n 







¥■ 



LLiNOis Farmer 



VOL. YIII. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL., DEC, 1863. 



NO. 12. 



ML:|^I> 1 



hevoticd to the 



MUM, THE ORCIIAED AXD THE QAWU, 



I'UELtSirET) BY 



BAILIIACIIE & BAKER, 



SraLN'GFIELD, ----- ILLINOIS. 



jM. IL. TyJJl^JuAJP, Editor. 



All l)usine?s letters s'luiiM be addre?secl to the 

 ■r.ljlishevs. 



T*5^ExcHANGKS nnci fill matters pertaining; to the 

 (iditorial department, must be dircctod to Illinois 

 Farmer, Clianipaign, III., as the editor resides at 

 'li:\.t point, and is seld im at the cfSce of publication, 

 iuf'.w which he is distant over eighty miles. 



*.i'^ For terms see prospectus and special liotices in 

 M dvcrtislng department. 



Floral Hall at the State Fair. 



The design aiid si;-:e of Floral Hall 

 wore IjOili cxcccdh!2;lv defoctivo. and 

 :nnst of necessity continuo so, fis lonfr 



'J 

 tliO Soclet;/ is ;i traveling sli 



To 



Ciito the State Fair and permanent im- 

 provements will le made, shingles will 

 take the place of Ijoards for the roofs, 

 and Mcass show cases for the ron::li 

 shelvino; and iairicrfect railinir for the 

 exhibition and j^roteetion of fruits and 

 works of art. The hiirh staging for 

 flowers v,'ill .o-ivo place to floral v;orks 

 afrer the manner of the exhibition of 

 tlie State Ilorticnltnral Society at Rock- 

 ford. FJoral Hall can and should be 

 the great centre of attraction at tlie 

 vState Fair. As it was, no point was so 



I solidly packed as this with moving hn- 

 manity. To get through the crowd 

 was almost impossible, showing the 

 deep interest now taken b}' our people 

 in this humanizing department of rural 

 pursuits. 



ARRANGING OF FRUITS. 



!No attempt was made in the way of 

 arranc^ino; of the corapetino- lots of 

 fruit. Each ovrner arranging his entire 

 collection toirether. thoug-h g-enerally in 

 a very tasty manner, considering the 

 absence of plates for tlie purpose. We 

 should like to see all of the lots compe- 

 ting for any particular prize, in one 

 groupc, with tlio ovrner's name and 

 place of growth printed in good sized 

 letters. This 1 wrings to mind what we 

 have often wished to see on the ground 

 a small job press vrith its fonts of type 

 to do this w^rk as needed. This should 

 be provided bv the Society and be un- 

 dor the control of a superintendent for 

 the use of the several departments, and 

 will be found one of the most useful 

 and labor r.aviT;g iu-iplements on the 

 ground. To ft ur- this hall as it oujrht 

 to be will require two to three thousand 

 dollars. 'Wc can ehalleno'e the world 

 in fruits. Then v\-hy not make them a 

 leading feature in the State Fair. 



Some persons appear to have the idea 

 that the State Horticultural Society is 

 to take the place of the State Fair in. 

 regard to the fruit show. But they 

 will find this a grave error in the end. 



