1861. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



263 



society ore wise to pursue their onward progress 

 and cof'inue to hold out awardsfor the improve- 

 ment and the beautifying of our homes. 



July 29rh. A day of rest after a wtek on the 

 cats ;iud in rambling through orchards and over 

 Lug" farms, is a luxury, as well as a nece.-sify. 

 Were ii not for this seventh day we wiuM have 

 DO slopping places in the journty of life, no 

 breati.itig t^pell, no enjiymeut of the beautiful, 

 but a tii€'Ifi<8 task like tiie coniiuuous running of 

 a liv. r. Surely the Sabbath was made f>r the 

 farmer, that he coul i re^t him from labor s nd 

 ar.miri' the liandiwork of ilie Creator, wliether 

 in the waving branches of the leafy forest that, 

 sends forih its grate ul shade to that out the 

 beat of tie summer sun, or shield him from the 

 winlei- blast. 



Our c>:,uise is now northward, where Michigan 

 comes to grasp the cotiimerce of the West ; rough 

 iu I er boisterous moods, but i;ow placid as a sea 

 of innltin glass, she sends forth no cool breeze to 

 ki-s till' land or the br.w of Ubor, and along her 

 gh )re ilio irdent sun pours out his heat as from 

 a furnaie, sending the OiCrcury in the shade up 

 to a hundred, nnd putting a premium on the ice 

 that the w.nter king had widely provided for the 

 octas.uii. Shade and ice to ward olf the heat o^ 

 the sumuier sun, and belts of forest to sheltc'- us 

 from the wiater wind. The tree planter has a 

 task bef. re him, but it is a pleasant one, nor 

 fihuuid there be any laggards among them. 



July 30th. At eight o'clock a. m. all of the 

 nun.ibsr of the con-mitlee took seats n the cars 

 of the lake shore road for Waukegan, and at 

 Evaiiston were joined by Mr C l> Bragdon, the 

 western editor if the Rural N'eiv Yorker. A plea- 

 sant ride of two hours along the fore-t skirted 

 shore of t' elake, passing several pretty subuiban 

 towiis we were duly set down at W; uk.gan, the 

 " Little Fort " of tje olden tin-e. Her-; the butt- 

 ing cliffs encro ich close on the lako and upon 

 ■ffhich s:aDds the beautiful city of Waukegan. — 

 Years ago, befure greyhiirs had invaded our 

 brow, T^e t ad spent a week's fish ng on the shore 

 and l;ad wandered through th« forest aisles where 

 Htw stiii.ds the city, but a few years ago an'l this 

 Vas a part 0^ the unbroken forest that swept up 

 the Chic^igo liver and joined hands with the vast 

 wihls of the north. > ow we have broad, well 

 pfive'l streets, lined with stores and shops, and 

 our or the din of business hundreds of residences 

 S'lrrn nidf'd with the waving drapery ot f'lrest 

 and flora! verdure. Certainly this ciiy, in point 

 of picturesque beauty, is not surpassed, and for 



the luxury of fruit and beautiful homes haa 

 few equiils. At the end of one of the main 

 streets 'eading north, we come to 'h'^ be^u ifal 

 grounds of Robert Douglas, gr:ici>fnl wv'ks of 

 the lake gravelwinds among magnifiotutc 'niferi*, 

 pears and dwarf apples loaded wU fruit, fl inked 

 with shrubs and flowering plants, '-elision lly 

 relieved with a pach of lawn with its closely 

 fhaven blue grass carpet. It is a fairy pic'ure, 

 a comminaling of the useful and the ornamental, 

 all diaped-in beauty. No professional landscape 

 garden had a hand in this — it was esi^ned fur 

 use — but it has gr.iwn up a place of beiuty. The 

 specimens of Austrian, Scotch and white pine 

 standing si igly on the lawn and in frmt of the 

 house are among the largest spe'^'inens in the 

 State, while tie Balsam and Black Spruce from 

 our northern fure-t are urexcel'ed ; in fact, one 

 specimen of the American Bbick Spruce, twerity 

 feet high, cannot be surpassed by any of the Eu- 

 ropean Norways, its drooping, graceful branches 

 can but challenge the admiration of all. A f w 

 years since the grounds were covf-red with a 

 heavy oak forest, but this was cleared iiflF and the 

 stumps grubbed out, the surface leveled, walks 

 laid out and the grounds planted. In the east ia 

 the 1 ke, now presenting its peac'-ful mood as it 

 reflects the sun, with the thermometer at 97° in 

 the shade, to the north and west the forest is 

 driven back a mile, but not so that its kindly in- 

 fluence is yet felt in winter and early spring — 

 Never have we seen grounds more conveniently 

 planned^ and so well planted as ihfse. Walks 

 bordered with fruit and flowes, cluniiis of coni- 

 fers, of pears, and of dwarf apple , fring- d with 

 small fruits. Among the pears, Bartlett. Louise 

 Bonne de Jersey and Flemish B.»auty, sre the 

 favorites, and well they may bf*, for th -y are 

 loaied with fine specmens of mtlting fniif. The 

 cherry slug has been sorae~hat anoymg, on b^th. 

 cher y and other trees. The remedy is simple : 

 Spt inkle the trees in the middle o the day with 

 dry dirt, simply dust it on the leaves infes'eil, 

 the dry earth adheres to the slimy coat of the 

 slug and kills him. Some specimens of the na- 

 tive Inrch are very fine, but thi-- we think duf the 

 sheltered situation, and we would not n com- 

 mend their planting when the European can be 

 obtained, as they are in all respects mucii more 

 desirabie. A small shrub of the Japan Q lince 

 is loaded with fruit — a rare occurr nee in this 

 part of the world. The yollow ^ibfiian crab 

 should oftener find a place in our ornamental 

 grnunds. The tree itself is beautiful ui /"rm, ia 

 foliage, in bloom and in fruit, presenting through 



