38 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



Feb. 



of the " Grand Chain," and that it has 

 produced good crops as tar north as Sanga- 

 mon and Morgan counties, and promises to 

 ripen well as far as Tazewell and Champaign. 

 As the State Agricultural Society has 

 olTored a premium of 820 for the hest quar- 

 ter of an acre, it is probable that we shall 

 have the question of its capability on our 

 soils more fully tested. Should it prove 

 profitable, it will require several years to 

 place it among our staple crops, for it is a 

 conceded feature in agricultural progress 

 seldom excepted, that all raluable improve- 

 ments, plants and new modes of culture are 

 but slowly introduced, while some worthless 

 humbug will sweep over the land like wild 

 fire. 



Gov. Yates on Agriculture. 



Gov. Yates takes a deep interest in the 

 agricultural progress of the State. He re 

 commended that the fostering care. of the 

 State be extended to the State Agricultural 

 Society. Here are his views : 



THE ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The fostering hand of the Legislature should 

 be continued in behalf of a society which obser- 

 Yation and experience have shown to be one of 

 the most effective agencies in developing the ag- 

 ricultural resources and the mechanical industry 

 of the State. Especially should this be the case 

 in a State whose chief interest is in the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil. Agriculture is freely regarded 

 as the foundation of all other callings. When it 

 prospers, all must prosper ; when it fails, all 

 must fail. It affords employment to near four- 

 fifths of our population. It is the parent of com- 

 merce ; it supplies its freights and exchanges ; 

 it builds and freights our railroads ; it swells 

 the sails of our ships on theocean, sets the wheels 

 of machinery in motion, reclaims the wilderness 

 and pushes forward the car of settlement and 

 civilization. He is certainly no statesman who 

 does not study the interest and bearings of labor 

 upon the body politic, and hold out to all reason- 

 able stimulants, honors, and emoluments; and 

 it is the object of this Society and its auxiliaries, 

 to give greater profit and dignity to labor, to 

 bring the agency of science and invention to its 

 aid, to render the earth more productive, more 

 beautiful and more convenient to man, to in- 

 crease the revenue of the State itself, by enhanc- 

 ing the amount and revenue of its taxable pro 

 perty. It is eminently worthy of liberal encour- 

 agement. The officers of this Society for the 

 iv^.^t V ■ i"^? of its exi ■ • ■ " ' '''•■ '^-'•■STt '^oard. 



devotion in the discbarge of their official duties, 

 and are entitled to great credit for their mag- 

 nanimous effor s to place Illinois in the front 

 rank of all the agricultural States in the Union. 

 The Society is now directing its attention to the 

 establishment of an sgricurural museum, and 

 the Secretary is at this time visiting the several 

 portions of the State collecting specimens of 

 grains, coals, minerals, &c., ascertaining modes 

 of cultivation, average yield, adaptation of soil, 

 and other useful statistics, to be placed in endur- 

 ing quarters at the capitol for the observation 

 and improvemfnt of all. The visitor at the late 

 State Fair in Jacksonville could not fail to be 

 impressed with the usefulness of this Association. 

 He had before him evidence of the most gratify- 

 ing advancenent of the State in the ?upe iority 

 and variety of the products of the farm, tlffe gar- 

 den, the orchard and the dairy, in the improve- 

 ment of stock, in the numberless mod' Is of ma- 

 chinery and labor saving implements adapted to 

 almost every want of man, displaying ingenuity 

 and skill highly creditable to the mechanical 

 and inventive genius of the people, and showing 

 how many minds are in ceaseless thought to pro- 

 mote the comfort of man. 



SCIENTIFIC SURVET. 



A work has recently been inaugurated by the 

 leading naturalists of the State, which, if pros- 

 pwed will doubtless prove of great advantage to 

 the scientific survey now going on under the di- 

 rection of the Illinois Natural History Society. 

 Large collections in the various departments of 

 Natural History have been already made within 

 our State limits. These specimens are now being 

 deposited and carefully arranged in the museum 

 of the State Normal University, where they will 

 serve for the purposes of education in that insti- 

 tution, and will also furnish, as the work goes on, 

 new sources of useful knowledge to our citizens. 



In addition to the above, we need a geo- 

 logical survey of the soil. It is well known 

 that most of our prairie soil is what is called 

 diluvial, that it is not constant in its char- 

 acter, but differs widely in different parts of 

 of the State, and not only so, but even in 

 the same county, to map out and show the 

 location of these various drifts and their 

 practical adaption to practical products. 



In 1842, the State was in debt some sev- 

 enteen millions, with no money in the treas- 

 ury, and Auditor's warrants worth only fifty 

 cents on the dollar in a depreciated curren- 

 cy. The population was then only some 

 900,000, yet the indebtedness has been re- 

 duced to ten millions, and its population 

 doubled since that time. This has not been 

 made by commerce, by manufactures, or by 

 '" '-'"" '-re-it extent, but the most 



