402 



ou the western coast. The town of Manistee, with a population of 4,000, 

 has suffered severely by the flames, and the loss of property is stated at 

 • not less than one million of dollars. In the counties of Huron and San- 

 ilac, with a total population of 24,000, ten thousand must commence life 

 anew, having- lost everything but their lives. Besides the frightful loss 

 of life reported, hundreds liave been disabled, many partially roasted, 

 causing" additional suffering and destitution throughout the region 

 devastated. Detroit, Port Huron, Milwaukee, and other cities have con- 

 verted all available space into hospitals, and the citizens have become 

 nurses. 



Dest^-uctive fires are also raging in the forests and on the prairies of 

 Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming', 

 Dakota, and in Ontario, Canada, involving immense losses of property, 

 of live stock, and of human life. In Minnesota the tire swept over the 

 prairie into the forests of Glencoe, Le Sueur^ Mankato, and New Ulm. 

 The fire is said to have reached nearly as far south as the Iowa border, 

 and east to the Minnesota Eiver. Many small towns have been com- 

 pletely destroyed, and the farms in the track of the flames have 1)een 

 almost invariably swept of buildings, fences, crops, &c. Northern Min- 

 nesota is also the field of similar disasters. Nemaha and other counties 

 in Kansas have suffered from these prairie fires ; also variou>s sections 

 of Missouri and the other States named. In California fires are said to 

 be raging in the mountains the whole length of the State. Copious 

 rains in the regions of the Northwest, which have been the most fear- 

 fully scourged, have diminished the ravages and may soon exhaust the 

 destructive power of the flames ; but the devastation already accom- 

 plished is sickening to contemplate, and the sufferings of the people 

 must be great the ensuing winter, and the agricultural interests of the 

 burned districts will be crippled for some time to come. 



THE JUTE PLANT. 



Mr. E. H. Derby, of Boston, Massachusetts, who has taken much 

 interest in the introduction of the jute plant into the United States, 

 forwards to the Department for publication the following letter from 

 Mr. E. Macallister, Calcutta, India, in reference to the cultivation and 

 gathering of the plant and the separation and curing of the fiber : 



The seeds are sown iu the months of March and April, broadcast, on plowed land, 

 preference being given to moist high ground, situated if possible on the bank of a 

 river, and somewhat sandy. As a general rule mannre is not used, but animal dung 

 has been employed to advantage; nor is it necessary to irrigate the ground, as no more 

 ■water is required than is snificient to keep the roots moist, for which the ordinary 

 showers of this country generally suffice. It is allowed to grow three to four months, 

 and is cut in the months of June, July, and August, when it has attained a height of 

 7^ to 12 feet, the size depending of course on the fertility of the soil and the season. 



The time chosen for cutting is just after the llowers have turned to seed and before 

 the seeds begin to ripen, for it is found when cut thus early to be of better color and to 

 have less root. When the seeds are allowed to ripen it appears that the fiber becomes 

 stiff and hard, and the inferior portion of the stem changes color, becoming blackish or 



reddish. -■--,■. , j 



When cut the stalks are tied in bundles and thrown into tanks of dirty water and 

 allowed to remain there five to eight days to rot, (the dirtier the water the faster, I 

 believe, the rotting process takes place,) at the expiration of which time they are taken 

 out and the fiber falls from the stick. The fiber is then hung up to dry and when dry 

 is assorted, packed in round bundles called drums, and sent off. 



The finer qualities of jute sometimes attain a height of 15 feet. The smaller the 

 plant the lower the quality. The seeds are used for cultivation only. They contain very 



