GRAPES— THE LAWN 185 



central Illinois. But owing to the cost of gathering, trans- 

 portation and the low price which they usually bring, even this 

 variety does not often prove remunerative. I have four hun- 

 dred thrifty, bearing trees, but they yield little or no profit. 



Ten years ago I planted four hundred European plum 

 trees of the most approved sorts, but the hard Winters that 

 followed swept them out of existence. Some of the native 

 varieties, like Miner and Wild Goose, are hardy, but the 

 ravages of the curculio precludes the possibility of getting 

 any fruit. When 



THE GRAPE FEVER 



was at its hight, I had it badly, and planted largely of all the 

 highly-lauded, high-priced sorts, trenching, subsoiling, and 

 underdraining in the most approved manner, and at great 

 expense. All have fallen victims to our Arctic Winters but 

 the Concord, which continues to produce annual crops of fine 

 fruit, but on account of the low price at which the fruit is sold, 

 I have reduced the variety to about one acre. 



WIND-BREAK. 



My farm consists of about two hundred acres, and is 

 divided into fields ranging from twenty to forty acres. It is 

 inclosed and divided by osage orange hedges. On the north 

 and west of the orchards it is allowed to grow high, the sides 

 being trimmed out of the way, to form a wind-break, but on 

 the road, and where used as a division fence, it is kept down 

 to about four feet. If permitted to grow untrimmed, it gives 

 the farm a slovenly, unkempt appearance, and draws so heavily 

 on the soil for one or two rods on each side, as to make it 

 impossible to grow any crop successfully. 



THE LAWN 



is inclosed with an evergreen hedge of Norway spruce, planted 

 two feet apart, and kept sheared down to three and a half feet, 

 with a width at the base of about three feet. After it is once 

 established it requires but little attention (two shearings a 

 year), and is a thing of beauty, both Summer and Winter. 

 The garden is also partly inclosed with a similar hedge, but of 



