, 1861-12-31
CHR *Gtfb1&ttfe.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 81, 1881.
THE FARM.
A Great Revolution In :Crops--wfnter
eross9Rsf sRa4g 3sr snesa1
Rye and BarleY-Potatoe8.
CHnrAes, Dec. -, 1851.
At the outgoing Of the year Is q proper time
to take retrospect Of its results and to lay
plans for the future. If ne have committed |
errors in selection of crops or in our mode of
culture, now while t W'ubJect is fresh before
uE, Is Of al occasionS sle most appropriate to |
Investigate the cause and make record Of the
fact.
things, and the consequence is that q EeTolu- !
ton in the great agricultural staples Of the !
State is now in progress.
WINTER AND SPRING WHEAT. |
The northern part Of the State has made !
spring wheat the great agricultural staple Of |
that section, but it should be remembered that |
it is only few years since this crop WAS con-
Eidered too uncertain to be trusted. s7The |
yield was generally small and the quality poor.
II ne investigate the cause, We will ind that
in its culture we pursue course new
to al other parts Of tile United
States, and of course varying materially
from the old custom, and yet this
change Of culture hiss placed spring wheat in
the front rank Of all other staples in the COM
mercia1 metropolis Of the Northwest. It is
the basis Of the wealth Of the farmers in
large part Of the country dependant upon
market in Chicago. Tht whole secret Of this
wonderful change is not only simple IN itself,
but has an advantage in the time Of doing the
work necessary in putting in the crop, and
consists in ataunzn ptolciny and carly seeding,
both Of which can Be done outside Of the hur-
" and pressure Of other farm work. IF so
simple change can and does make such 3
vast change in the yal1e Of spring wheat on
!; the drift soil Of the prl1ries, why may We not
| feel insured that some change in the culture
Of winter wheat may not result in making that
the great staple, at least in the central and
| southern part Of the State. Ne suspect that
!: the ground becomes frozen viii accomplish
| something in this direction We have dozen
acres, eown the ETH Of August-that, too,
EoTn in pasture fleld-WIch has been
closely fed by horses and cattle until the
ground was frozen, about tie middle Of this
mouth, the stools Of which arc the strongest
and best tilIercd out Of any that we have seen
The ground was thoroughly narrowed and
rolled smooth, so as to avoid any 1odgment Of
water from melting SHOWS or s1eady rains,
which, in the process Of daily and nightly al
ternntions Of freezing and tha.Wfng, prove
so disastrous to the crop Of winter wheat, in
Hhat is so well known Us winter-khling. Ger.
tainly this experiment at this stage looks as
though it would succeed. The same course
WAS taken with d crop OF winter rye Last year,
and succeeded beyond our most sanguine an
ticipations. While winter aud spring wheat
will always be in demand at fair price, gel
as they cannot be made 2 speciality on any
farm for long period, but must be alternatee
with other crops, it is well to look around fol
. selection for this purpose.
| SORGHUM.
This crop cannot be largely planted, that i
Eo as to fill the rotation with wheat, but i
should be placed IS one among number tha
will fill up the demand. From one to flFt
, acres Of Sorghum on each farm will doubles;
: prove highly remuner1tiye, but beyond thi
the large amount of labor required in its ma
nipulation is not at hand at :. reasonable price
and the over crop would be lost. Sorghum
amount Of labor per acre III its Culture an'
preparations for market, and therefore a les
humber Of acres muEt be planted in all case
Of limited labor. While one man can put i
and take care Of sixty acres Of corn, it
4 doubtful if the same person could take care {
bnt that the latter would pay the best, An
!. right :hcre VIC come to point in this reTolI
ton Of farm crops, and which is precisel
this; that in the culture Of se1ni-tropics
10 crops like the sorghum, cotton, castor bea
10 and madder, VIC need less Lind but more skill
= 1aGor and capital, in proportion. Wheat an
f. corn will Of course always on the pralrie forl
the great vascular system Of agriculture, On
it is the judlcions filling in Of other crops tn:
will tell On the ultimate profits. It is hardl
possible that the culture Of sorghum Will /
+ 50 extensive as to break down the price I
N itself. At the same time, reckless outlay
i'd capital for fixtures, The cultivation Of Il
crop without adequate means OF saving
will result in loss. The extensive and rec
less purchase Of rcapcrs, threshe1s anu 9th
~ farm machinery in the early part Of the &c
1857, had much to do in breaking down o.
70 farms in the crash Of that season. Most
of these were purchased on credit, to the ruin Of
I'll large number of our manufacturers Of impl
. good one With the present hi!
u arif on sugar and syrnps, We fe
~ tho sorghum mania may take q strong hold
q our farmers, resulting in disappointment
~ many. While we would advise every farm
to plant mora or less Of this crop, yet ;
= 4 close to the war would result in bringl
ic them into sudden competition with the
at cumulated crops at the South, aud result
sending tile price below the cost Of prod
lion. For these reasons NC would make so
III | hum secondary crop to aid in filing the
ale tation. In this way nearly every farmer col
.d ;dl, grow from two hundred to thousand gallo
Ala Of syrup annually, without materially infru
Il ing upon other products.
COTTON CULTURE.
= To some extent the same remarks will b
good in relation to this crop. The farmer
- the prairie should never lose sight of this +
that their soil is drift or sediment from
waters Of the ocean, or soil brought or
= layers from the north, and consequently diff
-, from ordinary soils. That the air cure
urc peculiar, and to some crops, destructl
How far these will effect the field cultur'
the cotton crop is yet to be tested. 1
IA corn it may need no shelter from the win
or like fruit trees, must be protected from
effects. These things are yet to be learE
& and it will therefore be the safest to plant 9
W what VIC can take good care OF, than to
kcadloue into it without knowing what
: are about. We have prepared several A
by fall plowing, for this crop, and shall b
to succeed.
CORN.
- Farmers everywhere complain that
~ crop does not pay, 4 fact now patent to
- most. It is pretty certain that twenty cen
bushe1 is the lowest price ut which it cai
put in store at the country stations, to
add fifteen cents for freight, storage andc
mission, re have corn in Chicago ut thirty
cents, price that it must bring to pay
fa1mcr the lowest price at which he can nj
TO grow it. It is therefore evident tha
I..7 i @,r,