346 



ILLINOIS. 



receipts of the canal. All of the debt which has 

 matured has been called in by proclamation of the 

 Governor, and the same paid, excepting the small 

 amount of $20,136, referred to above. Of the out- 

 standing debt, $67,000, which matures on the 1st 

 Monday of January, proximo, has been called in by 

 proclamation of the Governor, dated November 23, 



1869, and will be paid at maturity. Of the remaining 

 debt, $3,149,633.41 matures in 1870, which, when 

 paid, will leave a debt of less than $2,000,000. It is 

 estimated that the two-mill tax for 1869, collected in 



1870, will yield $950.000, and that the amount to be 

 received from the Illinois Central Kailroad Company, 

 previous to 1871, will be about $700,000, which, 

 added to the State Debt Fund and the Illinois Cen- 

 tral Kailroad Fund now on hand, will nearly equal 

 the amount of the debt which matures January 1, 



1871, not taking into account the premium on gold. 

 One more levy of the two-mill tax is all that will be 

 required. 



The number of acres of land in cultivation, 

 according to the returns of the assessors, was 

 as follows: wheat, 2,589,214; corn, 5,193,747 ; 

 otherfiel'd products, 1,820,538 total, 8,603,599. 



The fertility of the soil of Illinois is prover- 

 bial, and, happily for the State, the origin of 

 the prairie loam precludes the possibility of 

 sterile extremes arising from local causes. 

 Almost the entire State is covered by a stratum 

 of drift formed by the decomposition of every 

 variety of rock, and commingled in a homo- 

 geneous mass by the agents employed in its 

 distribution. This immense deposit varies from 

 ten to two hundred feet in thickness. En- 

 riched by all the minerals existing in the crust 

 of the earth, it necessarily contains a great di- 

 versity of constituents. Since plants differ so 

 widely in the elements of which they are com- 

 posed, this multiplicity of composition is the 

 means of growing a great diversity of crops. 

 The amount produced is correspondingly large, 

 and so great is the fertility, that years of con- 

 tinued cultivation do not materially diminish 

 the yield. Should superficial sterility be in- 

 duced by excessive working, the subsoil extends 

 to an unusual depth, and, when rendered avail- 

 able by deep ploughing, has a producing capaci- 

 ty equal to that of the surface. 



From the report of the Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, it appears that the number 

 of universities and colleges in the State is 20 ; 

 female colleges and academies having a four 

 years' course, 12 ; academies and seminaries of 

 various grades and courses, 16 ; ladies' schools, 

 of less than four years' course, 3 ; theological 

 seminaries and church schools, 10; miscella- 

 neous institutions, 5 ; public libraries, 7. 



The forty-sixth Annual Conference of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church was in session at 

 Lincoln for four days, commencing September 

 22d. This conference was of especial interest 

 as the scene of a jubilee in honor of the fiftieth 

 anniversary of the entry into the ministry of 

 Rev. Peter Cartwright, the last survivor of a 

 class of preachers who have passed away. The 

 following is a synopsis of his remarks on the 

 occasion : 



He said he had been called a strong man, but to- 

 day he felt weak as a child, so overcome was he by 



this manifestation of the love and esteem of his fellow - 

 Christians. He was the oldest preacher in the Meth- 

 odist Church now engaged in the ministry. For sixty- 

 five years he had labored for his Lord and Master, 

 and during that time had only received at three times 

 the amounts allowed him by the Church. He had the 

 oldest preacher's wife in the world, and had lived 

 happily with her for sixty years.. He had seven chil- 

 dren and sixty grand and great-grand children. He 

 was born in Virginia, and had been a citizen of the 

 West from the time he was six years old, and he is 

 now eighty-five years. He had no language to de- 

 scribe the situation of this country at that time. He 

 had suffered much in body, mind, and purse. He had 

 been caught five hundred miles from home, in a strange 

 land ? with an old blind horse, and seventy-five cents 

 in his pocket. He had never been officially com- 

 plained of in quarterly meeting but once. In his 

 young days he wore knee-breeches and top-boots. At 

 the first^ conference he ever Attended a complaint was 

 laid against him for corrupting the morals of the peo- 



Ele by wearing a pair of suspenders, and they sent 

 im home. But the Lord always provides for the 

 lazy and His lame, and he found that Bishop McKen- 

 dree had indulged in the same luxury. He was then 

 shouting, happy enough. When he entered the min- 

 istry there was but one college-bred preacher, and he 

 was only half bred. Through the efforts of Dr. Akers 

 he got D. D. stuck to his name, and that very day he 

 was taken with a bad pain in his back, and he rather 

 thought it arose from his title. He was a poor sol- 

 dier's boy, and his only son. There was but one mill 

 within forty miles, and no paper in the country. His 

 father wanted to make an educated man of him, but 

 he missed it badly. When it pleased God to give him 

 religion it was of the true backwoods style. He knew 

 he had obtained the pardon of his sins, and the knowl- 

 edge of that had sustained him in all trials. He had 

 preached as many sermons as any living man, although 

 he could not say how good they were. He hailed 

 with delight the success of all who preached the true 

 gospel. He had not strength to labor as a regular 

 preacher, and he now entirely dissolved his connection 

 with the Church as a travelling preacher ; and, not- 

 withstanding the crosses, trials, and troubles of a trav- 

 elling preacher, he would rather be one than President 

 of the United States ; and, glory be to God, He sus- 

 tains us all if we have His love in our hearts ; and 

 he bade farewell to his brethren with much love and 

 feeling. He did not originate this jubilee and is not 

 worthy of it. After a long, hard life, he had performed 

 nothing but his duty. Farewell, farewell. I ask your 

 sympathy and prayers for an old man who has spent 

 his life in God's service ; and may He bless you now 

 and for evermore ! 



There is a large dairy interest in the vicinity 

 of Elgin, 111. The lands are high and rolling, 

 while springs and streams of living water are 

 more numerous than we obtain usually on the 

 lands of Illinois. The soil here is a dark loam, 

 not unfrequently mingled with clay, sand, and 

 gravel, and good for grass. The production oi 

 milk, on farms in the vicinity of Elgin, springs 

 from its demand in Chicago. Of easy access 

 by rail to the city, with good prices and a con- 

 stantly-increasing call for milk and., cream, 

 farmers were induced to try this kind of dairy 

 farming, and soon were convinced that it yielded 

 more profits than growing grain. 



There is at this point a company called 

 the "Elgin Milk-condensing Company," or- 

 ganized for the purpose of condensing and 

 preserving milk and making cheese. The 

 following abstract is taken from the books of 

 the company : 



