336 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



Talk no more about the magnitude of your eastern 

 fairs, unless at such a time as your late one at Albany, 

 you can muster at least one hundred thousand. 



Here too, some plan in regard to a public dinner was 

 adopted as at La Porte; and I had the satisfaction of 

 sitting down to a most sumptuous dinner with three 

 thousand guests j 1 one-third of whom, were the wives and 

 daughters of Illinois farmers. This, sirs, is a specimen 

 of the spirit that is abroad upon the prairies of Illinois. 

 And this too, in a country that is still looked upon by your 

 eastern readers, as a vast wilderness, sparsely settled 

 by a demi-civilized race of inhabitants. 



I presume after what I have said of the "gathering of 

 the people," I need not assure you that the other part 

 of "the show" was highly creditable to the society. I 

 must not forget, as I have been a strong advocate of hav- 

 ing music at all agricultural fairs, to tell you that here 

 too, the company were enlivened not only by one but 

 two bands of music, both cheerfully volunteered for the 

 occasion, while in the procession floated nine appropriate 

 banners, one for each county embraced in the society. 



The officers and members were distinguished by 

 badges, and the marshals by wands peculiarly adapted 

 to the occasion, for they were immense stalks of Indian 

 corn. 



But enough upon this subject. I only wished to let you 

 know that we can do something else here in the west 

 beside raising wheat at 40 cts. a bushel. 



It is my intention soon to give you an article descrip- 

 tive of this prairie region. 



1 This statement called forth a comment from the editor : "Three 

 thousand guests at table certainly beats our state show at Al- 

 bany, and fully equals the number who sat down to dinner at the 

 meeting of the English Royal Agricultural Society, at Liverpool. 

 But we hope to come up to this number next year at Rochester, 

 and that Mr. Robinson, and many of his prairie friends will be 

 there as partakers in the good things which will undoubtedly be 

 provided for the occasion." 



