-"TT^^IJWJI 



268 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Sept. 



into. There app-ars no otber way than to grow 

 a supply for them. 



OSAPES. 



In the garden of Mr. Willson, near by, we saw 

 some of the most vigorous vices of the Isabella 

 that wc have seen, and such branches of fruit in 

 the open air we did Eot suj,pose possible. We 

 could hardly 1 elieve our evFS, yet here was the 

 fruit, color and form of the leaf of the tree Isa- 

 bella, but the size of both fruit and leaf stagger- 

 ed us. Mr. W. would not admit more than un- 

 derdraining aud the spade in his culture. If this 

 is true we would advise vineyard culture along 

 the slopes of these lake steppes, for the genial 

 hills of Cincinnati are no match for them. The 

 soil is a clay loam, friable and yielding in its 

 compositioi:. Mr. W.'s fruit trees areloaded with 

 fruit beyond anything we have seen. Certainly 

 there is some advantage of either soil or culture, 

 but our visit was confined to a short morning 

 hour before the leaving of the train. Here in a 

 few rods square was no small amount of grapes, 

 plums, pears and apples, and the finest lot of 

 vegetables, sweet potatoes included. We often 

 hear farmers talk of thes-e retired city folk, as 

 though they knew little of the culture of the soil. 

 But they forget that ihey arc investigating men, 

 and soon dive into the hidden mysteries of deep 

 tillage, thorough culture and composting of fer 

 tilizers, and before they are aware they are^head 

 in size and quali y of products. Of course there 

 18 a class of city parvenues who aflFect to know 

 everything, and who really know nothing nor 

 never will. 



A tide cf four miles brought us to Evanston, 

 at which point we met Mr. H. M. Kidder, of the 

 firm of 



K TDER & KNOX, 



And the managing partner of the firm. They 

 have forty-five acies underdrained wth pipe tile, 

 all of which is being prepared for small fruits. 



THE SOIL 



Is a low marshy fiat, of the most unpromising 

 description of no great value for grass, andinits 

 natural condition nsele.'-s for culture, except a 

 narrow ridge near the lake, which is sandy and 

 produces good crnp.-s of vegetables when well ma- 

 nured. Tlie fall in 110 rods is but five feet; all the 

 water that f \lls on the surface must be evapora- 

 ted or slowly find its way to the North Branch of 

 the Chicago river. The land I'es about thirty 

 feet above the lake. The sand ridge before noted 



is some fifteen feet high, and at its base for some 

 distance the spring forms a swampy soil which is 

 composed mainly of quicksand, but so soon as 

 we come on to the clay flat, there is little ap- 

 pearance of water even in the deep drains so in- 

 durated is this cemented sand, gravel and clay, 

 that forms the subsoil. The farm contains over 

 two hundred acres, forty five of which have been 

 drained. The main drain is sunk four feet deep 

 and is formed of inch pine stuff, with an inside 

 opening of six inches, into this the side drains 

 are discharged. These are sunk three and a half 

 feet, but are kept to regular grades, nnd in some 

 places are five feet deep At the 'listance of two 

 feet is a tlin layer of quick.=and just under the 

 peaty soil, where the almost impermeab'e subsoil 

 is met, into which the tile is sunk a foot and a 

 half. The drains are placed four rods apart, 

 which Mr. K, considers ample. Puring I eavy 

 rains an immense amount of water ii disch;.rged, 

 but as the soil becomes weathered down, its sur- 

 face more retentive and the subsoil more yield- 

 ing, this will be changed and the water more 

 slowly discharged. The tough fraiiie sod is first 

 br'>ken in the usual manner, and in the following 

 spring the land is plowed eiglit inches deep and 

 subsoiled to a depth, in all, of twenty-two iuches. 

 To give some idea of the solid nature of this 

 sub>oil we have but to fecia- to ihe level above 

 the lake, which is about thirty feet, aud t!,en to 

 state that the well is sunk sixty feet v, ithoiil fur- 

 nishing more than a moderaie supply of indiffer- 

 ent water impregnated wiih suits of uon. The 

 si'il is acrid and will require thorough acretion 

 before it will be valuable for all cv:>ps. Of this ■ 

 forty- five acres two acres are set to Brinkle's Or- 

 ange raspberry, plants set two and a hal' feet in 

 the rows, and the rows five feet apart. Thfiee 

 are making a good growth, set last spnng Ten 

 acres -re set to ftrawberries, five of which are 

 nearly destroyed by the white grub. This part 

 of the giound had been slightly roan ired. AVill- 

 son's Albany and Triomph d"Gand are the varie- 

 ties set. The growth has been remarkably good 

 consid- ring the newness of the soil. Ten acres 

 were set to the American Bbck Cap ra«pberry 

 last spring, but from some cause, probably from 

 lae seuing, a large share of the plants failed to 

 grow. Twelve acres were last yc ar set to the 

 Lowton bl ickberry, and which have made a mod- 

 erate growth. An acre set to rhubarb has made 

 a remarkable growth, the soi appearing to be 

 well adaiited to it. On this soil potatoes thrive, 

 but crvrn is no favorite. 



In working his grounds Mr. K. uses a one- 

 horse subsoil plow and esteems it highly. It 



