3* 
AMERICAN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE JOURNAL 
October, igoo. 
Intlon and nearly six years old. It is lo- 
cated In the midst of n great rich prairie 
country, has three (food cotton gins, numer- 
ous stores, three .churches, a school house, 
newspaper, hank, posted! ee, tunny neat 
note homes, n hcantlftil little park, ornit 
men ted with the Cmbrellu ' hlun and other 
rapidly growing tree* peculiar to the 
South, 
We stopped at the neat home of Mr, C. 
risk, the genial and efficient local mao 
nger of the Kl Ontnpo colony lands, who 
tins done such excellent work for the 
building up of the country and town, and 
that too In the face of the moat unreason 
able opposition. 
A College. 
A college has been planned by the col- 
onists, to which one wealthy gentleman, 
the owner of most nf the' colonisation 
lands, has agreed to give some f 10,000 
i" *20,0on for its nsrabHsiinu.nl, inn ow- 
ing to the great damage done the crops 
by I he excessive rains, the filmier-, no, I 
others do not now feel able to meet their 
part or the subscription*, so the work- of 
beginning the college Is postponed another 
year. 
The County. 
'I he appearance of the country for mile* 
around Kl f.'ampo Is almost ex, icily like 
that of the richest portion ot Central Illi- 
nois. It |s quite level, yet drains well if 
only u general and systematic plan will be 
followed. Two streams have their source . 
near fhp town, and coo be limited well If 
drainage purpose*. Thu sol) , n w „„ c " 
1 i o' ' . 1 th<? tn " D » ‘'black waxy." L 
while In olhers it Is n "Muck -randy," Vl ., f 
both are execeedlnglj productive, where K 
tltc ri«ds are graded up aDtl the water 
drained off the soli soon di-lee mil and 
makes good smooth rond*. but owing 
Hie lack of this many of the roads remlm 
onr of Central IlUnois twenty years ago. 
Stock. 
On account of the vast acreage of excel- 
cut wild grass, which appeared lo lie the 
regular ‘blue stem," c»lde live mi It the 
ent re year, without other feed. |„ mi 
region, covering hundred* of square miles 
“ m H Dy " h " ,,av " great 
f- i tunes and arc uow "enttle kings." ijunv 
o he*,, men live cl, he, |„ ,,„ rt 
ssis5*sr 
What the Colonist* Are Doing, 
.nis'^ora' 110 "' ' vll, ‘ ,tav ‘ ? bought laud 
carno here poor, in mauve 
Instances not beiug able to pay more than 
from one-eighth to onc-balf of the price 
'!*' op nerca of land Vet man,- „f 
barns P Tf! ° *i* T0 bouses and 
* 7L ‘ ,1V 1 “ lcc orc b«rdB, some good 
abundaml T0K - ,,,h|ft - 
r} . W * 11 ' ««twJt WaimUiur 
tl fort tliat It had been too wet. it 
lb- ds era m nra fn, ‘ ''' «'">* 
mu 1 ,y r,imly f " r Picking. The 
hiw . a.ro 0U "' h! ' 1 ' '" ,l “ ty 1,11,1 oue- 
milf bales per acre, nnd it w 
obcu. *50 per bnle^uL tlm ^d brl. « 
frequently *io to f] 5 acre K 
Production. 
The rich soil will produce corn oata 
g as*, cotton, augur cone, rtc* * 
plums, grapes, tigs, Irish potatoes, sweet 
potatoes, cabbage, and In fact nearly ev- 
erytldiig adapted to the climate. 
The growth of peach, shade, fig and 
main ether trees a* well a-- grape vine* 
and ornamental stock was almost InrwU 
tile We were shown two, four and live 
year old pem'h Ii-pcs In the orchard of 
(’apt. Bounds flint looked about the same 
Blfe ns trees twice as old In Missouri, 
Kansas or Illinois 
The rleld of cabbage and sweet potatoes 
I* simply too great to relate, 
What Some Have Done. 
Wo visited two charming farm homes 
His home was a very neat, well kept 
cotlngc, surrounded by beautiful shrub 
bery, while directly In front of the 
bouse was a most charming rose garden, 
filled with the most beautiful nml fragrant 
roses fhnt continued t» bloom nearly all 
the year. Mrs. Bounds told ns of picking a 
lovely boiique! on last New Years day 
while the Captain related picking *urue 
large straw ■berries on the muu- date 
the Captain showed us Ills seed la-iK. 
w here he had Just sown Ids cabling, • ~.-ed 
preparatory to growing the crop for m, 
winter market. It Is related tlult cabbage 
frequently pays the grower in the Coast 
country *100 per acre. 
The Captain also showed me several 
: acres of eholre sweet potatoes Mini lie 
thought would yield SOU to I0d IuikIicIh per 
acre, a* he had obtained more tlmn Mint in 
other yens. 
On n nearby farm of 80 now* lived an 
industrious young couple who bud a nice 
cottage, good barn, all well fenced, nod 
-.neb a profusion ,,f rose", other flower*, 
nriuitiienfnl shrubbery, with large peach, 
plum and pear orchard, vineyard, berry 
patch, etc., and then to think Mint It laid 
all been don*- ill about three or four years 
seemed almost Incredible, and tlmt. too, 
on a very small Investment and by a man 
w ho mime here poor. 
Wt- were told of one poor liiao, who came 
here with a family nml no money who 
rented land, and the first year produced 27 
bides of cotton, thus got a start, bought 
a farm on payments, ami now has a good 
ItiO-aere well improved and paying farm 
of his own. 
The Outlook. 
We believe (he soil and cllmnle an- fully 
ns good as Iowa, Illinois or Indiana, and 
that where the laud Is drained as It Iiiih 
been III those states. It enn be made into 
a regular garden. 
It is far enough from flic Gull' of ,\|ox 
ixo. about 40 mile*, to be safe and yet 
dose enough to have the comfort of the 
delightful, healthful and refreshing Golf 
breeze. 
The roods can be easily graded up nnd 
nlfctaoM <ln£. fully ns rliuup mh lu Imllauo 
or Illinois, and w hen Mils Is done Mm roods 
become good, even In wet weather. Wlifit 
Is needed | H several hundred families >,f 
determination, energy nnd each one with 
some ready cash lo entile here and work 
together. The Rtniggle | H „ difficult one 
here a* elsewhere without money l„ make 
a start, yet we believe the possibilities 
n the growing of entlmi, rice, stock, fruit, 
vegetables, nml general fanning are very 
great, 
VSIIAMY PATH l N TIIE TK \ A S COAST ">'•'** this limd 'wlil' be "wor.l'-'l IW "nml 
-OUMIlY. more, per acre and when It will be devel 
Mr, Sampson, near Alvin, hn* 2JI0U0 t.,„r 
mono " r ' -l ‘ nr ' 1 " rnn from' 2,(100 
-iirti-sy „f Hunt n py. 
1, 
"I'ed Into n veritable 
blossom ns III,- rose 
ml "uiiide to 
wbilJo 0 /i.. KI Cn, " po "‘’ arlj ' *wo miles, 
wb.-re tin- owners bud Bur-ly done lliclr 
hcM to make them attractive. Kart, ph.ee 
meanly by a man of limited 
“ SJS , wbnt '‘"“-v had necom- 
n , d . ' 11 1,1 m,,r, ‘ 8 '*f|>rlslog. 
jo? , 0f 1 “‘" e I’hicos was owned by Unnl 
Boumis o„ which he had a ( . sc ,.,|^ t 
field o cotton. good cm, nice cute* 
view “ Kr " Ht wtlsfiietlon lo 
the N'orMiei-n Bnclllc 
allma.l ( oinpnny 1. raid l„ have mad- 
Mol ,"„ki i'«ieii*lvi- planting „f tr.-cs over 
l» irmnied by one ,-ompany; Sao.OOO I roes 
a «‘®ng tbn right of way, 
n , N ‘‘ r,h Onkotji, while they are 
i'ear”* “ P ll " nrl >' S«».000 mor,'- nr-\l 
IX™*"* H, "‘" Tllcreiuiu cog, 
:1T aro '’-mnnhig to enquire 
00t 1 Hllfornln ami B| orWn rrult 
Is reported 
fore lOngland 
for 
