THE GENllSEE FARMER. 



399 



poles. Tliere is a young orchard — the best we 

 have yet seen in Illinois. A splendid crop of oats 

 lies cut on the ground. Perhaps the owner thinks 

 the soil too rich for apple trees ! Here is a novel 

 method of preventing the wind from blowing away 

 the roofs of hay stacks. Hills of corn, with the 

 soil attached to the roots, are tied together at the 

 tassels and laid across the top of the stack, the 

 heavy roots hanging down the sides of the roof and 

 keeping all snug and tight. 



Here we are in the midst of a' magnificent prairie, 

 bounded on all sides by the horizon. There, on a 

 slight elevation, stands a large, octagon house ; all 

 around is 



Prairie, prairie everywhere, 

 And never a tree in sight. 



"What village is this?" 

 " This, sir, is Mendota ci«y." 

 "Indeed! Topographical conformation stamps 

 the character of our ideas, and no wonder that the 

 inhabitants of such magnificent and boundless 

 prairies should have rather expansive notions." 

 "You are a stranger in these parts?" 

 " Yes, sir ; I came from Rochester, N. Y." 

 "/ came from York State. "We are all Yorkers 

 out here. Those trees you were speaking about 

 came from Rochester. There is a paper published 

 there, the Genesee Farmer^ that has lots of sub- 

 scribers here." 



"I know the paper. It does not amount to 

 much, does it ?" 



" Well, middling fair. It says too much about 

 underdraining and manuring to suit us exactly out 

 here, but there are some good hints in it." 

 " How are your crops, this season ?" 

 " Farmers are pretty much discouraged." 

 "Don't you think it would pay better to cultivate 

 less land and more thoroughly, and even to under- 

 drain and manure a Httle?" 



The conductor's "all aboard" cut short the con- 

 versation, and we hope our friend will answer the 

 question through the Farmer. 



From Mendota to Galesburg the country pre- 

 sents much the same aspect— vast prairies, great 

 herds of cattle, immense fields of luxuriant corn, 

 and not unfrequently fields prepared for corn but 

 not planted, on account of the late, wet spring, 

 covered over with equally luxuriant weeds. The 

 country is mostly new, with immense resources yet 

 to be developed. The farmers are an intelligent 

 and enterprising class of men ; and though the 

 system of agriculture is somewhat slovenly and 

 )pen to criticism, still great progress has been made 

 ind enough accomplished to warrant us in antici- 

 jating for this vast and fertile country a bright and 

 prosperous future. 



QUINCY AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 



We arrived at Quincy late in the evening, and 

 obtained our first view of the mighty "Father of 

 Waters" in the stillness and darkness of night. 

 The river is here some six hundred miles from the 

 Falls of St. Anthony, and nearly fourteen hundred 

 miles above New Orleans. Slowly and silently 

 the vast body of water rolls on unceasingly to the 

 ocean. Century after century it rolled onward 

 when the vast area which it drains was an impen- 

 etrable wilderness ; and now, when its banks teem 

 with a living, active, prosperous population, the 

 self same river rolls on its mighty course, ever 

 changing yet ever the same. 



Quincy is a beautiful city. It is laid out on a 

 •side-hill, in streets running parallel with the river, 

 intersected with other streets at right angles, like 

 Philadelphia and Cincinnati. It has nearly 20,000 

 inhabitants, and has streets mapped and marked 

 out for 100,000 more. Land is higher here than in 

 Rochester, F. Y. A mile from the business por- 

 tion of the city, good lots sell at the rate of from 

 $3,000 to $5,000 per acre! Lieut. Gov. Wood re- 

 sides here, and is erecting a house which is esti- 

 mated to cost $125,000. He has a large and beau- 

 tiful farm in or near the city. He raises immens* 

 crops of timothy hay, which is put up in bales and 

 sent south. The farm is surrounded with a fine, 

 thrifty, and eflfective Osage orange hedge, which 

 having been well managed, succeeds admirably 

 well. The only trouble now is that it grows so 

 strong as to require much labor to clip it. 



In the grounds of Dr. Marous Merrick we saw 

 a fine lot of standard and dwarf pear trees. The 

 standards were two years from the bud when 

 planted — five years ago. They bore fruit in two 

 years after planting. Last year they bore a fine 

 crop of excellent fruit. This year the crop was 

 but moderate, the fruit being small and very much 

 stung. The trees have grown remarkably, and 

 present a healthy and handsome appearance. Dr. 

 M. has never been troubled with blight. He has 

 some beautiful Flemish Beauties weighing at least 

 a pound each. His standard Onondaga trees bore 

 the third year after planting, and every year since. 

 He considers it one of the best varieties. The 

 Winter Nelis is loaded with magnificent fruit. 

 The Louise Bonne de Jersey is also very fine ; so 

 are the Sechels. His dwarf trees were obtained 

 from a Syracuse nursery, and arrived in very bad 

 condition, and in consequence have not done so 

 well. A Beurre Diel, planted at the same time as 

 the standards, bore this year for the first time. It 

 is now loaded with beautiful fruit. All the dwarfs 

 this year are doing well— better than the standards. 



Dr. M. has a fine lot of grapes, but they are badly 

 } mildewed this year. They require a southern ex- 



