, 1861-10-09
CbitalYgo :G;rlihutte:


GDtta9o :G;t!l|tttttt| G;!|
WEDNESDAY,, OCTOBER 8. 1881.
TaE FARM AND GARDEN;
{: - :: : =: - -; 81
4non5 the Old 1ettlerx on TIM Hax., !
kesaaz and ths: nmbaxzass Rivers,
cHAnrA1ax. Oct. 3, 1851. |
The histories Of the early sett1en. Of the
country could they be gathered mp, would |
make IN interesting volume, not only in the |
stirring events Of border Life, but tho gradual |
unfolding Of q System Of agriculture peculiar |
to the drift soil that forms the great prairie |
slopes Of the State. The railroads have
changed the routes Of travel, and tho great
Immigrant thoroughfares have become aban-
doned, or sunk to the level Of the common
county roads. The route over which the
army Of immigrants that left the "National
road" at Indianapolis for the 6angamon
country has been obliterated bJ the steel clip.
per Of the more modern settlers, who have
made easy stages to the West BY rail and the
great etate road leading from sholbyyille On
the kaslaskia to Chicago is now unknown,
except among limited few Of the gfey.head-
ed pioneers, and in the mu5ty and imperfect
records Of the countries through which It
passed. Last week, accompanied by our better
half, with ahorse and buggy ne drove through
sixty miles Of country, following the line Of
Old settlements, with view to gather up
something Of the past and to examine more
particularly into the history Of orchard cn1-
tu1e and the varieties that have stood the test
Of sell and climate.
Champaign county is located Oh the plateau
Of land at the head Of the saugamon, the
Vermil1ion Of the Wabash, the Kaskaskia and
the Embarrass rivers. Its average
Level shove the waters of Lake Michigani is
shout oae hundred and fifty feet, and above
the Ohio, at Cairo, four hundred and fifty
feet The general course Of the sangamon is
wet, traye1sirg the grcat corn zone Of the
6:ate, and enters the Illinois in town nineteen
north, near latitude 40 dege-, Or two degrees
south Of Chicago. By the early settlers, all
the country waterea by the sangamon was
casled The "sangamon Country" The Kas-
kaskia runs to the southwest and enters the
basin Of Upper Egypt. The Vesmillion is
nearly to the east, and the Emharrass to
the southeast. These streams at Their. head
inte1lock each other, and thus form 4 water
sled that solyes the mystery Ct the enormous
crops Of corn thnt are grown here year after
year. This Water shed runs south to the north
linz. Of the basin OF Upper Egypt, and the
hsa1y belts Of timber that fringe tnese four
streams By diffusing the rain clouds TINT come
| up from tie mississippi always insure such an
amount Of rain that a very disastrous drouth
! liz ltver known, and hence ths belt Of country
! known Is Central Illinois can be rightly called
/ tut great com zone Of the State.
! lsADoRA's GROVE
| is Ire frrt grove Of timber near the head Of
the kasEaskza, hut here it IS called the Okaw
mer Of 1871. Henry sadoras, sen,, with his
| wife ana Elk chitre1, took their MONDAY
| meal under the shade Of the oaks that stood
| So guardian sentinels Of the river forest, from
! whose deep cisles went up the smoke of the
Indian Wigwau, and from out the dark shad-
| cws echoed tic shouts ct the young children
| CT tbs Forest In SOLEMN grandeur the grass
Ct the prairie waFed its wild lnxuriance, and
the eye Of the Immigrant was lost in the vast
| ncEs .. tlG ''G1and Prairie: that stretched fur
I:oGnois rivera, TIE tral oft1e Indian and the
track Of an occasional I'm Migrant wagon were
ell 1Aat had .narred the surface. The fields
Of corn that formed part Of the Indians food
1ay deep in the valley Of the Wabash OF the
nlilois rilsze, and 10 attempts hadlbee1 mad
is ruw the counties Of Champaign and Doug.
las. Born and nurtured On the hill sides 0t
Crawford county in the State Of Penn, with q
ION 3eass' sejorrn il the heavy forest land o1
Indiana, no woudar that this spot, 80
s1aiarg under the noonday sun, with its
weal:h Of wood and pfalris, attracted
the attenticn Of the immigrant, and courted
lin to carve cut home amid their sylvan
beauties. The five yoke Of steers that had
hauled the worldly goods and loved ones O
his lvusshold 10 the f.r West we're usyoked
AID for the first time the grove reRouuded t<
tie steady blows ct the woodlands axe, ani
tile tail saplings one after one fell to tht
ground, ard in 4 few days the cabin Of the im
migrant stood just under the shade Of th'
forest, ard looking out On the broad expaps'
, Il, the cast vas John Vaace, at Butler
Point, ut The salt works Of the Vermil1ioa
fIcm which mcst of .he Eait for the Wab1s1
county was procured These sa!t springs
orce 50 Taluable to the pioneer, have lost thei
; value, and but few Of the present population
, ever a1eam that such thing Is now in e.
, iEtatce-
The great saiines st Onondaga and Turk
Island, have destroyed their conmescla
value. For nine years the Immigrant and hi
i neightors. At the close Of the Black EaH1
II war, these ucred west, and left them the sol
: ! white irhabitants Of the new county Of Chan
pain. But long before this the stream c
: ccul;1y, and the timber belt that frlnged th
sanganaon ard its small tributaries, had b,
d come filed with cabins, and thousands
. corn felds had invaded the prairie. This arm
. Of immigrants passed the cabin at Saldors
i Grove, and always made nights M Mhal
4 There they procured coEn and oats for the
10 teams, and bacon, corn meal and -four f
y Themselves. The settlers Ia the 4angamo
e 'e couruy bad already become stock grower
j and large d1oyes went east By this route eve
J: before 1880, yet the nearest neighbor vas
1e mills In 1854 Mr. Rock settled with
g. two and a half miles, and after him came
food Of immigrants, all building their cahi1
at the edge Of the timber. Tie great Sta
road from The cid parts Of the State to CT
cago, on the lake, Was now opened, and Gro!
+ cd tho western route ut the cabin Of Mr.
7. doras, which low became one Of the gre
n. points Of rest aud feed for the traveller. ii
b. log cabin had become too small, and ho1
e. commensurate with the Wsnts of the rapid
10 settling up Ct the country must be e1ects
). The nearest Eaw-mill Was distant seven
miles, being sixteen miles east of CoVingtt
~ in the heavy -timbrr lands Of Indiaaa, but
1at profits Oh corn at thirty seven and half Gel
Z bEshel, and meal at tweutJ-fEe, warrant
Is the outlay, ard ncar fifty thousand feet oflu
ber was hauled over the prairie through !
}a1gt house went up, much to the JOY OF
travellers and droVers.
. TIE ORCHARD.
Here re car learn something Of the long
ity OF the apple tree, Of aspect and Of $
. suited to Its wants. The first trees for
orchard we're procured some miles south
Te,re Hnnte, and numbered fifty, most
them Milans, not gratted, but sprouts tai
from orchard trees, and grown 8 couple
Is, yeaE in nursery rowe These were set out
the spripE Of 1880, on 3 piece Of land II
A.. which the timber had been removed. Thet
ins is was rather fat, with heavy forest to the #
d1s- and south, coming close up to the orcha
'eets more distant on the north and the open p
IN rie to tie east. Many Of these trees are a
,ess dead, thcee remaining are Dfilams and
'na- much Eecayed by age, and though now b.
II. ing good crop cannot last a long time. 2
eds Vine Ssps are all dead, and 50 are some OF
~ ~ varieties, names not known- Up to the ?
Al. Ter Of '54-5 they bore GOOD crops, but
!, II severe cold Of that winter killed many OF th
W and also large number In the orchard adjs
irE, which was several years younger. In
M, this orchard commenced bearing, and has {
timed TO bear good annual crops to the p
EFT date. The orchard WAS afterwards exte
,,s ed to oyer two hundred trees, all
,ad lsms, by taking the sprouts from the
setting, putting them into nursery rows in
e garden for two CT three years, then into
=. orchard. Some Thousands Of trees have b
S sent from this orchard to form new q
Throughout this part Of the country; he
the fact OF the universal planting Of
11%I Ir{x %rn<t $4r &n