363 



ITEMS FEOM VARIOUS SOURCES. 



The Cra^^beery, — A correspondent, who is interested in resusci- 

 tating southern agricultnre, is anxions to ascertain whetlier tlie cran- 

 berry {vaccinium mficrocarpus) has ever been noticed as growing- wihl in 

 Georgia and Florida. It is tbund iii the level, wet lands of the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains, known as the "Glades," and h\ the swamps of North 

 Carolina. There are thonsands ot acres of swamp and glade lands in 

 the southern States suitable for the growth of the cranberry, provided 

 there are no unfavorable climatic influences, and that there is no danger 

 of the plant being choked, by the rank growth of grass and coarse 

 aquatic plants. 



The Japan Privet. — A correspondent in Chatfield, Navarro County, 

 Texas, says: "The Japan privet, {Ligustrum japonicum.) recomiuended 

 in the annual report of the Department of Agriculture for 18G8, 

 will prove a mine of wealth to Texas as an inside hedge plant." Its 

 cuttings take root as speedily as the easiest rooting willow twig. It 

 is almost an evergreen, retaining its foliage nine months of the year, 

 even after severe frosts. It is of rapid growth, and must not be con- 

 founded with the common piivet, (L. vukjare,) a small-leaved and much 

 inferior plant. He says the farmers of Texas are better off than before 

 the rebellion. Their lands have doubled in value, and increased atten- 

 tion is paitl to introducing improved stock and substituting better farm- 

 ing implements and machinery for the clumsy api>liances of former 

 days; and the improvements on their farms generally are of a better 

 character. Increased attention is paid to fruits, and even a])i)les thrive 

 on some soils at 3L*o ; he raised one last year that weighed 17| ounces, 

 though rabbits and hares girdle the trees badly. Plums succeed admir- 

 ably, ripening about the middle ot June. Peaches, grapes, and all the 

 small fruits likewise do well. 



Wine Shipments — The editor of the Commercial Herald of San 

 Francisco compiles a statement of the California wines and liquors 

 exported from this State to the Eastern States and Europe during the 

 last two and a half years, as follows: 



Tlie aggregate shipments of all kinds by the parties named are as 

 follows: Lake Vineyard Wine Company, 1.55,935 gallons; Eberhardt 

 and Lachman, 63,148 gallons; United Aneheim Wine Growers' Associa- 

 tion, 237,000 gallons; Kohler and Frohling, 116,374 gallons; S. Brannan 

 & Co., 47,000 gallons; H. D. Dunn & Co., 1,830 gallons; G. Groeziuger, 

 125,000 gallons. Total, 848,637 gallons. 



Vintage in Pleasant Valley. — It is estimated that the present 

 vintage in Pleasant Valley, New York, will yield 7,000 tons of grapes. 

 The Pleasant Valley Wine Companj^ is intending to make 100,000 gal- 

 lons of wine this fall. 



Sparrows vs. Mosquitoes. — Among the beneficial results following 

 the introduction of English si)arrows into New York, it is stated that 

 a remarkable diminution in the swarms of musquitoes in that locality is 

 noticed. It is but four years since twenty pairs were imjiorted from 

 England. Care was taken to protect them through the winter, and they 

 have increased with such rapidity that it is estimated there are now five 

 thousand pairs in the jjarks and gardens of New York, Brooklyn, and 

 Jersey City. They have nearly exterminated the disgusting measuring 

 worm and other insect nuisances that had become so annoying to resi- 

 dents, and which threatened the destruction of the fine shade trees of 

 the latter city. 



Dogs vs. Sheep. — A small flock of choice, highly-valued, Southdo^\^l 



