TRAN.SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



FIRST DAY. Afternoon. 



At 2 o'clock. F. M., the President in the chair caHed for the re- 

 port of the A(l-Interini Committee for Xorthern Illinois. (). W. 

 Barnard, of Manteno. being' present with his report. ])roceeded to 

 read it: — 



Mr. Presi(feiif <(ii<l Members <>/' f/ie I///iio/s State llorticiiltiirdi Sorieti/: 



In reporting for Northern Illinois as member of the Ad-Interim 

 Committee I will necessarily have to l>e Inief. but at the same time 

 will endeavor to be explicit. 



To have gathered material for a full report from this part of the 

 State upon all classes of fruits, would have l)een too heavy a tax upon 

 my time and unprofitable to the Society, but having visited some re])- 

 resentative localities, with a view to reporting on apple orchards, my 

 observations will furnish a basis for the report for the district. 



On September 5th. after a long day's ride on the rail, darkness 

 found me at Princeton, the home of the Bryants. 1 was met at the 

 ilepot by A. Bryant. Jr.. whose kind hospitality I was glad to acce])t. 

 Mr. Bryant, like his father., is a nurseryman, and having grown u]i 

 in the lousiness feels perfectly at home in his calling. His neat and 

 well-kept grounds, and stock of trees and plants, demonstrates Avhat 

 the most careful and intelligent treatment is capable of producing. 

 I have never seen a nursery and grounds kept in more complete or- 

 der. His nursery, located on the prairie, is laid out in blocks, or 

 squares, containing two and a half acres each, swarded drives around 

 each Ijlock. and all thoroughly underdrained. and the entire absence 

 of weeds evinces the most thorough culture. Mr. Bryant and his 

 amiable wife laid me undei" lasting obligations for the inaiiy kindly 

 courtesies shown me the short time I was a guest in their model 

 rural home, and in showing me through the sjjlendid grounds, stately 

 groves and extensive orchards of their distinguished relative at 

 Princeton. 



I cannot refrain from saying that the Bryants have done a greai; 

 work for horticulture in this part of the State. 



While here I had the pleasure of calling upon John H. Bryant, 

 the younger and only surviving lirother of the original Bryant fam- 

 ily. His beautiful and elegant mansion stands a little south of 

 Princeton, amidst a groujD of spreading maples, stately cedars, and 

 magnificent elms, planted with his own hands forty years ago. Mr. 

 Bryant, like his brother Arthur, is a horticulturist, and has ])lanted 

 and matured many fruit trees on his extensive grounds, and has un- 

 selfishly converted his groveland adjoining his residence, at his own 

 expense, into a public park, which has become a famous resort for 

 pleasure seekers during the summer uu)nths. 



