the sower.

The best harrow is a 32 tooth drag, with the hinges running through the drag, and a cast roller is very much the best. All grain wants to be cut early.

H. Pierce. Both White and Yellow Dent corn. Club wheat has the most admirers; common white oats; no rye; very little barley; don't sow buckwheat, it is so hard to kill out. Fall plowing, with heavy harrowing, is best for all crops. Sow as early as we can work the ground for wheat and barley. Plant corn from 15th of April to 15th of May. Cultivate corn with wheeled cultivator. Riding is preferred by some, but both are about equally used here. Lay by with common plow. Pull all corn here. Reaping machines alone are used. Shock of 10 bundles, capped by 2 more. Stacks are put up with from 150 to 300 bushels in each. Average yield of wheat, about 15 bushels per acre.

J. Tefft.-Corn is small; Dent; plant as early in the spring as frost will admit; cultivate early with small plow by turning away from hill as close as can run plow without disturbing it, for the purpose of letting in sun to warm the land. Then, in a few days, turn furrow back and cultivate afterwards with cultivator. This, with buckwheat, which we raise in orchards, is all the grain usually raised on the farm. S. Reynolds.-Ground for wheat is best plowed in the fall, not very deep; and sowed very early in the spring. I use Brown's drill, made in Ohio. Sow from one and a half to two bushels per acre; oats, three bushels. Like the A harrow or double A best. Have seen very good corn raised with the drag, double shovel plow; and the best way to shock grain is as follows: set ten sheaves on the ground, then lay one or two on top. Largest yield, 90 bushels; average 35, oats. Wheat, largest yield, 30 bushels; average 15.

J. Schoenleber.-The best variety of corn here is the flesh colored; it gives the most abundant yield. For five years I raised the Velvet Winter Wheat; two years since 13 acres produced 100 bushels of wheat and 200 bushels of chess. Last year I sowed 12 bushels and my crop was but 6 bushels; part of that ground I covered in the fall with prairie hay to keep it from freezing out in the spring, but it did no better than the rest. That was the last winter wheat seen in this township.

Of spring wheat, the soft Siberian has been used longest but is now run out. The Rio Grande, Canada Club, Scotch Fife, Bull, Tea and Rhode Island are used. The last two kinds are used most at present, but seem to run out like the Siberian. Last spring I sent to Wisconsin for White Fife. I sowed 45 bushels on 30 acres, on an 80 acre lot, cornering on the north west of the above described farm. The yield was 410 bushels, about 30 bushels to the acre. The ground was broken with a Rod plow in July; in the Fall it was plowed again; in the Spring harrowed, then sowed, and then harrowed double, both ways.

Last Summer, I broke again 25 acres, plowed it again, and shall sow it in wheat and keep account.

In 1857, I had 31 bushels to the acre, on four acres, and on 16 acres the yield was 25 bushels to the acre, but since that the yield has never been over 18 bushels to the acre, and sometimes only 7 bushels, owing to injury from the chintz bug and wet, sultry weather about ripening time.

In the cultivation of corn, I have used the Brown Planter, the D—— Planter and Cultivator combined, and at present I use the Union Planter, which I like the best. The D-Planter I used two seasons, and it was at least one thousand dollars damage to me, as I could not raise more than two-thirds of a crop. The Planter and Cultivator is a nuisance; as for a cultivator, if labor was only cheaper, I should

prefer the one-horse double shovel plow. I use a two-horse cultivator that one can either walk or ride on, Corn should be cultivated when small.

C. E. Barney-Yellow corn will feed more than white, will make more alcohol, will not be so much discolored if slightly damaged.

The best seed wheat is that brought from a distance, from different soil and more northern climate

The best varieties of oats are those that stand up the best; as far as I have observed, the barley oats do that.

I believe in doing most of the work on a corn crop, just before and after planting; plow well, then roll, and your corn will be an even depth; then harrow before the corn comes up, then roll again, then harrow each side the row, then roll again; continue to roll, after harrowing or plowing, as long as the corn will bear it without breaking, which may be done till the corn is about 10 inches high,

Fall plowing, sharp harrows and heavy rollers for any crop.

In harvesting, use the header if you only want grain; if you want the straw, also, use a reaper; after the straw dries, pitch on wagons with barley forks, unload with horse fork. Never bind or shock wheat, oats or barley; it costs more, wastes more, requires more labor to make and stack bundles.

V. Aldrich. I have had but little experience in the cultivation of any grain, except corn. I have found the best time for harvesting corn to be when the best or ripest ears begin to turn their husks; at this stage the blades are green; the corn is all hard and glazed, and it cures quick and makes excellent fodder. Implements for cutting are corn cutters, generally with straight blade; clasp a hill with the left band and cut it with the other. To shock round, I use a scantling or 8 inch pole, with two legs in one end, long enough to raise it about 3 feet from the ground; back mid way from the legs to the back end, about 12 feet, that lays on the ground, I bore a 1 in. hole, and put in a stick, 5 feet long or more; this stick is horizontal, Setting the corn in the four corners until there is enough for the shock, I then have another stick, with crank at one end, and pin about one foot from the crank; fasten the rope to the pin, stick the long end through the shock, and carry the rope round the shock, and make fast again to the pin; turn the crank until the rope has drawn the shock as close and tight as you want it; put round your band and then loosen the rope and take it away; pull out the stick from the scantling; take hold of the end the legs are in, and pull it out of the shock; then go ahead with it for the next shock.

A. Rankin. The large White and Yellow Dent corn are the best varieties. The best oats are the Surprise.

The best time to sow wheat and oats is as early in the Spring as the ground will admit; fall wheat is uncertain. Rye does well; sow any time in September. Average yield of corn in the country is, I think, about 35 bushels per acre. One of my neighbors and myself raised over 87 bushels per acre. I did not have a very good stand or should have raised more. Average of wheat, per acre, 10 bushels; average of oats, common oats 35 bushels, the Surprise oats 125 bushels.

Fall plowing is considered by many as the best to sow wheat or oats on, but I have found it just as well to sow on stalk ground, by putting it in with the cultivator, harrow and rolling smooth, without plowing, where the corn was thoroughly cultivated, the year before.

The best harrow is the hinge harrow, made nearly square and joined together in the middle by long, strap hinges. The best roller is the cast iron section roller.

Corn is cultivated here mostly with the two-horse walking cultivator, of which there are more different patents manufactured here than any town in the United States. The best time to cut up corn is just after the first light frost, though if the corn is thoroughly ripe it may be cat before frost; but if cut green, while the weather is warm, it will invariably heat and spoil the fodder. The common straight knife is used for cutting; your hills are tied together at the top, the corn is then set up all around and tied near the top. The time for cutting small grain varies according to the kind of grain. All kinds of reapers are used; can't say which is the best. Those with droppers attached are preferred.

Shock and set up ten or twelve sheaves firmly, according to the size, cap them with two sheaves, well broken and spread over the whole.

G. W. Minier.-Yellow corn is usually preferred for feeding, and white for culi nary purposes. Italian Spring wheat is about all we need here. Winter wheat will do in our woodlands, but is a failure on the prairie soil latterly. We have a large white or light yellow oats, much admired; rye, barley, and buckwheat are little raised, and less cared for. Prepare all lands in the Fall for Spring grain, except corn, and even for that, it often does well. Sow wheat and oats early as possible. Drills for wheat are out of use in our neighborhood, but it is thought they would do better than the ordinary broadcast method We have corn planters, of course, but I must be excused from advertising any one's unless I'm paid for it; if some one will make me a present of a planter, why, I'll give him my best wind. Diamond shaped harrows and log rollers; I know some one will call me "fogy;" no matter. Small rollers, witn equal weight, for crushing clods Never saw any wheat hoed Cutting up corn belongs to by-gone days and dark corners of the earth. Cut small grains as soon as the kernels are plump; don't wait for them to grow hard and shrivel. Cut with a reaper, shock and stack out-doors; putting in barns invites all the rats and mice in the whole land. Yield-wheat, about twelve bushels to the acre; oats, forty. Not much troubled with insects in our small grains; army worm sometimes takes off blades, but his visits are at long intervals.

in any way.

J. Robinson.-Our corn is of the common western varieties, the Dent corn chiefly, white and yellow. I think the large yellow, with deep grains, that fit completely together nearly the whole length of the grains, will usually average the most bushels per acre on our soil. To prepare the ground for corn, I would recommend 12 inches deep, if the teams are strong enough, from the 1st to the 15th of May usually, sometimes earlier or later, according to the dryness of the ground; it is useless to put corn into cold, wet soil. After plowing, I cross mark with a cheap and effective marker, constructed as follows: Pin three or more pieces of joist, 2 by 8 inches, two feet long, shaped like a sleigh runner, to a strong plank, the pieces being as far apart as you design the rows of corn to be; then pin or bolt on a picce of scantling or pole on top for a tongue; when ready for use, the cost will not exceed two dollars. A man and team can cross-mark from twenty to forty acres per day, better than he can mark eight or ten with a horse and plow; the furrows it makes are narrow and shallow, but distinct, the planter crossing them with much more ease than the furrows made with a plow. On ground free from weeds, I prefer to plant in drills four feet apart, and have the stalks stand one foot apart in the Corn planted in this manner, on good clean land, will produce more corn per acre, with less labor, than in check-rows; but if the weeds get a start, it takes a great amount of labor to clean it I have used the planters manufactured by G. W. Brown, of Galesburg, and another by Smith, of Peoria, and find both to do good

work. Care is required not to plant too deep, from two to three inches being sufficient depth. To till the crop, I first use a harrow, made in the shape of the letter A, with the foremost teeth twelve or sixteen inches apart, and six or eight teeth in each side; it can be used before the corn is large enough to use the cultivator; it serves to pulverize the lumps, and kill many young weeds, leaving the ground in good condition to follow with the cultivator. I use the cultivator manufactured by T. &. H. Smith, Pekin, Ill. The operator walks. This implement can be used either with shovels or mould-boards, adjustable to throw the earth either to or from the corn; I find it to do good work, and costs about $20 each.

H. Sodowsky.—The best variety of winter wheat tried in this country is the Genesee; it ripens early and is not so apt to rust as varieties that ripen later. The Mediterranean succeeds well here; so does the Blue Stem, when the season is favorable. The best mode of sowing wheat is with the drill, when the ground will admit of it. Wheat is injured most by the winter freezing and thawing which spreads the surface, drawing the wheat out of the ground, and leaving the roots bare, which are killed by the dry weather and winds which blow the dirt from about the roots. Wheat that is sowed with a drill is in the bottom of the furrow; as it thaws and freezes, the loose soil rolls into the furrow, covering and protecting the roots from the wind. The best time to cut wheat is when the grain is in the dough; the grain is then plumper, fuller and yields more flour, whiter and better than at any other time.

W. M. Allen.-Best varieties of spring wheat, Club and Italian. Plow in the fall, and plow deep; sow as early as the ground permits. If the ground is clear of trash, the best method of sowing is by drill; if not, by hand. Brown's is the best planter. Use all kinds of implements for corn; all are imperfect. Cut corn as soon as there is no danger of its moulding, which depends, in great measure, on the weather. Cut wheat with reaper as soon as the younger heads are in the dough. Largest yield of wheat, 40 bushels; smallest, 6 bushels.

Geo. Harding. Best varieties of corn are the clear white, and yellow; of wheat, Mediterranean and white winter wheat; white rye best; oats, English or black. Break your ground and harrow it well the first of September, for wheat and rye; first of April, for oats; for corn, plow deep and pulverize finely, as circumstances will permit. Plant from the 10th to 25th of May, with Dickey's drill or Brown's planter, and tend with some good two-horse cultivator, followed by a V, as long as possible, and lay by with a mould-board plow. One of the most valuable implements is the roller, which should be used whenever the condition of the ground will permit.

G. W. Vaughan.-The kinds of corn generally preferred here, are the large white and large yellow, for early planting; and the little yellow, for late. The large white was brought from Indiana, some years ago, by a man named Titus, and is called by that name. For fall wheat, the Genesee or West, and Mediterranean are preferred The Genesee is between a white and red quality, and is better than the Mediterranean for flour. The large white is preferable to any other for flour, but is so uncertain that farmers sow but little of it. For spring wheat, the Mediterranean is preferred, though many like the Canada Club very well. In oats, the common white is preferred to other kinds, as they are not so apt to blow down, and are much better to handle and feed. Rye, the large white, or blue stem Spring barley preferred. For oats, the ground should be broken up as soon as possible in the

spring, and the oats sown and harrowed in; the same preparation of the ground is requisite for barley; rye the same as fall wheat, of which I have before spoken; both should be sown early in September, by harrowing in or drilling. The ground for fall wheat should be prepared as soon as the oats are taken off, if sown on stubble. If on new or meadow lands, should be broken in the month of June, and the wheat harrowed in. I like the drift, if the land is rolling, but if flat, I do not, as the water stands in the drill furrows. I have never tried the broadcast drill. For planting corn, the ground should be broken up as soon as dry enough; it should never be broken up wet, as it becomes hard and seems to lose its vitality for the season. If the ground becomes very dry before getting it all broken up for corn, I roll it before planting; if not, I plant and roll it after the corn comes up. Brown's Illinois corn planter is preferred. I use my own make of rollers and harrows. I do not know of any patent rollers in the county. I think rolling is one of the most essential modes of cultivating corn that we can adopt; it is also splendid for wheat. I use the double shovel for plowing corn. I generally harrow my corn, or plow once and then harrow; I first use the roller, which pulverizes clods and makes ready for the plow. I have never used any of the riding plows; the Sucker State and Stafford have been used, and are very well liked-the Sucker State preferred I have never cultivated wheat by the horse-hoe, or any mode but rolling. Corn should be cut when ripe, unless the frost comes before that time-in that case, it should be cut as soon as possible. We use only the hand knife for cutting corn. Wheat, rye and barley should be cut while in the dough. Oats, for feeding, should be cut in the dough; for threshing, when ripe. The Ruggs, Kirby and McCormick reapers are all used-the Buckeye and Excelsior are preferred by me. Wheat I shock after the machine, and if the weather is dry, stand a week or two. Oats I let cure after they are cut, then bind and shock, and let them remain in that condition for some time, as they cure slowly, and are apt to heat in the stack if not very dry. I never put wheat in my barn, and but a small portion of oats at a time, as they draw rats and mice, who destroy a large portion of each, if put in for all winter. The largest

yield of wheat on my farm was 28 or 29 bushels; average yield, not over 15 bushels. The largest of oats that I have thrashed, was 55 bushels; the average, about 40 bushels. The only insects injuring our wheat are the grasshopper and the fly. I know no mode of subduing either. The grasshopper injures the wheat in the early part of the season, and many farmers sow late on that account. I would always risk the grasshopper or fly to the winter freezing. The fly gets in the root in the fall, I think, and lays the eggs and they hatch in the spring, the young sucking the sap from the stalk.

8. Butler. The speckled corn yields best; and fall wheat. Manny's machine has proved best here.

W. F. Bliss. For oats, I prefer to plow in the fall, and drill in the oats as soon as possible in the spring, at the rate of about 2 bushels to the acre. For fall wheat, I would, if the ground were new, turn it over in May and June as shallow as possible, let it lie until September, then harrow, say four times, and sow with a drill, from three-fourths to one bushel per acre. I sow the May wheats, which are small grained, as near between the 20th and 25th of September as possible. I use the Hoosier drill, and find it good-perhaps it is the best; but I know the Sherwood, Buckeye, Belleville, President, and some other drills to be good. All drills with the so-called "slide" feed, I think, are to be avoided. If the ground were not new,