603 
6,000,000 sheep, for which neither pasture nor fodder food is pro- 
vided. “ By far the greater number of live stock of the presidency are 
kept, during two-thirds of the year, just above the starvation point. The 
result of such management is that disease is seldom absent from the 
herds and flocks of the ryot, producing, at times, frightful loss.” 
JUTE AND RAMIE IN LOUISIANA.-—Mr. E. Le France, president of the 
Southern Ramie Planting Association of New Orleans, La., writes as 
follows to the Department in regard to recent experiments with jate, 
and incidentally refers to ramie: 
I have the pleasure to inform you of the success of our jute experiment conducted on 
an adequate scale. To find out the best time for planting, we put in seed at intervals 
from April to July. All plantings up to the end of June did well; that of a later 
period failed to attain the average height, which is here 6 feet—in rich land 8. Man- 
ual labor, such as that employed i inthe jute industry of the East Indies, could not be 
employed here, because too high-priced and unskilled. We have treated the jute by 
machinery. Our ramie machinery, recently improved, cleans the jute perfectly in its 
green state. It gives a crude but neat product which, being rotted, is a beautiful and 
lustrous fiber. Jute culture cannot fail to be profitable, inasmuch as it requires small 
capital. The following is a statement of approximate cost: 
TEM AIIGU DOT: ACEP cccrepyaets wa fod, «= ~~ 45 ria=ininr anes sco lee en ae eae eee omen 
Cutting, decortication, and manufacture... .------------- eee PO SAGE GeSe 15 00 
Implements and interest on Caplbal. . .. 5 oe cs secietses o.ciciee. « pisnie np eee eke aet ee enn 
25 00 
Average yield per acre, on common land, 1,500 pounds. 
Offered price for the crude fiber, 4 cents per pound ; for rotted, 8 cents. 
Of course the crude fiber would cost less to the planter; being the direct product 
from the machine, it would save at least $5 per acre for manipulation by the rotting pro- 
cess. The raw fiber is a new element for rope manufacture and other coarse industries. 
It is very strong, and_has all the natural qualities of its native condition. We believe 
that as a material for cordage, in place of common Manila at 9 and 10 cents, it ought to 
bring at least 6 and 7 cents, and save millions of importation, At all events, we can 
now “proclaim as easy and feasible, jute culture in America. It.depends upon the 
planters to extend it. Ramie, as well as jute, is gaining ground ; the mechanical prob- 
lem is solved. Hemp and flax can also be cleaned by the machinery adapted to ramie 
and jute. 
Having noticed in one of the agricultural reports that cotton, surrounded by a belt 
of jute, was protected thereby from attacks of caterpillars, I made the experiment, 
and found the statement to be correct. There were no worms in the field, although 
situated in lowlands of the suburbs of New Orleans, while some adjacent plantations 
were visited by the insect. I have also obseryed that no flies or butterflies ever go to 
the jute flower. 
STATISTICS OF MONTGOMERY CouNTY, lowa.—The rapid progress 
of western settlement can be illustrated by facts from almost any 
county beyond the Mississippi. The official census of Montgomery 
County, Iowa, for 1873, gives the following results: Acres of land im- 
proved, 67,890; products of 1872, in bushels: wheat, 229,632; corn, 
1,647,893 ; oats, 287,915; barley, 11,019; pounds of wool, 7, 024. The 
returns of corresponding items in the same county, in 1869, for the 
United States census, were as follows: Acres of improved land, 30,284 ; 
bushels of wheat, 59,712; of corn, 323,168; of oats, 37,393; pounds of. 
wool, 18,492. No barley was reported for 1869. By comparing the two 
series, it appears that, within the short space of four years, the quantity 
of land improved was more than doubled, and, within three years, the 
production increased, of wheat, nearly four-fold; of corn, more than 
five-fold ; and of oats, more than seven-fold. On the other hand, the 
production of wool fell off 62 per cent. The census for 1873 makes the 
number of inhabitants 8,602. 
CONSUMPTION OF CoTTon.—M. Ott-Triimpler, in his annual report 
of cotton deliveries (from ports to the interior) for consumption in Eu- 
