, 1861-03-15
THE FARM AND GARDEN,
Il look through TWO hundred miles
Of Country.


nu1uftd ana th}rty miles nearly due EOltn
from Chicago, and may we'll be called the great
corn station of that; prolific corn region, Cen
| tral Illinois. At this time there is an embargo
of mud mid on the roads, and tile shipping in
terest is nearly at etaud still, though the
cribs that make no small show about the ware
houses will be drawn on until the roads i'm.
prove, when the village {cIty j will again show
Its wonted activity, az the stock Of corn In the
country is yet large. Of potatoes there are
but few to so forward from this point. But
little winter wheat was Eown last fall, but this
little looks very promising. A few farmers
commenced sowing spring wheat last week,
bnt the heavy rain Of the I'd and subsequent
frosts have arrested further progress in this
direction, for week at least. A very large
breadth Of this grain will be eown at this
point. All Of the stations as far south as
Mattoon deal largely in corn, but ship no po-
tatoes; in 1alt the potato region ends at t3lis
last named point, which is just within tue
southern rim Of the black or mulatto soil IT
Central Illinois, and ut the top of the slope
whence ne descend into Egypt. Here We are
over hundred aud fifty feet above Lake
Michigan, and four hundred and fifty etaboye
the Ohio at Cairo. All south Of this over
the greyish lime mud drift Of Upper Egypt,
the drouth made sad havoc, and consequently
no shipments Of corn arc made south Of Mat
toon. The corn fields have been pretty gen
orally sown with winter wheat, which presents
promising appearance, and notwithstanding
the Hessian fly made a vigorous demonstra-
tion against the new crop, yet its natural
enemy, the ichneunson dy, made SO vigorous q
one On tho pulpa Of this marauder that tle crop
will nearly recover from the injury done it
early in the season. It is now probable that
from the presence Of this enemy Of the Hes
sian 1y that its destructive powers will be
very much curtailcd, and when the fall wealth
er is favorable to vigorous growth as the last
one, its rayages will be scarcely noticed. Be-
fore reaching Centralia night had closed in
and We took to the sleeping car, and arrived
at Cairo, ,at a. rn., but slept undisturbed un-
til the breakfast bells around announced flat
even in Cairo it was necessary to attend to
that important duty, but We soon learn for
the thousandih time that bad coffee and poor
cooks will sometimes insinuatc themselves
even into large hotels.
TIE BUSINESS AT CAIRO
March 6th.-Transferring Of freight from
the railroad to river craft and the coaling of
steamers are the principal things done here.
The wholesale grocery trade is limited to two
or three small houses. It would appear tnat
Cairo should be the great point for the distri-
button Of goods to the south part Of our State,
part Of Kentucky and Missouri. The truth is,
groceries are sold extremely low, but the want
Of large stocks OF dry goods, boots aud shoes,
hardware, &C., make it no object for the coun.
try dealer to visit Cairo for the simple pur-
chase Of his groceries, but with the new impe-
tus now given, 1t is very probable that the
time is not distant when more attention will
be given to this department Of business. With
levees, it is always slow and expensive pro-
cess to re-ship goods Of all kinds, and especial
" grain, though We see no reason why steam
elevators cannot be used here for the latter
and thus save the cost Of sacking, which is Il
severe drawback to shipping South. It costs
on an average about nine cents bushel for
the sack and sacking. Take, for instunce
Champaign, which is the center Of the great
corn zone. Theshipper pays:
1G cents for the corn in tie ear.
:. shclling and shipping,
8 s. i freight.
'' e selling.
- buying.
81 total cost In Chicago,
Selling at 28 cents-a loss Of cents per
bushel. To send this same corn south, costs
as follows:
1G cents for corn in the car.
: - buying.
:. 81 sheliing, sacRtng and shipping.
8 81 gunuiea.
p '* - freight to New Orleaus.
TX :. transferring to tiver at Cairo.
4 - insurance.
"a commission, selling and dockaee.