262 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



white willow and the poplars, for ben*y boxes, crates and staves ; hoop poles, 

 w^igon and caniage material, agricultural implements, and the multiform 

 wants of the age, make up a demand of most surprising magnitude, that 

 will add to our rural industiy an importance that the most sanguine have 

 not hitherto dreamed of. 



If we look at this as simply the demand of agriculture, it must be 

 conceded that it is legitimate, and ought to be granted without an objec- 

 tion ; but we have added to this the claim of the mechanic, who is also 

 largely interested, for it will enable him to compete with those of other 

 states in the supply that commerce demands. 



The state that sells the raw products of its soil is never rich, while 

 the states that manufacture for others do well ; those that grow the raw 

 material and manufacture it at hoine are the most prosperous. No doubt 

 the State of Illinois had these facts in view when it established this great 

 school of the industries for the especial benefit of those two classes who 

 create the w^ealth of the State. 



There are in this State about eighty species of forest trees, besides the 

 larger shrubs. With the exception of the oaks, yellow poplar, and hick- 

 ory, we have not drawn largely from our native forests ; and to-day w^e 

 purchase nearly all of our timber. Nearly all of the ash timber used for 

 agricultural implements, a part of our fence posts, and a portion of our 

 railroad ties come from other states. Added to these is the greater part 

 ■of the material for our wagons and caniages, when »ot wholly manufac- 

 tured in other states; timber for railroad cars, and hard wood lumber for 

 many other useful purposes, that ought to be grown near the place of 

 manufacture. 



To bring these useful trees within the bounds of culture and to utilize 

 them, is one of the objects of this industrial institution. To teach the 

 people of the State how to add these products of the forests to their 

 other crops, and thus add millions of dollars annually to the wealth of the 

 State, to give labor a wider range and a more comprehensive field for its 

 employment, are objects worthy of such an institution. 



Thousands of acres of timber can be planted in shelter belts, to check 

 the winter wind that comes down from the north, with its polar cold, 

 destroying the plants that the genial summer, fanned with the breath of 

 the tropics, has made to flourish on our open plains. Wall in these prai- 

 ries of Centi-al and Northern Illinois with belts of conifers and deciduous 

 trees, and we shall have one of the best climates; genial and equable, and 

 with the best soil in the Union, with a geographical position midway 

 between the two oceans, over which must pass a large part of the com- 

 merce of the world, and if we are not laggards in the world's progress we 

 may reap from such surroundings a rich reward. 



The Committee have divided these thirty species of useful forest trees 

 into three classes, according to their supposed value for the demands of 

 commerce and for domestic use. In the first class they include the Euro- 

 pean Larch, Austrian Pine, and Norway Spruce, native trees of Europe, 

 and the Osage Orange, native of the Southwestern States. In the second 

 .and third class, White Willow, a native of Europe ; Black Spruce, and 



