36 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



But what shall I say of the apple, the king of northern fruits? 

 What of our ruined orchards and blasted hopes? I have this much 

 to report, that our trees are still dead. While thinking of this mat- 

 ter and wondering if the old story could be retold in any way to 

 make it interesting or profitable, it was suggested by members of our 

 Society that a visit be made to the Experimental Station, either in 

 Iowa or Michigan, and pry into the working of the institution a 

 little, with the view of pressing the claims of Illinois for a similar 

 establishment, providing it seemed to be a good thing. And it 

 seemed to be the wish of those I consulted that I should go. I 

 therefore, on October 14th, paid a visit to Prof. Budd, of Ames, 

 Iowa, thinking their locality, climate, and soil being similar to ours, 

 their experiments would be more advantageous than would those of 

 the Michigan College. 



I found the Professor in his school-room, teaching horticulture 

 to one of his classes. He bade me be seated until they finished the 

 lesson. He then took me in hand, and I soon realized the feelings of 

 the man who said that Prof. Budd did not take to horticulture, but 

 horticulture took to him, as naturally as the sparks fly upward, for 

 he seems a living, walking cyclopedia of horticultural knowledge, 

 with the history of every tree and shrub on his grounds at his 

 tongues end. I think Iowa is to be congratulated on having the 

 right man in the right place, for if he is not earning his passage 

 money I know not who is, for a harder worked man lives not in Iowa, 

 and from present appearances, and in all human probabilit}^ the 

 work he is inaugurating will in the near future be worth millions to 

 his adopted State. 



The Agricultural College of Iowa was founded in the year 1869, 

 on the European plan as far as experiments are concerned, the ex- 

 penses at first being all paid from the interest on the fund with 

 which the college is endowed, this being divided amongst the horti- 

 cultural and other divisions of the farm and college work by a board 

 of trustees. 



The horticultural department has about the same relation to the 

 agricultural that it usually does on a farm, or about the same as at 

 our University in Champaign. And the Professor said he could do 

 nothing in the way of experiments with such a small and uncertain 

 amount of means; so he went before the Legislature and succeeded 

 in getting an appropriation of $1,500 — half to be used in horticul- 

 tural work; the other half to go to the agricultural department. 



With this small sum of $750 he has done all the work in his 

 line, or until he had trees, scions and plants to spare. He is now 

 able to add to this fund by sale of stock. To the question, what 

 actual benefits have the people at large derived from this institution, 

 he said they were deriving great benefits from the students who have 

 taught scientific and practical horticulture, and have gone out into all 

 2)arts of the State and the Northwest to put in practice the knowl- 



