16 



of tlie first crop. Thus far parties have purchased the crop in the field 

 at au average of about 25 cents per pouud. 



ACKEAGE OF CEOPS IN YOKK COUNTY, MAINE. 



Yoric Connti/, Maine. — I think the following estimates for this county 

 are nearly correct: Total acreage of the countv, 436,000 ; acres in fields, 

 109,000 ; acres plowed in 1870, 15,000 ; in grass, 93,000 ; in corn, G,200 ; 

 in potatoes, 2,000 ; in oats, 4,200 ; in wheat, 1,500 ; in rye, 350 ; in bar- 

 ley, 400 5 in buckwheat, 300. 



THE CASTOR-BEAN IN CALIFORNIA. 



The cultivation of the castor-bean in California is rajjidly increasing. 

 The aiQOunt raised this year will be quite large. One of the largest 

 and most successful enterprises in this culture is that of Mr. Hedges, 

 whose experiments are carried on in the vicinity of Marysville. Mr. 

 Hedges has under cultivation this season about two hundred acres, 

 and expects to realize about one hundred and twenty-five tons, all 

 of the small " Illinois beau." The stalks of this variety vary in height 

 from six to fifteen feet. The work of gathering- begins in July and 

 continues until the frosts set in. The drying grounds on this farm are 

 described as large places cleared oft" to the " hard pan" of ground, 

 and made smooth like a brick-yard. On this surface the heads or 

 clusters of beans are laid in the sun, many of them having been 

 picked in a green state, and here, as they dry, they ojien. When pretty 

 well "snapped," the heaps are raked over and the beans removed and 

 placed in a fanning-mill, whence they are transferred in a merchantable 

 condition to the sack. Mr. Hedges utilizes the hulls as manure, and it 

 is asserted that they operate to loosen as well as to enrich the clay soil 

 of his farm. This gentleman finds the cultivation of the castor-bean so 

 profitable that he purposes next season to plant three hundred acres. 



JUTE. 



Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. — A farmer makes the following" state- 

 ment relative to the raising of jute in that section : " About the middle 

 of May last I received from the Department of Agriculture two varie- 

 ties of the jute seed, one from Calcutta, the other from the south of 

 France. I planted on the first of June and sowed in drills sixteen inches 

 apart. In a few days the plants appeared and grew rapidly. In three 

 months the French jute grew nine feet, and the Calcutta over ten. The 

 French specimens throw out numerous branches and a dense foliage, 

 while the Calcutta has no branches and but few leaves. I believe this 

 plant will thrive in lower Louisiana." 



Cameron County, Texas. — On the 3d of May last I received from the 

 Department jute seed from Calcutta and France. On the 7th I 

 planted some of it on mesquit upland. It did not rain on the ground 

 until September 19, and I had the seed watered to bring it up. It 

 came up on the eighth day, and struggled along until ]S"ovember 10, 

 when we had an unusually early frost. The plant in no case got over 

 fourteen inches high. I send you one as a specimen. With good 

 seasons I have no doubt the plant would grow well on our bottom lands, 

 but the past season was a very severe one. We had slight rains in Jan- 

 uary ; then none to more than lay the dust until April 25, after which, 

 until September 19, no rain fell.^ I did not try to force its growth, for 

 unless it will stand our climate, it will of course be of no benefit as a 

 field crop. 



