1856.] Capture of a noted Wild Horse. 



343 



hundred and thirty bushels from an acre, A celebrated nui'serjman, in 

 the Western part of the State, informs us that he has gathered from his 

 garden beds at the rate of two hundred and fifty bushels to the acre. 

 The cost of cultivating the berries is estimated at 820 and $25 per 

 acre, with the additional expense of $1 50 for picking, The prices 

 obtained for the fruit, by the cultivator, range from 121 cents to $1 50 

 the quart. The latter price has been paid in Washington City for the 

 earliest berries raised in that vicinity. 



It is probable that the nature of the strawberry and its cultivation is 

 not yet thoroughly understood. A crop of thirty bushels an acre is 

 about equal to a corn crop of ten bushels on the same ground, which, as 

 every farmer knows, is a very poor product. If our farmers understood 

 the nature of the strawberry as well as they understand the nature of 

 corn, they could as easily raise three hundred bushels on an acre as 

 thirty. Then these delicious berries would be cheaper and more abun- 

 dant every year." — Western Agriculturist. 



CAPTUKE OP A NOTED WILD HORSE. 



The Sacramento (Cal.) Journal gives an interesting account of a 

 noted wild horse which has recently been captured in that vicinity. 

 The animal was known as the " Prairie Chief," or wild horse of Yolo, 

 and is considered the best native trotter in the State, and the most 

 enduring animal perhaps in any country. He had baffled for years 

 repeated attempts to capture him, although every method that ingenuity 

 could devise and men execute was tried years ago. 



More than forty horsemen, mounted on the very flower of the ranches, 

 pursued time and again, often running him from sun to sun, and occa- 

 sionally hunting him on the second day, when he proved as fresh as 

 upon the first ; and never, until at last captured, even when hottest 

 pursued, was he seen to break into a gallop. Trotting, he could run 

 round most horses galloping. Once he was decoyed by means of other 

 horses into a coral, but on perceiving the snare he at one bound cleared 

 by several feet the bristling post of the coral. A reward of $ 1 ,500 was 

 once offered for him, and he was, after several attempts, driven into a 

 narrow pass and lassoed, but he snapped the lasso in an instant and 

 escaped. 



