'^■^•^^K?!7^^,^'S7XK'^^^^'?iv'^'^^K'>B'^^ ■"^:-i?^''^ 



ssr«^!g^!«;^?s^iiu,^*,4i!pu»pfe^_^^^ll^.t^ i ■ 



Tftte ILLINOIS ^ARMEll. 



"bther parts of the country. A few members 

 on reriewing what had been done for asso- 

 dated we&lth — for making, by acts of incor- 

 poration and other measures, the rich, rich- 

 er, thought it not impertinent to ask the le- 

 gislature to grant some legislative aid to 

 agriculture in ,the different counties of the 

 State, by which agricultural county societies 

 should be organized, farmers brought to- 

 gether, and their productions by exhibition 

 should stimulate all clajses to industry and 

 progress in their profession. For this pur- 

 pose a bill was introduced into the house 

 appropriating $100 00 to each County Soci- 

 ety duly organized, and the funds of which 

 should equal the sum to be given from the 

 treasury. It was found necessary to reduce 

 the amount of appropriation to $50 00, in 

 order to effect its passage; and thus redu- 

 ced it passed without serious^pposition. In 

 reference to this appropriation, we find the 

 following remarks in an address delivered 

 before the Clinton County Agricultural Soc- 

 iety, on the 17th of October last, by W. S. 

 Wait, Esq.: 



" Here was an appropriation requested 

 for the most useful of all purposes, for the 

 encouragement and itnprovement of agricul- 

 ture, which is the sole employment and 

 principal dependence of some three-fourths 

 of the people of Illinois. An appropriation 

 calculated to do the State a vast service by 

 encouraging institutions which tend to ele- 

 vate the character of the farmer, increase 

 his means, improve his morals, and add to 

 the permanent wealth and prosperity of the 

 State. An appropriation to involve a dis- 

 bursement exceeding altogether two or three 

 thousand dollars, which amount would return 

 immediately to the same pockets from which 

 it was drawn, that of the farmers and tax- 

 payers of Illinois . Yet it was cut down one- 

 half and then reluctantly passed. Thus was 

 appropriated for the encouragement of agri- 

 culture in each county of the State which 

 complied with the provisions of the enact 

 ment, the sum of fifty dollars. On the same 

 day was passed without opposition, an addi- 

 tional appropriation of sixteen thousand 

 dollars for the (Governor's House !" 



Our argument is not aimed against the 

 last named appropriation, but to show the 

 immense disparity in importance in the en- 

 cOuif&geiment of Agriculture in all the coun- 



ties of this State, and the construction of a 

 Governor's house; the first received an ap- 

 propriation of some five thousand dollars in 

 all, and the other some thirty-five thousand 

 dollars ! We repeat that our argument ic 

 not against the appropriation for the Gover- 

 nor's house, but we wish to hold up to pub- 

 lic view that small appropriation, given to 

 aid an interest on which the success of all 

 other intrests is based in our State. 



We conclude by expressing the hope that 

 in the legislature which is now convened, 

 there will be found men who will follow the 

 example of their predecessors in granting to 

 the County Agricultural Societies not trifling, 

 but sufficient means to render them more 

 useful than they have hitherto been, in bring- 

 ing out the agricultural wealth of the State. 

 The money comes from the pockets of the 

 farmers, and goes back into them. Our 

 State has means, and our legislature should 

 never forget in their legislation the sources 

 of the wealth of our State, and should in 

 all proper ways seek to promote its great 

 interests, which are inseparable from the 

 prosperity of Agriculture. 



4*. 



Improviiig Conntry Eesldences. 

 Hovey's Magazine for November, says: 

 "Throughout the Western States there 

 is room for great improvement in every 

 class of country or farm dwellings. The 

 timberless prairies offer free scope for the 

 blasting winds to sweep across them, and 

 nothing appeared to us more desolate than 

 the small but neat houses, standing solitary 

 and alone, without so much as a single tree 

 on the vast expanse of broad prairie almost 

 as far as the eye could reach. At what 

 slight expense and in how little time could 

 this be altered, simply by the planting of a 

 dozen ♦rees, or even by the sowing of a 

 handful of seeds; for in that rich soil every- 

 thing grows with great rapidity, and there 

 can be little excuse for neglecting the work. 

 Shelter from the wind and shade from the 

 sun are two of the most important objects 

 in ornamental plantations" 



Mr. Hovey thus depicts scenes which he 

 witnessed in many parts of our State in the 

 autumn of 1855. He seemed hardly to real- 

 ize that these neat dwellings on timberless 

 prairies were the result of the labor of one 

 or two brief seasons. In that time protec- 



