American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-07-17
COMMUNICATIONS.

ANNA, UNION Co, ILL,

NIX. EDlIOh .--I EeSu utHiuS tHtfo muJ
be few in Butler county that have the
- western fever,p / take the liberty of
calling tie attention of such, through
your paper, to this portion of Illinois,
familiarly styled Egypt.
WHERE is ANNAf s3t" d"
If you spread out your map you will
find the point from which write, on the
Illinois Central Railroad, So miles north
of Cairo. The station is called Jones
boro, although the town of Jonesboro lies
one mile west Of the road Anna has
sprung up at the station since the CONS
pletiou Of the railroad and isnow larger
than Jonesboro -,o ea.... .s v-.s..,-
..f WHO SHOULD EMIGRATE. yr-~ =,
Inducements are only, offered to those
who could invest frem. two to three thous
and dollars, or more, in the farming and
fruit growing business. If he IS able to
buy a farm already fruited, SO much the
better, if not, he will get returns from
his bersies in one year. and from his
peaches and other fruit in from three to
FIVE years, after setting them himself
All branches Of professional business are
oyestocked; so is the mercantile; while
mechanics are plenty. Pennsylvanians
are generally good farmers. There are a
few of them in Southern Illinois, and so
far as my acquaintance extends, all, with
out exception, who have turned their at
tention to the farming and fruit growing
business have made themselves comforta-
bly, rich in few years, For this same
business, see mapy in the last few years
that have laid aside the scalpel for the
pruning knife--bills in ehancery for fruit
bills in Chicago, and even the clerical
robe for "wamus,"
ADVANTAGES.
There are several reasons why farm la
Dor is better remunerated here than it is
in Western Pennsylvania. In the first
place the soil is much more productive ;
and whatever is produced commands a
high cash price; cash 1T any of the sta>
tions on the railroad. There is no bet'
ter market in the West for butter, chick
ems, eggs, and all kinds of Vegetables,
than Cairo, where the steamboats, of two
great rivers stop fsr supplies. Cairo can
be reached in few minutes, while few
hours will transport the same TO Chicago.
An kinds of fruit nature here five or six
weeks earlier than they do in the neigh
borhood of Chicago. The grower is en-
abled thereby to throw the first into mars
ket, and often gets fabulous prices. In
the next place, the winters are at least
two months shorter here than they are in
Butler county requiring SO much less feed
for stock. ~
STRAWBERRIES.
1t is on'y within the last five or six
years that fruit growing has been made a
speciality in this section, and become an
Important branch Of industry. 1t is in
~ infancy yet, but the magnitude to
which it has already attained, may be in>
ferred from the fact, that the j, G. r. r.
were obliged to put on speOidt fruit
train to transport the strawberry crop
alone, starting from this station daily.
/ will give you soue figures as col
lected by others, which seem almost in
credible except tolthoso who have exam
ined into the matter.
.Cobdeu, six miles north of this, the
most important fruit station on the road,
shipped as high as eighteen tons, or six
hundred bushels of strawberries in sim
gle day. From two to six tons, or two
hundred and fifty bushels, we're sent daily
from this station, while smaller ones sent
forward from one to five tons, or an aver
age of 70 bushels per day. as s Y
1t is estimated thateightthousand tons,
or eighty thousand bushels wore shipped
during assessor lastinSfTom three to four
weeks, from this portion Of Illinois south
Of the Ohio & NJ. r, X.
The prices realized by the grower va.
ries from ten cents toone dollar and TWEEN
ty-fve cents quart, Perhaps thirty
cents quart is not an over average -
Sixty bushels, to the acre is an average
yield. From this We find that an acre
devoted to Strawberries, will yield sohte-
what in the neighborhood of six huhd-
red dollars The boxes, packing, freight
and commission, cost six cents per quart,
Strawberries grow everywhere; but
the grower here sends the first to the
Chicago market, thereby commanding the
highest prices, and by the time the earli-
vstmature in that neighborhood, the crop
is used up here, aud be is ready to ship
his
RAsPBERRIEs. 80 9
This berry is becoming qaitc as impor-
tant as the strawberry The cost of
them is not more than half as
much as in the case of Strawberries
They produce from forty to fifty bushels
to the acre, and are worth about twice as
much in market. I will not dwell on it,
but take up the ,Al Ieseifs'i 21og
.oo e' y5g PEACH. eg5 Il sroa
The cultivation Of the peach is the
most important, extensive and profitable.
When a peach crop pays at all, it pays
well Last year the crop was light
This year the trees are bending with the
luscious burden, and will more than com
for former failures, The fruit
man is already counting his profits by the
thousands There ore many instances of
growers making ten thousand dollars net
profits from single peach crop in ona
circumstances nearly donble thas amount.
ut is only among the hills aud wooded
slopes, commencing at Villa Ridge. II
III - H., Oh /.