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SouTnEiiN California. — Mr. O. Traver reports a now settlement in 

 Santa Anna- Valley, San Bernardino County, Southern California, at a 

 location fifty miles east of the Pacific, and 1,000 feet above its level. It 

 is less than eighteen months old, and contains about sixty families, of 

 industrious, enterprising habits, chiefly from States in the valley of the 

 Mississippi. They are on lauds lying along and from 00 to 100 feet 

 above the level of the Santa Anna River ; from which, for purposes of 

 irrigation, the3^ have constructed an aqueduct nine miles in length. 

 Last autumn, corn ripened planted as late as the 1st, and beans as late 

 as the 23d of August. A large area of wheat and barley, sown after 

 the 20th of December, promises a good yield ; and these grains will be 

 harvested in season for a crop of corn or vegetables on the same ground. 

 Strawberries, unprotected, were ripe the latter part of March. The lo- 

 cation is described as very healthy, and the climate and soil as favorable 

 for thp. raisin-grape and tropical fruits. For the lirst half of March 

 the average temperature was, at 7 a. m., 47'^ ; at 2 p. m., 73° ; at 6 p. 

 ni., 60° : maximum, 82°; minimum, 32° ; and when at the latter ppint, 

 it is remarked as a peculiarity of the climate, that corn and beans were 

 slightly, if at all, injured. 



Effect of snow on the temperature of the soil beneath it. — 

 Mr. C. G. Prindle, of Chittenden County, Vermont, has made an exper- 

 iment designed to ascertain how far soil is protected from cold by snow. 

 For four successive winter days, there being four inches of snow on a 

 level, he found the average temperature immediately above the snow 

 13° below zero ; immediately beneath, 19° abave zero ; under a drift 

 two feet deep, 27° above zero. 



A large wheat field. — It is claimed that a former named Mitchell 

 in the San Joaquin Valley, California, is the largest wheat-grower in 

 the United States. Early in March he had planted 36,000 acres, and 

 expected to make the amount over 40,000 by the middle of that month. 

 At 15 bushels per acre, which may not be too high an estimate for this 

 year, this would give a crop of 600,000 bushels, and that, at 60 cents per 

 bushel — not a high estimate — would bring $360,000. The average ex- 

 pense of planting and harvesting wheat in that region is estimated at 

 $4 per acre, which would leave a clear i)rofit of $200,000. 



Oranges in California. — It is reported that the crop of oranges in 

 San Bernardino County is estimated by good judges as five times larger 

 than last year's crop, and that about 5,000,000 orange* had been 

 shipped as early as the 1st of May, at prices averaging about $25 per 

 thousand. 



The Ohio State fair for 1S72 will be held at Mansfield, Richland 

 County, Seiitember 2 to 6. Persons wishing to exhibit are referred to 

 Mr. John H. Klippart, corresponding secretary State board of agricul- 

 ture, Columbus, Ohio. 



SUGAR-OULTURB IN LOUISIANA. — It is reported that on the Porche 

 plantation, in. the parish of Terrebonne, Mr. Champagne made in 1871 

 172 hogsheads of sugar, weighing 226,113 pounds, and 192 barrels of 

 molasses. The sugar sold for $17,708, equal to 7y% cents per pound ; 

 the molasses for $2,853 : total, $20,561. The cost of production is esti- 

 mated at $11,454, leaving as net profits $9,107. If we deduct the value 

 of the molasses from the whole cost, it leaves, as the cost of the sugar, 

 $8,601, equal to 3^^ cents per pound, leaving a profit of 4^^ cents per 

 pound. 



