Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-11-06
For the Ensulrtr.
TOT IIE EHgHHtI.
ILLINOIS-TNo vi


ILLINOIS-[No VII
WHEAT AND CORN CULTURE
Northern Illinois is best for wheat, aid Cen
trail and Southern for corn, though both are sue
cessfuIly cultivated throughout the State
Wheat in the West is very liable TO inur,
from rust; and owing 10 the small quantity o
snow, is also often Winter killed. Were thes,
obstacles removed, prairie farmers could aaor'
10 raise wheat, and sell it on their farms TO
thirty cents bushel. The Hessian hy has neye
troubled US till within year or two. It has nov
made lis appearance in different sections, ant
may, probably will, become formidable enemy
Twenty to twenty-five bushels, is 4 fair crul
in good season, though have known Of lare
fields yielding lhirly-6ye aud tory. Taking int
account The drawbacks above named, and proba
bly, fifteen bushels would be tar estimate 10
years together.
Estimate for 100 acres Winter Wheat.
Land, alter being fenced and broke, is worth, L
reni, Il per acre, 500
SO days blowing, 5C
$50 bushels seed-wheat, 40 cents, &c
% days preparing seed ard sowing, Is
IS days narrowing, -
Grading, binding and stacking. l35
Threshing 1000 bushels, al 5 cents, lGC
Total cost, 1000 bushels, Sji5
This would be BIT cents; tut owing T. h. la
bilities OF rust and Winter killing, and me Il: a.
least one third should BE- added; 50 that unless he
tanner is sure Of ceiling about forty cells iol his
wheat al home, he Cannot make is culture prob :
able. In the Chicago market, the average rice,
Tor years together, is about seventy i've Gems.
have known il as high as 100 cents AMI As low
as 81! cents Tor pretty good wheat.
The above estimate is liberal one. The team
work would be low in Virginia, but, cunsiGer-
ing The lfihns cost OF provisions Tor man AMI
beast on the Iraries, thai rate o! wages tor
man and team here is more profitable to lie owne!
than one fourth more would - !, Virpinin
", hnt hoped that harvesting machines would
considerably reduce the cost OF growing wheat
rs YET they have moi. One OF the bes, introduced
amongst US, aud Of which 500 were male the
past winter in This chy. was inyenei by MIR. Nc
Cormick, Vreinian; bul no chief advantage in
lis use is III rapidly with which : operates II
cuts ID 10 20 acres per day, 50 that a large held
can be cut before any part OF il gets too ripe 10
The West it is exceedingly difficult IL harvest
time TO get suiiciency Of Iaborers, AM with the
large increase OF wheat fields, know not what
We could do wi.hou. harvesting machines.
But Indian corn is the great staple OF Illinois,
and i, is 10 be The chief means OF weslh . our
farmers. The last United SIaies census showed
We produced 22,634 ,2ll bushels, with popula
ton OF only At, 1873, and in time il will produce
more corn than any other Stale III The Union.
Allowing fair estimate Tor fencing, interest,
&C. and prairie farmers calculate their corn costs
Them when ripe standing in The fields, i've 10 six
cents per bushel. The labor OF one haLd is coll
sltered adequate to he culture Of forty acres; tul
allow that lie is q little lazy, which is preYa-
lent complaint, and works only thirty acres, then
il he raises 500 bushels, il costs four ceLts.
The kind mostly cultivated is the goard seed,
with long kernel and small cob, giving 5ushel
Of shelled corn 10 bushel and halt OF cas-. Il
grows frequently fourteen fee and highe., amt,
in good seasons, large fields often produce seven
ty-hve bushels and over 10 the acre. II is sure
crop even with us in the Northern paI, Of the
State, but varies greatly in lis yield. The aver
age throughout Inc Stale, one year with ano'her,
is probably abou, fifty bushels.
The ear, dtoop 50 that The husk is a perfect
protection and il is harvested in The autumn .!
winler al he farmers convenience-or, when The
time comes 10 taIlen his hogs, he fences OF few
acres and lets them harvest II Tor themselves, aid
then gives them few acres more.
We care lille Tor the export OF corn, IN estma.
ting lis value 10 us, though the kiln-iryins pro.
cess is Introduced here, and al several oihci
points In our Stale, which will cause large guam.
titles - be shipped abroad with prohl. Bul, 70
the American farmer, il has become, 10y lar, The
most important grain; anc, ukeTe ccra g,0us, IS
The county icr The farmer Your !ar-,amed "ira-
tor" Colonel Taylor,) called il "brcad, meat ami
maEure;" and no sec,ion Il the country Can SUP
ply more easily or mole abundanIy, than lii
nuiS.
We shall always be able 10 raise i, % that
tair living can be made BY selling The hes! 4
pork a, ,wo djllars, and beet al a dollar and
hall per hundred pounds. Whether We have 10
sell al those prices, is anoher question.
In the Summer Of As, was or one Of the
largest farms in the West Il belongs 10 Jacob
S,rawn, Of Morgan county, in this State, and
contains over 5000 acres, all fenced and i'm
proved. His profits, Inc year before, had been
over $4,000, made chiefly on FAT cattle aEt
pork; yet he says that all The profit he asks icr, in
his farming operations is 10 make The corn, which
he raises himself, bring him tpeirc and a ha.f
cents per busncl on his iafr. That Is, he IS
willing 10 be al all The trouble Il raising and
iallenins troves OF cattle ond hogs without prof.
on them, in consideration Of he money ne makes
by marketing his corn IN that Wy, and getting
FOR il but twelve AMI a halt CENTS bushel.
Chicago 1873. J. 5. W.