238 



FACTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 



Hops. — E. F. Lewis, secretary of the agricultural society at Lenox, 

 New York, writes : ''Hops are iu deuaand at a high figure, the extreme 

 prices of last year eucouraging fanners to iucreased acreage." 



The Sau Joaquin Farmers' Club, at Stookton, California, has advertised 

 for two thousand hands for the wheat harv^est, to supply a deficiency of 

 laborers occasioned by the great increase of acreage planted this season 

 in the San Joaquin Valley. A scarcity of permanent farm-labor in that 

 region is reported. 



Wheat and cjunch-bugs. — Isaac Colburn, secretary of the Farmers' 

 Club at Loami, Sangamon County, Illinois, reports the prevalence of 

 chinch-bugs before the first of IMay, and gives a glowing account of 

 wheat prospects. 



Angoba goats in Utah. — A co-operative company formed through 

 the eiibrts of J. B. Johnson, editor of the Utah Pomologist, arranged 

 for the importation of 130 Angora and Thibet goats, and succeeded in 

 obtaining 108, a portion being lost in a severe storm on the Union Pacific 

 Railroad. These are in good condition, and are intended for crossing 

 with the common goat. 



Importation op sugar-cane. — Mr, Peter M. Lapice, of iS'ew Orleans, 

 is on his way to India, by way of the isthmus of Suez, with the in- 

 tention of procuring from the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Prince of 

 Wales, specimens of the best Java ribbon-cane, and other popular 

 varieties, for cultivation by himself and other planters in Louisiana, 

 several of whom have joined in a contribution of 8,>,000 toward defni^- 

 iug the expenses of the importation. 



Injury by frost. — The Grape-growers' Association of Xapa, Solano 

 and Sonoma Counties, California, at a recent meeting, discussed the 

 injury done to vineyards by late severe frosts, and the proper treatment 

 of the injured vine. They concluded that the first accounts of the in- 

 jury done were higldy exaggerated. The loss to the Buena Vista vine- 

 yard in Sonora is placed at $25,000, and other vineyards have suffered 

 losses of $10,000 to $15,000 each; but through the entire valley it is 

 thought that the damage will not exceed one-fifth of the crop. With 

 regard to treatment, the plan of pulling off' the whole frosted shoot was 

 rejected, on the ground that the dormant buds, near those shoots, on 

 last year's wood, would thereby be injured or lost. Leading grape-men 

 proposed to cut oft' only the injured part, retaining one or two sound 

 buds, if the frost had left such, nearest the old wood. 



California raisins. — Several grape-growers in California have suc- 

 ceeded in producing raisins of fine quality. Messrs. Wadsworth & 

 Butterfield, from their vineyard on the foot-hills near Nevada City, have 

 l)roduced, from 450 pounds of grapes, 150 pounds of raisins of superior 

 flavor, claimed to be equal to the best Malaga, and worth 24 cents per 

 pound. This furnishes a fine margin for profit, as it secures 8 cents per 

 pound for grapes, which is a very remunerative figure in California. 



Sugar in Saint Mary's Parish, Louisiana.— It is reported that 

 Mr. Etienne Maynard, who, after the war, began without a dollar, and 

 with one row of seed-cane in a garden, made, the second year, 41 hogs- 

 heads of sugar; and now, as the fruit of that small beginning, owns a 

 plantation fully stocked, and worth at least $25,000. The secrets of 

 Mr. Mayuard's success are industry, economy, and good implements. 



