Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1876 [PAGE 102]

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102

usual time. It is an unsettled question among farmers, whether corn should be laid by after two or three plowings, and before the ear and tassel begin to show, or whether cultivation should be continued through the whole growth of the plant. To help to settle this question this experiment is proposed. 4. Five acres to be laid off in alternate rows in a similar manner to the above, and one-half laid by with earth thrown to rows and roots, and a high ridge left in the middle, by use of a singlehorse turning plow, or a large single shovel; and the surface of the other alternate rows left a« smooth and level as possible. 5. Five acres more to be divided in a like manner, to one-half of which shall be applied deep and to the other half shallow cultivation during the season. 6. To plant 1% acres Jmore or less with four or five of the largest and best varieties, of as many kinds and colors, and from the product to select, for next year's seeding, the best and largest ears regardless of color or complexion; and continuing the experiment so as to ascertain, if possible, what the true tendency is in color, size, and quality, when nature makes the selection. 7. To plant one or more acres as remote as possible from other cornfields with one of the best kinds common to the country to test if it is possible to maintain one kind or variety in a pure state. Why experiment should be made with one or more kinds of Spring Rye, two or more kinds of Spring Wheat, and twice that number of kinds of Oats, it is hardly necessary to give a reason for. Spring Rye, in this State, is rather a rare crop. Spring Wheat in Central Illinois, to say the least, is a doubtful one; while Oats are second only in importance to Corn. To render a rare crop more general, a doubtful crop more certain, and to attempt to improve a crop that is popular, general and profitable are certainly proper subjects for Farm Experiments. Clover and Grasses. The drought of last summer taught us the imperative need there is of some one or more forage plants which will stand drought and furnish pasturage or green fodder during the extreme heat from July to September. Alfalfa and Lucerne clovers, tor they are different, the first having been naturalized in Chile and introduced thence to California, and the other is from France and the south of Europe, promise better for the purpose than any I find recommended; and I therefore suggest trial be made, and alternate strips sown on the rye field southwest of the University. And in addition to these, the other grasses named b e l o w One acre (more or less) Alfalfa or Chile Clover. One acre '• " Lucerne or French Clover. One acre " " Italian Ray Grass. One acre '' ' ' Orchard Grass. This rye field having^, low and rich soil, which is at the same time well tile-drained, is recommended for these clovers and grasses, since those of them very tender while young would be less liable to burn out in summer and thaw out and chill out in winter than if sown on a higher and drier and less mellow rich soil. The next in order is Commercial and Industrial Crops, and first among commercial plants is Cotton. Half a century ago it was considerably grown as far north as Sangamon county ; but changes of climate and some other causes have rendered a crop always uncertain, still more so, and unless the seed of some unusually early variety be obtained, the experiment of growing it is not recommended. Nevertheless the cultivation of Cotton is slowly moving north, and if at the end of another half century Cotton growing is both common and profitable as far north as 40°, it would not be a surprising thing. The growing of Flax for seed is increasing in Illinois, for this reason, that the cultivation is not difficult, the chances of success reasonable, and the cash returns for labor and money comes back in shorter time than from any other seed crop. But there is a great difference in the product of Flax, as well in yield of seed as good fibre. To embrace all these excellencies, special and otherwise, I advise— One acre of White Flowering Flax, One acre of Piermont French Flax, One acre of Calcutta Flax, One acre of Common Flax. Hemp has pretty much gone out of fashion the last ten years in Illinois, not because the soil does not suit the crop, not because a successful return is not as certain, but mainly for the reason it has been found almost impossible to get the right kind of labor to harvest and cure it at the busiest and most trying time of the year. But the labor market is believed to be now so well supplied that, near towns, at least, there will be no difficulty in that direction for some years to come. Under such a condition of things then, with such a profitable crop as Hemp waiting to be tried, tested, and reported upon, I offer the following recommendations: One acre of Pier mont French Hemp. One acre Italian Hemp. One acre Kentucky or Missouri Hemp. Trials with Hops have, on the whole, resulted unprofitably in this neighborhood. Nevertheless there have been large yields harvested and profitable sales made. But the failures have been largely in excess of the successes. Whether It will be worth the while for the Experimental Department of the Illinois Industrial University to ascertain to what these failures are owing, is left to the judgment of the Board of Trustees. The problem of the profitableness or unprofitableness of the culture of Tobacco on the prairies of Illinois is yet to be determined. There is now scarcely a limit to the demand for good qualities, and a constantly necessary one for all, even the poorest. Leaving out of view the moral side of the question which might lead to its rejection, as for the same cause Barley and Spring Rye would be rejected, since they are almost exclusively manufactured into beer and whisky. The undersigned offers the advice that trials of different kinds of Tobacco be made, namely: One-eighth of an acre of White Ohio Tobacco. " " ** Common Seed Leaf. " " " Cuba Tobacco. 1 ' '' ' " Kentucky or Missouri Tobacco. For the other Industrial Plants named below, I make the suggestion that experimental trials be made with them, or as many of them, as when the time comes for it, the means, information and opportunities at hand will warrant the Experimental Department in undertaking. The list as made up reads as follows : Castor-Oil Beans; Peanuts; Saffron; Teazles ; Poppy, for Opium ; Peppermint, for Oil; Sunflower.