98 



THE ILLIIS'OIS FAKMEE. 



Apeil 



the real — the love of home and its more 

 substantial enjoyments; and now when the 

 April showers swell the buds and send forth 

 the flowers, let us go forth with cheerfulness 

 and plant freely, that the summer may grow 

 and ripen an abundance for the autumn 

 gathering, to make glad the winter. 



•*»- 



The Normal University. 



It is with no small degree of pleasure 

 that we observe the passage of a bill 

 through our Legislature appropriating the 

 back interest of the University fund to 

 this Institution, amounting to §98,956, and 

 applied as follows : 



Sixty-five thousand to the paying of in- 

 debtedness, and the remainder to form a 

 part of the original fund. This will place 

 this Institution beyond a peradventure. The 

 grounds of the University comprise some 

 one hundred acres of excellent land ; and as 

 the Institution will now be out of debt, with 

 an ample fund, we hope the Board will lose 

 no time in applying a portion of the local sub- 

 scription to the ornamenting and beautifying 

 of the grounds. The people of Blooming- 

 ton have contributed liberally, and it is no 

 more ^han an act of justice that the proper- 

 ty thus donated should be so cared for as to 

 be the pride, not only of the donors, but of 

 the tax payers of the State. Let a portion 

 of this fund be used in the planting of tim- 

 ber belts, hedges and fruit trees, both large 

 and small. 



The necessity of timber belts is now con- 

 ceded, and let the State set an example. 

 The Silver Leaf Maple was decided to be 

 the most valuable for this purpose by the 

 State Horticultural Society, but we would 

 not be confined to this alone, but set out 

 others — short belts — to show how they will 

 flourish on the prairie. An abundance of 

 the most thrifty maples and other timber 

 trees can be had at the nurseries near at 

 hand, and if we are rightly informed, these 

 nurserymen have subscribed liberally to the 

 University. 



We hope they will have an opportunity to 

 show their skill in selecting, planting and 

 cultivating. Specimens of this kind, if well 

 attended to, will be worth thousands of dol- 

 lars to the State, and can be pointed to as 

 living samples of what can be done. 



We would Suggest to the Board to at 

 once plant a belt of the Silver Maple around 

 the tract. We do this for two or three rea- 

 sons, the maples will grow rapidly, and they 

 can be had of good size and at low prices, 

 within a short distance of the ground, and 

 the cost and risk of shipping will be avoided. 

 They can be planted this spring, and by 

 mid-summer, will make a fine appearance. 

 In the meantime the land can be fitted and 

 other trees engaged for cross belts, and 

 screens of both deciduous and evergreen 

 trees. We shall be pleased to show any of 

 the members of the Board our young hedges 

 and belts of Silver Maples, when they can 

 judge of their value. 



An Agricultural Departmlnt. — We 

 have been looking forward for some years to 

 an Agricultural Department to be attached 

 to the University. In case this should be 

 done, the tree planting will be in good taste, 

 and give well protected grounds within which 

 to make experiments in practical agriculture. 



Horticulture may also claim a share in 

 these grounds, and that too will need the 

 kindly influence of the sylvan girdle. We 

 know our friend Prof. Hovey is a lover of 

 trees, and we trust the Board will assist him 

 in laying the first foundation of rural beauty 

 on the Normal University grounds, in the 

 planting of belts of living, waving wood. 



-•••- 



— It is the opinion of the doctor that the law- 

 er gets his living by plunder, while the lawyer 

 thinks the doctor gets his by " pillage." 



— Pat thus gave bis testimony in a riot case : 

 " Bejabers, the first man I saw coming at me 

 was two brickbats." 



— A provident Irishman is going to get his 

 life insured, "so that when he dies he can have 

 something to live on, and rot be dependent on 

 the cold chfiritiea of the world as he once was." 



