495 



'70, 22,030 hundred-weight, valued at $256,330 ; and in 1868-'69, 20,686 

 hundred- weight, valued at $161,731. 



Asphalt walks. — An economical asphalting of walks is suggested 

 in England, as, and upon trial, is said to have cost only 3d. per yard. 

 The materials used were merely tar and burned turf ashes. The ashes 

 were burned in large heaps in the course of converting old pastures 

 into arable lands. The cost of burning 20 cubic yards was rather under 

 2d. per yard after the ground was i)lowed ; the tar cost Id. per gallon. 

 The ashes Avere procured from the middle of a heap of a bright red color. 

 About 450 square yards of walk were asphalted with 330 gallo-ns of tar, 

 rather less than one gallon per yard. The walks were quite firm with 

 fine gravel before being operated upon with tar and ashes ; only 10 

 cubic yards of ashes were required. The work was done by various 

 systems. A strong stand, about a foot high, was placed against the 

 ashes, shot down in cart-loads, and the barrels rolled upon the stand as 

 wanted ; a common pail was used to pour the tar upon the ashes ; about 

 a barrowful of ashes was mixed witli the tar until saturated, so that, 

 when patted with the back of a shovel, the mixture did not adhere to it ; 

 the mixture was then wheeled to the spot where required, laid upon the 

 walk about an inch thick, patted down smooth, and sprinkled with dry 

 ashes. The work was done in June and July, so that the surface gen- 

 erally became dry enough to roll in about half a day. The rolling can- 

 not be overdone, and may be continued day after day for a week. The 

 other methods were merely to hoe the walks, pour tar on them and then 

 to throw the ashes over the tar, rolling as in the former process; or, by 

 picking up the surface about twx) inches, smoothing down, applying the 

 tar to soak the gravel, then adding dry ashes on the surface and rolling. 

 The hoeing or picking of the walks is a much quicker process than by 

 mixing the tar and ashes together first, but the latter makes the most 

 finished job. A man may asphalt about -10 square, yards per day. 



The hog crop in Missouri. — The Missouri Democrat publislies a list 

 of about 2,000 hog- growers of that State, with the number of hogs on hand, 

 the latter footing up 05,914, against 53,041 last year, an increase of about 

 24 per cent. The number of hogs listed for taxation in the States of 

 Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Kentucky, in April, which includes 

 only those six months old, is stated, on the authority of the several State 

 auditors, to be 9,541,706, against 7,836,121 last year, an increase of 21f 

 j)er cent. The average prices from 1850 to 1860, at St. Louis, were, for 

 mess pork, $14 62^ per barrel ; clear sides, 8^ cents per pound ; should- 

 ers, 6| cents per pound; lard 9| cents per pound. From 1860 to 1870, 

 mess pork, $24 73^; clear sides, 15J cents per iiound; shoulders, 11^ 

 cents per pound ; lard, V2^'q cents per pound. The average price of 

 live hogs from 1850 to I860 is stated to have been $4 65 to $5 43; from 

 1861 to 1870, $6 11 to $7 76. The lowest and highest yearly average 

 prices of live hogs, per 100 pounds, in St. Louis, for 21 years, are given 

 as follows: 



1850 $2 60 to $3 27 



1851 3 42 to 4 (55 



1852 4 52 to 5 50 



1853 4 31 to 5 19 



1«54 3 80 to 4 65 



1857 $6 12 to $7 23 



1858 •-. 4 70 to 5 67 



1859 5 06 to 6 71 



1860 5 19 to 6 71 



1861 4 02 to 5 10 



1855 4 80 to 6 25 1862 3 05 to 3 80 



1856 4 65 to 5 46 1 1863 3 75 to 5 19 



5 



1864 $7 52 to $10 48 



1865 8 45 to ]0 94 



1866 7 48 to 8 90 



1867 5 46 to 6 83 



1868 6 13 to 8 17 



1869 8 66 to 10 57 



1870 6 66 to 7 65 



