•■ ;i , »^ 



THE ILLINOIS F_^Il]MER. 



98 



Items from Exchanges. 



Grapes are displayed in the "windows 

 of Broadwfcty fruiteries, with the notice 

 attached, §3 per pound. 



The probabiHties are that a full old- 

 fashioned crop of peaches "will be pro- 

 duced in New Jersey this year. 



Some years ago a young man -wrote 

 to Horace Greeley, asking his advice — 

 whether he had better become a profes- 

 sional man or farmer — and received this 

 sensible and pithy reply: "I judge 

 that there are three times as many law- 

 yers and doctors in the country as are 

 needed, and, judging from the price of 

 flour and beef, not half enough farmers. 

 Of course, I judge that you could better 

 look toward growing grain than making 

 pills or pleas. " 



•* "t;. 



From Home. ^' 



A vfMt to Chicago — The Grain Trade — Gardening— 

 Sdilroad Fare— The Stage— Jf^aperville—DuPagi 

 Jfurterj/. 



Having some business in Chicago, we 

 stepped on board of the train at Cham- 

 paign, (late Urbana Station,) and away 

 over the broad prairies and along the lake 

 shore to the city. There is life in such 

 ft ride, after on© has been worn down by 

 hard work and ill health. On reaching 

 the streets the next morning and meeting 

 the bustling masses moving hither and 

 thither, we said to ourself, the good time 

 is coming, the people are so busy In pre- 

 paring for it that they have no time to 

 discuss the subject of hardtiines, and it 

 is thus becoming obsolete. We went 

 " on 'change " to see the kings of trade 

 and learn how fortunes are made and 

 lost in the great agricultural staples of 

 the country ; but as this will require a 

 chapter by itself, we will pass on, simply 

 remarking that the price of farm pro- 

 ducts is not, as many suppose, regulated 

 wholly by the laws (?f demand and supply 

 — printer's ink, currency, exchange, (a 

 new name for usury, ) freights, telegraph 

 and the Mark Lane markets have a 

 wonderous power, and form the cabalis- 

 tic characters that give to the market its 

 daily shiftings and forms the life and soul 

 of trade. 



Being delayed in the completion of 

 our business, and having a day on our 

 hands, we cast about to see where we 

 could spend it the most agreeable. We 

 thought at first to spend it among the 

 Chicago gardeners, but a visit to the 

 grounds of Hon. I. N. Arnold, only 

 convinced us that we were too early in 



the season, and the gardeners too busy to 

 receive company, and we promised to 

 spend a day with them when June shall 

 crown them with roses. Mr. Ure, 

 gardener to Mr. A., is making success- 

 ful experiment with his cold grapery, of 

 which a full account hereafter. At this 

 juncture we met Mr. Milton S. Ells- 

 worth, the junior member of the firm of 

 Lewis Ellsworth & Co., of the DuPage 

 County Nursery, and at 5 p. m. took the 

 train with him to Wheaton. From there 

 the distance is seven miles, by an ancient 

 conveyance, the stage. By the way, 

 the rate of fare on the Galena Railroad 

 is out of all reason ; eighty-five cents 

 for twenty-five miles. While this com- 

 pany puts down fares and freights where 

 there is competition, yet to the local 

 trade and travel they have always shown 

 a narrow disposition, to say the least 

 of it. If Superintendents would pre- 

 vent official stealing, they could put 

 the fares down BO that people 

 could afford to travel, and the business 

 would pay. But so long as a Conductor 

 can spend from two to three thousand 

 dollars a year, and build fine houses and 

 make liberal purchases of real estate out 

 of seven hundred dollars a year, the 

 fares will be kept up. We could point 

 out a dozen Conductors who would need 

 little watching to convince all, but the 

 Superintendent, that they are " old used 

 hands, " and should be where they can 

 financier on their own funds. The 

 farmers ask for cheap fares, and this 

 can be granted if officers do their duty. 

 We know a number of Conductors, who 

 with small families and the utmost econ- 

 omy, have as much as they can do to 

 meet their moderate expenses, while 

 others on the same road and at the same 

 salery, not only live fast, but are getting 

 rich. When we hear of roads not pay- 

 ing, we like to see who run the trains 

 and what officers are living in fine style 

 on small saleries. : -; 



The ride from Wheaton is a pleasant 

 one, over rolling prairies of small ex- 

 tent, through groves and belts of tim- 

 ber, with cultivated farma on all sides. 

 The spring wheat, barly and oats look 

 remarkably well, never better. The 

 breadth of potatoes is unusually small 

 for this section, the present low prices 

 no doubt affecting the planting. Our 



readers all known that Lewis Ellsworth, 

 the senior of the nursery firm, is Presi- 



dent of our State Agricultural Society, 

 and right worthily is he filling the post, 

 devoting a large portion of his time to 

 the duties of the office, and at our visit 

 he was absent, looking to the people's 

 interest. 



Naperville is beautifully located in the 

 valley of the DuPage river, a small 

 stream, gently murmuring over beds of 

 niagara limestone, and draining a rich, 

 diversified and fertile soil, Biefore the 

 advent of railroads, Naperville wai the 

 most flourishing village in all that part 

 of the State, but the new condition of 

 things has made a change, though it 

 still does a large amount of business. 

 As corner lots were at a discount, there 

 was no speculation in real estate and the 

 people thus escaped the epidemic and are 

 now making good progress. 



The nurseries cover about one hundred 

 acres and are in a thrifty and prosper- 

 ous condition. The spring sales are 

 just closed and the well thinned rows 

 attest the popularity of the establish- 

 ment. The green house, under charge 

 of Mr. Rees, Gardener, is a fine struc- 

 ture, eighty-four feet long. The long 

 shelves have been very much thinned 

 out, though Mr. Rees is fast filling up 

 the vacancies with young plants. The 

 sale of verbenas, at four dollars per 

 hundred, is a new feature in the trade 

 and has had the effect to strip the shelves 

 of this favorite bedding plant. At this 

 price the profits must be small. We are 

 glad to know that this department of the 

 nursery has been well sustained ; it has 

 not only made a large saving in the cost 

 of plants in the way of freights, but it 

 has been the means of extending the 

 taste for the beautiful. Visitors to our 

 own grounds have been pleased with the 

 show of roses, but the very large assort- 

 ment of fine roses there,most of them new 

 importations direct from France, was 

 too tempting for us to withstand 

 and we purchased a hundred plants, 

 which now add attraction to our 

 new home. We have no space to enum- 

 erate the long list of plants, and can only 

 say that the plants are well grown and 

 that Mr. Bees packs no inferior ones. 

 Messrs. L. E. k Co. have published a 

 catologue of plants, which any person in 

 want of such things should send for. 



With Mr. Thatcher we took a stroll 

 through the pomonal and ornamental 

 department. The stock of apple trees 



