498 



peaches eight years in succession. He pronounces his region the best 

 fruit country he has ever seen. 



The drought in Utah. — William Fuller, secretary of Eastern Gar- 

 deners' Club, Salt Lake City, writes that " on Sunday, October 8, we had 

 a storm of snow aud rain which continued, with intermissions, until 

 Monday morning. This was the first moisture of any amount that we 

 have had since the 13th of May, with the exception of one or two light 

 sprinklings. The continued drought caused our mountain streams to 

 greatly dhninish, and, as a consequence, many of our garden crops have 

 suffered, and some trees have died." 



Winter ivheat in NebrasTia. — Robert W. Furnas, president Nebraska 

 State Board of Agriculture, in transmitting samples of Nebraska grains 

 to this Department, states : " Our tall crops could not look better than 

 now, (November 7.) Our farmers are discarding spring wheat almost 

 entirely, and sowing fall wheat. Put in with drill aud rolled, the success 

 of fall wheat is no longer doubtful." Another correspondent at Grove- 

 land, Nebraska, says: "A good many farmers have sown a little winter 

 wheat this fall, and more would have been put in if the^eed could have 

 been procured." 



Improved swine in loica. — A correspondent in Iowa City, Johnson 

 County, Iowa, writes that there is considerable interest felt in that sec- 

 tion in the improving of stock, especially hogs. Poland-Chinas take the 

 lead; Chester whites rank next. Sales of shoats : Poland-Chinas, $18 

 to $25, for breeders ; Chester whites, $6 to $12, for breeders. Hog crop 

 large and fat now, selling at $3 25 per cwt. Corn, 18 cents per bushel. 



Cotton-cidture in California. — The California Cotton Planters and 

 Manufactiirers' Association have purchased a large tract of laud on K rn 

 Island, in Kern County, for agricultural purposes, and propose to plant 

 1,000 acres in potton the coming season, and several hundred acres in 

 corn, i^otatoes, cabbages, onions, parsnips, carrots, &c. The prospectus 

 of the company indulges in some rather extravagant calculations of pro- 

 duct and profit of the area to be devoted to cotton-culture. 



N0VE3IBER WEATHER IN KlNQ GEORGE CoUNTY, VIRGINIA. — Our 



King George County, Virginia, correspondent writes as follows : 



November is coraiuonly one of the most pleasant months of the year in Eastern 

 Virginia. The month jnst passed, however, has been exceptional. After the first week 

 it was wet, rainy,' and cloudy, and very unfavorable for onr main farm work of this 

 season, the gathering of the "corn crop. The temperature has been low, falling with 

 some regularity. There was very little ice formed until the last two days. Rains have 

 been heavy aiid frequent. The mercury ranged from 70° on the 1st to 27° on the 

 30th. Rain-fall for the month, 3.62 inches. The average of the mouth for twenty-two 

 years is 2.33 inches. 



Heayy yield of WHEAT. — Mr. James Smith, of Cedarville, Wash- 

 ington Territory, writes to the Department as follows : 



I send you a sample of wheat that I have raised the past season ; 1,200 bushels on 

 26 acres of land, a trifle over 46 bushels to the acre. In the spring of 1870 the laud was 

 covered with brush and timber. I cleared the land the following summer, burnt it in 

 August, got ready for sowing February 1, 1871, without plowing, and harrowed the 

 seed in, linishing February 12. Finished thrashing September 7. 



Italian bees in Utah. — A Utah correspondent writes that there 

 were a number of Italian bees imx)orted into that Territory last spring, 

 and that they have thus far proved a decided success ; in many instances, 

 one hive producing four to six swarms, and 100 pounds of honey and 

 upward. There is also a lively interest noted in relation to the impor- 

 tation of improved breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. 



