w^ 



.-■H- 



1864. 



THE ILLmOIS FARMER 



197 



of it thousands of miles tf valuable fence, especial- 

 ly in all low, moist lands, where the osage will not 

 thrive : - , . 



Lisbon, May 30, '64. 



F. K. Phcekix : — I returned home from the north 

 on Saturday last, and was much surprised and 

 grieved to see the article in the Rural New Yorker. 

 I well remep-ber, when on the way to the Fair at 

 Rockford, conversing with Brogdon about the wil- 

 low speculation, and naturally about the cheats 

 which had been practiced. We ?poke of the accu- 

 sation against you, which I had before on several 

 occasions heard mentioned by different persons, 

 but I distinctly stated that I did not and could not 

 believe it. Neither Friend B. or any other person 

 can say that I have ever mentioned this except 

 (when introduced) to express plainly "my opinion 

 of its being without foundation. I neither do or 

 have ever believed the report, or ever given the 

 impression to others that I did so. Friend Biag- 

 don has unintentionally mixed me up with this 

 matter, with those, if any, who are inclined to 

 credit the rumor. 



I will write him to-day. I very much regret that 

 such rumors should arise, and have never aided in 

 any way their circulation as reflecting against your 

 reputation. I hope you will soon establish your 

 honor in this regard, and that this matter may 

 not prove any serious injury to you. 



Yours truly, 



(Signed) 0. B. Galtjsha. 



From the Country Gent. 



The Apple Convention. 



A VISION. 



As I was sitting one afternoon in my study, (my 

 physician having forbidden the use of my eyes, and 

 my amanuensis having left me for the day.) my 

 thoughts as I sat musing naturally ran over what 

 I had just been listening to — the proceedings of 

 the Fruit Growers' Society of Western New York, 

 the Illinois Horticultural Society, &c. Various 

 objects flitted before my vision in this state of half 

 consciousness — fruit trees — orchards — piles of rud- 

 dy specimens — crowds of men engaged in discus- 

 sion — until, assuming a distinct form, I found my- 

 self in a large and brilliant hall with a crowded au- 

 dience, reminding me of seme of the meetings of 

 the American Pomological Society. A large num- 

 ber of persons sat on the platform, many of them 

 rather singular in appearance, mostly with round, 

 ruddy faces, although a few of them bore a deci- 

 dedly sour expression. I inquired of a gentleman 

 at my side who these individuals were — he told me 

 they were certain candidates to public favor, many 

 of whom considered themselves as having been 

 misrepresented or aspersed by the community, and 



that this convention had been called to allow tl.em 

 to present their jnst claims and to make their de- 

 fence, and that the body of the convention consist- 

 ed of orchardists and fruit-growers from all parts 

 of the country. Some of these fruit-grower.s he 

 stated, felt considerable hostility to a portion of 

 the gentlemen on the platform, and they had ecme 

 there with the express purpose of having them re- 

 moved. 



On looking about the hall, I could not fail to ob- 

 serve its brilliant appearance — the chandeliers 

 were tastefully hung with beautiful strings and 

 festoons of grapes, while rich hanging baskets were 

 displayed in various directions loaded with fruit. 

 This fruit was arranged with the richest and most 

 tasteful combination of colors I had ever seen — 

 the fine, purple bloom-dustod plums, the crimson 

 of peaches and nectarines, the brilliant scarlet of 

 some of the handsome apples, golden colored apri- 

 cots and pears, and the various tinted grapes were 

 arranged with a richness of combination hardly 

 exceeded by the colors of the rainbow. The v.-^Jls 

 were decorated with fine paintings of fruit, views 

 of loaded fruit trees, gardens and orchards, i-nd 

 portraits of several distinguished pomologists. — 

 While I was intently observing these objects, the 

 convention had organized by the appointment of 

 a dignified and venerable gentleman as chairman, 

 whom I discovered at a glance to be no other tl-an 

 the present head officer of the American Pemolo- 

 gicitl Society ; and the Secretaries were our exc:-I- 

 lent friend Charles Downing, and the intelligt iit 

 and energetic Barry of the Mount Hope nurseries 

 at Eoches or 



The chairman called the convention to order, 

 and opened the business as toUows : "Gentlemen 

 Fruit Growers and Orchardists of the United States 

 — we have met to perform a most important and, I 

 trust, lasting service to the whole American co:n- 

 rcunity. My worthy friends whem you see now as- 

 sembled upon this platform, have rendered to soma 

 of you their most valuable services; and I imi 

 sorry to learn that in some instances these services 

 have either been unappreciated or else have rciilly 

 possessed but slight intrinsic value. We have met 

 to settle this difference, and, without further re- 

 mark on my part, I shall proceed to introduce to 

 you the occupants of the platform that they mrxy 

 speak for themselves." With this remark he beck- 

 oned to a gentleman who sat near him, who imme- 

 diiitely rose and come forward. I was at once 

 struck with his appearance — there was an air of 

 confidence and self satisfaction both in his su-p, 

 and the round, healthy, ruddy appearance of his 

 countenance, which indicated that he had long 

 been a recipient of public favor. The chairman 

 announced him as "Mr. Baldwin, from Massachu- 

 setts," when he spoke as follows: "Gentlemen, you 

 will bear me witness, or at least many of you will, 

 that for many years, past I ^have been your best 

 friend. I have enabled you to obtain larger re- 

 turns from your land, wherever you have employed 

 me in your service, than any other gentleman bo- 

 fore you— although I see one of my friends he: e 

 from Rhode Island, and another from Roxbury 

 shake their heads at this remark — they shall be 

 heard for themselves at the right time. You my 

 travel through the whole length and breadth of 

 the New England States, you may visit New Yor!-, 

 and even Michigan, and you will find but one voice 



