442 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



sei)t from Higli Point, IS'orth Carolina, is stated at between $300,000 

 and $400,000. Every family in the surrounding region has its orchard 

 and drying-house ; the latter frequently rudely built of logs, with a flue 

 running through it. 



The Aldoi fi'iilt-drying process. — The Alden process, which is briefl.y 

 characterized as a method of evaporating the moisture of the fruit by 

 conveying the latter giVidually through a hot-air chamber, on frames 

 attached to an endless vertical chain, is being introduced largely in 

 fruit growing regions. The peculiar value of the process lies in the re- 

 markable retention of the original flavor of the fruit, and the perfectly 

 clean and bright condition of the dried article. Large amounts of the 

 Alden preparations are taken up by the United States Government for 

 Army and Navy use. 



A committee of the New York Farmers' Club, which recently visited 

 an Alden factory at Neshanie, New Jersey, reports as follows concern- 

 ing a small evaporator, capable of working 300 bushels of apples per 

 week : Price of the evaporator, $1,000 ; cost of building, &c., $1,000. 

 Total investment, $2,000. Eunning expenses per week : 300 bushels oi 

 apples, at 30 cents per bushel, $90; wages of one man, $12; of eight 

 girls, $40; one-half ton of coal, $7; interest, $10; contingencies of fac- 

 tory, $7.95; a liberal allowance for cost of barrels, freight, and miscel- 

 laneous incidentals, $25.05. Total weekly expenses, $192. Eeceipts 

 per week : 2,000 pounds evaporated apples, at 15 cents per pound, $300 ; 

 700 pounds dried cores and skins, at 6 cents per pound, $42. Total, 

 $342, showing a net profit, per week, of fully $150. The cores and 

 skins are sold to a company which manufactures them into jelly. 



Cranhernes in Wisconsin. — In the neighborhood of Berlin, Wisconsin, 

 there are large tracts of marsh lands in which the cranberry is indige- 

 nous. There were about 2,400 acres under improvement in 1871, the im- 

 provements consisting of ditches, flood-gates, and dams, for drainage 

 and flowing, no further culture being given. Among the largest grow- 

 ers are Messrs. H. S. Sacket and James Carey. Mr. Sacket had 520 

 acres of marsh under culture in 1871, which produced 4,100 barrels, 

 or 12,300 bushels of cranberries ; these were marketed at $50,000, or an 

 average of about $14 per barrel. His berries are wholly of the Bell 

 and Bugle varieties, receive extra care, are of superior size, and bring 

 the highest prices. Mr. Carey had 200 acres in bearing which produced 

 5,000 barrels. Mr. Sacket reports the shipments of cranberries from 

 Berlin in 1871 at 18,000 barrels. He adds that there are cranberry 

 marsh-lands in that vicinity purchasable, unimproved, at $10 to $20 per 

 acre, which, after being handled for three or four years, would net $500 

 to $1,000 per acre. Generally vspeaking, the berries can be placed in 

 Chicago at an expense of $5 per barrel, including cost of growing, pick- 

 ing, and marketing. 



The Western Farmer reports that 25,000 barrels of cranberries were 

 grown in the vicinity of Berlin in 1872. 



TIMBER AND TREE CULTURE. 



Timber in California. — Tiie Eeport of the California State Agricultural 

 Society for 1870-'71 says that, according to careful estimates, one-third 

 of the wood and timber existing in California twenty-two years ago has 

 been consumed. The requirements of the State for forest products will 

 be at least ten times greater for the next twenty-two years. The scar- 

 city of hard-wood timber is particularly injurious by restraining the 

 manufacture and enhancing the prices of agricultural machinery and 



