20 



border and the Gulf of Mexico. Natural and mechanical ob- 

 stacles prevent the production of fruit in large quantities in 

 some of the surrounding states, and large areas exist which 

 must seek supplies elsewhere, and Illinois appears to the ob- 

 server as the most natural place in which they should be 

 sought. Its railways reach out in every direction, and there 

 is hardly a village in the State which might not ship fruit in 

 car lots to the remotest point in the Union without breaking 

 bulk. 



For years Chicago has been, and probably always will re- 

 main the chief distributing point in the Northwest for fruits of 

 all kinds. All roads lead to Chicago, and will continue to do 

 so until the requirements of business and population make a 

 change necessary, an event yet far in the distant future. 

 St. Louis, also, on the west side of the State, consumes vast 

 quantities of fruit and produce. 



NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 



The farms in the northern portion of the State are prac- 

 tically given over to the growing of crops which go to feed 

 the inhabitants of a large city and a manufacturing pop- 

 ulation, for that section is full of small manufacturing cities 

 which consume, at good prices, the dairy products, the veg- 

 etables, poultry, eggs, and small fruits of the surrounding 

 farms. It is said that the land in this section is too valuable 

 to devote to fruit growing, especially to apples, pears, cher- 

 ries, and plums, though there are now in existence many or- 

 chards whose owners derive a greater revenue from them than 

 from any other portion of the farm, at the same time treating 

 it with a neglect that would be fatal to any other crop. 



There is no reason whatever why Northern Illinois should 

 not become a competitor with the rest of the State in supply- 

 ing a portion of the demand for orchard and small fruits, ex- 

 cept the general one that once a community turns its attention 

 exclusively to one industry, or one branch of agriculture, that 



