10 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



at Freeport last February, and found its flavor more agreeable than that of some indifferent ap- 

 ples. Their color was inimitable ; and I do not doubt they Would make a fine fresh sauce late in 

 the winter. Many young orchards of apples were this year set out in our county. Pears and 

 cherries have also been extensively pi nted, the former by the Amateur for home use, the latter 

 mainly for market, and mostly the early Richmond on Morello stocks. This cherry was abundant 

 •with us this year from our own neighborhood, and the Chicago market took all at remunerative 

 prices. Gooseberries were plenty, and commanded fair returns. The " Houghton " and " Amer- 

 ican Seedling," are the only kinds raised to any extent in this county. I am sorry to add that 

 the cultivation of the currant is still much neglected with our people. There were but few to be 

 seen in their season, and few homes are adequately supplied from their own raising. In summer 

 months there is no fruit more healthy, and refreshing than this. Raspberries of the improved 

 varieties of the common Black Cap, and our Purple Cane, have done well, as they most always 

 do, but when ours were ripe there was an over supply in market, and prices ruled low. The 

 same is true of the strawberry, but little over 8 cents per quart could be obtained in Chicago 

 when mine were ripe. This is frequently the case with us : we are wrongly located to profitably 

 raise these two fruits. Just between the fire of early receipts from the South, and of those later 

 from Michigan, we must abandon in our county their cultivation for market; but they taste just 

 as good to us at home as ever, and only for family use will we hereafter raise them. Grapes were 

 abundant this year; all the vineyards of this county doing well. Nearly all grown here are of 

 the Concord variety, a kind which has thus far given great satisfaction; free from rot, free from, 

 mildew, and more exempt than any other kind from the attacks of insects, it is the most profita- 

 ble grape for this climate. I am trying "Ives Seedling," and think well of it. It has not yet 

 fruited on my grounds, but its leaf is hardy, and as capable of resisting the thrip, and hopper as 

 the former named. Notwithstanding the hot summer, our grapes did not this year ripen as early 

 as last, and some of them were much stung by the curculio. We had one day of that condition 

 of weather just as the Delaware was coloring, which induces mildew of the leaf, and which is so 

 fatal to those grapes, the leaves of which are of that peculiar texture which invites this disease, 

 like those of the Diana, Delaware, Catawba, etc. It rained hard, with a chilly atmosphere, from 

 10 A. M. till noon; the sun then came out very hot; at 12>£ my thermometer marked 98° in the 

 shade. The leaves of the above named grapes, were on the ensuing day, found to be badly mil- 

 dewed, and nearly all of them failed to ripen their fruit. I have seen no mildew on the leaves of 

 the Clinton, Hartford, or Ives in the northern part of our State. The different varieties of the 

 Pine, the foreign and native Larch, the soft and hard Maples, the Silver-leafed Poplar, and many 

 other deciduous trees, have been largely planted around the homes, and upon the farms of our 

 citizens this year. A landscape gardener of our county, much engaged in tiie planting, estimates 

 that no less than 400,000 trees for ornamental purposes, have been set out in Cook county during 

 the last two years. An enterprising firm successfully transplants them of 6 to 12 inches in diam- 

 eter during the dead of winter, for which as high as $50 to $200 is received from those who are in 

 haste for shade. Twenty-five years ago I now remember to have seen but a dozen or so 

 of evergreen trees'in the the limits of Chicago : those were in the grounds of Mrs. John H. Kinzie. 

 The ensuing year, Doctor Win. Eagan introduced Pines and Firs from the Calumet, largely into 

 his ground of the West Division, and into the gardens of many of his neighbors. The fine native 

 poplars, and elms, which now line Wabash, and some of the other avenues, were planted two or 

 three years before this. In the early summer of 1847, the late Dr John A. Kennicott, Win. B. 

 Eagan and the writer, chartered a small propeller, sent her to Eagle Harbor, and brought back 

 an entire load of evergreens. Two-thirds of this cargo, the shares of Eagan and myself, remain 

 in the city limits, and well nigh all the fine large evergreens now in the West Division are of this 

 importation. Dr. Kennicott chose his share from the smaller trees. They throve well with him, 

 and are to be found here and there over the northern part of our State, of Iowa, and Wisconsin ; 

 beautiful monuments of the skillful hand that shaped and disseminated them. The year preced- 

 ing this, David Lee imported 10,000 young Hickories and Chestnuts from Long Island ; these were 



