RECENT FACTS. 441 



makiug-, nl the usual nite of 250 bushels per car, 108,500 bushels, giving 

 to glowers au estimated average return of 8 cents per <|uart. The con- 

 ditions of the season -were such that the Delaware crop had little advan- 

 tage iu arrival over that of New Jersey and Peuusylvauia, aud prices 

 -were therefore low. Only 127 ear-loads were shipped from Delaware in 

 1870, and 219 in 1871. 



Peaches in the Belamire Peninsula. — The Tribune, of Wilmington, 

 Delaware, states the peach-crop of the Delaware Peninsula, in 1872, as 

 follows : Shipments by rail, 1,070,400 baskets ; by -water to Baltimore 

 and rhiladclphia, 1,437,303 baskets ; taken up by canners, 73,282 

 baskets ; estimated amount absorbed by home consumption and distilla- 

 tion into brandy, 118,950 baskets ; total, 3,000,000 baskets. At an 

 average of 40 cents ])er basket, clear of freight and commission, the 

 net retui'us to growers would reach $1,440,000. 



A Maryland iieaehj'arm. — Mr. Edward Wilkins,of Chestertowu, i\Iary- 

 land, is stated to have 130,000 peach-trees on 1,350 acres. The peaches 

 are packed in crates, each containing two baskets, and are sent to Balti- 

 more by his own steamboat, and delivered at a canning- factory -which 

 contracts for his whole crop. 



Pear-culture in Vermont — In a paper read before the Vermont board 

 of agriculture in February, 1872, Mr. llenry Lane indorsed the estimate 

 that not 5 per cent, of all the pear-trees sold by nurserymen and 

 planted in that State lived to the age of ten years, adding that, in his 

 opinion, setting aside the Lake Champlain region, not 2 i)er cent, of 

 the i)ear-trees planted in the rest of the State during the last twenty- 

 five years had arrived to a profitable maturity. A very great proportion 

 of the failures had been caused by improper selection — taking trees from 

 milder climates and those -which had been unduly stimulated in the nur- 

 sery. 



The hanana-tradc. — The Boston Cultivator estimates the amount of 

 bananas usually received at that port during the season at 8 cargoes, 

 worth at the -wharf $C,000 to -$7,000 each, making, with 50 cargoes 

 received at New York, a total of about $375,000 as the \'^lue of receipts 

 at New York and Boston. The banana season begins in March or April 

 and extends into August. Baracoa, on the north coast of Cuba, is a 

 favorite shipping port ; shipments arc also made from Aspinwall and 

 the Spanish Main. 



iShipmcnts of California fruit. — The Boston Commercial Bulletin of 

 January G, 1872, reported the arrival during that week of the first ship- 

 ment of pears ever made direct from California to that city. The ship- 

 ment consisted of 400 boxes, of 3 peeks each, forwarded by rail from 

 Sacramento, and was received in excellent condition. The freight-bill 

 amounted to $700, averaging $2.33^ per bushel. 



The Pacific Rural Press, of September 28, 1872, says that one firm in 

 Sacramento had already, during the season, shipped 13 car-loads of 

 Bartlett pears by rail overland. 



Oranges in Southern California. — California papers state the orange- 

 crop of Los Angeles County for the season of lS71-'72 at five millions, 

 nearly five times the amount of the preceding crop ; average price $20 

 per thousand. Lots of low quality sold at $7, and some extra fine 

 brought $35 per thousand. 



Fluetuations in the California grape-crop. — General Henry M. Naglee, 

 of San Jose, California, an experienced viniculturist, says that, as a 

 rule, in two years out of five, the grape-crop of the State is compara- 

 tively a failure. 



Dried fruit in JS'orth Carolina. — The annual value of the dried fruit 



