192 



[October, 



WEATHER PREDICTIONS. 



"Is the fall likely to be dry or wet? "is 

 the essence of an inquiry before us. Noth- 

 ing would give us more pleasure than to be 

 able to give a correct answer to this ques- 

 tion. If we could, we would secure a patent 

 as "weather prophet" and make more money 

 in a year than all the editors in the United 

 States together. How little reliance there is 

 to be placed in those who pretend to be able 

 to foretell the weather of a season a.ppears 

 from the following letter of the Chief Signal 

 Officer of the United States to the New York 

 Tribune. He says : 



"It is absolutely impossible to predict a 

 storm for more than a few days in advance. 

 The information cannot be too widely dis- 

 tributed, that no one can foretell even the 

 general character of a coming season, much 

 less the occurrence of a particular storm in 

 that season. It is possible that the advance 

 of our knowledge may at some time enable 

 us to predict the weather for many days in 

 advance, but this is not possible at the pres- 

 ent time. Meteorology is yet in its infancy, 

 and no one is yet able to anticipate the occur- 

 rence of a meteorological phenomenon for 

 more than a few days — a week at the most. 

 If any one will take tbe trouble to verify the 

 weather predictions which, in these days, are 

 so frequently made by the actual weather ex- 

 perienced, he will find that about half of them 

 are fulfilled and half fail. When a given pre- 

 diction is fulfilled, it is often made a matter 

 of marked comment, while the unfulfillment 

 of a similar prediction at another time is 

 passed over in silence. The impression, there- 

 fore, prevails that reliance can be placed 

 upon the forecasting^ of weather prophets, 

 but this impression will be removed by any 

 one who will give attention to the subject. 

 A series of simple guesses, based upon no 

 reasoning whatever, will come true in the 

 long run as many times as they will fail. 

 Until, then, weather predictions are fulfilled 

 more times than they fail, they must be re- 

 garded as equivalent to guesses and as hav- 

 ing no value whatever. All predictions of 

 the weather to be expected a month or more 

 in advance, whether based upon the position 

 of the planets, or of the moon, or upon the 

 number of sun spots, or upon any supposed 

 law of periodicity of natural phenomena, or 

 upon any hypothesis whatever which to-day 

 has its advocates, are as unreliable as pre- 

 dictions of the time when the end of the 

 world will come." 



MEXICAN MARKETS. 



The markets are among the most pictur- 

 esque sights in Mexico, writes a correspon- 

 dent of the Sprhn/Jirld 1,'r/niblicari. Not only 

 are the tropical fruits and vegetables and 

 the national wares and commodities strange 

 to us, but the habitans are stranger still. 

 The seller, whether man or woman, sits 

 upon the ground, with his wares ranged in 

 little piles upon a blanket or piece of canvas 

 before him. If a man, he is silent and 

 taciturn, but never forgetting to cheat you 

 out of a cent or two in "change," and wears 

 a wide, old sombrero pulled down over his 

 shaggy brows, sandals laced with leathern 

 thongs upon his dusty feet, and a huge 

 bright-hued zarapa (rug) wrapped closely 



about his shoulders, however hot the day. 

 If a woman, she is garrulous and coquettish, 

 her long, black matted locks entirely uncov- 

 ered, a loose chemise not in the least dis- 

 guising her figure to the waist, and bare, 

 brown legs protruding from her scanty red 

 petticoat. 



In every market-place is always a fountain, 

 or great stone well, and to it come Egyptian 

 figures, — boys with long poles over their 

 shoulders and pails balanced from either 

 end, and bare-footed women in short, bright 

 petticoats, in picturesque attitudes, — one 

 hand upon the hip and the other dark, 

 slender arm stretched up to hold the great 

 water-jar firmly upon the shoulder. In the 

 far East, centuries ago, Rebecca carried just 

 such x>ottery, in similar fashion, when Jacob 

 saw her at the well. In Mexico, nobody goes 

 to market but the servants, and sight- 

 seeing tourists. A lady or gentleman of the 

 better class would no more be seen there 

 than would you, dear reader, at the Theatre 

 Comique. 



A GRAND RAISIN VINEYARD ENTERPRISE. 



The largest sale of land ever made in 

 southern California for fruit purposes has 

 just been completed at Ontario to the San 

 Bernardino County Raisin Company of Bos- 

 ton, Mass. This company, as the Riverside 

 Press and Horticulturist informs us, has re- 

 cently been organized with a capital stock of 

 $1,000,000. 



The lands selected are located in a solid 

 body on the railroad east of Ontario. The 

 water will be piped to the highest corner of 

 each ten-acre lot, and the company will have 

 a steady stream of one hundred inches of 

 water continuously flowing upon their lands 

 night and day, or two hundred inches of day 

 water. It is intended to plant not less than 

 five hundred acres to vineyard this coming 

 winter, and, if possible, a larger acreage. 



This vineyard, when completed, will be the 

 largest raisin vineyard on the coast, and 

 probably the largest one in the world. The 

 company is composed of wealthy men, and 

 their endeavor will be to establish a brand 

 for their raisins that will stand high in the 

 markets. Already heavy raisin dealers in 

 Boston and London have signified their de- 

 sire to handle their crop when the vineyard 

 comes into bearing. 



The raisin industry is as yet in its infancy 

 on this coast, and the yield this season is 

 estimated at 125,000 boxes. California 

 raisins have been brought into competition 

 in the eastern cities with the imported arti- 

 cle, and have stood the test, both as regards 

 quality and price, and that, too, at very sat- 

 isfactory figures to the producer. 



BUILDING IN NEW-TORE. 



The New- York Mail says it is probable 

 that the number of buildings in this city at 

 the end of this year will be 100.000. The 

 number erected last year was 2561, and the 

 indications are that a larger number will be 

 put up this year. The amount expended in 

 this way in 1882 was nearly $45,000,000, 

 and it is thought this year it will be $70,- 

 000,000. The value of real estate is higher 

 than ever before. A lot at the corner of 

 Broad street and Exchange Place was re- 

 cently sold at the rate of $15,000,000 per 

 acre. The best land on Broadway is worth 

 $2,000,000 an acre. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. 

 Neltnor's Fruit, Flower, and Vegetable 

 Grower is a bright and carefully edited quarterly, 

 published at Turner Junction, 111. It contains a 

 large amount of original and selected matter, anil 

 costs but 75 cents .1 year. 



Tbe American Journalist, St. Louis, Mo.— 

 This new monthly seems excellently qualified to 

 supply the journalistic profession with a medium 

 to represent the interests of its members. The. 

 initial number is a praiseworthy and able piece 

 of editorial as well as typographical work, anil 

 contains interesting articles on Western Journal- 

 ism, French Journalism, Sporting Journalism, Old 

 Ruts in Printing Machinery, and a great number 

 of minor Newspaper Notes. 



I New- York Produce Exchange, Annual Report 

 for 1882, and Semi-annual Report from January 1 

 to July 1, 1883.— We are indebted to Mr. W. J. Rose, 

 Clerk of the Board, for these elegant and valuable. 



! volumes. They contain, in addition to the Char- 

 ter, By-laws, the several Trade Rules adopted by 



! the Exchange, and a list of members, the Report 

 of the Statistician of the Exchange. These sta- 

 tistics, with accompanying tables, comprise all 

 the produce imports and exports, as well as the 



i amount and value of all home receipts, not only 



1 at this port, but in every important commercial 

 city on the globe. The amount of statistical in- 

 formation given here is enormous, and the excel- 

 lent and systematic arrangement of the tables 

 gives additional value to the volumes. 



Montreal Horticultural Society and Fruit 

 Growers' Association of the Province of Quebec, 

 Annual Report.— This society, which appears to 



S bo in a flourishing condition, devotes consider- 



j able attention to the introduction of fruits 

 adapted to the climate of Canada ; and the per- 



I severing efforts of Mr. Charles Gibb have already 

 been productive of much good in this direction. 

 The report contains interesting papers on Russian 

 Fruits, and Notes on Trees and Shrubs of North- 

 ern Europe and Asia, by Charles Gibb ; Experi- 

 mental Horticulture, and Not well-known Trees 

 and Shrubs, by Professor J. L. Bndd ; Fine Fruits 

 of Russia, by Heinrich Goeggiuger; Russian Ap- 



j pies in Wisconsin by A. G. Tuttle ; On Seeds from 

 the Cape of Good Hope, by Colonel Rhodes ; The, 

 Principles of Successful Orcharding, by R. W. 

 Shepherd, Jr., etc. 



The Paper 3Iill Directory of the World, a 

 complete catalogue of all the paper and pulp 

 mills on the globe. Issued annually by Clark W. 

 Bryan d- Co., Eolyoke, Mass. This elegant and 

 conveniently arranged volume shows at a glance 

 the name, firm, location, specialty, and capacity 

 of every paper and pulp mill, and must therefore 

 be of great value and usefulness to every one, con- 

 nected with the manufacture and trade of paper. 

 The amount of labor and expense necessary to 

 compile such a work must have been enormous, 

 and would have frightened any publishers pos- 

 sessed of less pluck and enterprise than Clark W. 

 ! Bryan &, Co. 



I The statistics given show that there are 4463 

 paper and pulp mills in the world ; and that of 

 these there are 1099 in the United States, 1108 in 

 Germany, 555 in France, 438 in Austro-Hungary, 

 28? in England ; while the entire South American 

 continent has but two. 



Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station. — 



Bulletin No. 1. Experiments with Wheat, 1882-83. 

 —As Wheat is one of the staple products of Ohio, 

 and information about the best methods of cult- 

 ure and the varieties best adapted for the State 

 is of vital importance to every farmer, Director 

 W. B. Lazeriby presents to the public, in advance, 

 of the, regular annual report, a summary of the. 

 more important experiments and tests made with 

 this crop at the station during the past year. The, 

 tests made have been divided in — 1. Comparative 

 tests of varieties; 2. Thick and thin seeding; 3. 

 Winter protection and spring cultivation ; 4. Early 

 and late plowing and sowing; 5. Application of 

 fertilizers ; 6. Preparatory culture and method of 

 seeding. Among the most important practical 

 conclusions derived from these experiments are : 

 That if all the conditions were at their best, three 

 pecks of seed per acre would be ample; but as 

 this is seldom or never the case, more seed is 

 usually required. In designating the best time 

 to sow, the conditions of the soil and the expos- 



