Geographic Notes 



267 



A REMARKABLE WATERSHED IN 

 PENNSYLVANIA 



ON the same farm in Potter county, 

 Pennsylvania, are two strong, 

 clear springs which bubble up out of 

 the white sand with great force, and 

 about three miles distant is another 

 spring of like character. 



If a chip were thrown into each of 

 these and could float on uninterruptedly 

 to the sea, they would reach their des- 

 tination many thousands of miles apart. 

 One is the fountain head of the Genesee 

 River, which flows into Take Ontario, 

 and finally reaches the sea at the mouth 

 of the Gulf of St Lawrence. The other 

 is the fountain head of the Allegheny 

 River, which unites at Pittsburg with 

 the Monongahela to form the Ohio, and 

 reaches the sea at the mouth of the 

 Mississippi. The third is the fountain 

 head of Pine Creek, which flows into 

 the West Branch of the Susquehanna, 

 and reaches the sea at Chesapeake Bay. 

 Thomas W. Tloyd. 

 Montoursville, Pa 



SILKWORM CULTURE 



THE Department of Agriculture is 

 investigating the possibilities of 

 silkworm culture in the United States. 

 It is hoped that it may in time be devel- 

 oped to such an extent as to prove of 

 benefit to those members of families 

 whose time is not altogether occupied 

 in other ways. To persons wishing to 

 experiment, and who can furnish proper 

 food for the worms, the Department is 

 distributing free of charge a small quan- 

 tity of silkworm eggs and also a manual 

 of instructions. The proper food for 

 silkworms consists of leaves from the 

 different varieties of white mulberry 

 tree and the Osage orange. The paper 

 mulberry (with the fuzzy leaves) is not 

 suitable, nor is the common red mul- 

 berry. As the season is now open, ap- 

 plications for the eggs should be made 

 at once, and must be accompanied by a 

 statement as to the number and kind of 



mulberry trees or the amount of Osage 

 orange which the applicant possesses ; 

 otherwise the eggs will not be sent. If 

 the variety of the mulberry is not known 

 to the applicant, a sample of large leaves 

 should be sent to the Department. The 

 Department of Agriculture buys the 

 cocoons which the worms spin, paying 

 for them (after they have been dried) 

 75 cents to $1 a pound, according to 

 their quality. The work will prove an 

 interesting pastime for women and chil- 

 dren who can devote to it odd minutes 

 during the day. 



The first journey across Alaska, from 

 Skagway to the Arctic Ocean, made by 

 W. J. Peters and F. C. Schrader in 1901, 

 is described by them in a handsome re- 

 port just published by the Geological 

 Survey. The journey involved a sledge 

 trip with dogs of 1,600 miles, and from 

 the Yukon to the Arctic Ocean was 

 through country which had not been 

 previously penetrated by white men. 

 Nothing in Alaskan or Arctic explora- 

 tion surpasses the harditude of these 

 two men pushing across the unknown 

 arctic wilderness and trusting to luck 

 to meet a whaling ship on the coast to 

 bring them home. Mr Schrader, with 

 Alfred H. Brooks, was the Geological 

 Survey explorer of Cape Nome in 1899, 

 and with Gerdine, Witherspoon, and 

 Mendenhall, of the Wrangell Moun- 

 tains in 1900 and 1902. Mr Peters is 

 at present with the Ziegler Polar Expe- 

 dition as the representative of the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society and director 

 of the scientific work of the expedition. 



An interesting comparison of the amount 

 of goods shipped abroad from the 

 different ports of the United States in 

 1903 and 1893 nas been prepared by 

 the Bureau of Statistics. New York, 

 New Orleans, and Galveston show the 

 largest gain. New York's exports have 

 grown from 357 million dollars in 1893 

 to 516 millions in 1903 ; those of New 

 Orleans, from 85 millions in 1893 to 150 



