Many of my larch and pine trees have grown only ten years from tiny plants, and now measure more than 20 feet in height, and more than two feet in circumference near the collar or base. Many of the larch will now make three fence posts each. Forest tree plants: Although some planters in this country have succeeded in producing evergreen and larch plants from seed, yet it has been at such cost that I regard the European plants as cheapest, as the climate is such that they grow there about as readily as spires of timothy do here. Then, as labor is so much cheaper there than in this country, it gives the advantage to the European planter. The plants should be transplanted one year before they are imported, when they acquire a good stock of roots, and can be imported then, with safety, to this country.

Profits: The value of such forests can scarcely be computed. If half their value should be estimated and exhibited in figures, it would awaken skepticism. A plantation of a few acres for shelter for stock and crops, alone would abundantly pay any farmer for all the expenditure. The progressive and ultimate value of an acre of larch and pine, at the end of seventy five or eighty years, is no less than ten thousand dollars. The excess of larch timber from one acre alone, in thirty years, leaving on the ground 302 trees to grow to an ultimate forest, exceeds four thousand dollars. At the age of seventy-five years, each of the 302 remaining trees on the acre, whether of larch or pine, will exceed one hundred feet in height, and average more than three feet in diameter, and are worth in the aggregate more than six thousand dollars. To encourage the cultivation of forests State and National patronage should be secured by offering liberal premiums per acre for forests, planted and cared for, from a half acre to one hundred acres; also exemption from taxation for twenty years from planting. All county Agricultural organizations should offer liberal premiums for the best forest plantations.

J. Tefft.-I have about six acres in an artificial grove, mostly maples. They grow finely and look beautifully; but I cannot say that it will ever be of any value, except for sheltering stock. I should not want a field crop sheltered in that way. It might do for cucumbers, and perhaps blackberries.

C. E. Barney. The white willow makes a good wind-break. Do not let any willow find out where your wells and cisterns are. I lost one of each by that

means.

G. W. Minier.-The American people are bringing ruin upon their country by their wanton waste of timber. The people of Illinois, especially, owe it to themselves to foster natural groves and plant artificial ones. I wrote an essay on "The Cultivation of Forest Trees," for the State Agricultural Society, which the Secretary, Mr. Reynolds, writes me is now being published in the Transactions. Mr. Samuel Edwards also wrote one, which will likewise be published in the Transactions. For mature views you are respectfully referred. I also had the honor to offer before the "Northern Illinois Horticultural Society," at its first meeting in Freeport, on the 18th instant, two resolutions on this subject, which passed unanimously, and to which I would direct your especial attention.

J. R. Tull.-The growing of timber is greatly neglected in this State. Every man that has a quarter section of land in the prairie should put out 20 or 30 acres of it in some good, thrifty, growing timber, such as black walnut, soft and sugar maple, but never black locust. Soft maple is the easiest timber raised, and is of very rapid growth on our prairies. I have raised it 3 to 4 feet high from seed, of the same year's growth. The seed ripens the last of May, and can be gathered and

planted at once, and will come up nearly as quick as corn; and, if well cultivated, will obtain by fall a growth of from two to four feet. The ground should be put in good order before planting the seed. Sugar maple may be raised in the same way, but the seed is later in ripening, and the plants will make but little growth the first year. Black walnut may be raised by planting the walnuts in the fall and covering with chip manure, so that the ground may not bake when it drys off in the spring. But I would recommend to all who possibly can, to plant more or less evergreens for wind-breaks; such as red cedar, Scotch and Austrian pine, Norway spruce and hemlock; all of which do well on our prairies, and can be obtained of nurserymen cheap.

What a beautiful country we soon would have if every man owning and living on a prairie farm, would plant about his premises a few dozen evergreens every year, for five or six years in succession. It would soon look like the land of promise; the dreary waste would disappear, and coming generations "rise up and call us blessed." Evergreens may be grown in large quantities from seed. I have thousands on my farm now, from three to six feet in height, raised from seed a few years since. But the difficulty in procuring seed in this country would deter many from attempting to propagate them from seed. I sent to Germany for my seed, and obtained them at less cost than they can be purchased in this country. But red cedar is easily obtained here, and should be propagated and planted. The seeds of the pine should be planted early in the spring in beds, and covered with leaf mould. When they germinate and show signs of coming through the ground, they should be shaded, and the shade should be kept over them until the hot summer weather is passed, when it may be removed, and then they will do well if kept clean from grass and weeds. Cedar seed may be planted in the fall and covered with leaf mould, and when they begin to come up, shaded the same as the pine.

S. P. Boardman.—In forestry I have had but little experience; have a number of thousands of soft maples growing, now two years old. In this latitude we have to go to the creek bottoms and gather our seed, as near as may be, just about the 20th day of May, one year with another. Plant the seed in drills immediately; drills some eight or ten feet apart, the seed to be covered not to exceed an inch in depth. If kept well cultivated will make a growth of from eighteen inches to two and a half feet the first season,

I plant walnuts in the fall as soon as gathered; plow furrows and drop them in, then plow a furrow on them to cover the seed. I am also planting peach seeds in groves, for shelter, fuel and fruit. By having them quite thick we sometimes get peaches in such groves even when they may be all killed in the orchard.

I haul my wood seven miles, and I am satisfied that I can grow it cheaper than I can haul it that distance.

B. Sweet.-Forestry: One would think to advise anything relating to this would be absurd; but it is a stubborn fact that even so-called arborists commit unpardonable blunders. They will take no lessons from nature; nor even when passing through young groves will learn anything but this fact, patent: "These trees ought to be pruned." And this in the face of the truth of nature's teachings.

Examine the young grove which has been pruned two years, and you will find worms eating opposite the scars made by pruning; and as the tree grows in years it grows larger in bulk around the place abused, because the sap jets are eaten off, and the quantity of sap ascending and descending must go round that obstruction, and build you a hollow tree while the worms work it inside.

But suppose you suffer no pruning of a tree, except that of dead limbs, would you have a hollow tree? Impossible.

To get healthy groves it is indispensable to begin with the seed, and then do not prune. If you would have low-topped, bushy, spreading heads, set them at a distance, keeping them in open space.

If you would have tall trees, plant thick. The soft maple being adapted to any soil, hardy, and of rapid growth, is perhaps more profitable than any other. Hard maple, better known as the " sugar tree," is adapted to any drained soil.

Groves can be set to suit the taste for shelter. We would prefer every grove designed for shelter for stock, to be mixed or surrounded by the native white oak, which, while young, retains its leaves all winter, and by cropping some of them every year, say in winter, you can have a shelter as good as evergreens afford.

G. W. Vaughan.-I have not experimented much in raising timber from the seed. They can be raised to be good-sized trees in a few years by tilling them like fruit trees. I have seen walnut and other trees raised from seed, at ten years old six inches in diameter at the root. Cottonwood or Columbia poplars often measure 12 or 15 inches at the ground at ten years old, but they are too sappy to be valuable. They, however, make good summer wood if well dried. Trees of any kind are of great value for shelter from flies in summer.

D. Gove. I have grown from seed a heavy belt of soft maple, black and white walnut, around my orchard. It has now been growing six years from seed, and is from 10 to 20 feet high, and very thick. I have so arranged the orchard and hedge and belts that they protect my house and feeding lots from the north and west winds, and at the same time afford shade for stock in fields on either side. The walnuts I planted in the fall, after thoroughly preparing and checking off the ground eight feet apart, each way, put one nut in a place, and covered about three inches deep, and there is not more than one in fifty missing. The soft maple seed I planted on the 16th of May, fresh from the trees, after a thorough preparation and marking off the ground each way with a corn marker. I set four feet apart, leaving out a row in the centre of the belt to drive through if necessary. I set the seed out like setting out cabbage plants, putting the bean end down about one inch deep, leaving the feather end sticking out of the ground. Nearly every one came up, but the cutworms cut out a few, say about one in thirty. I cultivated them thoroughly with double shovel plow and hoe, for the first three years. The fourth year they had full possession, and since they have not had any cultivation, but have made a very rapid growth. I am satisfied that the planting and cultivating of those belts is the best investment I have made on my farm.

J. Balsiger.-Concerning the woodlands and timber growth, I have to refer to what I said about the natural growth in this neighborhood. The free range of cattle and hogs—not yet abolished in our precinct-have heretofore prevented any trial of timber planting. They destroy any young growth of timber coming up spontaneously, as well as the seeds of the older trees, that might produce a new growth. As long as people are not obliged to keep up stock of any kind, it would be useless to plant timber, except when fencing in the land. But as there are already too many fences to be built and kept in order, to protect the farm crop, this would hardly be practicable for most farmers.

15. LIVE STOCK.-Cattle, horses, mules, sheep, swine: breeds preferred: breeding of each? rearing and training: dairy management: fattening of animals: wool growing: management of manures: diseases.

M. A. McConnell -We have always preferred large, heavy horses; they are the best for all kinds of work.

In the line of cattle, we prefer the Durhams for the butcher and stall feeding. For milk, we prefer the native cows, as we have always found them the hardiest; to keep on the least feed and to give the most milk; but this quality always runs in families.

Sheep we have kept on our farm for the last 28 years, and have always found them to pay well. The best for wool are the merinos; for mutton, we think, the Bakewells, as they are large and fine sheep.

The hogs have always been a source of profit to the farmer. We have grown the Berkshire, Leicester and Chester Whites, and found them to pay, generally, though not always. But we can't get along on a farm without them; and so, in regard to sheep and cattle. No good farmer can dispense with that kind of stock, as they are necessary for making good manure, and without manure no man can keep his land in good condition.

H. Pierce.-Of swine, the Chester White is allowed to be the best.

J. Tefft.-Cattle: For milch cows we prefer a cross of the Durham with the native stock. As our farm is mostly used as a dairy farm, we have but little experience with other stock.

The food preferred for cows is good clover and timothy hay, or red top with corn meal and bran or oatmeal, or the three mixed, in the proportion of, corn meal, 4 quarts; bran, 8 quarts, and oatmeal, 6 quarts. About one peck of this mixture per day, for a cow, is the quantity required for winter feed.

J. Schoenleber.-As for my idea about stock-it is cheaper, and we get a better stock of cattle by keeping them up.

C. E. Barney.-Mules are better than horses, if well used and not abused.

No stock can be bred up or down so fast as hogs. Breed one litter in spring from old sows-let the sows be large and the boar fine-feed well all the time, so as to make fatness a natural condition.

4,000 bushels of corn cost as much or more than 4,000 pounds wool. Small flocks will yield more wool, in proportion, than large ones.

A. Rankin.-I have had some experience in raising horses and cattle. I do not think it advisable to breed a mare until she is four years old; the horse ought to be as old or older.

In raising cattle, I would not breed a heifer until she was two years old. Bulls will do to use at one year old, where they have been well fed and are good size.

The most important item, in raising both horses and cattle, is their care for the first winter. They should be supplied with an abundance of good hay and fodder; with oats and carrots fed twice per day, so as to keep them in a healthy and thriving condition. They should have free access to salt, also, with plenty of fresh water and a good shed for shelter in stormy weather.

In breeding hogs, I let my sows go to the boar when they are about eight or nine months old. I prefer a boar that is at least one year old. The sow should be liberally fed after she takes the boar, so as to keep her in good growing condition but not too fat. A fat sow is more apt to lay on her pigs, and her milk is not so good as one in moderate condition. About a week before pigging she should be

separated from the rest, and be furnished with a good dry place. She must be fed at this time with ground feed and bran. Give her a little sulphur and salt once z day in her food, as sows are apt to be costive at this time, which makes them feverish and restless. After pigging she should be fed on ground corn and oats mixed with the slop from the house. The food ought to be cooked or soured. Sows ought to have a good clover pasture to run in as soon as the pigs are old enough to follow. The ground corn and oats are also the best feed, mixed with a little oil, to fatten cattle and hogs; for hogs it ought to be cooked.

I put my manure in piles with dirt until after harvest, when I haul it to the meadows or stubble. Last fall I hauled out from town 1,000 loads. and put on my corn ground, after gathering my corn.

The only disease among the stock is what is commonly called the hog cholers. My opinion is that medicine never has done any good as a cure, for the reason that when a hog has it he is generally not noticed until past cure. But I will say that, if there is anything in the saying that "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," it certainly can be applied in this case; for I believe with a good warm, dry place for them to sleep in, and a good clover pasture to run in, with plenty of fresh water to drink and free access to salt, limestone, coal and charcoal, they will not take the cholera spontaneously.

I keep horses, cattle and swine.

Our horses are a mixed breed, generally too small for good farm horses. My idea of a good farm horse is an active, well formed horse, of not less than 1,200 pounds weight.

Our cattle are mostly grade and native; some few, full blooded Durhams. The grade cows are the best for milk and butter; and I think, at the present prices of Durhams, the grade cattle are the most profitable for beef.

We have all kinds of hogs, but the dark colored are altogether the best for the prairies of Illinois. I raise Berkshire, Poland and China, mixed, and Chester white. The Chester Whites and Suffolk are both very fine hogs, where they are kept perfectly clean, and will produce more lard than any other breeds. But hogs, to be profitable in Illinois at the present time, must go out in the fields, in the sloughs, and almost every other place on the farm at some time of the year, and take it rough and tumble, particularly when corn gets up as it is at present. I find that the white hogs will get mangy, and will not keep up with the black or spotted hog. I have my fences all hog proof. As soon as I stack my wheat and oats I turn my hogs into the stubble; also, after I gather my corn, I let them into the corn field. I mean my sows and young hogs.

H. Sodowsky.-I have been engaged in raising live stock for the past 40 years. I have been raising thorough bred Durham cattle more than 20 years, and I find that as our country grows in wealth and population, the demand exceeds the supply. I have had more inquiries for blooded stock during the past year than for several years back. I keep a number of cows, and give all the milk the cows give to the calves until they are from 6 to 8 weeks old; then we feed them threshed oats and shelled corn, or meal with a little oil cake. Sheaf oats, with plenty of good hay, is good feed also. If you raise calves for sale, the better you feed, the better it will pay, and the sooner you will find sale for your stock. Thorough-bred cattle pay better than scrub stock. Where land is worth little, it may pay to handle poor stock, but with land at $50 or $75 per acre, the farmer will find it to his advantage to keep the best of cattle, and on the best of pasture. A few thorough-bred cattle will pay