1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
387 
woodland, in a style that would thoroughly captivate the 
mind of every true admirer of nature, until the summit 
level was attained, when an unbroken stretch of high 
level table land intervened between the undulating por¬ 
tions, ranging from two to three miles in breadth, and as 
far in the distance lengthwise of the prairie as the eye 
could behold, without being able to distinguish any ob- 
object other than herds of sleek fat cattle grazing on the 
rich herbage so bounteously supplied by the hand of Pro¬ 
vidence. Bordering these prairies, ravines repeatedly 
join on to the belt of woodlands, which act as feeders to 
the streams, and carry off the over supply of water that 
falls in shape of rains. Since the white man has taken 
possession of the country, great care has been observed 
to prevent the fires from running over the prairies, as 
was formerly the case, when the red man of the forest 
owned the country. These ravines in almost every in¬ 
stance, have become skirted with a young growth of 
beautiful timber, in many instances a mile in width, and 
frequently from one to five miles in length, and occur¬ 
ring in favorable distances of from two to five miles apart, 
have a charming influence in imparting a rich and health¬ 
ful appearance to the rural landscape, that can neither be 
imagined nor described. 
There is at this time a much greater supply of wood, 
in Illinois especially, than was the case fifteen years ago. 
This supply will go on increasing, until in the lapse of 
twenty years timber will be sufficiently abundant for ag¬ 
ricultural purposes. What is now much wanted is a 
thick growth of young timber around each quarter sec¬ 
tion of prairie, averaging some six rods in width. This 
could be obtained at a trifling cost, and in ten years 
the timber would attain the average height of fifteen feet, 
and would not only add to the beauty of the country, but 
would shelter the fields from the raking winds of winter, 
and ultimately be the means of supplying the country 
with an abundance of wood for fuel and building purpo¬ 
ses. Live fences, where timber is scarce, are the best 
and cheapest for a prairie country; and at an early day 
we shall give our views in full, accompanied with some 
practical directions on this somewhat new and important 
branch of business to American farmers. 
At the head of nearly all the streams we have yet visi¬ 
ted, a wide range of country, lying between the heavy 
timbered land and the prairies, occurs, which is here de¬ 
nominated 11 barrens .” The quality of the soil and the 
timber grown upon it, greatly resemble those of the oak 
openings, so distinguished for the growth of wheat and 
clover, in Genesee and Monroe counties, New-York, with 
the difference in favor of those of the west, that the 
ground is much richer in. vegetable mold, from the fact 
that a vast growth of prairie grass, where the timber is 
thin, is usually seen. This deep vegetable soil, ranging 
from four to ten inches in depth, would relieve the farm¬ 
ers in a great measure from the necessity of employing 
gypsum as a top dressing on their clover crops, which in 
the east has been found indispensible for the success of 
the clover and the succeeding wheat crop. We learn 
from reliable sources that the barren lands so called uni¬ 
formly are located at the head waters of all the streams 
of the west. These to our mind are the most valuable 
lands of the country; and for the cultivation of clover 
and wheat, and for the pasturage of sheep, will some 
day be as much appreciated, as has become the cele¬ 
brated soil of Wheatland, New-York. It is proper here 
to remark that on the barrens, or oak openings, clover 
and sheep, are employed as the agents by which the fer¬ 
tilizing properties of the soil are replenished and enlarged, 
converting a naturally poor or barren dry soil, in process 
of time to one so rich and fertile and in every respect 
adapted to the crop, as to produce in an average of sea¬ 
sons from twenty to forty bushels of the finest quality of 
wheat per acre. These lands may now be had for from 
one to three dollars per acre, and indeed are thought in 
most cases unworthy of cultivation. 
There is ordinarily sufficient timber upon this quality 
of land to fence it, and the clearing, plowing and grub¬ 
bing will cost from $6 to $8 per acre—which with a fee 
simple title, will bring it up to a price ranging from 
twelve to fifteen dollars per acre under fence and in crop. 
The first year it will produce about fifteen bushels of 
wheat per acre, and the second year it should be summer 
fallowed by plowing once in autumn and twice in summer, 
and sowed with wheat in the early part of September, 
at the rate of two bushels per acre. With the wheat 
crop, the land should be seeded with clover and timothy 
and pastured or mowed, the first year, and the second 
year’s clover pastured till midsummer, and the clover 
sod in the early part of August plowed as deep as pos¬ 
sible for wheat—once plowing only would be necessary, 
and by breaking up the clover sod at least one month be¬ 
fore the period for sowing, the ground will become suf¬ 
ficiently pulverized to be seeded with a drilling machine, 
w r hich in all cases maybe advantageously employed, when 
the land is clear and in a high state of cultivation. 
The foregoing is as nearly as possible the plan of cul¬ 
tivation we should practice, were we to attempt success¬ 
fully to grow wheat on a large or small scale, on the 
barrens of Illinois and Iowa. In an average of seasons, 
it would be reasonable to expect at least thirty bushels 
of first quality of wheat per acre, and the land for an 
almost indefinite period of time would continue to yield 
that or a greater quantity in periods of three years. If 
the whole of the clover was fed on the ground it would 
ultimately become so rich that damage would be expe¬ 
rienced from an excessive amount of straw, but a skillful 
operator would then either cut a crop of hay in one of 
the two years that it would be in clcfver sod, or else in 
each breaking up plow from two to three inches deeper 
than the previous plowing until the soil became broken 
and friable to the depth of from twelve to fifteen inches. 
The soil, both surface and subsoil, on the barrens, is of a 
dry warm nature, and the surface is in all cases sufficient¬ 
ly undulating to constitute it in an eminent degree among 
the best wheat lands of this Union; yet we find that it is 
a perfect drug in the market, so much so that much of 
it can be had at Congress price, within a convenient dis¬ 
tance of large and populous villages and settlements. The 
wheat plants on those barrens, are not so liable to be 
winter killed as on the prairies, and nov r and then a farm¬ 
er, with whom we conversed on the subject, acknowledged 
that those lands might some day be brought into profita¬ 
ble cultivation. 
The difficulty of growing in an average of years a high¬ 
ly remunerative crop of wheat, on a deep, rich, prairie 
soil, is much greater than what would be experienced 
under the foregoing treatment, on lands in a state of na¬ 
ture, so poor that it is thought at the present time to be 
so worthless that it would not pay the cost of clearing, 
fencing, and cultivation. These difficulties, however, are 
not of that nature as to make them insurmountable by a 
scientific farmer, or one, rather, who understands adapt- 
ing his soil to the requirements of the particular crops 
he attempts to cultivate. Winter killing by winter and 
spring frosts; the blowing of the small particles of the 
soil on the surface, thus exposing the roots of the plants 
to the action of the rays of sun, and to frosts; and the al¬ 
most total absence of snow, by which no protection is 
given to the wheat crops during winter, are among the 
serious obstacles that a western prairie farmer has to con¬ 
tend with, provided he makes the business of wheat grow¬ 
ing a primary object. These may be sufficiently obviat- 
ed by a clever process of engineering, if the term be ad¬ 
missible in this instance, so as to secure, in ordinary ca¬ 
ses, favorable results. Deep culture is a prominent fea¬ 
ture by which a moderately deep vegetable soil can be 
fitted for the success of the winter wheat plants. In all 
cases where it is practicable to bring to the surface from 
two to three inches of clay, no reasonable effort should 
be spared to effect that object . The late autumn months, 
if other things be equal for the performance of this la¬ 
bor, are the best calculated to ameliorate an inactive soil, 
from the fact that the frosts of winter have a more per- 
feet mechanical action on stubborn, or inert soils, than 
any other agency. In all cases where very deep plowing 
is attempted, with a view of ultimately preparing the 
soil for winter wheat, the fall or winter should be cho¬ 
sen for the performance of the work. As autumn plow¬ 
ing is ordinarily done, it frequently not only does no good, 
but a palpable damage k done the soil for the succeeding 
