28 



THE ILLmOIS FAHMER 



Jan. 



for instance, the Yellow Bellflower apple, give its 

 pomological description with out lines, the form 

 and peculiar growth of the tree ; the soils best 

 adapted to it, and the location where it is cultivat- 

 ed ; in fact to completely exhaust the subject. We 

 C||e not if this one fruit occupies a dozen pages, no 

 matter, we want all that can be said in its favor 

 and against it, where it will flourish and where it 

 will not. Let the book be filled with our leading 

 fruits, until a dollar volume is reached, when send 

 it out into the world, and the next year another, 

 each year CKperience will furnish material for a 

 book of fruits that will go to make up a history 

 of fruits that will have a permanent value. Down- 

 ing as a catalogue cannot be dispensed with. Barry 

 and Thomas on culture are valuable, and what we 

 now want is the history and value of individual 

 fruits. 



The Illinois State Horticultural Society meet at 

 Alton this month, and we trust this subject in hand 

 and encourage its prompt execution. 



Catalogcks Received. — Parsons &. Flushing, N. 

 Y. Wholesale standard and small fruits. Also 

 list of exotic plants. 



Andrew S. Fuller, Brooklyn, N. Y. Strawberry 

 Catalogue. Also one for small fruits and orna- 

 mental trees and plants. 



Rev. J. Knox, Pittsburg, Pa., strawberries and 

 grapes. 



J. C. Maxwell & Bro, Geneva, N. Y., general 

 nursery stock, wholesale and retail. 



David J. GrisQom, Woodbury, N. J., evergreen 

 and ornamental trees. 



F. K. Phoenix. Bloomington, 111., general nar- 

 sery Stock, probably the largest in the State. 



E. Moody and Son, Lockport, N. Y., general 

 stock, largely of pears. 



Hooker, Farley & Co., standard fruits and grape 

 vines at wholesale. 



*. John G. Teas, Raysville, Ind., general nursery 

 stock. 



Babcock & Bro., Summerfield, 111., general nur, 

 sery stock. 



H. E. Hooker & Co., Rochester, general nursery 

 stock. 



Henry A. Dreer, Philadelphia, Pa., select list of 

 bulbous flower roots. 



James Vick, Rochester, N. Y., flower and vege- 

 table seeds. 



Frost & Co., Rochester, N. Y., general nursery 

 stock. 



A. G. Handford & Bro., Columbus, Ohio, general 

 nursery stock. 



Norman J. Colman, St. Louis, Mo., general nur- 

 sery stock. 



Joseph N. Wertford, Cambridge City, Ind., gen- 

 eral nursery stock, 



Starr & Case, Indianopolis, Ind., farm imple- 

 ments and wagons. 



J. M. Bailey, Flattsburg, N. Y., Adirondick 

 grape. 



Cowles, Roberts & Co., Syracuse, N. Y., nurse- 

 ry stock. 



Carbon Coal Mines J 

 December 27, 1863. J 



3f. L. Dunlap, Exq : 



Dear <Sir— Your very kind note in relation to the 

 Christmas-tree, was received yesterday, and I beg 

 to offer my sincere thanks for the pleasure you 

 have enabled me to give to more than a hundred 

 children. The tree arrived in fine order, and is 

 not only a most beautiful specimem of its kind, but 

 admirably suited to the purpose. I never saw one 

 more so. It did duty twice — on Christmas Eve, 

 for forty Belgiam children, not one of whom can 

 speak a word of English, and again the next eve- 

 ning, for between 60 and 10 of the mixed kind — 

 Welsh, German, Irish and American — who make 

 up my other Sunday School On such occasions 

 every one is sure to turn out, even to the smallest 

 toddler. The tree was brilliantly lighted with 

 candles cut small for the purpose, and in addition 

 to these was hung, on the first evening, only with 

 packages of bonbons, whose white paper and gay 

 ribbons formed a lovely contrast with the dark foli- 

 age of the tree, and with apples that looked as nat- 

 ural as if they had grown there. The next evening 

 the decorations were more elaborate, consisting, 

 besides the candy, of books, pin-cushions, dolls, 

 toys, &c., and it would have done your heart good 

 on both occasions, to have seen the delight of the 

 little creatures, not one of whom had ever witness- 

 ed sueh a sight before. They walked round and 

 round the tree in rapt admiration, and when they 

 had feasted their eyes on its beauties and it had 

 been stripped of its gifts, we adjourned to the par- 

 lor, sang our Sabbath School hymns, and had some 

 refreshments. On the whole, it was a most perfect 

 success. I had enquired about here in every di- 

 rection without hearing of a single evergreon. I 

 have had the tree planted in our yard, hoping that 

 it may live to be both a beautiful ornament, and a 

 lasting memorial of the occasion. Its having 

 weathered such storms already encourages me to 

 hope that it will not resent the " change of base,,' 

 and the being compelled to bear such unaccus- 

 tomed fruit for a short time. 



Wishing you and yours all a Happy New Year, I 

 remain very truly vours, 



Miss E. S. K. 



Such care for the children of those who delve in 

 the dark mine, will have its reward, not only, in 

 the hearts of those who ministered to it, but in the 

 making of better men and women. It is seldom 

 that the children of the laborer have so rich a treat 

 on the day that their fathers have so long and so 

 joyfully celebrated, as the one above mentioned. 

 We receive our coal from this mine, and when we 

 fill the grate shall often cast a thought after the 

 children of the sturdy miners whose Christmas was 

 so joyfully kept. 



