Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-11-09
FAEMIyG IN THE WEST.

10 Illinois. about 100 miles from Chica-
20. that they will be pleased 10 know some
thing Of the way Mr.. g. farms it. From
a lengthy description of the farm ne cop,
~ follows:
IN 1868 Mr.. Sullivans commenced work
on Burr Oak with. 1000 acres Of corn.
he bought The land from the Government,
AT g.. 25 per scre in the following year
so, 0 were put in; 10 1870. sn0O scrcs
At the present writing he has upward Of
II 900 acres of corn. which promise m
average of fully forty five bushels to the
acre. Besides this there arr quite 5000
acres If other crops under cultivation.
But this 10 q comparatively email par,
Of the work done a. Burr Oak during tn,
past four years. The estate embrace. ex-
ac'ly sixty-fve square nilcs-oves ~. 0u0
acres. The land. which i. rolling. in
some places quite broken. is in the form
IF . square. and has been crossed and re-
crossed hy wide avenues hedged on either
side with the Usage orange Three hun.
dred miles Of hedge have been set out.
six miles IT boai fence bull, for cattle and
stock. and $50 miles Of di,ching (the ditch
"a are seven fee. wide. and average nearl,
two feet in dep,h) have been dome to drain
the vet places. numerous corn cribs farm.
building. shops for various work; and
vast amount Of work Of all descriptions. in
which a ne~ place ab"unds.
Burr Oak 10 a beehive with no drones
about il. Mr.. : being practical man
his farm work j. perfectly sys,rnati.rd -
Thc accounts show where each davis work
has hacr DONE whether il is hv mrn o.
beast His purchases are invariably made
in large quantities. For instance. a.
y plows. City cultiSators. cto. This en-.
ahles him 10 make terms Oft the most favor
ah's character. The hands. mostly Swea"-
| and Germans. are engaged about the 1N
Of April. and are expected to stay until
the let ofJanuary Two hundred and fif:
~ men sre required at present 60 work
the farm. These. with the exception of a
few who bring their own teams anil work
By contract. are assigned 10 the different
farms and gangs Mr.. 9ul,ivant is the
commander in-chief. MIR. j NJ Miner
his bricadier: next twelve captains. each
| with three liestenants. each lieutenaat hay.
ing charge Of squad Of men. and imme-
dis'ely responsible to the captain or head
Of the farm for their work.
Besides the organized farm gangs. there
10 considerable force constantly employed
| in carpenter and mason work: regular
blacksmith's shop. with its four or five
smiths: men constantly busy in the repair
Of machinery: harness shop. waeon-sh"p.
painters. In the fall Of the wear Mr.. Sui
livant Ends it Necessary to detail certain
number Of men rs gunner 10 kill or drive
away the innumcrable focks Of wild geese
and ducks which would otherwise destroy
thousands Of bushels Of grain. Iu speaking
Of this. he snys:
Il tried At first to cquaize the thing hv
planting q few hundred more acres. bu,
my festhered boardcrs forced me to drain
some ofthe lakes AMI ponds before. could
get shem to come in more reasonable force. I"
Each evening reports of the days work
are made TO the proprietor. T-u hours
work is required fr..n each man. and u,
noon each day two hours rest is given to
man aud beast
The regular teamwork Of Burr Oak
which is essentially a corn farm. is the
breaking ofraw prairie. planting. eul,iva-
ting. and harvesting. Oxen are princi-
pally used in breaking. and with the break
ing-piow furrow twenty inches in width
is cut. This appears to be merely turn
1t the sod. for the fnrrow is but two and
= half TO three inches in depth. This
work il done during spring. summer. and
fall. and the land. If plowrd sufficiently
early (any time before the 10th OF June.
may be At once planted with corn. which
is not cultivated or worked in any wav
| until it is harvested. The yield will aver
age twenty bushels to the acre. breaking
is rated At S2.75 per acre and planting
twenty Eve cents. A bushci Of corn will
fully plant eight acres Of land A man
and team will plsns twelve and half acres.
and run the furrow to - guiding stake -
This 10 summer or fall work. In the
spring following this lsud il narrowed.
| planted. and cultivated in the same man.
ncr ~ old land. The crop abundantiv
rcpays the outlay. Old ground is plowed
from tie lss If April until the ln,h Of
jane. With steel pillow and horses ~
mules. two and quarter acres is fair
Ssy's work. a msn sad four yoke Of
oxen will harrow. with gang. harrows.
fr"m N to 80 acres per diem. The cul-
,ivssion is done entirely BY machinery.
and very completely. the number Of times
The crop is gone owe. depending on the
condition cf the eround-gencrally from
three to f"sr Some idea Of this eul,iva.
ton Of corn by machinery may be gather.
I'd from he mention that in one single
Geld she writer saw no less than la3 cul-
'ivas"rs. each worked BY enc man and
two ma.rs. Scattered about ut eonve-
niens points we're boys With low trucks or
wasons. On which we're easka flIed With
water. 70 ;. used for drinking purposes
by the wcrvier Burr Oak il temperance
hrm-~hiskey being Gully used foe snake
bates; even then its owner il doubtful
whether tAs vhskey will mt icjure the
man more than the .nske bite. The work
of cultivation 6nishcd. the crop is said to
b laid up. xnd breakiug. di,ehing. and
other fsrnssori j. in order until the bar
scs:. - vail tas rs Sso are ed q