520 



limed at the rate of GO bu.sliels to the acre. In the winter oC 1872-'72 it 

 was well covered with barnyard manure, which was plowed under in 

 April, scored about 4 feet scant each way, and planted with three grains 

 and compost in each hill, in the first w^eek in May. 



Cattle-plague in Fuance. — The cattle typhus or plague is repre- 

 sented as having" almost entirely disappeared in France, after having 

 cost the country at least 57,000 head of cattle, approximately estimated 

 at 15,000,000 francs, or $3,000,000, the average value of each beast vic- 

 timized being 2G6 francs. Forty departments, including about one-half 

 of the territory of the country, suffered from tlie disease. 



Columbia County, New York. — Lying in the valley of the Hudson, 

 with ready access to market, and possessing varieties of soil which adapt 

 it to the production of all kinds of grain, vegetables, and fruit, Colum- 

 bia County ought to be among the first in agricultural progress and 

 prosperity. As yet, few advances have been made upon old methods, 

 but subsoiling, underdraining, and kindred improvements are beginning 

 to engage the attention of farmers, agricultural journals arc spreading 

 among them, and tliere are other indications that the era of j)rogress is 

 at hand. 



■ Tree-culture in Kansas. — Willow-cuttings received from this 

 JJepartment, and set last spring by the Kansas State Agricultural 

 College at Manhattan, liiley County, are reported as having been meas- 

 ured, October 15, with the following results : Height of Salix bahylonica^ 

 SJfeet; >S'..y«jjo?wm,GJfeet; 8. acutifolia,(J i^Qt', S. moschata, 5 feet. There 

 Avere other cuttings from the Department, but the above were the most 

 thrifty. Lombardy poplars, from cuttings set last spring, were C feet high. 

 Among upland wnllows the 8aU.v tnandra (from the Department) had gro wi i 

 over 4 feet. On the Avhole, the results of experiments with forest-trees 

 at the agricnjtural college arc reported as highly satisfactory. A cor- 

 respondent in Linn County also reports very favorable results from seeds 

 of ailantus and honey-locust trees received from this Department. The 

 plants are represented as very thrifty; also as growing twice as rapidly 

 in red as in " a very rich black soil." 



Farming in Louisiana. — An occasional correspondent, writing fi^m 

 Morehouse Parish, represents that, in that section, the present genera- 

 tion of laborers will not realize that the land now needs different and 

 more thorough cultivation than when new ; and so are likely to go on, 

 to the end of life, "making corn and cotton, just as old masters did when 

 they were young." This "season, on a place which he superintended, he 

 made, from 150 acres planted in cotton, 175 bales ; but other x^laces 

 worked by him, to which he could not give personal supervision, did not 

 yield half as well. He reports that in that section cotton, now housed, 

 turns out better than was anticipated, and corn enough has been raised 

 to supply their own wants. He adds : 



I and two others cnt hay last spring-, ou a prairie above hero, (Bayou Caitholomew,) 

 Tvhich is very iine. We had the first mower ever brought inio North Louisiana. 1 

 suppose we cut 100 tons. There is enough on the prairie to supply the rough forage for 

 the whohi parish. It contains 5,000 acres or more, covered witii grass from knee high 

 to as high as the head of a man ou horseliack. 



Wheat-export of California. — The exports of California wheat, 

 from the first arrivals of the new crop to December 1, amounted to five 

 and a half million centals, or over nine million bushels, freighting nearly 

 150 ships. A score of vessels, at San Francisco, were awaiting cargo, 

 and the daily shipments averaged 1,000 tons. But small inroads, how- 

 ever, had been made upon the inland accumulations of grain. Flour 



