Illinois Ag News Headlines 'The Agricultural Vision of Abraham Lincoln' Exhibit Opens June 15 Illinois Ag Connection - 06/08/2009 An ox yoke made by Abraham Lincoln, a letter from George Washington about gardening, and the only known intact 1918 John Deere all-wheel-drive tractor are among the items featured in Illinois Stories: "How Vast and How Varied a Field..." The Agricultural Vision of Abraham Lincoln, a new exhibit opening June 15 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in downtown Springfield. The exhibit, in the Museum's Illinois Gallery, runs through August 31. The exhibit follows the history of American agriculture from the late 1700s to the present with emphasis on Lincoln's contributions -- as president, he appointed the first U.S. Agriculture Secretary and supported federal programs to modernize farming. Original Lincoln documents and artifacts are displayed alongside antique farm implements in this entertaining and thought-provoking exhibit. Lincoln reportedly made the ox yoke from walnut and hickory while living in New Salem in the 1830s. Years later Lincoln gave it to his brother-in-law Clark Smith, who presented it to the University of Illinois in 1875 and it now debuts at the Presidential Museum. A letter from George Washington to fellow Virginia planter Landon Carter, Esq., discusses one of Washington's favorite subjects, gardening at Mt. Vernon. Washington died the year the letter was written, 1799, just two years after he left office as America's first chief executive. The letter is on loan from the St. Louis Mercantile Library and will be displayed through November 2009. More from this state at: Illinois Ag Connection Copyright © 2010 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.