SUMMER MEETING AT BROOKFIELD. 151 



Peaches, berries and the more perishable articles could not be 

 placed upon the distant markets, on account of the length of time re- 

 quired to reach their destination, and the commercial horticulturist was 

 a person almost unknown. To-day we find the country traversed in all 

 directions by a net-work of railroads, which are constantly stretching- 

 out their arms and opening up new fields for operation, and by their 

 assistance Louisiana is enabled to offer her early fruits and vegetables 



* 



in the markets of Minnesota while her fields are yet covered with snow, 

 and California is enabled to place her delicious fruits upon the tables 

 of New York and the New England States. 



As it is to the interest of the managers of a railroad to foster the 

 various industries along their line, so it is to their interest to foster 

 such industries as are the most remunerative to the people ; and as 

 horticulture is the most profitable of any class of farming, the managers 

 of any line of railroad that traverses a section adapted to the growth 

 of fruits and vegetables should pay special attention to the development 

 of that industry upon the line of their road, and when approached in 

 the proper manner, and made acquainted with the wants of that sec- 

 tion of country, will always be found ready to render all the assistance 

 possible under the circumstances. Some years since, as the writer was 

 about to start upon a visit to a newly- developed horticultural district 

 upon a line of railroad leading out of St. Louis, he was addressed by 

 the superintendent of the road as follows : 



Tell the people what to raise to make money, and we will give them good 

 facilities for getting their goods to market, and low rates of freight. We do not 

 care for the amount we get for carrying their products over the road, for if they 

 are successful, they will not only induce their friends to settle near them, but hav- 

 ing a liberal income, they will ride upon our passenger trains, increasing our income 

 from that source. They will build better houses, and live better, and our business 

 will be increased by carrying their lumber, hardware, groceries, dry goods, pianos, 

 organs and other articles that always follow in a prosperous community. 



And this I find to be the policy of all railroad managers, when the 

 matter is properly presented to them. 



What would have become of the fruit-growers of Southern Illinois 

 had the Illinois Central railroad refused to furnish them with the fruit 

 train that annually carries their hundreds of cars of fruits to the 

 northern markets? They would still be living in their log cabins, rais- 

 ing corn and wheat, wearing their butternut clothing and living upon 

 maize gems, " razor-backed steaks," corn dodgers and bacon. 



Were it not for the facilities rendered by the railroads extending 

 north from the Gulf States, the people of those States would still be 

 growing cotton and goobers, annually mortgaging their coming crops 

 for supplies to carry them through the season, and would spend their 



