349 



A Georgia correspondent writes that tlie continued decline of cotton 

 and the liigh price of provisions, compared witli the prospective low 

 price of cotton tliis fall, have settled the minds of many to plant less 

 cotton hereafter. In such a policy only lies the true independence and 

 prosperity of the South. 



Liberty Countyj Fla. — As all other business is neglected for cotton, it 

 seems as if the science of makiug the latter will be brought to perfec- 

 tion. Wbere we formerly made 1,000 pounds of seed cotton per acre, 

 2,000 pounds are now considered a moderate crop ; and I verily believe 

 that, with some of the fertilizers and the skill in culture already attained, 

 3,000 pounds will soon be the average crop of Florida. As an instance 

 •of the care taken in making cotton, I remark that a blacksmith planted 

 10 acres, and his wagon-tire needed repair, and, in iilace of his doing it 

 himself, he seiit his son with it ten miles to another workman. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON IN TEXAS. 



A correspondent at Galveston sends to the Department a remarkably 

 flne specimen of Sea Island cotton, of which one i>lanter in that quarter 

 has 200 acres in cultivation. " No rains of consequence had fallen from 

 the 15th of April to the 27th of July ; although vegetation generally 

 suffered, this cotton was not aflected materially, and is remarkably 

 thrifty ; it is just beginning to opeu. The packing season is now at 

 hand, and without any serious disaster from storms, continuous rains, 

 or the ravages of the worm within the present mouth, a large crop will 

 be gathered on our coast, perhaps a full average of 1,000 i^ounds of seed 

 cotton to the acre. The staple is very fine, stroug, and glossy, and is 

 equal to any yield of previous years." 



SUGAK IN LOUISIANA. 



Grass worms have made their appearance on the plantations of Cap- 

 tain White, in Jausse Point, and Louis Grevemberg, below Jeanner- 

 ettes, on Bayou Teche, stripping the foliage from the cane in both cases. 

 The latter reports his crop to be injured eighty hogsheads by their 

 visitation. Eeports are circulated of the appearance of this worm on 

 other plantations, but of this we have been unable to obtain accurate in- 

 formation. Crops are all " laid by," and are generally in most excellent 

 condition. Cane shades the ground, and rains are regular and frequent. 



DISEASES AND CONDITION OF SWINE. 



IcTceshurg, Perry Comity, Pa. — A malignant disease prevails among 

 ^ome herds of swine in t^is vicinity. The affected animal refuses to 

 eat, coughs, grows feeble ; at length is unable to sustain itself on its 

 hind legs; occasionally blotches appear on the skin. There is, in some 

 cases, diarrhea; in others, costiveness; urine, small in quantity and 

 highly colored; occasional vomiting; death occurs sometimes in less 

 than an hour, in other cases not for several days. A post-mortem ex- 

 amination showed that one lung was highly iniiamed and hepatised, 

 the other slightly ; one kidney too dark colored at one end ; the heart 

 quite soft ; the butcher (an experienced one) says he never saw a car- 

 cass so destitute of blood, '• there being no blood at any place, not even 

 in or about the heart;" the meat had the natural appearance; no in- 

 flammation about the intestines, pleura, or windpipe. 



The hogs were in pasture, with free access to fresh spring water im- 



