I for J’.o was suffering so from the terrible ein- 
! brace that he could move no part of himself. 
When dragged on the raft from which he 
had descended, and finally released, he had 
fainted. The men on the raft seized the fish 
by one of its wriggling arms and tried to pull 
it off, but could not break the power of a 
single one of the suckers. Th^iish was only 
removed by being dealt a heavy blow across 
the sack containing the stomach. This sack 
stood stiffly up above the eyes, while the 
eyes stood out like lobster’s eyes, and 
gleamed like fire. The monster is, all in all, 
one of the most frightful apparitions it could 
be the fate of man to meet,. It fulfills in 
every particular the horrible features at¬ 
tributed to it in Victor Hugo’s “Toilers of 
the Sea.” Notwithstanding the severity 
with which the able Frenchman has been 
criticised for “creating a nondescript, with 
his weird imagination,’’ the truth must be 1 
granted that his “nondescript” has an ac¬ 
tual existence, as is evidenced by the speci¬ 
mens in Brighton and Hamburg, as well as 
my own. 
saw 101 inemseives. anci left the premises 
apparently, at least, very well satisfied ; were 
l not afraid of offending you. I would offer 
3 ’ou the cost of fare to do likewise ; but I 
can, without impropriety, Invite you to the 
hospitality of mv roof which, though modest 
in size and elegance, furnishes to its guests a 
good bed anil excellent cooking a la Franco 
- 1 xicrfcainr. 1 wish, sir, you could visit me, 
being convinced that we would agree, as 
good friends do, and that you would part 
from me a wiser man—at least, on the ques¬ 
tion of “ French Viticulture in North Caro¬ 
lina s' however, in case you will not or can¬ 
not , pay me a visit before the middle of next 
•July, rest assured that by that time I will 
ship ymi, freight prepaid, some specimens of 
my i'rrnrii. gra.pes, grown in the open air , at 
Itidgway, N. C. 
Without presumption, let me sav that 1 I 
BENEFICIAL BIRDS 
NATIONAL SWINE BREEDERS’ CON 
VENTION. 
The following is an extract from a report 
made to the Montgomery, 0., Hort. Soc., by 
J. L. Broadwkll. He says :—“ I will give a 
list of such birds as are known to almost 
every one, and are beneficial iu the destruc¬ 
tion of worms, insects. &c., that are so detri¬ 
mental to the crops of the horticulturist and 
farmer. 
1. Omnivorous.birds, such as live oh in¬ 
sects, worms and carrion, and often add 
likewise to this nourishment grain, seeds and 
fruits. American Starling or Meadow Lark, 
Baltimore Oriole or Golden Robin, Spurious 
or Orchard Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, 
Cow Troopial or Cow Blackbird, Purple 
Grakle or Common Crow Blackbird, Tufted 
Titmouse, Chicadee or Bbiek-Capt Titmouse. 
2 . Insectivorous birds, such as subsist al¬ 
most, wholly upon insects, particularly dur¬ 
ing the time of reproduction. Some of the 
species add berries and small fruits, but they 
are ordinarily only an accessory nourish¬ 
ment. King Bird or Tyrant Fly Catcher, 
Pewit Fly Catcher or Phu-be Bird, Wood 
Pewee, ferruginous Thrush or Brown 
Thrasher, Cat Bird, American Robin. Wood 
Thnish, summer Yellow Bird, Golden-Crested 
Wren, House Wren, Blue Bird, White- 
Breasted Nut-Hatch, Flicker or Golden- 
Winged Woodpecker, Red-Headed Wood- 
FRENCH VITICULTURE IN NORTH 
CAROLINA. 
Editor Moore’s Rural New-Yorker ; 
A friend of mine (and one of your subscrib¬ 
ers) who has seen my vineyards, has sent me 
your No. of the IStli ult., in which are your 
editorial comments on my enterprise. With¬ 
out questioning your right' to criticise those 
who rush boldly into print, I object to your 
ungracious, un-American manner of doing 
so, while l trust you will not refuse me the 
opportunity of publicly refuting your argu¬ 
ments. 
In my communication to the Rural Mes¬ 
senger of July 2fi, the subject of your criti¬ 
cism, 1 knowingly exposed myself to opposi¬ 
tion through the skepticism of more than 
one Thomas, being well aware that some of 
the most, extraordinary statements made 
therein would seem strange and almost fab¬ 
ulous. But 1 certainly wus very tar from 
anticipating that. I should meet with it in u 
position so pre-eminent, and one which ought 
to be qualified by experience, intelligence 
and tolerance. 
You were mistaken in supposing that the 
“ Last, Frenchman had finished his fizzle 
in trying to cultivate some of the French 
varieties of grapes in the. open air, east of 
the Rocky Mountains ;” for there are several 
Frenchmen, naturalized Americans, in this 
vicinity, who are doing so. Yes, sir ; we 
Americans, so superior, in a great many re¬ 
spects, to the rest of mankind, know but 
little, if anything, of wine-growing and of 
the arts of cooking and eating ; we had better 
acknowledge this, and try to acquire them. 
The failure of A. Lou hat, in 1827, is no 
criterion ; one might as well try to raise 
grapes in the northern part of France as on 
our Long Island. How can you doubt that 
wine-growing is in all respects the most im¬ 
portant branch of agriculture t Perhaps 
the following may convince yon thereof : 
“ France has over 2,000,000 hectares in grape 
vines (the hectare is nearly equal to 2'5 acres) 
and increases every year this acreuge, in a 
large proportion. This represents annually 
50,000,000 hectoliters (1,100,000,000 gallons) of 
wine, an average value of more # timu 500,- 
000,000 of francs. The Departement of Ile- 
rault alone (about the size of one of our large 
counties) produces three times more wine 
than the whole kingdom of Portugal, &c. 
&c. (See ‘ Etudes sur le vin, par M. L. Pas¬ 
teur, Member of the Institute of France and 
of the Royal Society of London.’ Introduc¬ 
tion, page first, and following.’)’’ 
As regards your belief in my knowing so 
little of the products of this country and the 
wants of the people, I will merely reply : 
That I landed in New York in 1852, at the 
age of 32 years ; that previously I had learn¬ 
ed quite something about the U. S. A.; that 
from the commencement of mv residence r 
PIG-PEN PAPERS 
Hoy Cholera Remedy.—What I want is a 
hog-cholera recape given in your paper the 
latter part of 1870 or 1872. I have lost the 
paper with the recipe and would i .-ilhci i\ ( . 
ten dollars I lian not have it. I have tried ii 
and fomul it to be -a perfect su<* . ... it we* 
given. I think, by some man in Tennessee, 
am said to be a. patent recipe, If you don't, 
lino Mi lx, Inst, give mo a list of tin* recipes tor 
cl ami m (be. iudox lor the -time—-any 
way, just, so 1 got. the recipe; for im hogs 
have began to die off with oliolma.' Send 
your bill for your trouble.—R. \‘, r . Hvkii . 
Wf.epi,%fi Uhder, Qutm C’O., A eh. 
In September, 1871, W e published (he fol¬ 
low 111^, which is probably the recipe to \vhicii 
our correspondent refers :—Madd-r, 1 lb.; 
sulphur, I lb.; saltpeter, I lb.; resin, l lb.; 
black antimony, % lb-.*; copperas, l>, lbs!; 
nsafetida, y lb.; arsenic 2 ozh. Dose, 011 c 
tublespoonful to live hogs, in slop or ashes, 
once a day if Uiey have the cholera ; once a 
week to prevent, -ft, 
1 tixeased Hoys i n Indiana.— E. T. FOGLE. 
Hhelby Co., Ind., writes to the Cincinati 
Gazette of a disease among swine which has 
thus fait resisted all means that have been 
tried for its cure or prevention. H c thus 
dfescribes it“The disease is in process of 
coming on from two to ten days, during 
which time the hog refuses its food ; ha., u 
slight cough ; drinks more than usual, and 
is ooustipated ; but sooner or later the hek 
ness in full force comes on. It has fever, 
manifested by short, quick respiration, and 
an intense thirst. In some cares a diarrhea 
now sets in, and the hog seems better; but 
in others the constipation continue?, and the 
hog soon dies. Pigs and shouts seldom 
recover. The hogs which scour recover.’’ 
Quinsy in Hunue.—An enlargement of the 
glands oi the throat will often occur in r«i 
to aid in recom-i ructing llm South, though i 
am a life-long Republican Should 1 faff jj, 
my object, it will not, be for not, having 
heeded the advice of the practical vineynrd- 
istsof my own State because, and [ sa y it 
with all due respect, there are none such in 
North Carolina yet except my French neigh¬ 
bor* and self ; and my attempt to grow cer- 
tain varieties ol' French grapes in the open 
air in this region, ho similar in climate and 
soil to Harault, is less impossible than it ap¬ 
peared, in 1857. to successfully lay the Atlan¬ 
tic telegraph cable ; and yet, C. W. Field 
and liis associates did it ! 
As a proof of the immense resource* in 
wiue growing, let me refer to the item of 
“ Grapes in France,” which 1 read in the 
same column wherein you conclude your 
criticism of me. 
And now, and iu conclusion, let me make 
this affidavitDr E. J. Plan chon of the 
Faculty of Montpellier, who was sent to this 
country by his Government and several Ag¬ 
ricultural societies of France, to study the; 
American vines and grapes, particular^ 
THE DIVER AND THE DEVIL FISH 
Mr. Charles B. Bratnerd of Boston, in 
writing to the Scientific American about 
specimens of the devil fish, relates this in¬ 
teresting incident The strength which 
these creatures possess is almost beyond 
comprehension, as is evidenced by what, took 
place when my pet (I) was captured. He had 
seized hold of a sub-marine diver, at work in 
the wreck of a sunken steamer off the coast 
of Florida. The man was a powerful Irish¬ 
man who claimed to weigh 300 pounds. His 
size and build fully verified his statement, 
and, to use his own language, “ the baste 
landed on top of my shoulders and pinned 
my arms tight. I felt my armor and myself 
being cracked into a jelly.” It seems that 
he was just about being brought to the sur¬ 
face, else the monster would have killed him, 
