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STATE REPORTS OF AGRICULTURE. 505 
and to carry its full maximum of stock, more attention must be paid to 
_growing root crops. Some counties in Ilinois, formerly noted for their 
fine stock, are now dependent upon Texas and the Red River countries 
for the steers they fatten. 
In the discussions of the State Horticultural Society the carious’ fact 
was mentioned by Dr. I. A. Lapham that many of the beautiful native 
plants in his collection, (dried,) formerly common, are now scarcely to be 
found in the State, having been driven out by the May-weed, mullen, 
thistles, and other foreign weeds, which have taken their places. The 
time is near at hand when his collection will afford the only evidence of 
we former existence of many native plants in certain counties of the 
tate. 
Peaches are an uncertain crop in Wisconsin, though many cultivators 
keep a few trees in their grounds. It is noticed that whenever the ther- 
mometer falls to 16° below zero the peach buds are surely killed, though 
the trees are not; they will bear whenever a winter is passed in which 
the thermometer does not reach that point. The prairie soil is frequently 
too rich for orchards, preventing a mature growth of wood; the driest 
and leanest places, with an elevated, cool aspect, should be selected for 
the apple and such other fruits as are apt to suffer from excess of food 
in the soil, the cold winds of autumn and winter inducing early ma 
turity of the wood. Such locations are numerous. Screens and belts of 
evergreens are recommended. Wherever they have been planted in 
Illineis a marked amelioration of the severity of the winter is per- 
ceptible. 
Favorable results have been realized from the improved Siberian crab 
apple; many seedlings of great promise have been raised from seeds of 
this apple sent from Vermont twenty years ago. Of these seedlings the 
Marengo, Chicago, Coral, Winter Gem, and Kishwaukee stand high for 
their flavor and keeping qualities. Much is hoped from the introduc- 
tion of the new Russian apples, of which several sorts were introduced 
by private enterprise afew yearsago. Two hundred and forty varieties 
were also imported by the Department of Agriculture, this season, of 
which grafts have been freely disseminated to horticultural associations 
and nurserymen, particularly in the Northwest. 
ILLINOIS. 
The seventh biennial volume of Transactions of the Illinois State 
Agricultural Society, edited by J. P. Reynolds, secretary of the society, 
is filled with facts of permanent interest pertaining to the various de- 
partments of industry and the agriculture of Illinois. Besides the usual 
statistics and reports it comprises the proceedings of the State Horti- 
cultural Society; an elaborate report by the editor, as State commissioner 
to the late Paris exposition; the proceedings of the American Conven- 
tion on Texas fever; essays on Climatology; on Hedges; on Manufac- 
tures in Illinois, and details of the culture of various crops in the State. 
The annual fairs of this society have been uniformly successful; the 
receipts of the last year were $24,096 92; disbursements, $20,191 92. 
The custom of holding large tracts of land, of five hundred acres up 
to ten thousand or more, in some parts of the State, is deprecated, as 
resulting in sparse settlements, few schools and churches, and neglect 
of all the small essentials of society as well asof agriculture. A proper 
system of drainage, both as a sanitary measure and as a means of in- 
creasing the agricultural wealth of the State, it is suggested, should 
receive encouragement and assistance from the State, as is the case in 
England. 
