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190 



THE ILLIISrOIS F-i^RJMER. 



Tree Peddling. 



Eclitor of the Farmer ; — '^o sooner is 

 the spring planting of trees and shrubbery 

 finished, than the whole country is alive 

 with the professed agents of foreign nurse- 

 ries, who make it their business to visit al- 

 most every family in the country, and whee- 

 dle them into the purchase of nursery arti- 

 cles, or to sign orders for them. These ped- 

 lars succeed in inducing a vast number to 

 give them orders. The orders are filled and 

 the trees, &c., come in the fall. There can 

 now been seen at most of the railroad stations 

 piles of Rochester trees. The "knowing 

 ones," will not purchase; but those who have 

 not much experience of the ways of tree 

 pedlars, will. 

 - We have law to protect merchents against 

 the competition of pedlars who would trade 

 about the country, and because they do not 

 have to pay rents here, or taxes on their 

 stock, or support their families, can sell 

 goods cheaper than regular merchants, and 

 carry them to the people's doors. The same 

 protection should bo given to our nursery- 

 men. There are hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars invested in nurseries in this State, 

 and much more would be if they could go 

 into the market with a fair competition with 

 nurserymen out of the State. Our laws dis- 

 criminate, but it is against our own people 

 and against home industry. We tax our 

 nurseries; they pay heavy taxes to support 

 the government and other institutions of the 

 country. These foreign pedlars pay no taxes, 

 no license, they are under no respon.sibility, 

 but come in fall and spring as plentifully as 

 the frogs once were in Egypt, and enter, if 

 not the bread-troughs of the people, into all 

 their houses, and generally annoy them un- 

 til they get their orders for trees. The or- 

 ders are sent oflF — the trees come — the mon- 

 ey is collected and sent out of the State. 

 Our own nurserymen are deprived of a mar- 

 ket; aud our people have no security that the 

 trees are of any account or the varieties that 

 they ordered. 



In the purchase of trees from home nur- 

 series, responsible men are dealt with : they 

 are responsible for the goodness of the trees 

 purchased and their varieties when coining 

 into bearing. They have always a reputa- 

 tion to sustain, which is of very great im- 

 portance to them. 



Now, our opinion is, that the least our 

 Legislature can do, is to give our nursery- 

 men a fair competition in the market. They 

 pay taxes and so should the foreign tree 

 pedlars. Their stock cannot well be taxed, 

 but they can be re(|uircd to take out licenses 

 in every county where they sell, paying a 

 just amount for the same; and also be com- 

 pelled to furnish satisfactory security, to be 



valid for six years, that not more than 



per cent of the trees and shrubbery shall die 

 the first year, and that when in a bearing 

 state, their fruit shall conform to the origi- 

 nal bill. 



By adopting such a system a fair competi- 

 tion will be secured, and the people protect- 

 ed from imposture. 



"While there are thousands of dollars paid 

 here to these pedlars for trees and shrubbery, 

 all the same articles in a healthy condition, 

 accustomed to our climate and soil, can be 

 purchased at less prices than paid to the for- 



eign pedlare, at nurseries in our own State — 

 some of which can be found in almost every 

 county. 



AVe suggest this matter to the consldera- 

 tifm of the Horticultural Society, which is 

 to meet in Bloomington on the 14th, 15th, 

 16th and 17th of next mouth. 



* 



->•— 



The Chrysanlhemuffl. 



Eilltor Farmer: — T have been often sur- 

 prised that no more attention has been paid 

 to the cultivation of this plant. The flowers 

 now embrace all colors, perfectly double, and 

 very numerous. Their ])ropagation is very 

 easy. Take up the plant very early in the 

 spring, and separate it so as to have one bud 

 on a a root and plant them out in the garden 

 about ten inches apart. They will grow and 

 make fine plants before fall, and if you wish 

 them to flower late in the garden, and make 

 a gorgeous show when the leaves are falling 

 from the trees, and the general appearance of 

 the garden is desolate, you have only to plant 

 them out in some warm sunny border. To 

 have plants for the parlor, the single rout may 

 be set out in a pot, and that pot set into the 

 ground for summer growing. By seeing 

 that the plant has sufficient water, pinching 

 it back so as to make a good shaped plant, 

 you will have beautiful pots of flowers in the 

 fall months. There is danger when you take 

 the plants from the garden in the fall that 

 you keep them too warm in the house. The 

 consequence will be that they will soon get 

 through with flowering, — whereas if you 

 kept them in a cool place the flowering would 

 be prolonged for two months. I Wa.s fond of 

 thisflowerwhenachild, at which time we had 

 only one, a pink variety. Now we have many, 

 and the flowers are larger and more beauti- 

 ful than they were //( i'r/y-five years ago, when 

 the only name I knew the plant b^', was 



ARTEMISIA. 



Agricultural Collfgcs. 

 The Pennsylvania and Michigan colleges 

 are now in successful operation. The walls 

 of the 31aryland college are now being put 

 up. A meeting to take measures for estab- 

 lishing an Agricultural College in Missouri, 

 was lately held in St. Joseph. Measures 

 are in progress to establish a college of the 

 same character in Iowa. 



-•♦^ 



B^„"\Ye have received a few parcels of 

 Polish Avheat (sometimes called Grant Bye) 

 for distribution. The grain is very large 

 and fine, and we desire to put the wlicat into 

 the hands of men who will give it an effec- 

 tual trial. 



-«•»- 



The C. a. & St. L. R.ulhoad.— The 

 public are generally aware that ae effort was 

 being made in the U. S. Court at Chicago, 

 to take above road out of the hands of Gov. 

 3Iatteson, on the alleged ground that he had 

 misapplied the funds. The evidence to the 

 contrary was overwhelming; and the case 

 abandoned. Gov. Matteson's friends antici- 

 pated the result. 



The State Agricnltnral Socicly. 



We rpceived the following communication 

 just as our paper was ^oing to press : 



Having in view the interests of the people of 

 the State whose chief pursuits are agricultural, 

 and with the wish to aid and extend the great 

 and important benefits which have been ren- 

 dered liy the efforts of the State Agricultural 

 Society by their Fairs and publicationp, and by 

 exciting the interests and competition of our 

 producers and stock-breeders, as well as drawn 

 ing forth from the niindi^ and pens of many in- 

 telligent citizens, valuable essays and addresses 

 on subjects intimately connected with the ob- 

 jects ofits endeavors. Acknowledging all these, 

 we pre-e»t herewith a plan which, if adopted 

 by the State Society, and assisted and fostered 

 by the representatives of the people, must, in 

 our opinion, tend greatly to increape the f ffi- 

 fiency, benefits ami uselulness of the Society, 

 and promote the interests of tiie great source 

 of our wealth and power, which is agricultural. 



Ttie plan prppo.-ed is, that as near as can be 

 made by not dividing countie^, a geoofraphical 

 division of the State shall be made into four 

 districts or departments, representing Nctrthern, 

 Southern, Eastern and Western Districts; and 

 that at some accessible and prominent point in 

 each district be located Fair Grounds, buildinj»8 

 and fixtures, and that in each year in such dis- 

 trict a Fuir shall be held, optn for the compe- 

 tition for all citizens iu the district, and to all 

 other States, and that a central State Fair shall 

 annually te held at Springfield as soon as may 

 be possible after the close of the District Fairs, 

 at which Central Fair any animals or articles 

 which may have received premiums at any of 

 the District Fairf the same year, may be entered 

 to compete for the grand State premiums which 

 may be offered. That all these Fairs shall be 

 under the administration and government of the 

 vState Agricultural Society, and controlled by 

 laws and rules instituted by the State Society. 

 We would recommend, for tne purpose of carry- 

 ing out this plan, if adopted, an application to 

 the Legislature, by the State Society, for suit- 

 able appropriations from the State Treasury to 

 place the establishments on an efficient footing, 

 and at as early a period as may be possible. 



Many arguments can be advanced which we 

 think must be conclusive of the advantage to 

 be fiained Jjy the proposed change, among the 

 m.'St important of which will be the cutting off 

 ihe jireat annual expense now incurred by the 

 present plan of yearly changing the location of 

 the Fair. One of the rules of the State Society 

 declares, " That this Society will hold its An- 

 nual Fair at no place which will not pay the 

 entire expenses of the grounds, fixtures and 

 police;" and to thus secuie the location, it is 

 necessary to raise from seven to nine thousand 

 dollars from tLe citizens of the town at which 

 the Fair may be held. It must be apparent to 

 every one that this heavy tax, though self-im- 

 posed, must in time become an onerous one, 

 and does each year call f )r an espendit-ire of 

 money lor which no adequate return is made, 

 or at least, which might, if used in a difi'erent 

 way, go much further to carry out tlie objects 

 of the institution. By this nieiins the Fairs 

 may, and pruba! ly will, be precluded t/om peo- 

 ple and sections, where ^reat l)enetit might be 

 rcMidered, by the inability of the people to raise 

 Che required sum demanded by the State Soci- 

 ety. 



Here the Fairs proposed by us once perma- 

 nently located, they would at once become self- 

 sustaining, and the premium lists could be 

 greatly enlarged, aud the inducements, tendmg 

 to the improvcnii^nt desired, be greatly extended. 

 Each District Fair would be better, both in the 

 number of entries and people iu attendance, 

 than are the present State Fairs, as the interest 

 in them would become localized and centralized, 

 and the real advantajres would reach a greater 

 number of people. It is the case with our 

 State Fairs, that iu all departments except 



