95 



stock-farmer iu Butler county lost between 25 ami 50 per cent, on account of severe 

 -weather. This is the largest per cent, of loss I know of, though many have lost more. 



Inquiry coNCEUNiNa jute. — Mr. W. H. Harris, of Eed River Land- 

 ing, Louisiana, states that last year he raised a small quantity of jute 

 in his g-ardeu, saving- the seed, and asks information as to the method 

 of preparing the fiber for market. His iu(iuiry is covered by the infor- 

 mation given in the monthly report for October, 1871. Mr. Harris also 

 writes that he has a cork oak twelve inches in diameter, grown from an 

 acorn obtained from the Department before the war. 



Fruit AND sugar in Southeastern Louisiana. — Mr. F. B. Guedry, 

 of Covington, Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana, informs us that his sec- 

 tion has a solid clay subsoil, which retains any fertilizer applied to the land, 

 and that, while well adapted to any kind of grain, it is especially suited 

 to fruit-growing. He adds that planters iu that vicinity are cultivating 

 sugar-cane to some extent, and, although the crop is comparatively a 

 new one there, its success has been so great that many have invested in 

 it largely. 



Mexican white flint corn. — Mr. Joseph N. Brewer, of Lexington, 

 Massachusetts, stating his experience with this variety, says that its 

 quality was exceedingly good when used in the green state, and that 

 when ripened it j)roduced a very superior meal. After planting it for 

 three years it seemed to degenerate, though he suspects that the seed 

 used the last year was not carefully ripened, and that this may account 

 for the apparent degeneration. On the whole, he is convinced that it 

 is a valuable variety, deserving to be well tested in that latitude. 



Tree-planting in Kansas. — Mr. Percy Daniels, of Girard, Kansas, 

 states that two years ago he put in about half an acre of European 

 larch, Norway spruce, Scotch pine, and red cedar, but only a few plants 

 came up, and these all died in from one to two weeks. Ho now thinks 

 that good seed of the above descriptions, planted instead of young 

 chestnuts, would be successful. 



Excelsior oats in Oregon. — Mr. William Phillips, of Clackamas, 

 Clackamas County, Oregon, states that, having received last spring a 

 small package of Excelsior oats, he sowed May 15th on fair soil, the 

 resulting crop averaging 50 bushels per acre, by measure, the weight 

 being considerably above standard. He also reports that some Maryland 

 tobacco sown on hill land, after the middle of Marph, came up quicklj^, 

 grew rapidly, and gave a product of excellent quality. 



Arkansas lands. — Eev. A. R. Berrick, of Batesvilie, Arkansas, re- 

 ports that some of the elevated, sandy uplands of that State are well 

 suited for the production of tine tobacco, and that they can be bought 

 at merely nominal prices. He himself possesses several hundred acres 

 of this land, and finds it capable of producing 700 to 900 pounds of 

 seed-cotton per acre, or 20 to 25 bushels of corn, or 10 to 12 bushels of 

 wheat, per acre. It is also suited to apples, i)ears, peaches, auh grapes. 



Autusin in Southern Utah.— Mr. W. W. Hammond, of Toquer- 

 ville, Utah, in a letter to the Department, dated December 8, 1871, 

 writes that the past season was very hot and dry, stock finding very little 

 grass on the hills, but that the fruit crops were generally good, meeting 

 with a ready market in consequence of the development of the mining 

 districts. More lately the weather was unusually cold, and considera- 

 able quantities of grapes were frozen before they could be i^icked, an 



