158 



kr.ovrn by tlio oldest inhabitant. This disposes of the pretense that 

 shelter is unnecessary in that climate for farm animals. 



Sa^^ Beenahdiko. — A correspoudeul, under date of March 23, sends 

 us some facts relative to the new settlement of " Biverside," San Ber 

 uardiuo County, California. This settlement is located in the upper part 

 of the Santa Anna Valley, near Mount San Bernardino, tifty miles east 

 of Anaheim Landing- on the Pacihc Ocean, and sixty miles southeast of 

 Los Angeles, at an elevation of about 1,000 feet above the level of the 

 sea. The settlement is about eighteen months old, and already cm- 

 braces some sixty families of enterprisiug and industrious people. The 

 lands on which they are located are from GO to 100 feet above the 

 Santa Anna River, which furnishes Avater by means of a ditch nine miles 

 in length, for irrigating purposes. This ditch was not completed until 

 July last, and nothing vras raised but corn, beans, &c. Yellov/ flint- 

 corn, planted August 1, and the white bean, planted the 23d day of the 

 same mouth, ripened. A large area has been sown vv'ith wheat and bar- 

 ley. Barley sov/n early is now heading out, and early wheat is about 

 ready to head. A second crop of corn and vegetables will be raised 

 after the barley and wheat aie harvested. Garden vegetables, includ- 

 ing corn, beans, and squashes, are now several inches high. vStrawber- 

 ries, unprotected, are now ripening. Field corn is up and loolnng finely. 

 The land is clay with a mixture of sandy loam ; the climate is dry and 

 warm ; the air'is pure, and is considered very healthy, being regarded 

 as especially beneficial to those afflicted with lung diseases, many of 

 whom made^ their home there during the past season. The climate and 

 soil both appear favorable to the cultivation of the raisin-grape, orange, 

 lemon, lime, and English walnut. A noticeable thing in the climate is 

 the fact that Avhen the mercury descends to 32° the frost seldom cuts 

 down such tender vegetation as corn, beans, &c., only slightly, if at all, 

 injuring them. 



MESQUTTE-auM. — Mr. E. Kalteyer, treasurer of the Agricultural and 

 Industrial Association of Western Texas, says the mesquite-gum of 

 that region is almost identical with gum arable, having been in use 

 there for medicinal and technical purposes, especially in the preparation 

 of mucilage, gum-drops, jujube-paste, &c. The past year it has become 

 an article of export, some 12,000 pounds having been gathered in Bexar 

 County, and as much more between that and the coast. No gum is gath- 

 ered west of Bexar, though the drought was favorable to a large crop. 

 This gum is hardly known east of the Brazos. It exudes from the stem 

 and branches of a Mimosa, several species of which grow in Texas, New 

 Mexico, and Arizona. One of these vSpecies, Algarobia glandulosa, (Tor- 

 rey and Gray, N. A. F., 399,) is rarely met with below the mountair 

 regions of Western Texas. The species most common in Bexar County 

 gi'ows from 20 to 40 feet high and 18 in.ches thick. From it charcoal is 

 manufactured. It is generally used for picket poles, being very dura- 

 ble. It is also made into handsome furniture, the grain being very fine. 

 It grows where no other fruit-tree would live. It was favorably noticed 

 in the last annual report of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 



Wire-fences in Texas.— Mr. E. E. Talbot, Georgetown, Williamson 

 County, Texas, describes a new wire-fence which has been extensively 

 iutroduced into that section, which, it is claimed, can be built for less 

 than $1.25 per rod. It has been fully tested by wild Texas cattle, and 

 is perfectly hog-proof. It consists of eight v.'ires, No. 1) size, passing 

 through cedar posts a rod apart. The lower lour wires are 6 inches 

 apart, and the others 9 inches. This will give a 5-foot fence. Between 



