521 



shipments, this fall, liavo beoii quite limited, htiw^ confiiied mostly to a 

 few thousand barrels of low-priced superfines sent by steamer to Ilong- 

 Kong". 



Fluctuations in the pkices of siieep and la3ibh.— The Mark 

 I^ane Exin-ess gives a table showing- the range of prices for sheep and 

 himbs sold at the Lewes sheep fair, England, for the years 1810-'50-'55, 

 and from 1850 to 1873 inclusive. The highest price is for this year, 

 langing from 40 to 72 shillings for sheep, and from 2C to 18 for lambs. 

 The largest for sheep was in 1850, being- from 20 to 35, Iambs ranging- 

 from 15 to 25; but in 18GS the latter ranged from 14 to 2G, sheep selling 

 at 20 to 41. For the whole period the average price was, for sheep 38.s-. 

 M., for lambs 26s., the extremes of annual averages being', as above, for 

 sheep 5G6'. and 21s. Gil, and for lambs 37s. and 20s. 



Diseases of sheep in Oregon.— A correspondent in Lane County 

 writes as follows : 



Our sbeep, in Orejjjon^ have new, and, to un;, stniiige disease. One, liere L-alleil 

 " leeches in the liver," is pi'evalent and fatal. The liver is lilled with leeches, resem- 

 bling those fonud in water, which appeur to be at home in sheep, deer, and cattle. 

 Thousands of sheep die annually in our State from their presence. Symptoms: The 

 sheep become stupid, look sorry, fall away in liesh, the head swells about the nose, and 

 the skin of the jav/ hangs down like a sack or bladder filled with water. '•' Staggers," 

 another dise.nse which I have not found in the books, is attended with the following 

 symptoms: The sheep begins to shake its head, and scratch its ear with its hind foot; 

 subsequently it goes round and round, falls down, gets up, falls again and again, looks 

 wildly out of the eyes, and seems to be on a "regular bender" for one and sometimes 

 for four or five days. I am told that sometimes sheep die of "staggers," but cannot 

 vouch for the statement. Can any of your correspondents point out the proper names 

 and remedies of these diseases / 



Success in g-rowinct silkworms. — TLe experiment of Mr. Eomulus 

 Bonhomme ingrowing- silkworms, at Los Angeles, California,, the past 

 .season, is reported as very successful. The mulberry trees used are of 

 the alba and moretta varieties, of which he has 16,000 trees, four and 

 five years old. He has tried the Philippine, whicli he regards as nearly 

 equal to the alba, and the niulticaulis, which he has abandoned as com- 

 paratively worthless. He sets his trees in rows 10 feet apart both ways ; 

 has tried 8 feet, but iinds that too near, the leaves of trees so crowded 

 not being- healthy for worms. From four ounces of eggs he obtained 

 445 pounds of cocoons. His loss of worms was less than 1 i^er cent, of 

 the number hatched. During the first and second stages of growth he 

 feeds from young- trees ; the third and fourth, from older trees and- 

 leaves. During the first three stages he feeds three times a day; dur- 

 ing the fourth, five times a day and twice at night. He finds that the 

 worms from one ounce of eggs require, to perfect their growth, 1,200 

 pounds of leaves, Avhile in Italy and France the same quantity requires 

 from 1,800 to 2,000 pounds. He began feeding the French yellow 

 variety on the 15th of April, and the cocoons were completetl in thirty- 

 six to forty days. As his object was the production of eg'gs, his cocoons 

 are all perforated. The eggs, of which he has 400 ounces in excellent 

 condition, are estimated at |0 per ounce. He is confident that for the 

 successful culture of the silkworm, the climate of Los Angeles is no- 

 where surpassed. 



Beet-sugar in California. — The Alvara-do beet crop of 1870 

 yielded less than 8 per cent, of sugar, the whole amount being 500,000 

 pounds ; that of 1871 yielded about 8 per cent., and amounted to 750,000 

 pounds; that of 1872 yields 8| per cent., and it is estimated that the 

 -^vhole product of sugar will be from 1,000,000 to 1,250,000 i)onnds. It 

 is reported that the honn* product, as yet in its infancy^ has already 



