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versified with rugged hills and beautiful valleys. Cliffs often rise ab- 
ruptly from the banks of the streams to the height of one hundred feet 
or more. In the valleys the ijand is very fertile, producing cotton, wheat, 
corn, oats, barley, rye, &c. In 1872 some of the wheat-lands of the 
better quality yielded a fraction over 45 bushels per acre. Butin Hood 
County the larger part of the land is not adapted to tillage, though 
some of the elevated plateaus, which are post-oak lands, produce very . 
good crops. Water is abundant, since, in addition to the Brazos River, 
small streams abound. Wood for fuel is plenty, though good timber 
for building is somewhat scarce. Agriculture is generally in an unim- 
proved and, in some respects, a primitive, state. Our correspondent ex- 
presses his intention of doing what he can toward awakening a new 
interest and developing the resources of the county. Among its other 
attractions, he specifies more than a dozen “ very fine white-sulphur 
springs.” 
ESPARTO-GRASS.—The rapid increase in the demand for this fibrous 
product, ( Macrochloa tenacissima,) chietly as material for paper, is indi- 
cated by the following facts: It was first brought to notice in 1862, 
when a single cargo was sent to England from the province of Oran, in 
Algiers. The result of this experiment was that the export from this 
same province rose from 10,000 quintals in 1863 to 370,000 in 1870 
amounting in value, in the latter year, to $1,500,000. 
NEW PAPER-FIBER.—According to the Agricultural Gazette of India, 
a common weed, called Sida retusa, growing in great abundance in 
Queensland and New South Wales, has recently been found to afford a 
very valuable material for paper-making. It is a species of malvacew, 
and the best specimens of it grow about Windsor, New South Wales, 
where itis known as American lucerne. It is alleged to be of such 
vitality and vigor of growth as to be almost ineradicable, and to grow 
in such profusion as to be a very troublesome weed ; to be very superior 
to esparto-grass, clean, easily bleached, and haying all the best 
qualities of flax. “Samples of the Sida retusa having been submitted 
to the chief paper manufacturers in England, one and all have agreed in 
expressing their most favorable opinion of its perfect adaptability to 
the purpose of paper-making, and all entertain a very high estimate of 
its market value.” Various species of sida are represented to be com- 
mon throughout India. One, Sida piliafolia, referred to by Dr. Forbes 
Boyle, in his work on Indian fibers, is said to be cultivated in China 
for its fiber, as a substitute for hemp and flax. Dr. Roxburgh describes 
its fiber as “strong and pliable, very silky in its nature, and the plant of 
very rapid and luxuriant growth, three crops being obtained in one 
year.” 
HEALTH FROM FLOWERS.—It is reported that an Italian professor 
has discovered that perfumes from flowers have a chemical effect on the 
atmosphere, converting its oxygen into ozone, and thus increasing its 
health-imparting power. As the result of his researches he states that 
essences of cherry, laurel, lavender, mint, juniper, melons, fennel, and 
bergamot are among those which develop the largest quantities of 
ozone, while anise and thyme develop it in a less degree. Flowers des- 
titute of perfume have no such effect. He very naturally recommends 
that dwellers in marshy localities and near places infected with animal 
emanations should surround their homes with a profusion of the most 
odoriferous flowers—a recommendation which the Creator, through 
their beauty and fragrance, addresses to the senses of all sensible. 
people. 
