282 



FACTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 



The Reclamation of Salt Maeshes. — Mr. S. N. Pike, who is cr. 

 gaged in reclaiming salt marshes in Hudson County, New Jersey, in n 

 recent note to the Department, states that 4,000 acres are nearly drained 

 and reclaimed. About 500 acres are now plowed, of which 200 acres 

 are under cultivatiou this season. The experimental crops last year, 

 consisting of tobacco, corn, oats, cabbage, potatoes, and several varie- 

 ties of garden produce, proved entirely successful, and fully assured the 

 opinion he had originally formed respecting the fertility and i)ro- 

 ductiveness of these lands. The plan which Mr. Pike has thus far car- 

 ried out, includes the coustniction of substantial dikes or banks to pro- 

 tect the land from tidal overflow and percolation, a thorough system oi 

 drainage, to relieve the land in the first instance of the standing water, 

 and subsequentij^ of any excess of rajn-fall, together with permanent 

 self-acting sluices, which discharge at low tide. The first breaking up 

 is accomplished with difliculty ; yet, in one season, by natural action of 

 the atmosi)here, sun, rain, frost, and the equally potent influence of the 

 plow, tlie whole body of the land will be changed to a rich peVmeable 

 soil open to the highest cultivation. 



Twitchell Island, California, lecently reclaimed by the Tide Land Re- 

 clamation Company, has been sold to a company of practical Kentucky 

 farmers, who intend cultivating and using the land for stock and dairy 

 purposes. The sale was made a,t $20 per acre. 



Imports of Guano. — During the quarter ended ]\rarch31, 1870, there 

 was received at the ports named, guano from islands, rocks, or keys ap- 

 pertaining to the United States, and admitted free of duty, as follows : 



For the nine months ended March 31, 1870, the receipts of guano 

 from other than American islands, and subject to duty, amounted to 

 26,975 tons, against 7,365 for corresponding i>eriod of 1869. 



Maine Llcvibek. — The amount of lumber, &c., the product of the 

 Htate of Maine, upon the St. John and the St. Croix Rivers, and their 

 tributaries, owned by American citizens, and sawed and hewn in the 

 province of Isew Brunswick by American citizens, and admitted free of 

 dnty (luring the quarter ended March 31, 1870, is reporte<l as follows: 



M feet. ViilvK: 



Bdnrds, clap-boards, deals, planks, juIkth, and ts;;ciiitlirjg 4, 005 $73, 007 



LathK, palings, pickets, curtain sticks, broom handles, b«Mi slats 1 , 962 8, 360 



.Shingles -- -- :">6o l,0-it< 



('tber shocks and staves, and headings 1, 448 



All other lumber 82 



6, 532 83, 92.J 



Silk Culture in California. — Albert Brewster, a sericulturist of 

 Los Angeles, is feeding his worms with branches this season, thus 

 waving the labor of pulling the leaves. He says this season has been 

 more favorable than the last. The w^orms have been longer in maturing 

 than if the weather had been warmer, but they could not be more 

 healthy. About 60,000 of his worms had commenced to spin their cocoons 

 the remainder, 200,000, are yet small, heiv.s more recently hatched. 



