300 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



posm-e and poor culture. He has had great success 

 with strawberries. A bed 45 feet by 60, or about 

 the sixteenth part of an acre, produced this season 

 ySO quarts, which were sold for $82. The varieties 

 were Longworth's Prolific, Burr's New Pine, Large 

 Early Scarlet, and Hudson. 



There is a fine Osage orange hedge around the 

 grounds, five years planted, which has succeeded 

 admirably, and presents an impenetrable barrier to 

 animals, beside aiTording a screen from the fierce 

 ■nduds which sweep over the prairies. It stands 

 the winters here perfectly we'l, but does not suc- 

 ceed in the shade or on wet ground. All that it 

 requires is good soil, good care, good culture, and 

 close pruning. The great error is in not cutting 

 back enough the first two or three years. 



Dr. Adam Nichols, of Quincy, showed us a re- 

 markably productive grape vine. A few years ago 

 he built an additional wing to his house, and not 

 wishing to remove a grape vine that grew on the 

 spot, he bent down the branches and built over it. 

 The vine grew and spread over the house, and a 

 portion of it ran np into a large catalpa tree. It 

 was loaded with delicious grapes and presented a 

 most beautiful appearance. 



Dr. Nichols, as the result of long observation in 

 this vicinity, is very much opposed to planting any 

 kind of trees in the autumn. He pointed out an 

 instance which seemed to confirm this opinion. 

 Two rows of elm trees were planted out on both 

 sides of a street — one row in the faU, and the other 

 the spring following. Many of the former are dead, 

 and none of them have done well; while those 

 l)lanted in the spring aU hved, and are now large, 

 handsome trees. The contrast is very striking. 

 The trees were obtained from the same place and 

 set out by the same man. 



Bidding adieu to our kind friends at Quincy, we 

 took the steamer for St. Louis, IGO miles distant, 

 stopping to take in passengers and freight at sev- 

 eral places on both sides of the river, the steamer 

 in all cases turning round, with her head up stream. 

 There are numerous islands in the river, covered 

 with large trees, which serve to relieve the monot- 

 ony of the scene. There are " bluifs " on one side 

 of "the river, and "bottoms" on the other— seldom 

 or never, in this portion of the river, bluffs or bot- 

 toms on both sides at once. The "bluffs" disap- 

 pointed us. We had supposed they were high, 

 bold, almost perpendicular rocks; but instead of 

 this, they are mostly side-hills, ascendmg gradually 

 from the river, and clothed with magnificent for- 

 ests—forests as apparently unbroken, and present- 

 ing as grand and gorgeous an appearance, as when 

 Dk Soto first broke their solemn stillness. 



Our steamer drew eight feet of water, and we 

 turned up stream to get some wood from a lonely 



island in the river. •' Ho ! Jemie ! " said our tall, 

 thin, keen-eyed captain, " get out the lead." He 

 did so, and reported 15 feet of water ; then 14 feet, 

 13 feet, 11 feet, 10 feet, 9 feet, 8i! We held our 

 breath for the next sounding. "Ten feet." Safe 

 by six inches ! Night comes on and envelops the 

 surrounding banks in a thick covering of darkness. 

 What a wise law of nature it is that water is visible 

 on the darkest night ! By it the landsman can 

 avoid water, and the navigator stear clear of the 

 land. We stop to ta,ke on a lot of squealing hogs. 

 Lighted pine sticks are placed in an iron vessel and 

 hung on the side of the steamer, casting a lurid 

 glare on the wild scene around. The pigs on board, 

 we proceed onward, but soon stop again and take 

 on a flock of gentle sheep, and shortly afterwards a 

 herd of unruly cattle, whose bellowing and the 

 fierce shouts of the men made the welkin ring. 

 Now we stop at a solitary mill, and a gang of men 

 rapidly roll on several hundred barrels of flour. 

 We get some idea of the vast commerce of this 

 mighty river. In the gray dawn of morning we 

 pass the mouth of the Missouri. Its particles of 

 water, after traveling together over 3,000 miles, 

 seem loath to part company, and do not mingle 

 with the water of the Mississippi for many miles. 

 The turbid waters of the Missouri and those of the 

 comparatively clear Mississippi lie stretched out 

 before the eye like two vast ribbons, till by and by 

 they lose their identity in one mighty stream. 



For many miles before we reach St. Louis, the 

 approach to the city is indicated by the numerous 

 steamers lying at anchor along the shore. Seen 

 from the river, St. Louis, with its immense fleet of 

 steamers stretched out for miles along the levee, 

 presents a most beautiful and striking appearance. 

 It is laid out on a side-hill, in streets parallel with 

 the river, and a stranger is agreeably surprised at 

 the substantial character of its buildings as well as 

 at the magnitude of its commerce and manufactures. 



THE ST. LOUIS AGEICTILTXJEAL FAIK. 



The St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical As- 

 sociation held theu- Third Annual Fair, on their 

 grounds near the city, September 6—10. The fan- 

 grounds are the handsomest we have ever seen. 

 There is an immense ampitheatre surrounded with 

 raised seats for 12,000 persons, and covered in. 

 The animals are brought into the arena, where the 

 jud<res examine them and make their awards. The 

 prize animals are decorated with ribbons, and 

 marched round the ring, a herald proclaimmg m a 

 loud voice the names and residences of the owners, 

 etc. A fine band plays in the center, the se:its are 

 crowded with "fair women and brave men," and 

 nothing can exceed the animation and beauty of the 

 whole scene. 



