tlic ample means are all around him ; he has only to be true to himself and his 

 mission, to garner and gather the fruits which are nearly spontaneous. To use a 

 l)hrase in vogue among the people, this State is just what was wanted — "it was 

 made to order."* 



The book is of great value not only to Illinois, but to the entire western 

 settlements; its facts are of a practical kind, and come from practical men; 

 having said this, and advised all who can to read the book, we i)roceed to 

 a short and rambling examination of the contents that relate to our own 

 subjects. 



The Hon. ^[. L. Dunlap, at page frli, has some remarks on the "air currents" 

 of that region to prove that they have the winters naturally belonging to their 

 latitude, while the summers arc two or three degrees gf latitude warmer than their 

 neighbors on the same parallels ; thus, j)lants are grown in one climate, and win- 

 tered, to all intents and purposes, in another ; this fully explains why so many 

 varieties of fruit trees and shrubs, which appear to flourish so thoroughly, are 

 ruined by the severity of the winters; the fruit-grower wall have to learn how to 

 take advantage of the wanntli and guard against the cold, and it will undoubtedly 

 be found that shelter is the true remedy. The warm-air current, too, meets the 

 cold of the north, and floods of rain result, or droughts, without this taking 

 place, occur. Trees are wanted, not only for shelter from the wind, but a more 

 equal distribution of timber through the State would, doubtless, produce more 

 equal distribution of moisture. 



After a hasty visit through the prairies, which are yet mainly unsettled, we 

 were greatly exercised to know what we could do to assist the "new-comers" to 

 good trees that would afford shelter; several letters passed between us and influ- 

 ential men of the State on this subject. Timber or mountain ridges are essential 

 to check the powerful winds which sweep the prairies so unmercifully. We found 

 the topic, as was to have been expected, had engaged the thoughts of others. In 

 this volume there is an essay by Charles Downing, which it were well to call atten- 

 tion to. In a single page it contains the wisdom of an extensive treatise, and we, 

 therefore, shall present it on a future page. 



"Banish the winter winds from the prairie," says Samuel Edwards, of Bureau 

 County, " and tlie climate of Illinois is, without doubt, one of the finest on earth, 



* Dr. E. R. Roe, at page 507, remarks : " The whole prairie region of Illinois, so far as 

 have examined it, consists of materials which have been transported from the North — even 

 from the regions of Lake Superior. It matters little in what the transporting agency con- 

 sisted ; the fact is clear to the geologist, and to all intelligent observers that the soil and 

 earth consist of the broken, crushed, and pulverized rocks of the formations many miles to 

 the northward." It would be injustice to omit the mention of Robert Kennicott's contribu- 

 tions to the Natural History of the State ; he is a very young man, a son of Dr. Kennicott, 

 and promises to be one of the best naturalists of our country. 



If arguments thoroughly enforced are ever wanted for the necessity of educating the in- 

 dustrial classes in useful things. Professor J. B. Turner's writings and speeches in this volume 

 will be found to be sound and unanswerable. 



