Adams County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read), 1879

The Press

The newspapers of Adams county, located in Qnincy, Camp Point, Mendon, Payson and other towns, have exerted a powerful influence over the progress of the county. Other agencies have been at work to advance the towns and county, but the Press has contributed a large share in this work of improvement. They have ever been eager to support and give publicity to any enterprise or measure that was calculated to benefit the country, and now seeing the fruits of such labor in the past, still continue in their good work. The following is a list of the journals published in Adams county :

The Quincy Herald is the oldest paper published in the county, and among the earliest of newspapers established in the west, having issued the first number in the year 1834, under the name of The Bounty Land Register^ and continued under that name until some time in the year 1839, when the name was changed to the Quincy Argus, and in the year 1841 assumed the name of the Quincy Herald, which it still retains. The Herald has been published as a daily since 1850, and now publishes weekly, triweekly and daily editions. The Herald has always been Democratic in politics, and wields a powerful influence. Its circulation is probably larger than any other paper in the State outside of the city of Chicago. The present publishers of the Herald are Cadogan & Gardner.

The Quincy Whig was established over forty years ago, and is one of the oldest papers in the State. The first issue - a seven-column 24x36 weekly - appeared May 5, 1838, Maj. H. Y. Sullivan being the publisher, and Messrs. N. Bushnell and A. Johnson the editors. This arrangement, intended to be but temporary, continued until August 18 of the same year, when Mr. S. M. Bartlett and Maj. Sullivan became the sole proprietors, and conducted the paper continuously, the former as editor and the latter as publisher, until the firm was dissolved by the death of Mr. Bartlett, in September, 1852.

The changes made during the association in the character of the paper were but two in number, the issue October 23, 1845, of a tri-weekly for city circulation, which was discontinued April 16, 1846, and the enlargement of the paper in 1860, at tlie commencement of the thirteenth volume, to an eight-column sheet, 28x42. This continued to be the size of the weekly until it was increased in 1868, to nine columns, 28x44.

Mr. Bartlett was succeeded as editor by Mr. John F. Morton, in the fall of 1852, and the firm of Morton & Sullivan conducted the paper until 1854, when Mr. Henry Young purchased Maj. Sullivan's interest. It was during the ownership of Morton & Sullivan that the daily was established, and the history of the weekly thereafter is the same.

22, 1852. It was a six-column sheet, 22x32 in size. On the death of Mr. Young, in 1855, Mr. Y. Y. Ralston assumed his interest, and under the management of Morton & Ralston the dail}- was enlarged to seven columns, 24x36, August 29, 1855. In August, 1856, Mr. F. S. Giddings purchased an interest, and the firm then became Morton, Ralston & Co., Mr. Ralston retiring in July, 1857, and Mr. Giddings soon after. On March 1, 1858, the Qu'inoy iLejyuhlican, a daily which had been in existence for one or two years previous, was merged in the Whig, and Mr. Morton and Mr. F. A. Dallam, the former proprietor of the liepublican, became associated as owners of the Whig and Repuhlican.

During its ownership by Messrs. Morton & Dallam the daily was reduced in size, on the 15th of August, 1858, to its original size, six cctlumns, 22x32, the size of the weekly remaining unchanged. Mr. Dallam withdrew in the fall of 1859, leaving Mr. Morton as the sole proprietor, and in the spring of 1860 the establishment was purchased by Mr. James J. Langdon, who enlarged the daily again to seven columns, 24x36, and continued as sole or part proprietor until the spring of 1868. During this period the editorial management of the Whig was in various hands, successively under the management of Messrs. Snyder, Whitney, Holt, Richardson, Dallam, and Holt again, and w^as issued as an evening paper April 9, 1860. None of the above named editors were interested as owners in the paper except Mr. Charles Holt, who obtained a half interest June 1, 1864, and thenceforward it was published by Messrs. Langdon & Holt. On the 1st of July, 1865, it had another change of dimensions to eight columns, 26x40, and was subsequently increased in size to nine columns, 28x42.

In the spring of 1868 Messrs. Bailhache & Phillips purchased the Whig, taking possession on May 1 of that year, the former taking the place of general business manager, Mr. Paul Selby being engaged as editor. The size of the paper was reduced Aug. 10, 1868, to eight columns, 26x 40, and on the 14th of October came out as a morning paper. In the following spring. May 1, 1869, the property was transferred to the Quiiicy Whig Company, an incorporated stock company, Mr. Bailhache continuing as business manager, and Mr, Selby as managing editor, until October, 1869, when Gen. John Tillson became the editor-in-chief, remaining as such until June, 1871. From that time Mr. Paul Selby for the Whig Company acted as editor and manager. In February, 1873, the establishment passed into the hands of Mr. Porter Smith. March 1, 1873, a change was again made from a morning to an evening paper. On the 1st of January, 1874, the establishment was purchased by Mr. Daniel Wilcox, one of the former publishers of the Milwaukee Sentinel, his two sons being subsequently admitted as partners to the business. By the death of the senior proprietor May 19, 1878, the paper passed into the hands of the two sons, C. A. and D. F. Wilcox, who are the present owners and publishers. Mr. N. O. Perkins became managing editor Jan. 1, 1874, which position he still retains. Aug. 23, 1875, the Whig appeared in a new dress throughout, and was changed to a six-column eight-page paper, 30x42 inches in size.

It may be proper to state that the political position of the Whig has been unchanged from the first. The representative of the Whig party at the outset, in 1859, at the dissolution of that party it became the representative of the Republican organization, with which most of the Whigs in this section united, and has been since, as it now is, devoted to that polit- ical faith. It is the leading Republican paper of western Illinois, the largest paper published in Quincy, and the largest in the State outside of Chicago.

The Quincy Daily JVeivs. - This spicy daily, established in January, 1877, has grown from a six to a seven-column paper, and having devoted its attention especially to local matters, its circulation has therefore steadily increased until it now embraces a large part of the best families of Quincy. It has a large city circulation, and its many advertisers, who have been with it year after year, bear testimony to its value as an advertising medium. The deep interest which the News takes in local and county aifairs makes it a necessity of the people. It is independent in politics. Published by the News Company, 520 Hampshire street, Quincy,. 111.

The Germania. - This paper is published in the German language and is of recent origin. The journal was formed by the consolidation of the Press and Tribune^ two German dailies, and is now published by the Germania Publishing Company, issuing a daily and weekly, having at the same time the largest circulation of any German newspaper in the West outside of Chicago and St. Louis. G. C. Hoffman is the editor. The Germania is an influential journal, and is largely patronized by the citizens of Quincy. The office is at 520 Hampshire street.

The Quincy Commercial Review. - This journal was first started in 1871 by its present proprietor, Mr. Addison L. Langdon, at the earnest solicitation of the business men of the city. The paper has several departments, arranged to suit the various subjects it advocates. It combines manufacturing and commercial interests, city news, social, personal, and society information. It was at first a small sheet, being only 22x32 inches in size. In less than six months, however, the publisher was forced to enlarge it in order to accommodate its increasing patronage. Its size was, after its first enlargement, 24x36. In 1875 it donned an entire new outfit of tj-pe, and was the third time enlarged to its present size, 28x42. The Review was the first paper in Quincy to advocate the establishment of many of those public improvements and necessities which have since proved so advantageous to the city, among which are the water-works, sewers, the adornment and improvement of Washington Park, and the building of the new and beautiful court-house upon its present location. Among the curious features, and what may be related as a singular coincidence in the life of the Revieio^ is the following: The paper was issued one Saturday morning, and its leading editorial was one calling the attention of the county authorities to the dangers and criminal negligence in keeping the records in the old court-house. The editorial stated, among other things, that some day a fire would break out in the roof of that old building and that valuable records of a public character would be destroyed. And now the singular part is, that while the paper was being read, the fire bells sounded an alarm and the engines were called to extinguish a fire which had broken out in the old court-house, just as the editorial predicted. The building was destroyed and work immediately begun upon the new and handsome edifice which now ornaments Jefferson Park. The Review is a popular, home newspaper, and is devoted particularly to the interests of Quincy and vicinity.

The Wester7i AgriculUirist was established in Quincy in 1878, and has steadily improved in the value of its practical reading, the beauty of its illustrations, and the character of its typographical execution. It is printed on fine book paper in pamplilet form and contains twenty-eight pages devoted to stock-breeding, horticulture, poultry, apiary, the dairy, and general farm topics, with a practical and interesting household department. Being now the oldest and best established farm monthly in the "Western states it has attained a large circulation, and every enterprising farmer ought to take it. The subscription price is only $1.00 a year, published by T. Butterworth, 520 Hampshire street, Quincy, 111.

The Modern Argo^ edited and published by A. H. Dooley, first issued in Columbus, O., Oct., 1878, removed to Quincy, 111., and began publication there on Saturday, March 22, 1879. Its reception in Quincy has been very flattering, and in a short time it attained a large circulation. The Argo is a large eight page paper in size 32x42, and is devoted to general information including choice miscellany on the topics of the day, stories, poetry, contributed articles and editorials; ample attention is given to the local aflairs of the city and county around. The Argo introduced permanently into Quincy the newsboy system, and now over a hundred boys sell the Argo every Saturday. The Argo is also sold by news agents in all the ' towns and villages surrounding Quincy.

The Camj) Point Journal. - The Journal was established by George W. Cyrus and Thomas Bailey, the first number being issued Feb. 6, 1873. The sheet was a seven column folio, 24x36. It has grown in size with its growth in circulation and is now a six-column quarto, 32x44. Mr. Bailey retired from the paper in 1876, having sold his interest to Mr. Cyrus who is now the sole owner and manager. The Journal is independent in politics, but discusses all questions of local interest, and confines itself mainly to local matters. The circulation of the paper has steadily grown until it exceeds that of most country papers.

The County News. - The initial number of the News was published in June, 1875. The founder, "Wm. D. Perry, Esq., was induced to undertake the enterprise, partly to aid the county fair, which at that time was located in Payson. Arrangements were made with the " Farmer's Club " and other citizens to secure the publication until November, 1875. At the outset this was a four-column paper, but it has twice been enlarged and is now a six-column four- page periodical. Before the first of November the subscribers and advertisers, taking it for granted that the paper ^vould be continued, were ready to make yearly contracts. The News is now a regular monthly, with four extra papers, making sixteen issues during the year. Not only is it a county paper, but it is rapidly becoming a general newspaper for all who have ever lived in this, one of the oldest and most wealthy counties in the State.

The Clayton Record^ under the management of J. £. Hartman, is considered a valuable journal. It is neutral in politics, and is devoted to the general interest of the reading public. Musical, literary and agricultural articles, stories, reports of fairs, Sabbath-school conventions, religious meet- i ings, and any other facts and incidents that may interest the general reader, appear in its columns.

The Mendon Dispatch is a seven-column paper, published on Thurs- : day of each week by Jacob R. Urech, Danl. H. Darby editor. It is devoted to local and general news, but it is not in the interest of any religious sect or anv political party. The first number was issued on November 21, 187S. Its subscription list is satisfactory for the time it has been ruiming, and is rapidly increasing. The entire material is new and of the best cjualitj^, and includes a job press capable of doing work in strictly first class style.

Of The Past

The history of newspapers in this county is a very interesting one indeed, and the names of many of these publications, which have long since "gone where the woodbine twineth," are familiar to us all. Among them we remember the Times, a paper started by the late Austin J3rooks, after his retirement from the editorship of the Herald. The paper lived a year or two and was then removed to Hannibal, and after a short career there it was discontinued.

The papers of later date, which have lived and died, and which will be better remembered by the people of this county, are the Evening Call, the Ledger and the Morning NeviS. The former was one of the most successful dailies of our city. Its size was 22x32, and its principal editor was Thomas J. Heirs, present city clerk of Quincy, although John H. Russell and S. D. Rich and others, were interested in its publication at different times. The paper had a successful run of six years, when it was discontinued because it proved unprofitable to its owner. The Ledger was a very small sheet, published by D. G. Williams, as an advertising medium, for a few months after he had left the Herald ofl^ice. It was an unprofitable venture and was soon discontinued. The Morning Neios was a co-operative paper, published by Cxrifiin Frost, Henry Wilson, John Shield and Jas. H. Wallin. This journal lived just one month when its affairs were wound up.

The Journal was a large daily, and one of the best papers in the citv while in existence. It was owned and edited by T. M. Rogers, the present proprietor of the publishing house No. 520 Hampshire street. The Journal was operated about four years, but, like its many predecessors, it failed to pay, and was discontinued.

The Democrat, a Germandaily, w as published on the west side of Sixth, between Maine and Hampshire streets, Qninc3\ It enjoyed a verv limited circulation, and lived only a short time.

The Rejntblican was published about the year 1857, by Henry V. Sullivan & Co., and was operated under this title for a year or two, when the establishment was merged into the Whig, and was published thereafter under both names, the Whig <& Itepuhlican, until the year 1858, when the concern was purchased by a Springfield firm, who dropped the last name.

The Courier, a German publication, was published during the years 1857 and 1858, by George Lintz, and was, for some time, a leading German daily, but proved a poor investment, and was soon out of business.

The Christian, a religious weekly, devoted to the interests of the Christian churches, was published at 520 Hampshire street, Quincy, for about two years, when it was converted into a stock concern, and its publication olfice was removed to St. Louis, where it is now issued regularh^, by the same editors who conducted it in Quincy.

Tlie Westliche Press and the Trihune, both German dailies - the former living about six months, and the latter eight or nine years - were both merged into one during 1875, and the consolidated concerns are now known as the Ger mania.

The Good Templar^s Message - devoted to the cause of temperance - was issued irregularly, in this city, for a year or two, and then, we believe, was removed to the town of Bloomington, in this state.

Besides the papery we have here mentioned, tliere have been issued numberless campaiorn publications, which issued only a few numbers and then " went out." There are, no doubt, many other regular weeklies, which were published long years ago, and which will be remembered by the older citizens, whose names, the dates of publication and the names of their editors, are not familiar to us at this writing.

Chapter Kv

The cultivation of frnit in this county dates back to its earliest settlement. Ex-Gov. John Wood, who is still living, planted the first orchard. In 1820 he was living near Atlas, in Pike county, where he and Willard Keyes, both young and unmarried men, were temporarily housekeeping and farming in partnership. In the spring of that -year he made a journey on foot to the orchard of one Avery, who lived a short distance above St. Louis, and bonght of him one pint of apple seed, paying a dollar for it. He planted these seeds and just three of them grew. This did not satisfy his ideas of tree planting, nor discourage his determination to have an orchard. In the autumn he made another pedestrian journey to Griffith's orchard, on the river nearly opposite the old French settlement ot Portage d' Sioux. Here he was permitted to take the pomace from the cider-mill and wash out as much seed as he wished. He made these journeys on foot, as he also did many other longer and more difficult ones, because he was then too poor to own a horse. About the same time he came into possession of another small quantity of apple seeds in the following manner: Wood and Keyes had made a quantity of maple sugar, and finding a family by the name of Sprague, who were very destitute, and the parents and most of the children sick, Mr. Wood made them a liberal present of sugar. Wishing to express in some way their gratitude, and having nothing else to give, they insisted on his accepting a portion of the supply of apple seed they had brought with them to the country. From the product of these two lots of seed the young men were able to supply not only themselves, but many of their neighbors, with trees for planting. In the spring of 1823 Mr. Wood, who in the meantime had removed to where Quincy now stands, planted a portion of his trees on the tract of land now embraced between 12th and 14th, and State and Kentucky streets. About the same time he also planted some peach seeds, which were set out in the orchard in 1824. In 1827 he gathered fruit from both his peach and apple trees. Many of these apple-trees are now growing vigorously and bearing fair crops. In 1868 D. C. Wood, Esq. gave to the secretary of the Adams County Horticultural Society the dimensions of some of these trees, as measured by passing a line aronnd the trunk of each. The largest was nine feet, ten inches, and several others were over seven feet each. The city of Quincy has now encroached upon the site of this orchard, and these stately pioneers are rapidly giving place to piles of brick and mortar.

in 1829 Mr. Wood went East and when he returned brought with him some seed of the white clover from Prince's nursery and sowed it. About the year 1832 he introduced the cranberry and came very near being successful with it. In the little ravine which now runs westward from

Twelitli street, between Jersey and York, was a spring, surrounded by a small plat of marshy ground. This ground he enclosed in a good substantial fence and then planted his cranberries. They flourished remarkably well, covered the whole ground, and gave promise of an abundant j-ield of fruit. A butclier having some diflScult}' in driving a herd of cattle took the liberty, unbidden, to throw down the fence and drive them into this "yard," as he called it, for the night. By this act of vandalism the ci'anberry plants M'el"e utterly destroyed. Several . subsequent attempts were made by different persons to introduce this fruit, but none of them have been very successful. About the year 1830 Gov. "Wood planted a quantity of chestnuts and set out the young trees on his grounds. Many of these are still standing and are annually giving an a])undant yield of nuts. Tliej' are mostly enclosed in what are now the grounds of Chaddock College, and in size will measure around the trunk from seven to eleven feet each.

Before the year 1832 Major Rose, Willard Keyes, James Dunn, Silas Beebee, and others of the early settlers, including several in the eastern pai't of the county, had planted apple orchards. These trees were all seedlings, except about a dozen in Mr. Wood's orchard, and many of them were obtained from him.

George Johnson, of Columbus, planted in 1832 the first orchard of grafted apple-trees in the county. He brought them from Kentucky. Many of them are still standing. In the same year Mr. Johnson established a nursery at Columbus. He continued it for many years and furnished the trees for a large number of the best of the old orchards in the northern and northeastern portions of the county. He had been a blacksmith by trade, but was so enthusiastic in his devotion to horticultural pursuits that the shop was at length given up. He was a genial, Christian gentleman, of unimpeachable integritj", and very much beloved by those who knew him. He died in 1868.

In the 3'ear 1836 Deacon A. Scarborough, of Payson, set out an orchard of grafted trees. He procured them in St. Louis. They were grown in Ohio, were one year old from the graft, and cost him twentyfive cents each. This orchard, when last seen by the writer a few years ago, was in excellent condition and bearing well. In 1839 Mr. Scarborough also planted an orchard of two hundred peach-trees, some of which were still standing in 1868. In 1855 he introduced into the county the Concord grape. His vines were obtained of Mr. Bull, of Concord, Massachusetts. This may be said to be the beginning of successful grape culture here. Horticulturists had been convinced for years that the natural conditions were favorable for grape growing, but they had found it difticult to mature good crops of the old varieties, and many were looking toward an improvement of the large wild grape which abounded in our forests as the surest road to success. Some were working the Isabella on the wild stock, and as earl}' as 184-J: Mr. Wm. Stewart, Sr. had been partially successful by this method. When, however, the merits of the Concord became known, and its perfect adaptation to our soil and climate had been proven, plantations were made all over the county. In five years from it's introduction it was very generally disseminated, and in ten years grapes were shipped from Quincy to Chicago, St. Joseph, Leavenworth, and other more remote points. Vineyards are now found all over the county. So abundant is the su])ply that tlie price of grapes has fallen from twenty and twenty-live to two and three cents per pound. Even at these low rates many growers regard them as a profitable crop. Many new and excellent varieties have been added to the list, some of which succeed very well, but for all purposes, and especially in the hands of ordinary growers, the Concord is the most reliable, and it is still the principal variety cultivated.

Clark Chatten, of Fall Creek, purchased some grafted apple-trees in 1S37 from Charles Stratton, of Pike county, and planted them on his farm. During 1838 and 1839 he continued to add to his orchard until he had forty acres covered with apple-trees and became the laughing-stock of some short-sighted neighbors, who thought a market could never be found for so much fruit as that orchard would produce. Nothing daunted, however, he continued to plant as extensively as his means would allow. In 1840 he planted twelve acres to peach-trees. Thus he continued, ])lanting apple, peach, and pear trees. After a few years he purchased another farm in Ellington township and devoted that also to fruit. In 1867 he had in all two hundred and forty acres devoted to apple-trees, and one hundred and eighty-seven acres devoted to peach-trees - the largest orchard in the State. From the proceeds of his fruit he amassed quite a fortune. Mr. Chatten died in 187-.

In 1839 vVm. Stewart, Sr., of Payson, planted some peach seeds which he had saved from a small quantit}^ of fruit purchased in Pike county for the purpose, and in the spring of 1840 he transplanted the young trees to a new farm he had purchased adjoining the village.

At the same time he purchased one hundred grafted apple-trees from a nursery in Pike county, probably at Atlas, and planted them in alternate rows with the peach-trees. He also obtained at the same time a small quantity of apple seed which lie sowed. During the summer he went East, and in the autumn brought from New York a choice collection of various kinds of fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, seeds, &c., such as his then limited means enabled him to purchase. The next spring he planted these and grafted the young apple-trees grown from the seeds planted the preceding spring, and thus commenced "- Stewart's Nursery," which for twenty-five years was the leading one in the county. Among the other things which he brought from the east was a lot of one or two bushels of apple seeds obtained at some orchard where cider was made. These were planted the next spring, and he thus had a large supply of young applestocks for grafting. How to procure so many scions as would be necessary to graft all these was a difficult problem to solve. There were at that time very few grafted trees in the county that had borne fruit, and to graft from trees that had never borne would be to run great risk of disappointment as to varieties. Fortunately for his purpose he learned during the summer that one of his neighbors, who was a widower, and a very intelligent and reliable man, Benjamin Lionburger by name, had made a matrimonial contract with a lady in his native county in Ohio, and was preparing to go for his wife. He had provided himself with a good covered wagon in which the journey was to be made, and he expected to return in the fall. Mr. Stewart lost no time in striking a bargain with this man, by which he agreed to bring from the bearing orchards of Ohio as many scions as he could pack in his wagon, leaving room of course for the expected wife. The neighbor went, and in due time he returned, bringing with him not only a wife, but an abundant supply of scions which had been cut under his own supervision, from bearing trees of the best varieties. Which of

These scions were carefully kept durin^^ the winter, and the next spring they were inserted into the young seedling trees as they stood in the nursery rows. The operation was performed by what is known as whip grafting, and the wounds made by the knife were covered by pressing around each, after it had been carefully tied with bass matting, a mud ball of the size of a hen's egc^. The earth was then ridged up so as to cover all but the upper bud, and thus protect the young graft from drouth. To modern nurserymen this will seem like a laborious and expensive process, but it was the best then in use, and the trees, though sold at two and three years old for 12^ cents each, left a fair profit for the grower. The trees from this grafting are still standing in many of the old orchards, not only of this county and Pike in this State, but also of Marion and Ralls counties in Missouri.

In 1852 Mr, Stewart started a branch nursery at Quincy, under the direction of his son, Wm. Stewart, Jr., whom he had admitted to partnership. The Payson branch was discontinued after the death of the proprietor, which occurred in 1857, but the Quincy branch was continued for a number of years with increasing success by his sons, John 6z J. H. Stewart. It has now passed into the hands of Sinnock <k Co., and is known as the Quincy Nurseries. Mr. Stewart was remarkable for energy, judgment and integrity. He was unusually well-informed on general subjects, but more especially so in the line of his chosen calling, where, by close and continued study, and by intercourse with the most eminent horticulturists in the West, he kept himself thoroughly well-informed. A Christian in practice as well as in theory, he drew around him a wide and increasing circle of friends.

Henry Kent, of Ellington township, sent in 1839 to Prince's Nurser}', Long Island, for a supply of apples, peaches and nectarines, and with these as a beginning he in 1841 started a nursery. He afterward obtained such varieties as he thought valuable from Dr. Mead, of Augusta (whose stock was from Bloodgood's Nursery, Long Island), and from Mr. Stewart of Payson. At that time Mr. Kent found the nectarine a valuable fruit, bearing good crops, and of fine quality. It has now become very much neglected on account of its being such an easy pre}' for insects and so easily injured by our severe winters. Mr. Kent continued the nursery business until 1857, when he closed out and devoted himself to other pursuits. He is still living, and although he has mainly retired from active business, his line homestead still bears the marks, not only of his early horticultural labors, but of his present interest in the subject.

Mr. Scarborough, of Payson, some years before his death commenced a nursery at that place. After his death it was conducted by his son, A. Scarborough, Jr. We are not informed as to the exact date when this nursery was started. Mr. Scarborough was from Connecticut. He was the founder of the village of Payson, and was at different times engaged in a variety of enterprises, but seemed to take most delight in horticultural pursuits. Possessed of quick discernment, sound judgment and excellent taste, his work has been invaluable to the horticultural interests of the county.

This brief sketch of the pioneers would hardly seem complete without some mention of the late Robert Rankin, of Fall Creek, who, although he commenced his horticultural career, as he also commenced life, at a much later period than either of the preceding, was one of the earlier of our modern workers, and was an earnest, extensive and successful cultivator of fruit. He was for many years the president of the county horticultural society and occupied that position at the time of his death, in 1878. Always genial, hopeful and enthusiastic, he did much to cheer and encourage his fellow- workers, and to keep up their interest in the society and its work, after the discouragements which followed the financial crisis of 1873 had cooled the ardor of less sanguine natures.

The nurseries of James Orr and of Wm. A. Mitchell, of Payson, of Hargis ct Sommer and of D. C. Benton, at Quincy, of C. W. Kay and of A. B. Kelley, at Camp Point, of H. A. Horn, at Clayton, and of Wm. Cutter, at Beverly, were commenced at a later date than those mentioned above, and most of them are still in successful operation.

The growers of fruit in those days experienced many disaiDpointments, on account of fruits which they had propagated at great expense, not only in money, but in time and labor, proving at least to be something entirely difterent from, and usually inferior to, that for which they purchased them. They found also that varieties brought from other sections of the country were often so modified by the change in climate and soil that they would not be recognizable. Some of the standard late-keeping apples, for instance, of the Eastern states, when fruited here were found to ripen in the fall or early winter. In order to meet these difliculties, and to secure a list of varieties which could be relied upon as to quality, season of ripening, bearing properties, 6zc., Messrs. Stewart, Johnson, Scarborough and perhaps one or two others, came to an agreement among themselves to graft or bud every new variety they received into some bearing tree so as to test it in the shortest possible time before disseminating it largely. One of these specimen trees, in the original orchard of Mr. Stewart, died a few years ago. It was an orchard in itself, having borne more than fifty varieties of apples,varying in size from the smallest Siberian crab to the Gloria Mundi, and in season of ripening, from July until the following May.

Many were the pleasant meetings they had, especially during the autumn and winter months, when each one brought such fruits as his orchards, and especially his sample tree, produced, and also such as had been sent to him .by his neighbors, a^well as bv those at a distance; and they spent evening after evening tasting, comparing and discussing their relative merits. The skill they thus acquired was remarkable, and their decisions came to be regarded as almost oracular.

At one of these meetings some new seedling apples, which were thought by certain parties to possess great merit, had been sent in and were under discussion. They were unanimously condemned as unworthy of a place in an^^ orchard, and some of .the party expressed surprise that any man could for a moment regard such an apple as worthy of a place beside such varieties as the Rhode Island greening, or Newtown pippin. Others of the party contended that only the cultivated taste appreciates the finer flavors, and that the uncultivated taste prefers those fruits which are coarser and harsher, and that this fact accounted for the man's high opinions of his new seedlings. The discussion became lively, and they finally agreed to put the matter to a practical test by obtaining the opinion of the hired girl on the merits of the different fruits before them that evening. This girl, they all knew, had been brought up on the frontiers and scarcely ever saw an apple.

A messenger was accordingly sent to the kitchen with a plate containing slices of Newtown pippin, Rhode Island greeninc^, and some other varieties of apples, and also the much denounced seedlings. The girl was simply requested to taste each sample on the plate, and tlien say which she liked best. She tasted very deliljerately each of them, and tlien, pointing to the seedling, said she thought that was the best.

As a result of these pomological labors, the list of varieties, especially of apples, offered for sale at the nurseries was very much reduced. That of the Stewart's, which had reached nearly three hundred varieties, was cut down in 1853 to about one hundred. Nor did the work of reduction sto]) here. Time showed that some of the varieties which at first did well had a tendency, as the trees iDecame old, to diminish in size; others proved to be shy bearers; others had a bad habit of falling from the tree before quite ripe; and still others, and among these were some of the very finest qualities as to flavor, were so very tender that it was found to be almost impossible to handle them for marketjwithout their becoming so much bruised as to verj' much mar their appearance. Of some varieties the tree proved to be too tender. It was noticed that after a severe winter such as we often have, characterized by coincidence of intense cold and bright sunshine, the south side of the trunk would show the appearance of having been scorched by fire, and would, during tiie summer, die, leaving there an ugly wound all the way from the ground to the branches on that side.

The codlin motli, an insect imported to this country from Europe in the early settlement of the Eastern States, and other insects, unknown here by the early settlers, began soon to make their appearance, a7id it was found that some varieties suffered much more from their attacks than others did. In 1850 summer-blight appeared on the apple-trees, and soon afterward the disease known as the scab attacked the fruit, and has continued till the present time. Each of these appeared to affect some varieties more than others. To find remedies for these evils has, from the time they severally made their appearance, been the one work that more than all others has employed the best horticultural skill of the times. To our most experienced nurserymen and ])lanters the readiest means of relief seemed to be a still further elimination of varieties, retaining those only which were least affected by these evils. They worked together in this, tlie oldest and most experienced orchardists giving to the nurserymen the results of their experience, and they, in turn, propagating or rejecting varieties according to the experience of the orchardists, which tliey rightly judged would eventually control public opinion and the public demand. This work continued harmoniously and with good success between the majorit}'- of the nurserymen, and the most extensive and reliable tree planters, till the present time. The result is, first, that we now have varieties of fruit planted all over the country, which, though not in all cases first quality as to flavor, sell well in the markets, are of fair quality, large and beautiful, and can be relied on with reasonable certainty for a crop that will leave some margin of proflt to the producer; and, second, that the number of varieties of apples now planted for profit or recommended by the nurserymen scarcely exceed a dozen.

While it is true that this practical road out of the difficulties and losses brought upon the horticulturists of the country by the rapid increase of insects and diseases was followed harmoniously by our leading nurserymen and planters, truth requires the admission that, for a time, harmony seemed, on the part of a few, to be somewhat disturbed. It came about in this wise: With the introduction of railroads came a perfect avalanche of tree peddlers from the East, mostly from the State of JS'ew York. Some of these men were representatives of reliable nurseries, but for the most part they were merely irresponsible adventurers. They came during the summer months, and, landing at Quincy, Camp Point or Clayton, went all over the country, visiting the farmers at their homes, hanging around the village stores on Saturday afternoons, when the farmers came in to do their week's trading, and, in short, availing themselves of every opportunity to come in personal contact with the people. They were usually men of good appearance and insinuating address, and were abundantly supplied with colored plates of different varieties of fruits, and also with. small glass jars containing preserved specimens. The colored plates were very fair specimens of the chromo-lithographic art, and for the most part were good likenesses of select specimens of the fruits they represented; but the jars, of course, greatly magnified the specimens they contained. Advantage was easily taken of this fact, to make the people believe in them as men who would not misrepresent. Exhibiting one of the colored plates to a crowd, and expatiating upon the merits of the fruit represented, they would then produce the jar containing that same variety, and call attention to the fact that the picture, so far from exaggerating, did not represent it as near so large as they saw the fruit itself. Not one auditor, perhaps, in a hundred suspected the magnifying property of the glass jars, and they were thus led to suppose that the fruits offered them would all be as large and fine, at least, as the pictures they had seen. Orders were taken at high prices, the trees to be delivered and the money paid the following autumn or spring. When they had obtained all the orders they could for the season, they would return to the East and purchase at wholesale, at some of the large nurseries, a sufficient quantity of trees to fill the orders and then ship them to the different distributing points, where some one was in attendance to deliver the trees and receive the money. The stock thus obtained usually presented a fair appearance, and for the time being gave quite general satisfaction to the purchasers.

If it failed to grow, as it sometimes did, it was accounted for by some assumed exposure in its long journey or in some similar way, and the disappointed purchaser would, not unlikely, buy another lot the next year of the same man, flattering himself that if the matter was a little expensive, yet it was better to secure these magnificent fruits than to plant the ordinary varieties offered by the nurserymen at home. It is perhaps not beyond the truth to say that the majority of those who purchased these trees and plants thought that by doing so they were placing themselves somewhat in advance, not only of those of their neighbors who had made horticulture their life work, as well as their life study, but of the nurserymen themselves, of whom their neighbors still continued to buy their trees. Things went on in this way, as of course they must, for several years, until the trees first imported came generally into bearing and information became generally circulated as to how the representations of the peddlers had been fulfilled. In cases where the agent was honest and the nurseryman of whom he purchased his stock responsible, and it is but fair to state that such cases did exist, it usually turned out that the varieties proved to be such as were in high esteem in the localities whence they came, but the majority of them were for some reason not adapted to our soil or climate, and, indeed, had long before been thoronghly tested by our fruit growers and rejected. Unfortunately, however, many of the agents were not honest, and instead of buying the varieties called for in the orders the yjeople had given them they would buy up anything they could get at a low price, provided the trees were large and fine-looking, and then, from the same lot, would label the trees with any names the orders called for. Of coui'se when these trees were once in full bearing this business became unprofitable and was mostly discontinued. It could be wished for the good name of our county that the same class of men had never since that time deceived in a similar 'manner communities farther west with trees purchased here.

Among other evils attending this great influx of Eastern trees was the introduction of the bark louse, which has been very destructive in some parts of the State, but as yet it seems to be well under control in this county. This mania for imported trees interfered considerably for a time with the business of our local nurseries, but business men as most of them were they soon found means to adjust themselves to the existing conditions of trade, and they began to import large quantities of trees from the East to satisfy the popular demand. This enabled the people to buy Eastern trees at lower prices than they liad been paying the agents, and at the same time the nurserymen could often make a fair profit by the business. Some were able to take advantage of the rage for Eastern fruits in another way, as the following incident will show: One of our nurserymen had a large stock of a certain variety of grape. His price was twenty-five cents each by the thousand, but they were rather slow of sale here. An Eastern nurserj' being unable to fill orders for that variety from their own stock, 'ordered a lot from the Western man. They were sent and were immediately used to fill the orders of the agents w4io had been canvassing this county, and were by them distributed among our people at seventy-five cents and one dollar each.

Orchards of the apple, peach, pear and cherry are now found in all parts of the county, but more especially in Ursa, Ellington, Melrose, Fall Creek, and Payson, which lie along the river blufi's where the soil seems to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of fruit. Apples, however, do well and are extensively grown all over the county.

For many years the various kinds of fruit, especially of apples and ]>eaches, have formed a very considerable part of the exports of the county. It is difiicult to obtain exact statistics, on account of the large number of points from which shipm,ents are made. The principal of these are Quincy, Fall Creek Station, Seehorn Station, Camp Point. Clayton, and Mendon. Large quantities are also taken by wagon to Hannibal, Mo., and shipped thence. The horticultural society made an eftort in 1868 to obtain the figures as far as possible but were finally compelled to rely to a considerable extent upon estimates. According to the best information obtainable the aimnal shipments of apples were then over two hundred thousand bushels, and of peaches about fifty thousand boxes of one-third of a bushel each. In 1874 the shipments of peaches had increased to more than two hundred thousand boxes, but since that time the quantity of peaches shipped has somewhat declined. This decline is partially accounted for in this way; About every fourth year, on an average, the crop is destroyed by the severity of the winter. Of the intervening crops one perhaps will be severely injured bv the same cause. Formerly the prices realized for a full crop were such as to leave a sufficient margin of profit to cover the losses sustained by the severe winters. Lately, however, the production of this fruit is so great, and the competition with other peachgrowing regions so close, that when there is a full crop the prices alWays rule very low and there is no margin left to apply to the years of failure. Many have therefore come to consider the growing of this fruit for shipment as on the whole unprofitable, and they have to some extent ceased to plant the trees.

Plantations of plums were made at an early day and at first they promised well, but the advent of the plum curculio put a stop to the planting of this fruit for profit, so far as the old varieties are concerned. The trees are hardv and healthy and flourish well, the only trouble seems to be with the insects. Trees are still planted in private gardens and by amateurs, and with a great deal of care and protection and a very favorable season, magnificent specimens of the fruit are sometimes produced. The Chickasaw family of plums, having a tougher skin and firmer fiber, seem better able to resist the curculio, and these are now being quite generally planted. What the result will be remains yet to be seen.

The English or sweet cherries were tried at a very early day by persons in dififerent parts of the county, and at first they promised well, except that the trees were a little tender, but since the advent of destructive insects they have been discarded except in private gardens, the fruit being usually either wormy or so badly stung by insects as to make it knotty and small. The Morello family of cherries have been found to be hardy and much less liable to sufifer from insects. The earlier varieties, such as the early Richmond, have a very small proportion of wormy fruit. This class of cherries is now generally planted throughout the county, and they are brought into our markets in great abundance.

Strawberries were cultivated for market in small quantities as early as 1852 or 1853. In 1860 J. H. Stewart had a plantation of some four acres and found a ready market for the fruit in Quincy.

D. C. Benton, of Quincy, was probably fhe first who attempted to ship strawberries to other markets, and he was also one of the earliest shippers of peaches.

About 1865 Wm. & J. H. Stewart commenced shipping strawberries in a small way, and continued to increase their business until 1S74, when they had over forty acres devoted to this I'ruit, and shipped five or six thousand quarts per day. In 1878 there were more than twenty-five farms in the immediate vicinity of Quincy, where strawberries w-ere grown with special reference to supplying the shipping trade. Extensive experiments have been made in the cultivation of the pear for market, but the success has not met the expectations of the growers. The planting of this fruit commenced with that of the apple. The trees bore well and the fruit was of excellent quality; but the trees became, soon after reaching the bearing age, so subject to the blight as to make the business nnprotitable. This has always been the one obstacle in the way of successful pear growing in this country. Clark Chatten, Dr. Merrick and E. A. Dudley may be regarded as the pioneers in this line of effort. There are still in various parts of the county the remains of many large pear orchards, mainly of dwarfs, which w^ere planted between the years of 1863 and 1868, under the impression then prevailing that pears could be profitably grown for export. Plantings for this purpose have now ceased. In private gardens, however, and in farmers' orchards, a few trees still find a place, and, if they survive the attacks of the blii^ht, they sometimes become in iheir old age very profitable. This is especially true of many old specimens of the Seckel variety, which yield very large crops of the finest quality of fruit. The markets of Quincy are still supplied with an abundance of home-grown pears, and not a few are shipped to other points.

The cultivation of such small fruits as raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and currants has grown almost imperceptibly from small beginnings, till it has become an important branch of industry. While there are few, if any, large plantations of these there are many small ones, and the aggregate product forms an important item in our fruit exports.

The first exhibition of Adams county fruit at the Illinois State Fair was at Springfield, in 1853, when Wm. Stewart & Son took a number of premiums; among them that for the " Largest and best Collection of Apples, named and true to name." The first public exhibition east of the Alleghanies by Western growers was in 1860, by J. H. Stewart, who took a choice collection to the annual meeting of the American Pomological Society at Philadelphia. This fruit attracted much attention and received high commendation from Marshal P. Wilder, the president of the society, Charles Downing, Dr. Warder, Ellwanger & Barry and other eminent horticultural authorities.

About the years 1863 or 1864 Clark Chatten took the first premium of the Illinois Agricultural Society for '*The Best Cultivated Orchard." These instances are mentioned because they were the beginnings in their several lines, and they served to give confidence that the productions of this county would not suffer in comparison with others. Horticulturists throughout the county now began to make exhibitions at various state and other fairs, and with such success that the securing of premiums became the rule rather than the exception.

The Adams County Horticultural Society was organized in December, 1867, by the election of Robert Eankin as president and Wm. Stewart as secretary. They commenced with seven members, and by the first of January they numbered fifty, including the leading horticulturists of the county. This society did effective work for many years. It made out lists of the various kinds of fruits, based on the long practical experience of the members, and recommended these lists to planters; it held out-door meetings in the summer months, on the grounds of the different members, for the purpose of better observing the practical workings of different systems of culture. It also made exhibits as a society at various fairs with the most flattering results, and occasionally offered premiums and held exhibitions of fruits and flowers in its own hall, or in some other hall in Quincy.

The cultivation of flowers and the adornment of homes was somewhat retarded here by the poverty of the first settlers, nearly all of whom came here to better their circumstances, and many of whom were driven here by their very poverty, which forbade them to maintain in older communities the place to which their intellectual, social and moral qualities entitled them. The first effort of the pioneer was to provide a shelter for himself and his family ; his next was to subdue and bring into cultivation a sufticient area of land to yield them a support. Afterward came stables for his animals, then an orchard to supply the family with fruit, then, as his means increased, he built a more comfortable and convenient house. Not till then did he feel able to gratify his tastes and preferences. Not till after this second house was built did one farmer in a hundred make any attempt to beautify his home. Woman's taste and skill perhaps had planted a few annuals in the garden every spring, and had kept a few plants in boxes on the sill of the cabin window long after the frost had killed those in the garden, but there was no attempt on the part of proprietors to improve to any great extent the appearance of their liome surroundings, nor had they the means and the time to have done so if they had desired. Nature, however, bestowed most liberally what the poverty of man denied. Originally, in this county, the forests covered the low lands along the streams and the narrow ridges on either side. The broader ridges, and the ricli, gently undulating table lands which compose the larger part of the surface were mostly open prairie. Occasionally a neck of woods intruded upon the high lands, or an isolated grove stood out in the prairie, like an island in the sea; and occasionally there would be found a strip of prairie on the narrow ridges or on the low bottom lands along the streams, but these were exceptions to the general rule. These prairies, lying as they did upon higher land than the wooded districts, appeared to the eye to be larger than they really were.

There were some points where the beholder could only see glimpses of the " timber line," as it was called, on either side. From the time the first star-flowers and violets opened out in the spring, till the petals fell from the last frost-flowers late in autumn, these vast prairies presented a scene of surpassing beauty. During the whole summer there was an uninterrupted succession of flowers; but June was the time of Nature's grandest display. Standing upon some elevation and looking over the prairie at that season, the scene presented before you was that of a vast undulating ocean of green^ bespangled all over with constellations of color representing all the varied hues of the rainbow.

The winter scenery was in striking and painful contrast with this. Covered with a few inches of snow the landscape suggested only the dreary icefields of some northern sea. Nothing could be more bleak and forbidding. No wonder the first settlers built their houses in the skirts of the forests where they could be sheltered by the trees. As the country filled up the choice building places were all taken and new comers were obliged to go further out. It was soon learned, also, that the prairie lands were the richest and this was an additional reason for settling on them. In a few years the summer scenery began to lose its beauty. Zigzag fences and vast tracts of black upturned sod began to take the place of nature's robe of beaut}^ Here and there a wood-colored house or straw-rooted stable on the margin of the plowed land revealed to the philosopher a picture of enterprise and fruitful industry, but to the esthetic eye it only appeared as if the great emerald sea had rolled away and left its black, muddy bottom exposed, with here and there a few gray rocks standing out, which had been called in mockery human habitations.

If the hand of industry marred the summer scenery, it did not add to tlie attractiveness of the winter landscape. The gray walls of the dwellings rising above the wilderness of snow only gave to the beholder the painful feeling of pity for those who were doomed to live amid such bleak desolation. A winter scene upon one of our large prairies thirty-five years ago was chilling and repeliant in the extreme. It had no redeeming features. There was no shelter for man or beast, except the lone shanty which man called home, a cold, comfortless shed for the horses, and the fences, which in summer protected the fields from the cattle, and in winter the cattle from the storm. It is doubtful whether this country, since the day when God first clothed it with verdure, was ever so bereft of beauty as when it had been robbed by man of all the richest of nature's pencilings and had received as yet no touches from the hand of art; when the people in their struggle for bread or for wealth had destroyed the glory of the prairie and the forest and lacked as yet the means, the time, or the will to make even the meager compensation of adorning each the little spot he called his home. It is not surprising that with such snrroundings men and women who had been reared amid scenes of rural beauty in the older States should l)ecome dissatisfied and restless, should begin to contrast the present with the past, and should embrace the first o])portunity after their more pressing wants were supplied to satisfy the finer feelings of their nature by rendering their homes more attractive. There were many such among us. They began the work, and their example was most happily contageous. There came a time when even the most rigid utilitarian was willing to plant a tree and thus secure under the name of shelter what was demanded by his love of beaut3^ The black locust, catalpa, lombardy poplar, and other deciduous trees were planted along the fence in front of the house, the door-yard was leveled, the corn-crib and pig-pen were moved into the background, and the yard was enclosed by a neat fence and sowed with grass. Then a few snow-balls, lilacs, and hardy roses were planted here and there, black walnuts and butternuts were gathei-ed by the boys in autumn, and after being exposed to the action of frost during the winter were planted the next spring in the fence-corners. Young seedling maples were pulled up in the forest and transferred to the outside fence-corners around the barn-yard, where they soon furnished fine shade for the farm animals. Cotton woods, willows, wild cherries and elms, which sprung from seeds which the winds or birds had dropped along the ravine that ran through the field, or in the corners of the pasture-fence, and many another neglected place, were suftered to grow unmolested in the rich virgin soil. Meantime the orchard was growing, and in a few years a wonderful transformation had been wrought in the summer landscape, and home l)egan to look cozy and attractive. In winter, however, the leafless branches of a few trees only partially checked the piercing winds. They still whistled spitefully through the keyhole of the door and challenged the thrifty farmer to a further combat. The challenge was accepted. The farmer planted evergreens and gained the victory. The general ojfinion had been that evergreens would not thrive upon the prairie soil. Why this opinion prevailed it is hard to tell unless it was because there were none indigenous here, except a dwarfish variety of the red cedar, and that was confined to a few steep, rocky places along the creeks, and the people took it for granted that the reason they grew there was tliat only there they found the soil that suited them. The true explanation of the absence of evergreens here seems not to have occurred to any one at that time, that is that they could not withstand the fires which annually consumed the heavy carpet of dried leaves and grass on the richer lands, both of prairie and forest, and only on the steep, rocky and barren hillsides, where they found no fuel, gave the evergreens any chance to grow. When cedars first were planted on the prairies, sand and gravel were put underneath and around each tree. They were transferred from the bluffs of Mill Creek to many door-yards and were very much admired. It was soon discovered that they would thrive just as well without the sand as with it, and would do well on almost any dry soil. Gov, Wood was the first to introduce the spruce, fir and otlier northern evergreens. In 1831 he made a second jonrnej to the Eastern States, and procured at Prince's nursery, on Long Island, some balsam fir, white pine, and other evergreens, and also a collection of flowers and shrubbery. With these he ornamented the lawn aronnd his house, which stood on the present site of Chaddock College, exciting the admiration of all the neighbors. The late F. W. Jansen, passing by one day, asked him where he got those beautiful trees. " On Long Island," was the reply. " I will start to-morrow morning and get some, too," said Mr. Jansen, thinking he meant Long Island on the river near Quincy, but when Mr. Wood explained that it was Long Island, J^ew York, he concluded it was too far away to undertake the journey just then. Mr. Wood soon afterward obtained some evergreens from the northern pineries and added them to his collection. Two or three balsam fir-trees, which belonged to the original lot obtained from Prince's nurseries, were blown down a few years ago by a severe wind-storm, but most of the trees, both evergreen and deciduous, are still standing on the lawn where they were planted. The large deciduous cypress tree, which is a marked feature of these grounds, was obtained, Mr. Wood thinks, at Prince's nursery in 1831, with the evergreens. Some fine specimens of the American larch, obtained with his first evergreens from the north, are not now standing. The planting of these trees direct from the forest was attended with so much uncertainty, on account of their liability to die the first year, that but few people made the attempt.

Wm. Stewart, Sr., of Payson, was the first nurseryman in the county to keep evergreens for sale. He obtained his supply by making annual trips to the Northern pineries, where he had the young seedlings dug from the forests, carefully packed under his personal supervision, and shipped home by steamboat. They were planted in the nursery rows and grown for two or three years before they were sold to customers. A large percentage of them died from the effects of the first transplanting, but after growing a year or two in the nursery they could be transplanted with perfect safety. The people, however, were at first afraid to risk their growing, and Mr. Stewart used to set them out on the grounds of his customers and warrant them to grow. He made landscape gardening a study, and used to lay out the walks and arrange the grounds of his neighbors, and in this way a number of places assumed such an attractive appearance that the demand for evergreens and ornamental shru1)bery became general. To meet tliis demand he enlarged his stock. Failing in one of his trips to the upper Mississippi to find all the varieties he desired, he sent one of his sons, who was with him, across the country to the lakes, part of the way by stage and part of the way on foot, through the forest, with instructions to return with his trees by way of the lake to Chicago and thence home by way of the canal and the Illinois river to ISTaples, whence his own wagons would haul them forty miles to the nursery. The next season another son was sent South to ransack the Southern forests for everything beautiful which might give promise of becoming acclimated here. A large assortment was brought, most of which proved to be too tender for our winters, and among these, to his deep regret, were the grand evergreens magnolia and the holly. The pitch pine of the South proved to be nearly hardy but not ornamental. Specimens of it are still standing on " Fawley Place," near Quincy, and on the old Stewart homestead at Payson. The deciduous or swamp-cypress was the only truly valuable acquisition from this source. It grows vigorously on our soil, is perfectly hardy, and makes a unique and beautiful tree. A number of specimens still standing on the site of the old Payson nursery are assuming stately proportions, and already show, rising from the ground around them, the famous " cypress knees " of the Southern swamps. One or two very line specimens are also standing in the grounds of " Fawley Place."

The era of home adornment was now fairly inaugurated, and nurserymen all over the county kept from that time forth a liberal supply of evergreens and other ornamental trees and shrubbery, which found a ready sale at remunerative prices. When the supply ran short on the upper Mississippi there were found men in the East who made a business of procuring very small seedling evergreens from the forests of northern New York, and supplying western dealers, and finally the nurserymen of the northwest learned the art of growing them from the seed, and have produced them by the million ever since at prices w^hich put them within the reach of all.

The introduction of evergreens has had a two-fold efl'ect. In the first place, it has greatly stimulated the tastes of our people in the direction of home adornment, and in the second place it has entirely transformed the aspect of our landscapes, especially in winter. A large proportion now of the homes of our people are embowered in trees, which not only check and lull to peace the winter winds, but rising in their perennial green amid the darkest storms, point upward to the skies, reminding us of a brighter world than this. The old settler, as he looks over these hills, finds it hard to recognize the scenery he witnessed in his youth. The old distinction between forest and prairie has been almost entirely obliterated by clearings in the one and plantings in the other. Dotting the landscape here and there are groups of farm buildings, nestling among evergreen trees, and surrounded by ample and well-kept lawns. The old "worm fence" has very generally given place to the well-clipped hedge, the log cabin to the ample farmhouse, and the straw-roofed stable to the ornamental cornices of the firstclass barn. Those homes are exceptional where there are not found in the yard a supply of flowering and ornamental plants, and in the rooms a collection of flowers to show their beauty and shed their fragrance in the gloomy winter days.

If our summer landscapes are less gorgeous and imposing than at first, they are more varied and attractive, and our winter scenery, robbed of all its bleak repulsiveness, presents an appearance of cozy comfort, which rather attracts than chills the beholder.

Our older villages, such as Payson and Clayton, are almost lost to the view amid the profusion of trees and shrubbery, and the city of Quincy, by its multitude of neatly constructed dwellings set in the midst ot wellkept yards or more ample lawns, and surrounded by a profusion of sylvan beauty, has justly earned its sobriquet, " The Gem City " of the west.

The declared purposes of this society are: "The promotion of medical science, the cultivation of a just sense of professional obligations, and the organization of the profession in connection with the American Medical Association." The society was organized ]\[arch 28, 1850, at a meeting of the physicians of Adams county, held in Quincy, on call of a committee appointed at a previous meeting, by the election of the following officers: Dr. Joseph N. Ralston, president; Drs. S. W. Rogers and M. Shepherd, vice-presidents; Dr. J. R. Hollowbnsh, recording secretary; Dr. Louis Watson, correspondftig secretary; Dr. F. B. Leach, treasurer; Drs. Isaac T. Wilson, M. J. Roeschlaub and Louis Watson, censors. Besides the above, Drs. Warren Chapman and James Elliott were original members. The society was incorporated by special act of the Illinois Legislature, in the Winter of 1859. From May, 1861, until May, 1863, no meeting was held, so many of the members being absent in the army that a quorum could not be obtained. Of those who were members during the war of the rebellion, the following were in the military service: M. M. Bane (Colonel 50th 111. Inf.), who lost an arm at Shiloh; G. H. Bane, Frederick K. Bailey, Henry J. Churchman, Bartrow Darrach, who died in the service; S. W. Everett, killed at Shiloh; A. M. D. Ilnghes (Adjutant 50th 111. Inf.), killed at Shiloh; Henry W. Kendall, R. R. Kendall; S. C. Moss, C. H. Morton (Lieut. Colonel 84th 111. Inf.); Daniel Stahl, Louis Watson, Isaac T. Wilson. Dr. M. F. Bassett, a member, was surgeon of the board of enrollment of this district.

The society has given much attention to sanitary matters, and by its persistent efforts secured the creation of a board of health by the city of Qiiincy, and the adoption of a system of mortuary registration, several years' previous to the passage of the present State laws relating to these matters.