50 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
of Short Horns, Devons, and grade cattle, a 
few Cotsvvold, Southdown, and a grand as¬ 
sortment of Merino sheep, horses, mules, 
and jacks, and jennies. Fruits were abund¬ 
ant., and like all of western growth, of enor¬ 
mous size, but of lessened flavor on that ac¬ 
count, yet beautiful and reliable specimens. 
There were apples weighing two pounds, 
Dutches d’Angouleme pears weighing two 
pounds and two ounces, and osage oranges 
quite as heavy. Stalks of the osage orange 
were exhibited of this season’s growth, ten 
feet long, and as large at the butt as a broom¬ 
stick. By the way, this is becoming a sub¬ 
ject of prominent attention with the prairf 
farmers—and that comprehends pretty much 
the whole State—for hedging. From pres¬ 
ent appearances, and the results of their re¬ 
cent trials, we think the experiment will be 
successful. Hundreds of miles of osage 
are already planted. Men contract to plant 
and grow it into a sufficient hedge for a given 
price per rod or mile. This is the right way. 
Among the mules exhibited we saw one pair, 
price $800, beautifully matched fillies, dark 
brown, which we should feel proud, did wt 
own, to drive before a coach ! They were 
lGf hands high, and but one year old. Some 
of the Short Horns were very fine, particu¬ 
larly the herds of Messrs. Brown, Smith, and 
Dunlap, of Sangamon ; and so were the Dev¬ 
ons of Col. Capron, formerly of Maryland, 
and now of Olden, McHenry Co., 111. The 
Devons have been but recently introduced 
here, but in Northern:Illinois £they will be¬ 
come a favorite stock. There were some 
beautiful cross bred Short Horn and Devon 
cows, and a young bull belonging to Mr. Ja¬ 
red Gage, of Chicago,and a pair of fine Short 
Horn cows of Mr. Fay, of Lake Co., which 
had recently come from our own State. 
And there were, besides some other good 
cattle of these breeds, a throng of creatures 
called by those names, that were not. so. 
Still, the people of Illinois are thriving, learn¬ 
ing people, and will fast fall into the right 
understanding of what good and true bred 
cattle are, particularly if they will visit the 
cattle shows. 
One incident pleased us particularly. 
While in the business office, a bright-eyed 
little eight-year-old girl came running in, ex¬ 
claiming, “ Pa ! I’ve got the prize !” her lit¬ 
tle coal-black eyes radiant with joyous ex¬ 
citement. This was addressed to Dr. Kin- 
nicutt, the Secretary, who congratulated his 
animated little daughter on her success. 
We turned about and asked the petile lady 
on what article she had so happily won? 
“Why, for darning , sir!” laughed out the 
child. She had sadly rent her dress in com¬ 
ing to the show, and like a good little house¬ 
wife, had got a needle and thread and darned 
it nicely together, and exhibited it in triumph 
to* the appropriate committee, who justly 
awarded her a prize for it. Let darning be 
a prize to be competed for at all future ex¬ 
hibitions of the kind, thought we. Better to 
encourage this useful accomplishment than 
for stitching all the filagree work in creation. 
No telling the household comforts that may 
grow out of this little prize for darning. 
But we must hurry on. The attendance 
was large—the people all pleased—the show 
good, and highly creditable to the young 
State of Illinois. The weather, too, was di¬ 
vine, and the receipts of the Society thirteen 
thousand dollars! What better could be 
asked ? 
FROM CHICAGO WESTWARD. 
On the following Monday we took the cars 
of the Chicago and Galena Railroad forDun- 
leith, on the east bank of the Mississippi op¬ 
posite Dubuque in Iowa. For the first three 
or four miles we passed through the suburbs 
of the town over the level prairie, and thence 
on for ten or twelve miles further, till we 
met the waters of the Des Plaines, a branch 
of the Fox river running southwardly into 
the Illinois. Here we met the first standing 
timber, lying along the stream and covering 
the slightly r elevated sandy and gravelly 
ridges which every few miles intersperse 
this broad prairie land. Good farms now 
began to appear, with sufficient and comfort¬ 
able buildings. Occasional small streams 
flowed across our track, and the country be¬ 
came gradually elevated into a gently rolling 
surface, with none so low but that a little 
drainage would render it fit for cultivation. 
The groves were mostly inclosed by fence, 
and many of them trimmed up and cared for 
so as to make respectable oak forests in a 
few years. Elgin, on the Fox river, is a 
beautiful town, rapidly improving, and well 
built, with handsome churches, mills, and 
other manufactories, in the midst of a rich 
country. The Fox is a fine stream, of per¬ 
haps a hundred yards in width, and affording 
good water power every few miles in its 
course. The banks of the streams are all 
well wooded, mostly with white and black 
oak. Belvidere is another thrifty, beautiful 
town, on a principal branch of the Rock 
river, about the size of Elgin, perhaps supe¬ 
rior in the amenity of its position, and quite 
its equal in the style of its buildings. Next 
among the large towns comes .Rockford, a 
noble town of some 6,000 people, lying on 
both sides of the Rock river, which we 
crossed, celebrated for its rich lands and en- 
terprizing farmers. Beyond, some miles, 
and on the banks of the Picatomca, a conflu¬ 
ent of the Rock river, and along the pleasant 
valley of which we coursed, stands Freeport, 
a thriving town of less size than Rockford, 
but promising in growth. At this point the 
Galena and Chicago road joins the Illinois 
Central, which comes up from the South, 
and on that we pursued our way over a rich, 
and for the most part well cultivated coun¬ 
try to 
GALENA. 
For some twenty miles before coming to 
Galena the country becomes more undulat¬ 
ing, then somewhat broken, more woody, 
and finally breaks into steep gullies, when 
we begin to descend gradually into the nar¬ 
row valley of the Galena, or Fever river, and 
light upon the busy little city snugly located 
on its northern bank, and on the sides of its 
precipitous hills. The road enters the val¬ 
ley on the south or left bank, with its station 
under the high bluffs which correspond to 
those on the north. A new town is growing 
upon this bank also, and many pretty spots 
among the ravines that stretch away to the 
south are occupied by pleasant houses, some 
stores, and mechanic shops. A hundred 
rods below the station the road crosses the 
stream into the lower part of Galena proper, 
and pursues its way down the river. Leav¬ 
ing the cars, we crossed a bridge and took 
up our lodgings for the night at the DeSoto 
House,'large, commodious, and one of the 
lest kept hotels we know. It was now dark— 
we were tired, and after looking at the news¬ 
papers, went to bed and slept soundly. As 
soon as light, we were up and dressed, and 
went out to take a look at the place. 
Galena is a town luilt of necessity. It is 
a creation of the immense lead mines in its 
vicinity. It lies at the head of navigation of 
the little stream, here about sixty yards 
wide, three miles above its mouth in the 
Mississippi, and was commenced about forty 
years ago for the object of shipping its lead, 
which is its great business, in boats down the 
river. The principal street runs along the 
bottom, near the river, and of commodious 
width. This is well built, with fine brick 
and stone stores and dwellings, while imme¬ 
diately in the rear the hill rises precipitously 
a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in 
hight. On the top of this table land, which 
stretches away, gently undulating for miles 
into the country, are built many fine and 
tasteful dwellings. The whole town may 
have ten thousand people, and has the ap¬ 
pearance of very considerable wealth. 
Taking the cars at 8 o’clock, we followed 
down the river a couple of miles, then strik¬ 
ing across a low point which marks its con¬ 
fluence, we soon struck the bank of the 
Mississippi, which we followed eight or ten 
miles to Dunleith, the northwestern terminus 
of the Illinois Central road. 
DUNLEITH. 
This embryo village is the creation of the 
railway, opposite Dubuque. It lies on a 
high bank, perhaps twenty feet above the 
river, secure from inundation, and extending 
back an average of forty to sixty rods to the 
base of the high bluffs on the east. The 
bluffs are perhaps two hundred feet high, 
precipitous, and filled with quarries of the 
finest building stone. They are thickly 
wooded, and present at a distance a pictur¬ 
esque and grand appearance. As the termi¬ 
nus of an important railway, to be met by 
another on the opposite side of the river, 
which will in time stretch interminably away 
to the west, bringing in a tide of travel and 
commerce, connecting a. wide and populous 
country for a thousand miles east and west, 
it requires little stretch of imagination to de¬ 
termine its importance. 
Hurrying on to the ferry-boat, which with 
its powerful machinery sent us rapidly over 
the river, we soon found ourselves comfort¬ 
ably domiciled in the hotel of our old ac¬ 
quaintance, Capt. Kingman, formerly of Buf¬ 
falo, where both ourselves and our readers 
will take a rest for the day. 
A Golden Harvest. —The Boston Tran¬ 
script says that the foreign money deposited 
at the Suffolk Bank on Friday of t he week 
during which the National Agricultural 
Show was in progress, exceeded by 20 pe 
