much time and money is thus spent to no purpose, they become discouraged in their very laudable undertakings.

On motion, the thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. Cochrane for his very interesting and instructive contribution to Apple History, in giving us this valuable account of the "Gardner Orchard."

Since the above account of the Gardner orchard was written, the old Gardner homestead has descended to Mr. James Gardner, the grandson of the original proprietor, who, with his accomplished wife, now occupies the old home.

In addition to the above, we find, in the early history of the county, there were apple trees planted by Mr. O. E. Foster, three miles northeast of Havana, about the year 1835 or 1836, and by another party, whose name we have been unable to learn, in the vicinity of Crane creek.

AGRICULTURE IN 1776.

From an eastern publication we extract the following, which may interest the reader as to "then" and "now:"

In the course of a century, within their narrow fringe of country, the colonists had transformed the wilderness into a fertile and productive territory. Agriculture was their favorite pursuit. Travelers from Europe were struck with the skill with which they cultivated the rich and abundant soil, the fine farm houses that filled the landscape, the barns overflowing with harvests, the cattle, the sheep. The northern and middle colonies for wheat and corn were famous. Pennsylvania was the granary of the nation. In New Jersey the farms that spread from Trenton to Elizabethtown excited the admiration of the scientific Kalm. Long Island was the garden of America, and all along the valleys opening upon the Hudson, the Dutch and Huguenot colonists had acquired ease and opulence by a careful agriculture. The farm-houses, usually built of stone, with tall roofs and narrow windows, were scenes of intelligent industry. While the young men labored in the fields, the mothers and daughters spun wool and flax, and prepared a large part of the clothing of the family. The farm-house was a manufactory for all the articles of daily use. Even nails were hammered out in winter, and the farmer was his own mechanic. A school

aud a church were provided for almost every village. Few children were left untaught by the Dutch dominie, who was sometimes paid in wampum; or the New England student, who lived among his patrons, and was not always fed upon the daintiest fare. On Sunday, labor ceased, the church-bell tolled in the distance, a happy calm settled upon the rural region, and the farmer and his family, in their neatest dress, rode or walked to the village church. The farming class, usually intelligent and rational, formed in the northern colonies the sure reliance of freedom, and when the invasion came, the Hessians were driven out of New Jersey by the general rising of its laboring farmers, and Burgoyne was captured by the resolution of the people rather than by the timid generalship of Gates.

The progress of agriculture at the South was even more rapid and remarkable than at the North. The wilderness was swiftly converted into a productive region. The coast from St. Mary's to the Delaware, with its inland country, became within a century the most valuable portion of the earth. Its products were eagerly sought for in all the capitals of Europe, and one noxious plant of Virginia had supplied mankind with a new vice and a new pleasure. It would be useless to relate again the story of the growth of the tobacco trade. Its cultivation in Virginia was an epoch in the history of man. Tobacco was to Virginia the life of trade and intercourse; prices were estimated in it; salaries of the clergy were fixed at so many pounds of tobacco. All other products of the soil were neglected in order to raise the savage plant. Ships from England came over annually to gather in the great crops of the large planters, and Washington, one of the most successful landowners and agriculturists, was accustomed to watch keenly over the vessels and their captains who sailed up the Potomac to his very dock. The English traders seem to have been often anxious to depreciate his cargoes and lower his prices. Virginia grew enormously rich from the sudden rise of an artificial taste. From 1824, when the production of tobacco was first made a royal monopoly, until the close of the colonial period, the production and consumption rose with equal rapidity, and in 1775, 85,000 hogsheads were exported annually, and the sale of tobacco brought in nearly $4,000,000 to the southern colonies. This was equal to about onethird of the whole export of the colonies. Happily since that period the proportion has rapidly decreased, and more useful arti

cles have formed the larger part of the export from the New World to to the Old.

One of these was rice. A Governor of South Carolina, it is related, had been in Madagascar, and seen the plant cultivated in its hot swamps. He lived in Charleston, on the bay, and it struck him that a marshy spot in his garden might well serve for a plantation of rice. Just then-1694-a vessel put in from Madagascar, in distress, whose commander the Governor had formerly known. Her wants were liberally relieved. In gratitude for the kindness he received, the master gave the Governor a bag of rice. It was sown and produced abundantly. The soil proved singularly favorable for its culture. The marshes of Georgia and South Carolina were soon covered with rice plantations. A large part of the crop was exported to England. In 1724, 100,000 barrels were sent out from South Carolina alone. In 1761, the value of its rice crop was more than $1,500,000. Its white population could not have been more than 45,000, and it is easy to conceive the tide of wealth that was distributed annually among its small band of planters. They built costly mansions on the coasts and bays, lived in fatal luxury, were noted for their wild excesses, and often fell speedy victims to the fevers of the malarious soil. Indigo, sugar, molasses, tar, pitch, and a great variety of valuable productions added to the wealth of the south. But cotton, which has grown through many vicissitudes to be the chief staple of British and American trade, was, at this period, only cultivated in small quantities for the use of the farmers. It was spun into coarse cloths. But it was not until Whitney's invention, in 1793, that it could be readily prepared for commerce, and to the inventive genius of Connecticut, the Southern States owe the larger part of their wealth and political impor

tance.

HAVANA.

Havana is beautifully situated on the east bank of the Illinois river, and is the county seat of the county. The situation is somewhat elevated, perhaps an average of forty feet above the river. It contains many fine residences and pleasant homes, and more than ordinary taste is exhibited in the improvement and ornamentation of grounds.

The town contains, as near as we can estimate in the absence of precise figures, 3,000 inhabitants. During the past year has erected a fine school edifice on the bluff east of the court house, at an expense of nearly $30,000, an improvement of which our citizens are justly proud. In addition to this main central school house, there are smaller houses for the primary schools in both the north and south ends of the town.

The churches are as follows: The Methodist Episcopal church, corner of Main and Broadway, is a good, plain house, and the place of worship of one of the oldest societies in the city. Being centrally located, and of easy access, it is as well attended as any. The Reformed church is located on the second block south of the M. E. church; a neat, well finished house, of unpretentious appearance, erected at a cost of about $7,000.

The Lutheran church, on the bluff northeast of the court house, is still smaller, though the average attendance is larger than in the two preceding. It is as old, if not the oldest organization in the city, and its membership is the wealthiest of any. A neat parsonage is attached to their grounds, and their pastor has a pleasant home.

In the northern part of town is the Catholic church, a neat, commodious frame building, as are all the others, very tastefully finished. This society has a large membership, and some of the most substantial citizens of town and country are included in its

numbers. All the foregoing churches have pastors in charge, and regular services, though the minister of the Reformed church receives his salary from the Board of Domestic Missions of that church in the East.

The Baptist church is a neat frame building, near the southwest corner of the public square. The membership is few in number, and without a minister at this time.

Our Swedish citizens, of whom there are about fifty, are making efforts to hold religious services in their own language, and a minister of that nationality has recently visited them several times for that purpose. A word in reference to our Swedish population. Though not wealthy, they are in fair circumstances, and are rightly ranked among our most valuable citizens. Honest, industrious, temperate and reliable is the reference we must make to them, and a personal acquaintance with each enables us to know "whereof we affirm."

If there is one class of inhabitants more than another of whom we have just reason to be proud, it is our

MECHANICS.

We have a large number of mechanics, in all the various trades usually pursued in inland towns. Carpenters, machinists, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, painters, jewelers, printers, tinners, etc., etc., that are equaled by few and excelled by none. Strangers have remarked to the writer, in regard to some of our mechanics, whose abilities they had tested, that they regard them as very superior, indeed. It is ever our pleasure to give honor to whom honor is due, and we hold it as a fundamental principle of a democratic government, that the masses, the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, either in common or skilled labor, is the bulwark and stay, the anchor and safety, of the institutions of our country. Hence the value of the free school system in our country, where the property is taxed for the education of the poor man's children. With few exceptions, the best minds in America have sprung from the laboring classes, and been educated in the common schools. More of this under another heading.

The first settlement was made where Havana now stands in 1839. In 1829, in September, a postoffice was established, and six