ILLINOIS llOklll ULlllRM. :sO)Cl£TY. ^(j^ 



There is a deficiency of late-keeping varieties of apples cultivated 

 with us; the result i* that, while that fruit is abundant in the latter 

 part ot summer and in autumn, the winter market is largely supplied 

 from the orchards of Michigan, Ohio, and New York. The reason for 

 this must be so apparent to every one that I need not take up your lime 

 in its discussion. 



There is one subject to which I would especially call your attention 

 at this time, and which I consider of great importance to the future pros- 

 l)crity of not only our own State, but of the entire Northwest. I refer 

 to the subject embracing forest and timber tree-planting. Our forestr, 

 and groves are rapidly disappearing, and it needs no very great discern- 

 ment to see that, in a very few years, unless means are taken to prevent it, 

 our sui)i)ly of timber will be entirely exhausted. The mind of the pub- 

 lic should, therefore, be more thoroughly aroused to the importance of 

 tree-planting, not only for fuel and shelter, on our naked prairies, but 

 for all the various pur])oses for which timber is required, such as build 

 ings, fencing, machinery, telegraph-poles, railruad-ties, etc. 



The demand for railroad-ties is itself enormous. In Illinois alone, 

 over six thousand miles of railroad have already been built. It requires 

 about two thousand si.\ hundred forty ties to each mile of road, or a total 

 of nearly sixteen million ties for the whole six thousand miles. The life 

 of these ties is seven or eight years, requiring over two million two hun- 

 dred fiftv thousand to be replaced annually, at a cost of not less than 

 lorty-five dollars per hundred ties, or a total of over one million. This 

 amount will be largely increased by the construction of new roads, which 

 are rapidly being built in every direction. Statistics show that, in the year 

 eighteen seventy-tw^o, there was completed in this State eight hundred 

 thirty-seventy miles of road; and, in addition to the number completed, 

 there were five hundred sixty-four miles under construction. 



There is but one wav to meet the future wants of the country in the 

 demand for wood for all the uses to which that material is applicable, 

 and that is by the planting of artificial groves of timber. It would also 

 tend to increase the humidity of the atmosphere, as well as to improve 

 the climate, by the shelter thus obtained; and, at the same time, increase 

 the beauty of the scenery, by covering our broad prairies, here and there, 

 with the verdure of woods. 



Among the niany useful varieties of trees, the introduction of the 

 European Larch is perhaps the most imp(^rtant ac(]uisition in respect of 

 timber that our country has ever obtained. It is of a rapid growth, and 

 adapts itself to a great variety of soils and exposures, while the wood it 

 furnishes is of the very best quality, and is capable of being used for a 

 greater variety of purposes than perhaps any other. Experiiuents in 

 England and Scotland have proved that in durability it far exceeds the 

 famous British live-oak, and it has been found superior even to the ash 

 for the various purposes for which that timber is used, being lighter and 

 of superior strength. Although the value of the larch can scarcely be 

 over-estimated, it is by no means the only tree which should be grown. 



