332 



THE ILLmOlS FAEMEK. 



Nov. 



in 6uch locations. Almost every resident of a 

 village or city having a Fmall lot can keep bees 

 in this hive, and if ha would consult his interest 

 he will save the honey going to waste about him. 

 Bee culture slieuld receive more attention than 

 heretofore. 



On the platforni is a large collection of coni- 

 fers. Mrs. F. T. Atwater shows a vase of flow- 

 ers of large size and high merit. M s. Dr. J. Asa 

 Kennicott of Kenwood thows collections of an- 

 terrhinums, double balsams, verbenas, asters, 

 ever-asting flo-wcrs, native wild flowers, the only 

 collection of those in the hall, Japan pinks, bo- 

 quets of cut greenhouse flowers, and a collection 

 of hand and tnble boquets. The boquets and 

 baskets of flowers were gotten up by Mrs. K., 

 are second to none in the hall, Mrs. K. also has 

 the only collection of preservedfruits, jellies and 

 native wines, all of which are highly creditable, 

 and shows vhat can be done by our suburban 

 residents, when they have the will and taste to 

 make the efi'ort. 



E. B. McCagg, Efq., by his gardener Heinrich 

 Kantzo, shows a fine collection of tropical plants 

 from the greeDDOuse, including Bigoneas, Fern?, 

 Cannas, etc. It is seldom that we see so fine a 

 collection of well grown plants. 



Samuel Brooks, ihe oldest florest in Chicago, 

 shows a general coUecticn of greenhouse plants, 

 including cacti, orchids, roses, geraniums, and 

 Australian j>iautg. 



Mis M. Blocks, daughter of S. Brooks, has a 

 good show of artiSeial wax flowers. 



A GUMIiO DINNKE. 



Dr. Kennicott, the "Old Doctor," discovered 

 in the vegetable collection of J. Periam, a lot of 

 Okrs, or, as it is known at the South, "Gumbo." 

 No sooner had the Doctor made this discovery 

 than he posted off to the neighboring restaurants 

 in search of somebody competent to make of this 

 Okra and other compound, the dish called "Gum- 

 bo." His search was successful, and at 1 oclock 

 some dozen of tLe Doctor's invited guests eat 

 down to test this favorite Southern dish. All 

 pronounced it excellent, and agreed in their own 

 minds that they would hereafter incorporate okra 

 among the useful vegetables o' their gardens. 



This vegetable is easily grown, and the young 

 pods, cooked as served up yesterday, need only 

 to be known to be appreciated. Henceforth we 

 go for ^Timbo soup. 



WINES. 



The show of native wines is limited to a few 

 doien bottles. W. C. Hauford, of Rockford, took 



the fi-st premium on Catawba. In current wines 

 the competition was more brisk, but most of the 

 samples were either too new or spoiled with too 

 little currant juice and too much sugar. Mr. W. 

 G. Ferguson, of Rock River, took the first premi- 

 um, no others being given, the vote on the sam- 

 ples being too low to enti;le them to a premium. 

 The premium wine was made of half water and 

 half currant juice, and four pounds of brown su- 

 gar to the gallon, and otherwise made in the 

 usual way. We call this a good wine, but it would 

 have been better If no water and less sugar had 

 been used; forty gallons of currant juice and one 

 hundred pounds of sugar. Our people will learn 

 how to make wine out of our small fruits, but 

 like all other branches of busine?8 they must first 

 take lessons. 



TIIIBD DAY 



The third day of the Fair was a better success 

 ) than any previous day. Considering, however, 

 that the proceeds are to be devoted to the relief 

 of our sick and wounded soldiers, and that the 

 exhibition of fruits and flowers has never been 

 surpassed in the West, it has not met with the 

 encouragement it deserves. The main floor of 

 the hall is a tangled maze of verdure and floral 

 beauty, redolent with sweet perfumes. Gor- 

 geous dahlias of every conceivable hue, the most 

 delicate of roses sweet scented verbenas, tinged 

 with ail the colors of the rainbow, gracefully 

 drooping ferns, gigantic shrubs, in the umbrage 

 of which one might repose; strange tropical 

 plants of wondrous beauty, all the flowers of the 

 garden and green house, bowers of evergreen 

 spangkd with starry flowers, wreaths and fes- 

 toons, and long tables groaning with vegetable 

 wealth — the mammoth productions of our rich 

 prairie soil, form a collection of surpassing beau- 

 ty and interest. 



The galleries are loaded with fruit — every va- 

 riety of grape, rosy peaches, as large aa one 

 fist, tempting pears, mammoth apples, wines, jel- 

 lies and canned fruits, swimming "in lucid syr- 

 ups tinct with cinnamon." The man who passes 

 through that gallery with "hands off," must be a 

 model of morality, and qualified to enter any in- 

 stitution having in view the inculcation of vir- 

 tue. 



In our report yesterday, we gave Mr. T. F* 

 Baldwin credit for the fine display of conifers. 

 This was in part an error, as Mr. B. is the own- 

 er of the four arbor vitaj, so much admired for 

 their symmetrical form and glossy foliage, The 

 other conifers are shown by F. K. Phenix, of 

 Bloomington. This collection nmbraces nearly 



