44 SOUTHERN GEET PRAIRIE. 



for grazing cattle ; but is not so prolific of Indian corn or oats, 

 nor so suitable for potatoes or sugar-beet, all of which grow 

 very successfully on the black prairie. The face of the country, 

 however, is more picturesque, and the woods more diversified, 

 the white oak growing to a great height. There is also abun- 

 dance of coal and building stone in this portion of the State, 

 and the winter climate is occasionally so mild that in favour- 

 able seasons cattle can live the whole year on the prairies, with 

 the aid of little or no fodder. From this point to Centralia, 

 where the junction is made with the main line of the railroad, 

 and onwards to the south as far as Desoto, which is 301 miles 

 south of Chicago, the same whitish grey prairie soil continues. 

 The country near Duquoin, a station on the line, is all under- 

 laid with coal, in seams from five to nine feet thick, at a depth 

 of seventy to eighty feet. It is easily wrought, but at present 

 there is not much sale for it, as the country is very thinly set- 

 tled, and there is no scarcity of wood. In the whole country, 

 for nearly the last 150 miles, there was scarcely a settler four 

 years ago, but so rapidly has settlement followed the opening 

 of the railway, that it is estimated that half a million of acres 

 of land have already been brought under cultivation along this 

 part of the road. 



From Desoto to the southern boundary of the State the 

 country is all hills and hollows, rocky and wooded, with good 

 farms interspersed. The climate is very mild in winter and 

 hot in summer, and admits of the growth of all kinds of fruits 

 and tobacco. It produces white wheat of the finest quality,* 

 and peaches and other fruits are sent in large quantities for the 

 supply of the market at Chicago. This is one of the earliest 

 soils in the Union for the ripening of wheat, the new crop from 

 which may be sent to the northern and eastern markets before 

 their own harvests are ready. 



