217 



east antl west forks. Tlie water subsequently fell back about 2 feet, but at 

 ^ p. m. it commenced rising* again and continue.d to rise till 4i a. m. on 

 25th, when it was 10 feet deep in the streets, and was in every house in 

 town. All had to go up stairs, and a sad time we had. No human lives 

 ■were lost, but the destruction of property was great — not less than 

 $100,000 worth in the county. Nearly every mill and saw-mill was car- 

 ried off, and not a bridge is left. River farms were swept of everything, 

 and some of the finest were so washed that they are ruined. Nearly all 

 the grain and hay stored along the French Broad and Little Pigeon 

 Eivers was swept off. Cattle, sheep, hogs, some horses and cows, and 

 nearly all the calves in Sevierville were drowned. 



The buffalo-gnat. — Fayette^ Tennessee^ May 10 : This section has 

 suffered very great loss of mules and horses by the buffalo-gnat. The 

 loss of Fayette County is estimated as high as §500,000 by some. This 

 however, I think an exaggeration. I have been here nine years, and this is 

 the first season in which they have done any serious damage. They appear 

 regularly in the river swamps every year, and every planter has a remedy. 

 The best and only sure remedy is to put the stock at once in a dark 

 stable and build " smokes. Various preparations for greasing the vul- 

 nerable parts are recommended; the best is a half-and-half mixture' of 

 pine-tar and lard. What is remarkable about this visitation is that those 

 of our citizens who have lived in the swamps and thought they knew all 

 about it applied their grease and kept on working, and yet lost heavily, 

 while those who knew nothing about it, becoming alarmed, stabled their 

 animals and lost nothing. The visitation lasted about three days. Death 

 doubtless is partly caused by loss of blood, but mainly by poisoning the 

 circulation. 



Agricultural lights and shades in Mississippi. — Hinds : In 

 some townships every man, woman, and child appears to have a worth- 

 less dog, very hungry, and generally mangy. One consequence is that 

 sheep cannot be trusted out of sight by day or out of the yard by night. 

 Crops are looking well, especially corn. People are working better and 

 buying less from market than at any time in the last ten years. We 

 are hopeful of better times. The only thing we have to fear now is 

 reckless extravagance of State and county officials. 



STATISTICS OF DAIRY FACTORIES. 



The following averages of milk and cheese production are deduced 

 from statements of dairy factories in the State of New York. Many 

 factory reports have been set aside on account of omissions of neces- 

 sary particulars, an omission the more to be regretted from the fact that 

 factory men generally have not been in the habit of publishing accounts 

 of their operations, and hence material of this description has never 

 been abundant. In reducing pounds of milk to gallons, we take the 

 specific gravity of milk of fair quality at 1.03, accepting this as suffi- 

 ciently determined by the investigations of Dr. Yoelcker, of England, and 

 other chemists who have had large experience in examinations of milk. 

 The weight of the standard gallon (distilled water) in this country be- 

 ing officially placed at 8.3389 pounds, we hence calculate the average 

 weight of one gallon of milk at 8.589 pounds. 



Eeports of one hundred and seventeen cheese and butter factories in 



