THE iLLiisrois fa.rm:er. 



77 



Fruit Pfospcet in Egjpi. 



South Pass, AprU 20, 1S60. 



Mr. Editor: — Some of your readers 

 may be interested in laearing from Egypt, 

 •which is now emerging from her clouds 

 and darkness and is rapidly improving 

 in the growing of her choice fruits. The 

 season thus far has been very favorable 

 for fruit growing, and at present prom- 

 ises an {4>undant crop. Vegetation of 

 all kinds is now so far advanced that 

 we begin to feel safe against the late 

 frosts. There are but few of the culti- 

 vated varieties that have been planted 

 in this section long enough to be in bear- 

 ing. We have within one mile and a 

 half of this station five locations which 

 are elevated from 125 to 200 feet above 

 the road, and may be called good or 

 even superior locations, that have been 

 improved and set with the choicest var- 

 ieties, and all has been done within the 

 last two years except one. There are 

 several others within the same distance, 

 comparatively good, that have not been 

 improved with anything except seedlings 

 or native varieties, which are much older 

 and bear large crops of apples and 

 peaches; some of which will compare 

 well with our old cultivated and noted 

 varieties, and equally well or better 

 adapted to this locality, and may prove 

 more profitable to cultivatiye, which 

 time and experience will hereafter 

 develop. This station, which is now 

 called Cobden, formerly called South 

 Pass, is located six miles north from 

 Jonesboro and six miles south from 

 Makanda. This being the only point 

 through which the railroad could cross 

 the elevated range of land which ex- 

 tends from the Mississippi on the west, 

 to the Ohio on the east, and from its 

 great elevation, being well adapted to 

 the growing of early and choice fruits. 

 This is the most southern point in any 

 of the free States, where early fruits 

 can be successfully grown, and will 

 eventually supply Chicago, the northern 

 and western portion of this State and a 

 large portion of "Wisconsin, as well as 

 several of the more northern and east- 

 ern States with early fruits. We have 

 easy access to market, being only twelve 

 hours ride from Chicago. This eleva- 

 tion extends to the Ohio river, a few 

 miles below "Shawneetown, and extends 

 across Kentucky until it reaches the Al- 

 leghany Mountains. The peach put out 

 on the five farms mentioned, amount 

 to 8,000, apple 3,000, grapes 5,000, and 

 2,000 pears, Avlthin the last two years. 

 The one five years old has 3,000 bearing 

 peach trees, 4,000 grape and aboul 

 1,000 apple. Our tomatoes are now in 

 a fine condition. There will not be as 

 many sent to market from the country 

 about here as formerly, but from this 

 station there willl be a much larger 

 amount than ever before. I have now 



15,000 plants that stand six by seven 

 inches a part under glass, now in bloom 

 and ready to be transplanted in the 

 field. The prospects now are that they 

 will be ready for market by the middle 

 of June. G. H. Baker. 



Mr. Baker has taken much, pains to 

 ascertain the varieties of apples that have 

 long been successfully grown in Union 

 county, and in his research he has dis- 

 covered several old well known sorts dis- 

 guised under the name of seedlings, 

 among these Smith Cinder, Fall Queen 

 and Lowell Let. He is satisfied that 

 there are several others thus materially 

 lessening the number of native seedlings 

 that otherwise might have become fa- 

 mous, but for the discovery that they 

 are old acquaintances. 



<e» 



[Prom the Springfield Republican, April 24th.] 



The Cattle flistcmper in Nortii Urookficld, Mass. 



The commissioners on the cattle dis- 

 ease continued at North Brookfield and 

 vicinity through last week, making ob- 

 servations among the cattle herds of the 

 neighboring towns, so as to trace and 

 define the limits of the contagion. On 

 Saturday, Gov. Banks joined them, and 

 the character of the disease was exhib- 

 ited to him by killing several - additional 

 animals in the herds among which it ex- 

 ists in a marked degree. 



The value of those bought and killed 

 by the commissioners, for which the 

 State by the law is to pay, was, up to 

 Saturday night, §3,7.80. A large num- 

 ber, some 200 or 300, have been enjoin- 

 ed or put under arrest by the commis- 

 sioners. The owners of these cattle 

 cannot remove them from their farms, 

 and with the exception of their oxen, not 

 from their barns and yards. The oxen 

 are allowed to be used upon the farms 

 of the owners. There is, in consequence 

 of the number of cattle killed, and the 

 embargo placed upon others, and the 

 excitement among the farmers, a great 

 suspension of farm and other labor in 

 the vicinity of the locality of the distem- 

 per. The Messrs. Batchelder, who were 

 building Jin addition to their shoe manu- 

 factory at North Brookfield, have been 

 obliged to suspend work upon it, in con- 

 sequence of their inability to get oxen 

 to draw the stone and lumber. 



The principal source from which the 

 infection spread, was the congregation, 

 in December last, of a team of twenty- 

 six yoke of oxen to move a building be- 

 Icnging to an Irishman in the outskirts 

 of the town of North Brookfield. On 

 this occasion a pair of oxen from the in- 

 fected herd of Leonard Stoddard formed 

 one of the "big team," so called, and 

 communicated the disease to numerous 

 herds. Eight or ten pairs of 'the oxen 

 in the "big team" have been condemned 



by the commissioners, prior to which 

 they were worked about town, passing 

 other cattle on the highway, and meeting 

 them at the grist mill. One yoke of the 

 "big team'' went to Oakham and one to 

 Sturbridge, both of wliich places have 

 been visited by the surgeons, but no 

 disease found. Enough has been seen by 

 the commissioners and surgeons to satisfy 

 them that they have found the limits of 

 the disease in North Brookfield and vi- 

 cinity. There are eight or ten herds, 

 however, in North Brookfield and New 

 Braintree yet to be examined. The 

 commissioners will proceed the present 

 week to these herds, killing one in each 

 to ascertain as to the presence of the 

 disease. 



As one result of the disease, no milk, 

 butter, cheese, veal or beef is taken from 

 the Brookfield stations, unless after the 

 most rigid investigation into its antece- 

 dents. It will be a long time before the 

 reputation of the region will be recover- 

 ed. Various rumors are current as to 

 the mode by which the disease is spread. 

 One man named Meade is of the opinion 

 that ic was communicated to his cattle 

 by means of his clothes ; he says he was 

 at Stoddard's and among his cattle, and 

 after he went home, his calves came 

 around him, smelt of his frock, and were 

 soon attacked. There was a report that 

 the distemper had appeared in Ware, 

 having been conveyed in some hay sold 

 from a barn in North Brookfield, in 

 which were infected cattle. At the 

 close of the examination on Saturday, 

 the commissioners requested the people 

 from the adjoining towns to change their 

 clothes before going into their barns. 



Is the meat poisonous ? is the question 

 in which all consumers of beef, milk 

 and butter are interested. Up to a cer- 

 tain stage of the disease the meat is not 

 injurious, though the commissioners 

 have prohibite4 entirely its sale. In 

 European countries, the sale of the beef 

 of animals suffering with this disease is 

 legalized. There is no virus introduced 

 into the system, and the meat is only 

 injured from the blood not being puri- 

 fied by the operation of perfect lungs. 



No definite action was taken by the 

 Governor and commissioners further 

 than to agree upon a convention of sci- 

 entific men to be held in Boston the pres- 

 ent week. Various suggestions were of- 

 fered upon the best method of eradicat- 

 ing the disease, and among other ques- 

 tions discussed, was that of attempting 

 to arrest its progress by inoculationri 

 To this end it was proposed to convert 

 the farm of Mr. Woodis into a hospital, 

 where experiments might be made upon 

 diseased and healthy cattle. It was also 

 proposed that a guaranty fund should be 

 raised among the capitalists of the State 

 to insure the payment of any expenses 

 incurred beyond the present legislative 



