74 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



yard. The fruit was sold in St. Louis. There are, perhaps, 30,000 vines in the 

 county, besides the above named. 



There are five or six market orchards, containing from 3,000 to 8,000 trees 

 each, consisting of apple and peach. Apple and peach orchards are also to be 

 found on almost every farm, though they are generally small. 



This county is under good cultivation, and nearly all divided into small farms 

 of 80 to 320 acres each. The fruit from the orchards upon these farms is considered 

 qiyte an important part of their products. Pears and the different sorts of berries 

 are cultivated only for home consumption. 



The sales of nursery stock in the county have amounted to from $3,000 to $0,000 

 annually for the last few years. Nearly all the nursery trees sold here are produced 

 in the county. 



The crop of fruit was not more than half an average crop this year. 



Yours, etc., 



Isaac Snedeker. 



WooDBURN, Macoupin County, Dec. 6th, 1870. 



Friend Hyde : — I am too busy to stop to say much touching the Horticulture 

 of "Old Macoupin," just now, I will try, however, to give you a few items. 



We have had a good crop of peaches and a fair crop of apples this year, and 

 many Chicagoans, who wanted the same, have visited us. Also, purchasers have 

 come from Indianapolis, St. Louis, and other towns and cities, attracted hither by 

 the reports of oiu- fine crop. 



" Woodburn peaches" were quoted in the market, and A. A. Hilliard's cider 

 stands second to none. 



Pears, cherries, and currants were a failure. Blackberries, a full crop. 



The apple crop generally paid well, and where the hogs and sheep have been 

 free to run in the orchards, the fruit was quite fair and fine. We have heard less 

 complaints of damage from insects than last year. Our apples, however, ripen 

 earlier and decay sooner than usual. 



On the whole, we feel that we have no sufficient cause for discouragement, as 

 the general crops are good. We look for our largest profits, however, from our 

 apple orchards. Many orchardists in the county sold their crops in the orchards at 

 sixty cents per bushel, including many of the wind-falls. 



Perhaps I can no better show the generally growing interest in Horticulture 

 here than by stating the following facts : 



Ten years since our County Agricultural Society offered premiums for fruits 

 and flowers, amounting io five dollars in all, and its officers thought they were doing 

 pretty well by these interests. In 1869 and 1870 the premiums for fruits and flowers 

 averaged eighty-four dollars each year; besides, about forty dollars were offered 

 each year for essays on Hedging, Orchards, and Home Adornment. 



The reports of the State Horticultural Society show a larger average member- 

 ship from Macoupin County for the last three years than from anj^ other county in 

 the State. This fact shows that the people of Macoupin are being horticulturally 

 educated, and mean to take the front rank among the workers in our glorious 

 cause. 



Very truly yours, 



JONA. HUGGINS. 



Letter from Washington County: 



RicHviEw, Dec. 7th, 1870. 



H. J. Hyde: — Dear Sir: — Yours of the 2d, asking for a short report of horti- 

 cultural matters, was duly received. 



In compliance with your request, I have to say, that in this county our expe- 

 rience of the past season, and our prospects for the future, are not very flattering. 

 An untimely frost last spring almost entirely killed our peach and cherry crops, and 



