TOWNER, =183 m.= (1,478 alt., 622 pop.), named for Col. O. M. Towner, one of the first ranchers in McHenry County, is the county seat. It lies in a bend of the SOURIS (Fr., _mouse_) RIVER, so named by French explorers for the numerous field mice found in the river basin. The river itself lies on a level plain that was at one time the bed of glacial Lake Souris, of which the stream is now the only remnant. Fully three-fourths of McHenry County is on this plain, once principally cattle country, now devoted to diversified farming. During ranching days in the 1880's the country was a rough frontier populated by an odd assortment of personalities. Among these were two English peers, each of whom acquired a ranch near Towner, built a large home, and settled down to the serious business of living lavishly on remittances from home. The community was excited when one of the men had a visit from his sister, a countess prominent in women's suffrage work in the British Isles, who arrived on a special train. The other exile also had a caller from home, an elderly woman who arrived unexpectedly to find him occupied with the entertainment of a houseful of guests. She departed without seeing him or even getting out of her carriage. Not long afterwards both Englishmen took their leave. Towner is the junction with ND 14, a graveled highway, which unites with US 2 between this point and =188 m.= 1. Left from Towner on a graveled county road to the SCHULTZ HEREFORD RANCH, =1.8 m.=, where registered Hereford cattle and Belgian horses are bred. Situated on the timber-flanked banks of the Mouse, the ranch has an air of early-day friendliness. Its huge barns and corrals reflect the large-scale ranching of pioneer days joined with the efficiency of a modern business--a combination typical of the present-day stock raising industry in the State. 2. Right (N) from Towner on a graveled county road to a GOVERNMENT NURSERY, =1.5 m.=, where experimental work in connection with the shelterbelt project is conducted. 3. Right from Towner on ND 14 is BANTRY, =14 m.= (1,469 alt., 150 pop.). Left from Bantry on ND 17, a graveled highway, to the LONG TURKEY RANCH, =20.5 m.= At the age of six weeks the young turkeys are sent out on the 320-acre range in flocks of 700, and attain their full bone growth during the summer months. A few weeks before fall marketing the flocks are driven in to the ranch and the birds confined in large pens where they are fattened for market. More than 2,000 turkeys are shipped from the Long ranch annually. At =188 m.= is a junction with ND 14.