347 



are earnestly advocating' the more extended construction of irrigating*, 

 canals as a safeguard for the future. The Stockton Independent claims 

 than San Joaquin County would at this moment have been richer by one 

 million of dollars had a canal been constructed last year to carry the 

 waters of the Mokelunine upon the i)lains. 



^he canal which is being constructed from the San Joaquin River, 

 near Firebaugh's Ferry, Fresno County, California, for the irrigation of 

 the plains west of that river, will be about one hundred and ten miles 

 in leugth. At the middle of August four hundred men and three hun- 

 dred teams were pushing forward the work at the rate of two-thirds of 

 a mile per day, and thirty-five miles of the canal had been completed. 

 Its width at the bottom is thirty-two feet ; at the top, forty-eight feet. 

 The excavation is two feet in depth, but embankments are carried up on 

 the sides to the height of four feet above the level of the plain, making' 

 the entire depth six feet. The canal is also designed for navigation. 



Chinese labor in Louisiana. — Mr. J. Y. Gilmore, editor of the 

 Louisiana Sugar-Bowl, gives a favorable account of the working of 

 Chinese labor on seven plantations in the parishes of St. Mary, Terre- 

 bonne, Lafourche, and Assumption, in that State, the total number of 

 Chinamen em])loyed on these plantations being about two hundred and 

 fifty. Two hundred of these were imported in one cargo, and previous 

 to arrival had been, for the most part, unaccustomed to agricultural 

 labor. These are scattered among five plantations, where they receive 

 $13 per month and rations, lost time being charged against them, and 

 three-thirteenths of their wages held in reserve till the expiration of 

 their contract for three years, or an equivalent of nine hundred and 

 thirty-six days of actual work. Their rations consist of one and three- 

 quarters pounds of rice and one-half pound of pork daily, and they 

 receive medical attendance and rations when sick. A majority of those 

 planters and overseers with whom Mr. Gilmore conversed preferred 

 Chinamen to negroes, the former being the more easily managed, and 

 doing better work, though requiring more time for performance 'than 

 the latter. 



Fruit in Perry County, Pennsylvania. — A correspondent writes : 

 most of our a]»ple-orchards contain few of the best varieties — generally 

 young trees. The most reliable for productiveness are the Baldwin, Tul- 

 pehocken. Wilderness, and Maiden's Blush, in the order named. Our 

 peaches are chiefly from seedling trees. Hale's Early, Oldmixon, and 

 Crawford's Late do well, considering that the peach crop is very uncertain 

 here, except in a few ftivored localities. Pears are also uncertain, Louise 

 Bonne de Jersey, Bufi'um, and Beurre d'Anjou being the most reliable 

 among the varieties tried. Plums do quite well when the curculio is not 

 unusually destructive. More than twenty varieties of American grapes 

 have been tried by me. Concord, Creveling, Union Village, Ives, Mar- 

 tlia, Hartford Prolific, and Clinton are reliable. I have never seen 

 mildew on Ives, Creveling, or Union Village. Delaware and Eogers's 15 

 mildew frequently ; Maxatawney more or less every year. 



The California fruit-trade. — The growing importance of the 

 overland trade in California fruit is shown by the tbllowing statements: 

 From July 20 to August 1, of tlie present year, four houses in Sacra- 

 mento forwarded to points on the overland railroad, beyond the State 

 line, shipments of fruit averaging over eleven and one-half tons daily ; 

 pears, peaches, apples, plums, grapes, &c. Producers received, per 

 pound, on an average, for pears 2^ cents; peaches, 2^- cents; apples, 1^ 



