, I as yet have strong doubts of its being 
made from it in quantity at a paying figure. 
I have been shown som’e samples accidentally 
granulated, that prove its being convertible into 
true cane sugar, under peculiar or accidental cir¬ 
cumstances, such as the quality of the juice, and 
the boiling being just as it ought to be. 
Respectfully Yours, 
' R. Peters. 
The Season in England—Three Crops of 
Clover in one Season. —The “Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press,” of London, under date of Sept. 26 th, says : 
This very day we know of the third cut of clover 
having been secured, which must be considered 
as a rare occurrence in this country, showing one 
of the most favorable seasons witnessed for a 
great number of years. 
THE TERRIER DOG. 
Last month, in our “ Farm Surroundings,” we 
noticed the Terrier. We now give a drawing of 
one of the varieties, but not the “ black and tan,” 
which we then described. This is a wire, or 
rough haired “ bull ” terrier—a fierce pragmatical 
little fellow—full of energy and spunk, a deter¬ 
mined enemy to all vermin, but rather crusty in 
temper, and not so companionable in disposition 
as the true “ black and tan.” In this cut the dog 
is cropped, both in ears and tail. It gives him a 
pert, saucy look, we admit, but such cropping in¬ 
jures his work. It is practiced almost unanimous¬ 
ly with stable-boys, and in livery establishments, 
where they are most frequently kept, and partial¬ 
ly so for fighting purposes—a barbarous practice— 
in which the vagabond propensities of their own¬ 
ers too frequently indulge, and to which the pug¬ 
nacious nature of the bull-terrier invites them. 
And this is one objection we have to that variety. 
We dislike a bull-dog, any way. We have always 
associated them with barbarity, rowdyism, and 
vice of the worst description. One of the most 
brutal characters Dickens ever drew in the most 
degraded hunts of London—Sykes, was in com¬ 
panionship with a ferocious bull-dog, who par¬ 
took of every beastly sin of his owner, with scarce 
a redeeming virtue. Yet, perhaps the dog was 
the better of the two. We would have nothing of 
the kind about us. Still, if indispensible for the 
purposes of guarding the premises, that anything 
of the kind be kept, he should be confined at all 
hours that honest people are about, and his only 
service should be that of watching within the 
gates and enclosures. 
Burglars, however, have a way of appeasing 
even the most ferocious of dogs—particularly the 
large ones. It is one of the tricks, as well as one 
of the secrets of their trade, of which they have 
many; and the consequence is that large dogs 
are oftentimes not so safe in their watching as the 
small terrier, which is quite as wakeful and 
more difficult to circumvent. Taken altogether, 
therefore we prefer the small terrier to any other. 
“The “Skye,” is another variety, a nice, little, 
long, soft haired terrier, quite equal in his ratting 
faculties to the black-and-tan. His name is taken 
from the Isle of Skye on the Western Coast of 
Scotland, where he probably originated. His 
temper is pleasant, and perhaps as mild, and 
agreeable as the other, with equal Sagacity and 
worth. Yet his long hair renders him less clean¬ 
ly. With many they are great favorites, and as 
finely bred and cared for. Such as these are the 
only dogs we would ever keep, as we consider the 
common run of cur and game dogs abounding 
about the country as no better than so many 
common nuisances among the farmers, slaughter¬ 
ing their sheep, and committing all sorts of dep¬ 
redations with scarcely a compensatory advan¬ 
tage. 
NOTES ON ILLINOIS FARMING. 
NUMBER II. 
Two Classes of Settlers — Fences, Value, Kind and 
Cost — Hedges. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
In my former communication, the ease with 
which the prairie lands are brought into cultiva¬ 
tion was shown. Thousands of acres are annual¬ 
ly broken up and new farms opened. Of the whole 
number thus commenced, the owners of about 
one-half remain on these new places as permanent 
residents. The other half consists of a nomadic 
class, that Is wandering beings, never satisfied in 
any one place. They either enter Government 
land, or buy from some railroad or other company 
at a moderate price, commence farming operations 
by putting up a shanty and a few rods of fence, and 
breaking from ten to forty acres of land. They 
raise a sod crop of corn, and sometimes a wheat 
crop, then a fit of restlessness takes possession of 
them, and thinking they are making money when 
they are able to get $5 per acre more for their 
land than what they gave for it, they sell out, and 
make a new purchase either in the same State or 
farther West. These characters are of no reai 
benefit to a community, as they never make any 
permanent improvements, nor study to advance 
the general interest of the neighborhood in which 
they live. 
Another class of people take the place of these 
first, men who are industrious, go-ahead fellows, 
working the rich land as they worked the more 
exhausted farms they used to occupy in the older 
States. They make permanent improvements in 
culture, stock and buildings, of which the most 
prominent is 
fencing. 
Of this there are three kinds most general, viz.; 
worm-rail fence, post and board fence, and hedges. 
There are also post and rail, and wire fencing. 
Vicinity to timber reduces the cost of fencing 
somewhat, as does vicinity to railroads. Timber 
being estimated at various prices and labor rang¬ 
ing from $12 to $20 per month, the cost of post 
and rail, and worm fence differ a little, governed 
as above. This station, Tacusa, Christian Co., is 
on the Illinois Central R. R., nine miles north 
from Pana, where it is crossed by the Terre Haute 
and Alton Railroad, and thirty south from Deca¬ 
tur, the crossing of the Great Western Railroad. 
Here posts can be procured, delivered at 8£ cents 
apiece, freight included. They are mostly white 
oak posts. Green oak lumber as it runs from the 
mill, is delivered here at $17 per 1,000 feet, in¬ 
cluding freight; better qualities of oak, at $18to 
$20. Much poplar lumber is sawed in Indiana, 
and shipped per railroad to Illinois at prices rang¬ 
ing from $16 to $25, per 1,000 feet. 
Labor as before stated is variously estimated, 
less in Fall and Winter, than in Spring and Sum¬ 
mer, the former seasons being the time in which 
fencing is usually done. 
The posts are set in holes made by a post auger, 
or they are pointed and driven in, in wet weather, 
or immediately after wet weather. The posts are 
held by one man, while another stands in the 
wagon, which goes along the line with the posts, 
and drives them with a heavy maul. Many posts 
are set in this way. 
Fencing plank is sawed 14 feet long and six 
inches wide. A lawful fence has five planks. 
Many are made on new prairie farms where hogs 
or sheep are not permitted to run at large, with 
but two or three planks, that number being suffi¬ 
cient to turn horses and cattle. The nails used 
are called fencing nails, being short, thick 8ts. 
The quantity of fencing put up in a day is gov¬ 
erned by industry and activity. 
