118 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



April 



farmer in Iowa says : We have near here a nur- 

 sery of 100,000 saleable fruit trees, 15,000 grape 

 Tines a large stock of the most superb evergreens, 

 with other valuable shrubs, trees, a-d plant--, to 

 match, and though he sells apple trees of varie- 

 ties that have been proved the best adapted to 

 the climate, at tvrelve dollars per hundred, yet 

 the tree pedlers sell all kind«, whether valuable 

 or not, and obtain twenty dollars a hundred. 

 Concord Grapes, that the nursery furnishes at 

 four for a dollar, sell at one dollar and a half 

 each, and while the evergreen stand in the rows 

 unsold at three for a dollar, the pedlers sell hun- 

 dreds at from one to two dollars each, and in most 

 cases worthless from exposure in the boxes, as it 

 is well known that the least exposure of the roots 

 of evergreens, prove fatal to the tree. Dwarf 

 apples at fity to seventy-five cents, that the 

 nurseryman is t' rowing out of his rows as worth- 

 less in this climate. This is only fireside talk for 

 your private ears. It is too great a shame on 

 our people to speak of it in public, as I trust that 

 such gross ignorance of the value of trees in a 

 reading community like this, must soon come to 

 an end, and our farmers and others wake up to 

 their true interest. It would appear that a 

 nurseryman, like a prophet, is not without honor 

 save in his own country. Can you tell us how 

 long we must thus be inflicted ? 



We can only answer that time alone will cure 

 this tree mania. Why, bless your dpar soul, 

 hundreds of thousands of trees from the river 

 nurseries of Iowa have been sold in all parts of 

 the west, as Eastern trees. A half a dozen men 

 residing in Illinois or otherwheres, enter into an 

 agreement to tell trees; they get up a catalogue 

 healed the "Rochester Nur^^eries, by J. Jones 

 & Co.," or the " Dayton Ohio Nurseries of John 

 Frank & Co." With these catalogues they travel 

 for orders, in the meantime one of the number 

 looks after the trees to fill the orders. An Iowa 

 nurspry is purchased to supply the apple trees 

 and other standard fruits, which are labelled tr 

 suit the wishes of customers; a row of Rarabo 

 or Sweet June going out under twenty different 

 names. The ornamentals are procured, in most 

 instances, further east, sometimes at Rochester 

 or Syracuse, the orders are duly packed — marked 

 to destination with the imposing label " From 

 Rochester Nurseries" or "Dayton Nurseries" as 

 the case may be. Some of these packages go to 

 the next station, some of them to the same village, 

 and others longer distances. Central and West- 

 ern Iowa thus purchase thousands of dollars 

 worth of Iowa grown trees, while Missouri, Kan- 



sas, and the river counties of Illinois, come in 

 for a share. The tree peddlar is not confined to 

 the east, for we have a good supply of them here, 

 and we believe that the largest number of this 

 class of petty swindlers are residents of the 

 west, and deal largely in western trees. 



There is another class of men for whom we have 

 more respect, and those are the agents of reliable 

 nurseries both east and west. These men receive 

 a commission in most cases and sell at regular 

 prices, and the principles are responsible for the 

 correctness of the varieties sent out. 



To return to other humbugs, the war has furn- 

 ished such ample scope for this class of persons, 

 that they have almost ceased to prey upon tLe 

 planting public. New grapes have lost their 

 attraction at five dollars, and brabdignay straw- 

 berries are running to waste. A fizzle on tree 

 cotton, a faint effort with Illinois coffee, and we 

 must wait the close of the war for a new growth 

 of humbugs. 



-*»- 



Medical Examinee, Chicago, $2 00. This 

 is a valuable work to the medical profession ; we 

 will not say regular for that point is claimed by 

 the several parties of the day. Prof. N. S. 

 Davis and Frank W. Reilly, editors. A monthly 

 of sixty-four octavo pages, embracing a great 

 variety of va'uable information to the practi- 

 tioner. 



••> 



Architecture. — G. P. Randal', Architect of 

 Chicago, has placed on our table a paniphlet con- 

 taining a large number of elevations of buildings 

 lithographed in that city. Now-a-days no build- 

 ings of any pretensions is constructed without 

 the aid of the architect, and the result is a deci- 

 ded improvement in our style of building. Our 

 well to do farmers would do well to consult them 

 oftener than they do in the plan on contrivance 

 of their homes. 



On the first of April there were ten prize 

 vessels at Key West awaiting trial. 



B^„Be shure you are right, then go ahead. 



MoDEBN Definitions. — Oversight — to leave 

 your old umbrella in a hall and carry away a 

 new one. 



Unfortunate Man — one born with a con- 

 science. 



Progress of Time — a peddler going through 

 the land with wooden clocks. 



Rigid Justice — a juror on a murder case fast 

 asleep. 



