that surround certain plants, they have so increased in size that they have become more valuable articles of food; but in all this change, we have not changed their nature in regard to climatic conditions. The Wilson strawberry is hardy under its snow covering on the hither side of Lake Michigan; so it is on our bleak prairie through all the changes of winter, if we but shield it by a mulch of hay or of straw. Not that twenty or thirty degrees of frost would destroy it, but that the sudden changes of temperature to which it might be exposed in the absence of these mitigating conditions, would prove its ruin. All those food-producing plants that contain the food value in their seeds or envelopes, when treated with a higher state of culture, show the excess of growth in that direction, while the root crop is benefited in having larger, and in most cases more succulent, tubers. If the theory that plants are fed through their leaves is true, there would be an end to this development, and we would be saved the labor that is now required, or rather, that labor would bring no value. The tropics shower down their abundance of rich food, ample for the supply of a nomadic people; but so does the more exacting North, though not in kind; her forests are filled with game and nuts, her plains pasture vast droves of animals for food and clothing, while her lakes and rivers are stocked with fish. These grow and thrive without our aid, and we have but to put them to our use. Were the earth swept of all the races of man, the garden to the eastward of Eden would only need to be tended and dressed, to supply another Adam and another Eve all the food that heart could desire, except, perhaps, to taste of the tree of life that they might be immortal. But in the formation of society, and in the building of cities, we have a new condition of things that require our most serious attention, and which compel us to make the earth more beautiful, in order to support the new millions that crowd upon its sur face. Fortunately for us, this can be attained by an addition of labor properly applied. We need not invent a bellows, in order to force more plant food into the leaves of the plant, for it is evident that nature does not feed her plants in that manner; but we can, by nice culture, compel the plants to take in more food, and thus to increase their growth. We do not wish to throw away our labor, or put it where no useful result will follow; for this reason we meet together to consult, and if possible, fix on the best plans to be followed in our department of rural labor; a department, which, if intelligently pursued, yields a rich harvest of substantial blessings, that minister to the appetite redolent of health, and to the eye its illimitable forms of beauty; bowing our minds to the Infinite, who made and orders all. M. E. LAPHAM & CO., DEALERS IN LUMBER, DOORS, SASH And Blinds; Also, LIME, CEMENT, BRICK, STONE, &c., Champaign, Illinois. YARD, Cor. Market St. and University Ave. All kinds of Notions. BLACK & GERE, ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELLORS AT LAW, And Solicitors in Chancery, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS. Will practice their profession in the United States Courts, Bankruptcy Courts included, and all Courts of the State of Illinois. COLLECTIONS MADE AND PROMPTLY REMITTED. Office, over Burnham, Condit & Co.'s Bank, 21 Main St. BANKERS, 15 Main St., Champaign, Ill. • Will make Collections and pay taxes in Champaign and adjoining Counties. EXCHANGE BOUGHT On New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, and all Eastern Cities. SOLD DRAFTS FOR SALE On England and Ireland, and on Germany and other Continental countries. PASSAGE TICKETS From and to England and Ireland, and all European Countries, by Sail and Steam ves sels, at Lowest Rates. D. GARDNER & CO. THE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY Is located within the corporate limits of the city of Urbana, close by the eastern line of Champaign City. This University confessedly stands at the head of all the institutions of the State. As early as 1852, Hon. J. B. Turner and others of this State, advocated the establishment and endowment by the State or the General Govern ment, of an institution, the object of which should be the theoretical and practical education of the youth of the land in all the industrial arts; but it was not until 1862, that any move was made in the matter. At this time Congress passed an Act, granting to each State four hundred and eighty thousand acres of land scrip as an endowment for an Industrial University, to be accepted by the States and applied to the purpose designated. Under the provisions of this Act, the farmers at the State Fair, held in Decatur in 1864, through their Committee, Wm. H. Van Epps, Prof. J. B. Turner, A. B. McConnell, B. G. Roots, and John P. Reynolds, prepared a bill, and presented the same to the Legislature of the State in 1865, as containing their views and desires in the premises; and it was this bill, with some unimportant changes, that finally became a law. The contest for the location of the University was long and severe. Jacksonville having nearly all the State Institutions within its limits, somehow claimed the University, and pressed its claims with vigor. Bloomington, in McLean county, rich and powerful, made strong demands for it, and one or two other points presented claims; among them Champaign, a county then almost unknown in the State, entered the arena to contest for the prize. At first the effort of our county was considered a joke, and the other contesting points were made merry at our expense. This, however, was soon changed to respect, then to fear, and in 1867 to deep chagrin and mortification, when it was found that in spite of combined opposition, the prize dropped into the lap of despised Champaign. As an evidence of the enterprise and determination of our people in this contest, |