26 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



Jan. 



life, will then divide at the Alleghenies and equally 

 enrich the hills, the valleys and savannas of the 

 Bouth. 



The great laws governing the flow of population 

 are as p ilpable as those governing the physical 

 world ; and these laws should be studied and heed- 

 ed by our leg'slatorsif they desire to populate and 

 develop, equally, every pur* of our country. Men 

 who have been oppressed in the Old World, and 

 have yet ma hood enough left to seek a free life in 

 the New, will not settle in the mild latitudes of the 

 south, where l:ibor is legally degraded, but go, 

 thouiih it be to the forests and winter snows of the 

 northwest, where hibor is honorable in all. 



Now, in respect to the south, with its magaifi- 

 cent zones of climate and naturally fertile soil, 

 there is no question but that her agricultural pro- 

 ducis and general prosperity will be vastly increas- 

 ed by the new condition of things imposed upon 

 her by the rebellion. Terrible as is the ordeal, 

 time, moderation, freedom and imdustry will be the 

 great healers and rectifiers ; so that it shall be 

 seen that even war offers its compensations as well 

 as peace. Plantations that now contain from three 

 to five thousand acres of land will be divided into 

 farms of from three to five hundred acres, which 

 can be more easily and better tilled, and made far 

 more productive. While the south will continue 

 to grow the great staples, such as cotton, sugar 

 and rice, many other semi-tropical productions 

 may be introduced, of equal value, and more easily 

 cultivated, together with all the cereals, grasses, 

 fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone. 



HOW STATISTICS ARE OBTAINED. 



About two thousand circulars, with questions 

 plainly put, and requiring but simple answers, have 

 been sent monthly to correspondents in every 

 State and almost every settled county, the replies 

 to which, requiring much labor in their compila- 

 tion and arrangement, have been, with reports on 

 the weather from observors of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, and with other timely suggestions from 

 the department, published monthly, ten to fifteen 

 thousand in number, and spread over every portion 

 of the country. 



The success attending the first attempt of our 

 government to collect the agricultural statistics of 

 the country is attested by the newspaper press all 

 over the land, commercial and political, as well as 

 agricultural ; and is an indication of what might 

 be done in a well arranged plan, provided for by 

 Congress, and carried out by governmental aid. 

 There have been issued in all about 20,000 circu- 

 lars of inquiry ; and sent out TO.OOO monthly re- 

 ports. 



WHO GET THE SEEDS. 



The whole number of packages of seeds, cereals, 

 Ac, distributed, is about 1,200,000. Of these over 

 half a million were sent or given directly to those 

 applying for them. About 300,000 to agricultural 

 societies. About 40,000 were quart packages of 

 wheat and other cereal grains ; about 950,000 gar- 

 den and flower seeds ; about 120,000 tobacco seed, 

 and the remainder cotton, flax, &c. 



The anxiety of the people of the country to ob- 

 tain the seeds, and the satisfaction manifested at 

 their reception, and the resulting productions, are 

 a suflScient attestation that the distribution of val- 

 uable seeds by the department is a recognized cus- 



tom and duty which may not be abandoned, the 

 complaints of captious or interested parties to the 

 contrary notwithstanding. And I hazard nothing 

 in saying, that in no department of this government 

 does the expenditure of a like sum confer upon so 

 large a proportion of the people anything like the 

 same amount of pleasure and substantial enjoy- 

 ment. 



ABOUT THE GARDEN. 



The propagating and experimental garden, a 

 most important branch of this department, in for- 

 mer years suffered much through incompetency 

 and neglect. In order to remedy these evils, and, 

 in so far as it may be possible, to make up for lost 

 time, I have taken great pains to secure the servi- 

 ces of a gentleman eminently well kmown in the 

 department of science needed, to carry on success- 

 fully, the experiments to be made. 



During the year there have been distributed 

 from the gardens of the department about 25,'750 

 articles comprising vines, bulbs, cuttings and 

 plants. About one-half of these were distributed 

 through members of Congress ; the remainder has 

 been sent for dissemination by agricultural and 

 other rural associations. 



Just the Thing. — The limited facilities of the 

 present garden greatly reiard the full developmant 

 of this object. It is highly necessary to establish 

 specimen orchards of the best fruits, in order to il- 

 lustrate the best modes of culture, and arrive at a 

 correct knowledge of the nomenclature of varieties 

 of fruits. This want is now severely felt, and its 

 fulfillment would be hailed with genuine delight by 

 all who are fully alive to the growing importance 

 of fruit culture. 



We want an experimental farm in each State of 

 the Union. Not a pattern farm, by any means, but 

 one on which the various trees, plants and farm 

 products, both new and old, can be tested and 

 compared , and where also the various modes of 

 culture could be tried side by side. Wc hope the 

 grant of lands will do something to teach agricul- 

 ture ; but in this we want experience. — Ed. 



At Alton.— When at Alton attending the Stato 

 Aorticultural Society winter meeting, the commit- 

 tee on reception assigned us to the care of H. C. 

 Sweetser, Esq., whose hospitality we enjoyed dur- 

 ing the session, and who will please accept our 

 thanks. On such occasions we generally report for 



tVie , which pretty fully occupies our time 



and have made it a rule to occupy a room at some 

 hotel, but in this case we had all the benefits of a 

 hotel and excellent society, not only in the host 

 but in several visitors who were taken in in the 

 some manner. We can say that Alton is a good 

 place to hold such meetings. The people are more 

 or less interested in horticulture and fruit growing 

 and have taken a deep interest in these winter 

 meetings. They have done themselves great cred- 



