California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



Ancient Tkees. — In a recent number 



of the Illustration Uorticole are some in- 

 teresting statistics in regard to the lon- 

 gevity of various liinds of trees. The 

 annual concentric circles, so called, ou 

 the stumps give cue a pretty accurate 

 idea of the ages, although not exactly, 

 for the reason that some trees will form 

 two circles during one year. The table 

 above alluded to is as follows: Judas 

 tree, 300 years; common elm, 335; com- 

 mon ivy, -150; common maple, 51C; white 

 birch. 576, orange, 630; evergeen cypress, 

 800; common olive, 800: walnut, 900; 

 oriental plant or sycamore, 1,000; com- 

 mon lime or linden, 1,100; common fir, 

 1,200 ; common oak, 1,500 ; cedar of 

 lebanon, 2,000; deciduous cypress, 3,000; 

 yew, 3,200. Ou the Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains of California we have excel- 

 lent illustrations of the great age which 

 trees can attain. The red wood and 

 what is knowTi as the "big trees" or 

 or Sequoia are examples. An accurate 

 count of the annual rings on a stumj) of 

 one of the past named showed the as- 

 tonishing age of from 3,000 to i,000 

 years. Foreign journals mention a pop- 

 ular tree worth speaking of in this con- 

 nection. We quote: "Among notable 

 trees," thePeuplier de I'.irquebuse, now 

 standing in the Botanic Garden at Dijon, 

 is worthy of record. This venerable 

 poplar was planted about A. D. 1400, 

 and is consequently now about 470 years 

 old. It is . 100 feet high and 40 feet in 

 circumference at its base. The age and 

 dimensions of this tree are quite extra- 

 ordinary, as the average duration of pop- 

 lar life seldom exceeds two centuries, 

 and a poplar trunk of even half the 

 dimensions of the above is seldom seen 



mmu. 



The Food of Swine. 



OGS are too often looked upon and 

 treated as a very iitthy animal. 

 They can bo made filthy by filthy 

 « feeding and treatment, or be kept 

 j^ healthy and clean by giving clean 

 feed and drink, and keeping in a clean 

 place. We clip from the Detroit Tribune 

 some facts on this subject that we heart- 

 ily approve : 



FoKEST-TREE planters may well take 

 thought of the great value of the walnut 

 and the tempting prices now paid for its 

 number ou account of rapid devastation 

 of surfaces which heretofore yielded 

 largely. Already the wide-awake West is 

 wisely turning attention to this specialty, 

 and before many years we may expect a 

 supply from the cultivated forests of this 

 wood. For some unexplained reason 

 eastern-grown walnut is inferior to that 

 from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, jirobably 

 ou account of its more rapid growth in 

 the latter States. 



The pecan is one of the finest shade 

 trees that grows. It will grow on any 

 alluvial laud. As timber, the pecan is 

 next to the hickory in strength, and far 

 superior in lightness. The wood of the 

 pecau tree makes finer pick handles, ax 

 handles, whipstocks, and all that sort of 

 thing than any other tree. In planting 

 the pecan, nuts should be obtained from 

 the western part of Texas. There the 

 fruit of the tree is much larger than any 

 grown along the banks of the Mississippi. 

 The Texas variety of the nut reproduces 

 itself, always giving a large, sweet nut. 

 The pecan tree is worthy the attention of 

 all who own land in this State. — Ex. 



Young tree seedlings should be shaded 

 as soon as up, taking care to use some 

 kind of shelter that will allow a free cir- 

 culation of air around the plants; a 

 screen of lath is much used by nursery- 

 men. 



If rats enter the cellar, a little powd- 

 ered potash thrown into their holes, or 

 mixed with meal and scattered in their 

 ruuways, never fails to drive them oft'. 



Ip a mouse makes an entrance into auy 

 part of your dwelling, saturate rag with 

 cayenne pepper in solution .and stuff it 

 in the hole, which can then be repaired 

 «ith either wood or mortar. 



If (ihere is auy one thing in rural prac- 

 tice which needs reforming more than 

 another, it is the matter of raising and 

 feeding swine. From the day they are 

 largo enough to eat they are offered all 

 manuer of refuse about the place, such 

 as rank weeds, filthy slops, S2Joiled vege- 

 tables and meats, dead fowls, etc. They 

 are allowed to rummage the dung yard 

 and glean the refuse of food in the fieees 

 of cattle and horses, on the ground of 

 economy. The quantity of food saved 

 iu this way is very insignificant. The 

 objections to keeping swine in this way 

 are so serious, that the reasons in favor 

 of it have no force at all. The origin of 

 trichinosis in sw-ine m.ay be always traced 

 to the consumption of vile stuffs in their 

 food, or to being housed and yarded 

 amid filth and foul air. Every few- 

 months the press announce a case of 

 trichiujB in au individual or a whole 

 family, with all the horrible details and 

 sufferings which attend the parasitic at- 

 tack. Only lately some new cases are 

 reported in the West, which are alarm- 

 ing. We are quite sure that every far- 

 mer aud every one who feeds and fattens 

 a pig will only need to have their atten- 

 tion called to so important and serious a 

 matter to secure a complete reform in the 

 practice of feeding an animal which will 

 take whatever is ofl'ered to it, and will 

 live in the most filthy holes and yards. 

 Ou the farm the swine should have clover 

 pasture, aud for swill only milk and 

 meal or grain; no dish water or meat 

 scraps from the table, as these are sure, 

 to putrefy aud poisou the mass in the 

 barrel or tank. Pure water, with a lit- 

 tle meal added, is preferable. Give the 

 scraps from the table to the poultry, 

 while they are fresh. Spoiled meats 

 should never be given to any domestic 

 animal. Large numbers of swine are 

 frequently confined in small quarters, 

 with very little regard to cleanliness or 

 pure air. Of course, some of them will 

 lose appetite, the first sign of the de- 

 rangement of the organs of nutrition and 

 assimilation. They do not thrive, but 

 they are kept aloug till slaughtering 

 time, and are dressed and jiacked anion" 

 the lot. Such animals are extremely 

 liable to be infested with trichina; aud 

 other parasites; and those who consume 

 them as food expose themselves to sick- 

 ness, diseases of a lingering nature, aud 

 to death iu a most horrible form. 



Interests, therefore, as dear as health 

 and life require a thorough reform in 

 keeping aud feediug swiue. Let their 

 food be as pure as that which other ani- 

 mals consume. Let them be kept in 

 clean quarters aud have pure air. Let 

 diseased or unthrifty animals be sepa- 

 rated from those in health, and we may 

 have no fears of trichinosis among either 

 swine or human beings. 



roots, began on the 16th of August and 



was continued three times a day until 

 the 1st of October, after which "ground 

 feed was given, consisting of two parts 

 of corn aud one of oats, three times a 

 day, tillthe animal was slaughtered, the 

 meal being mixed with cold water. The 

 result was, on the 13th of August, when 

 the sugar beet feeding was begun, that 

 the weight was 300 pounds; September 

 1st, 390 pounds; October 1st, 450 poiinds 

 and November 1st, 520 pounds. This is 

 the substance of the statement given, by 

 which we perceive that the increase the 

 last of August, when fed on boiled sugar 

 beets, was at the rate of two pounds per 

 day. This rate of increase on the same 

 food continued through September. 

 When fed on ground corn and oats, m.ade 

 into cold slop, the gain for the next fifty 

 days was less than a pound and a half 

 per daj'. 



SnOAE BEET.S FOE F.VTTENING SwTNE. — 



Jonathan Talcott gives a statement in 

 the Boston Oullirator of au experiment 

 performed on Suffolk pigs where sugar 

 beets w ere largely employed for fattening. 

 The auim.al was about a year old, and the 

 feeding on boiled sugar beets, tops and 



Weight of Hogs by Measurement. — 

 The same general rule applies to smaller 

 animals— hogs, sheep, etc. — as to cattle. 

 This is, to take the girth of the hog just 

 behind the shoulder blade, getting the 

 dimensions in feet aud inches, and 

 measure the length of the back; multiply 

 these measurements together, which, re- 

 duced to feet, gives the square superfici- 

 al feet; multiply again by the number of 

 pounds allowecl to the superficial foot. 

 This depeuds upon the size of the ani- 

 mal; for animals having a girth of from 

 three to five feet allow fifteen pounds to 

 the superficial foot, and if the girth is 

 less than three feet, allow eleven pounds 

 to the superficial foot. Sujipose a pig 

 measures two feet in girth, and two feet 

 aloug the back; multii^ly these together 

 gives four square feet, and this multiplied 

 by elven (pounds to tho superficial foot 

 for animals, animals measuring less than 

 three feet iu girth) gives forty-four 

 pounds as the weight of the pig. — Frai- 

 ree Fanner. 



Bkeeding Sows. — The best formed 

 sows only should be saved for breeders, 

 and when one such is found aud proves 

 to be a good mother, keep her, even for 

 four or live years. From the young sows 

 select only the very-best. 



Kectoe. — "Those pigs of yours are in 

 fine condition, Jarvis." Jarvis. — "Yes, 

 sir, they be. Ah, sur, if we was all ou us 

 only as tit to die as them are, sur, we'd 

 do." 



lUi^cicultuve, 



PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS IN 

 FISH CULTURE. 



O important iudustrial art has made 

 more rapid progress within the last 

 half dozen j'ears than fish culture. 

 The readers of the Cai. Ageicul- 

 e^ tueist have kejit pretty well jjosted 

 in this matter, as this department has 

 been made of special interest by giving 

 the most satient information which has 

 come to the editors notice upon this 

 subject. Artificial hatching is reduced to 

 a science; or, in other words, to a practi- 

 cal aud positive certainty, and is no 

 longer an experiment, although much 

 improved by recent experimeutiug tests. 

 Wherever clear ponds of water are found, 

 or streams and rivers run, the water can 

 be supplied with myreades of the most 

 valuable kinds of flsh hatched iu troughs, 

 aud fed in artificial or natural ponds and 

 streams till they are strong enough to 

 take care of themselves in the deeper 

 waters where enemies have to be avoided 

 aud a living obtained. We read of rivers, 

 ponds aud Kikes being stocked with mil- 



lions of fish by the various Commission- 

 ers which different States have appointed 

 for the purposes. Laws are passed for 

 the protection of fish during spawniug 

 time; and the public is being instructed 

 in mauy ways to au appreciation and 

 better understanding of the benefits to be 

 derived from an intelligedt system in all 

 public waters. 



What is, perhaps, of equal importance, 

 is a better understanding as to how fish 

 culture can be made successful aud pro- 

 fitable on a smaller scale in such ponds 

 or streams as many persons may be able 

 to proWde with little expense. We pre- 

 di<-t that the time is not far distant when 

 fish will be as commonly grown all over 

 the country, in artificial reservois, as 

 pigs and chickens are now iu farm yards. 

 Wherever water cau be obtained that is 

 clear, and free from deletereous mineral 

 and organic substauces, and that can be 

 kept at a degree of temjieratrn'o suited to 

 fish, life and growth, and that cau be 

 supplied with atmospheric oxygen in suf- 

 ficient quantities to supply the respera- 

 tiou of fishes, and that can bo shaded in 

 places to afford shelter from the sun, aud 

 from observation, so that the fishes will 

 feed at ease and at home, it seems to us 

 that tho essential conditions to health 

 and growth will be complied with. 



The matter of food will be found a 

 very important one, but not more dilfi- 

 cult to master than the feediug of aui- 

 mals. We believe, from the best infor- 

 mation we can gain upou the subject, 

 that a s'ystem of ditches will be the most 

 economical form of arranging for fish 

 culture. These can be dug at any width 

 or depth, and run in together in auy 

 most convenient and artistic manner, 

 easy to dam at any point or to shade in 

 any place, can be gi-aveled here and 

 there, and be genei'ally arranged so as to 

 be practically just the thing on a small 

 scale for fish of all ages aud size. Tho 

 supply of water must depend upon cii-- 

 cumstances. Whether from natural or 

 artificial wells or streams it makes but 

 little difference so long as it is pure 

 enough aud is aireated sufliciently, which 

 can be artificially done by wind power 

 at little cost. We shall aim to keep our 

 readers posted upon whatever progress 

 is made iu any direction so far as we can 

 glean it, and shall expect such of our 

 friends as feel an interest, aud have had 

 experience iu the matter, to assist with 

 such facts as they may have acquired. 



Fish Culture.— In times past I at- 

 tempted fish culture, and even before I 

 was able to undertake it, I did plead with 

 my people, for the pleasure and profit, 

 to begin the work. There are many who 

 saw my pool during the wjir. One who, 

 I remember, iu 1862, endeavored to find 

 the bottom, and said it was so cold (in 

 -lugust) he could not dive deep. I heard 

 those who saw the relic after the em- ' 

 bankmeut gave way, speak of fish as by 

 the million. The pond had .an embank- 

 ment of some nineteen or twentv feet, 

 with eighteen feet of water at the deep- 

 est point, and covered perhaps one to 

 two acres at least. My lots cornered in 

 parts for stock water, and there was so 

 much grass that but little dirt washed in. 

 My overseer aud myself caught, with a 

 dip-net, four hundred small perch in 

 1860 or 1861, and I had a pond drained 

 out that cat-fish, designedly or otherwise, 

 had got into and were destroying the 

 perch. The perch caught and put with 

 others in the new pond did not count. I 

 know from a cistern — yea, also one in 

 Vicksbnrg — that a perch too small for 

 eating did in two years, in one instance 

 in one year, grow to size for table. Fish 

 is cheaper than fowl, cheaper than 

 pork, or beef, or mutton, if fed. All 



