But, after all, as I think the editor of THE PRAIRIE FARMER himself said some months ago, this foreign agitation of the live stock question may result in great good, inasmuch as it must lead to proper legislation in this country against the introduction and spread of contagious diseases among animals.  It is without doubt the basis of the proceedings at the Chicago cattle-growers’ convention in November last, and of the present movement for immediate Congressional action upon the matter.  The difficulty abroad will, I believe, prove short-lived.

LETTER FROM CHAMPAIGN.

With the exception of two days, the 22d and 23d, which were stormy and gave us ten to twelve inches of snow, followed by a little sleet and rain, the latter half of December has been as delightful as the first half was, though a good deal colder.  The sleighing since the 17th has never been better; and as there is ten inches to a foot of solid snow now lying on the ground, it is likely to last some time longer.  The sleet and rain formed a crust an inch and a half thick, and though it is not very strong, it, together with the compact snow, makes getting down to the grass beneath quite out of the question, and stock have to depend on the stalk fields or be fed hay and corn.

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This will make a heavier draft upon the grain and hay in reserve than has been anticipated by those who depend on carrying their stock through mostly on grass, and be sure to lessen the surplus and raise the price of corn, oats, and hay accordingly.  Corn in the field is drying out so fast under the influence of the dry, cold weather, stock do not refuse soft corn as they did after the first sharp frost in November and December.  It is now seen that it would have been better to have left all the soft and some of the immature corn in the field, than to have husked and cribbed it as many did and lost more than would be believed, if reported, by mould and rot.

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At any rate the fall wheat is safe so long as the present covering of snow lasts, and this more than compensates for the loss of winter pasture.  The snow, as near as I can learn, covers all Illinois, except a few counties on the west, and as usual, is quite as heavy in the timbered regions of which Vandalia is near the center, as in Northern Illinois.  So far the cold season considerably resembles the winter of 1878-79, and let us hope it will continue to the end, that we may have light snows and many of them, good sleighing and moderate temperature through January and February.

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