The Girdled Peach Orchard again. — Mr. Editor : I notice you copy 

 from a Jackson, Michigan paper, an item stating that William Cornell (his name is 

 Cornvvell), had been arrested for girdling Green's orchard, at Benton Harbor. 

 All the evidence they found against the man, I am informed, is that Green had 

 given him good reason to feel spiteful towards him. Mr. Cornvvell has been 

 living here for a number of years, and must have seen the statement published 

 by the County Register of Deeds, that the sale of the orchard to Mr. Hunter 

 was genuine ; and it does not seem probable that a man of ordinary intelligence 

 would run the risk so many times of being caught in a great crime, when there 

 was so little probability of injuring the one he sought to be revenged on. It 

 seems to me that the course pursued towards Mr. Cornwell was about as bad as 

 girdling trees. Had he been a stranger, and likely to escape, his arrest on sus- 

 picion might have been excusable ; but as he was not, there was no good reason 

 for putting him in jail before finding some evidence against him. A motive is a 

 very good starting point for detection of crime, but it is no evidence of guilt 

 alone. J. A. Donaldson. 



St. Joseph, Mich., July 4, 1871. 



The Bean Vine and the Sun. — On this side of the equator, all bean 

 vines at all times twine the same way. Why? It has been a question whether 

 the sun has anything to do with the matter. To settle this question, Prof. J. 

 Parish Stella wrote to a friend residing in Brazil, just below the Tropic of Capri- 

 corn, asking him how the bean winds there. His friend replies that it goes round 

 the pole in precisely the reverse direction from that taken in the United States. 

 How does the bean manage directly under the equator ? Can any one tell .'' 



Rural Carolinian. 



VOL. IX. 16 241 



