460 



or privilege in the land, except tliat of occupancy and enjoyment of its 

 produce by paying an annual tax. This tax is heavy and onerous, aver- 

 aging between seven and eight dollars an acre upon the lands of the 

 delta — that portion of the country which is enriched by the ISIile — and 

 a much less, but yet comparatively burdensome, sum upon the inferior 

 lauds in a country rarely visited by showers. The new system which 

 has been initiated is to allow the tenant, by the payment of a sum equiv- 

 alent to six years' taxation, to become, in a partial sense at least, the 

 owner of the land which he occupies, with all the advantages attaching 

 to a freehold, except the ultimate right to transfer or sell. 



Cross between the Zebu and European cattle. — The Depart- 

 ment has recently received from Prussia, in exchange for its own reports, 

 a variety of official agricultural publications. The"Landwirthschaftliche 

 Jahrbucher," which is the organ of the Eoyal Prussian agricultural de- 

 partment, contains a notice of some experiments on the cross between 

 the zebu or Indian ox fBos IndicusJ and European cattle, by W. Xa- 

 thusius-Konigsborn. The doubts that have existed in regard to the fe- 

 cundity of tliis cross led to the experiments which, the writer thinks, 

 must forever set the question at rest. The male zebu made use of was 

 a yearling calf from the zoological gardens, of the peculiar bluish white 

 color characteristic of the zebu race. Four heifers of Holland stock 

 were got with calf by this animal, and produced two heifers and two bull 

 calves, all of which were successfully raised. Though the dams were 

 variously colored, all the calves had white stars in their foreheads. When 

 they arrived at suitable age they were bred with each other and with 

 other cattle, and both sexes proved in every respect capable of propa- 

 gating their race. The amount of milk given by the half-bloods was 

 about 500 quarts per annum. This was so much below the ordinary 

 average as to prevent all hope of their being a desirable breed. In ad- 

 dition the oxen, from which much was expected in speed and endurance, 

 proved so incorrigibly obstinate as to defy all eiforts to train them for 

 the yoke, lying down on the smallest provocation, and in one case where 

 it was necessary to lead one of them a short distance, the animal died 

 the next day, it was supposed from the effects of anger and excitement. 

 They acted much more like half-tamed wild beasts than like domestic 

 cattle. The only redeeming feature was the quality of their flesh, which, 

 iu those that were sent to the butcher, proved to be excellent. 



Tobacco in Owen County, Kentucky. — R. W. Orr, secretary of the 

 County Agricultural Association, writes to the Department, under date 

 of October 15, that the tobacco crop of that county for the year 1872, in 

 quality, is much superior to any other for the past five years, and that 

 Owen County has the finest crop this year of cutting leaf of any county 

 in the State, or even the Union ; and it is now claimed* that that kind 

 of tobacco is the finest placed upon the Cmcinnati or Louisville markets, 

 •which are the principal points for the sale of their croi). It is claimed 

 that the day is not far distant when the Owen County tobacco will be 

 favorably known all over the world for its superior qualities for chew- 

 lug. 



The eleventh annual exhibition of the Owen County Agricultural 

 Association, just closed, proved quite a success, holding five days. 

 The third day is called the tobacco day, upon which are exhibited 

 samples of the best cutting leaf tobacco, White Burley, Red Burley, and 

 Twist Bud. The show of tobacco on that occasion was the finest ever 

 exhibited there, and the samples were afterwards sold at public auction 



