322 



FACTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 



Agricultural products in GeorgtIA. — The following statements 

 are condensed from a report by the State department of agriculture in 

 Georgia on the condition of farm-products, as reported the 15th of June : 

 Condition of corn, 98 ; corn-forage, 99 ; and the acreage, 121. Wheat, 

 not harvested, 90; the bulk of the crop harvested in good condition, 

 and the yield 8 per cent, above average. Cotton, 100 ; late, but thriving. 

 Winter oats, 106; spring, 80; the latter injured by drought and rust. 

 The yield of both kinds 14 per cent, above that of last year. " It is well 

 demonstrated that oats succeed better sown in the fall. It has also 

 been demonstrated that a good stand may be secured by sowing in cotton 

 about the 1st of September, without plowing in." The condition of rice 

 was "placed at 95 ; sugar-cane, 93 ; clover, 90 — harvested in good con- 

 dition. The wool-clip, 101. The annual loss of sheep by dogs is esti- 

 mated at 15 per cent., and the loss by disease at G per cent. The reported 

 daily average of milk per cow is one gallon ; milk required for one pound 

 of butter, 2^ gallons. This would give but 2| pounds of butter per 

 week; about one-third of a fair yield for a good cow well cared for. 

 The honey prospect is placed 3 per cent, above average, and the yield 

 per colony at 28 pounds. 



Irrigation schemes — preliminary official work. — Mr. Edward 

 L. Bertboud, civil engineer and secretary of the territorial School 

 of Mines located at Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado, addresses 

 a communication to this Department, in which he proposes that the 

 Engineer Department of the United States Army, the Chief Signal- 

 Ofiticer, the Smithsonian Institution, the Commissioner of the General 

 Land-OflQce, and the Commissioner of Agriculture co-operate in obtain- 

 ing uniform and accurate data upon the following points as preliminary 

 aids in the investigation of proposed irrigation schemes : 



1. To establish a uniform system of " gauging " the volume of water, and of ascer- 

 taining the cross-sections of all the streams and rivers in the several States and Terri- 

 tories ; and that this be made a portion of the duties of all exploring and reconnoitering 

 parties, of all signal officers and stations, and of all deputy United States surveyors 

 running meridian, gnide-meiidian, staudard, and township lines. 



2. That, in addition to the measuring accurately such cross-sections, and determin- 

 ing the area of the streams at such sections, should be also a uniform method of obtain- 

 ing the velocity of the water at the place of observation, to determine actual supply 

 of water. 



3. Such determination of volume and velocity should not only be taken when swol- 

 len by periodical rains or the melting of the snows of the mountain-ranges in which 

 such streams originate, but should also be taken at their lowest stage, or when the 

 effect of local storms or permanent snows has decreased to a minimum or entirely 

 ceased. 



4. That in a period of a few years, and at very small expense, we would get minima 

 and maxima of amounts, which factors, determined for a constant period, would assist" 

 for the determination of the influences of cultivation, drainage, and the clearing of 

 forest, not only upon the rain and snow fall, but upon the supply of water fiom our 

 streams fed by the yearly snow-fall. 



5. That the accurate measurement of the rain and scow fall in Colorado, &c., when 

 obtained in the more level and open country at the foot of the mountains, is of but 

 little value in determining the amount that the mountain-fed streams can or may pro- 

 duce, and that a rain-fall of from 10 to 14 inches has but little effect in the average 

 growth of cereals and vegetables; that in all cases in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, 

 Arizona, and Southern California they must be watered by artificial means to insure 

 certain results. 



Fertilizers in Georgia. — Hon. Thomas P. Jones, Commissioner 

 of Agriculture of the State of Georgia, has issued a circular in which 



