people. An Investment in stock, properly 
looked after, will pay about thirty-three per 
cent., and stock-raisers worth from one hun¬ 
dred thousand to half a million dollars are 
as common here as bankers in Wall street. 
The country west of Stin Antonio is the best 
section for sheep, and that interest is getting 
to be large and profitable. The country is 
not generally supplied with what you would 
call “fine stock,” but line horses, sheep and 
-A newly- j j 10 gg may be brought from the North hero 
but in several attempts to 
ABOUT WOOD-A WORD TO BOYS. 
Feb. 3.—There are many boys—yes, and 
men too—who have chopped firewood for 
years without knowing the names of the dif¬ 
ferent kinds they are constantly handling. 
Boys, do you ever think how easy it would 
be for you to make a cabinet of all the dif¬ 
ferent species, and upon the specimens col¬ 
lected write both the common and scientific 
names, all of which would be valuable for 
future reference ? I have no doubt that some 
will ask, What is the good of it ? And the 
only answer to such a question should be, 
What is the good of any knowledge ? There 
are very few men who own timbered land, 
residing near large forests, who can truth¬ 
fully say that they know the correct names 
of all the trees growing in their own imme¬ 
diate neighborhood. If farmers’ boys would 
try to inform themselves upon such simple 
subjects, we should have a less number of 
ignorant men. It is not necessary to spend 
any considerable time or money in making a 
eoilection of wood* ; but let every boy who 
has to help prepare the firewood for use. 
learn the names of the di fTerent species which 
he handles. To form a handsome, as well 
ns useful, cabinet the specimens preserved 
♦should be uniform in size, or not too widely 
different in this respect. A 1 riangular form 
is a good one for showing all the character¬ 
istics of the species. For instance, suppose 
we decide upon having the blocks four inches 
long, wo would then saw off a block from 
the end of a log or branch of this length, then 
split out a V shape piece from one ride, widest 
on the outside, tapering in towards the heart. 
The bark should remain on the specimens, 
because this is usually quite a distinct specific 
character and easily recognized. Tf the ends 
of these blocks are sawed smooth and square 
across the grain, they may lie set np on 
shelves or arranged in any way to suit one s 
taste or funcy. The sides may also be planed 
smooth or left, rough, but the specimens will 
not only look better but be less liable to col¬ 
lect dust, if dressed up In aneat manner. The 
name of each kind should be plainly written 
upon one. end or side, using a pencil or pen 
and black ink for the purpose. The common 
FROM WESTERN TEXAS 
DAILY RURAL LIFE, 
From the Diary of n Centleman near New 
York City. 
without risk ; 
bring the Short Horn, as high as fifty per 
cent, of the importations have died. We 
cannot tell from what cause, but those that 
recover from the first sickness arc over after 
as healthy as the native cattle. 
The price of land here now is from one to 
three dollars per acre; the Pennsylvanian, 
mentioned above, has just purchased a choice 
little farm of one hundred and sixt}' acres, 
with a running creek and good spring, and 
on ft public roa<l, for $100. There is no house, 
but there is a field of twenty-five acres in a 
good state of cultivation, and he paid foim 
dollars per hundred for the cedar rails 
around it in addition. The State gives to 
actual settlers one hundred and sixty acres 
as a pre-emption oft condition of their living 
ou it three years; and there are yet many 
beautiful locations to be had in Kendall, 
Bandara, Kerr and other frontier counties. 
To the report of our last Fair we have 
added some fifty pages, giving a full descrip¬ 
tion of Western Texas, farming, stock-rais¬ 
ing, fruit-growing, schools, churches, morals 
of the people, laws relating to land titles, 
exemption from farm sales, usury, &c., &.c. 
I will send this book to any of your readers 
upon receipt of six cents to pay pastage. 
W. G. Kingsbury, Cor. Sec’y, 
incut places. If this country lay upon the 
line of the Central Pacific Railroad, it would 
be as densely populated as the State of Mas¬ 
sachusetts within three years, even though 
the land should advance ten-fold upon pres¬ 
ent prices; for here man can live longer, 
have better health, more comforts, and 
make more money with less labor than in 
any.other section of the United States, if not 
of the world. These arc broad assertions, 
but statistics, facts and figures prove every 
word to be the truth. The climate of West¬ 
ern Texas is a matter of astonishment to all 
new Comers; even now, in midwinter, our 
gardens are filled with growing vegetables, 
ilowers are in full bloom, the grass upon our 
prairies is green and nutritious, and our cat¬ 
tle and horses are in good condition. Tift-, 
average temperature is about 05"; the ex¬ 
treme heat rarely exceeds tK)“: the freezing 
point is rarely reached even in the coldest 
seasons, if cold they can be called. Gulf 
breezes, laden with the aroma and invigor¬ 
ating elements of the tropics, fan the coun¬ 
try for two hundred miles inland, making 
summer generally mild and gentle as spring. 
Men can labor through the hottest days of 1 
ith less depiction or fatigue than 
FROM OXFORD, SUMNER CO., RAN 
Tins county, t ruly the garden of the great 
Arkansas Valley, is in the southern tier of 
counties, the climate being the same as South¬ 
ern Kentucky. There is no section of coun¬ 
try that is so inviting just now to those in 
search of homes in the West that desire lands 
that are fertile and well watered as those of 
this valley. 
Timber is only found along the streams. 
It consists of Black Walnut, Cottonwood, 
Ash, Elm, Oak, Huckleberry and Box Elder. 
To illustrate the scarcity of timber, will say 
it is worth $3.50 to S-l a cord delivered. Our 
Soil is a deep, black loam, resting on a lighter 
colored subsoil, consisting of loam, clay and 
gravel. Tins rich loam is from three to six 
feet deep, and has juet sufficient sand to 
prevent the ground from baking in the 
event of a drouth. 
The soil is well adapted to the culture of 
corn, wheat, cotton, fruit, potatoes, peanuts, 
castor beaus, vegetables, &c., &e. On first 
breaking, we raise from 30 to 40 bushels per 
non* of corn. Of wheat we raised this last 
year from 20 to 35 bushels to tho acre. After 
a trial tho past season cn the part of the 
farmers in this county, they find tho yield is 
one bale of cotton per acre. We have alreudy 
shipped to 8t. Louis So bales, which com¬ 
manded sixteen and a half cents per pound. 
Caster beans were also grown largely, pro¬ 
ducing from twenty-five to forty bushels, and 
command $1.15 here. Peanuts yield largely, 
say from 80 to 100 bushels per acre, and are 
worth here $1.25 r» bushel. 
As for fruit, Kansas has achieved a repu¬ 
tation second to no State iu the country. 
Sweet and Irish potatoes grow well and pro¬ 
duce largely. Vegetable* also do well. 
At the State Fair last fall, at Topeka, the 
Arkansas Valley received almost all the pre¬ 
miums. This county received premiums for 
the finest corn, best cotton a ud largest hedge 
plants, and was equal to any iu wheat and 
potatoes. 
Indications of coal exist and parties are 
now prospecting. The Halt Springs south of 
Oxford have sufficient water to supply the 
entire West with salt; they have now abotit 
200 vats, and find it yields 10 per cent, pure 
salt by solar evaporation. A sample was 
sent to the Smithsonian Institute and pro¬ 
nounced by them equal to any made. The 
health of the country could not be better— 
no sickness at all. The schools are free, and 
are a success in this State; every 10th and 
36th sections belong to the schools. 
A fortune is in store for some one who has 
capital who will build a grist mill at this 
point, as there is no mill south of the Arkan¬ 
sas River. 
summer w 
in ,the Northern States, owing to tliis con 
stant, steady breeze. 
Our soil is from two to twelve feet deep, 
and seemingly inexhaustible. I know of 
several fields that have been in cultivation for 
forty years without manure, and yet pro¬ 
duce as good crops as fresh land adjoining. 
The land is of all varieties, from the heavy, 
rich, black soil to light sandy. 
The water is of the purest lime-stone, and 
abundant; the timber is sufficient for eco¬ 
nomical use, and of considerable variety, 
Cedar, Moaquit and Oak being the varieties 
mostly used for fencing. In most localities 
building rock, lime and sand are abundant 
and of good quality. Our farm products aro 
every thing that grows iu the State of New 
York, in addition to which we raise cotton 
and sugar. Our lands will average, under 
fair cultivation, about twenty bushels of 
wheat, fifty of oats or corn, live hundred 
pounds of cotton, two hundred bushels of 
Irish or sweet potatoes per acre. One great 
advantage farmers have, in this count ry is 
they can work all winter, plowing, mending 
fences or taking iu more land, and they are 
not put to t.ho expense of saving food for 
Suppose you are cutting up sugar maple 
to-day; save a block, and when prepared, 
write upon it the common name and under¬ 
neath it the scientific name, Acer mrcho 
ri-num . Perhaps it may bo better known in 
your neighborhood as Hard or Rock Maple : 
if *o, use tho names instead, «>r in addition to 
the above. Collect specimens of all the dif¬ 
ferent species of maples to be found, Mho 
H ickories, Beech, Chestnut, Oak and every¬ 
thing of the kind, not omitting the Alders, 
Willows and smaller shrubs. But permit me 
to warn my boy friends against, beiug too 
hasty to naming their specimens, for it is not 
every man you meet that will be able to give 
the required information. It will also be 
well to save branches, leaves and even flow¬ 
ers of some kinds, as aids in identifying the 
wood. Remember, also, that a good collec¬ 
tion cannot be made in a day or even in a 
year; but add a little at a time, never per¬ 
mitting un. opportunity to pass unused for 
addiug even one specimen. Many can be 
IS IT INSTINCT OR REASON 
The introduction of new plants from 
foreign countries to our own must necessari¬ 
ly give our native insects mauy a surprise. 
For instance, the introduction of the.lc/ifm- 
n es Ungiflorv, a beautiful plant, native of 
Central America, vets, of courae, unknown to 
our common Humble bee; but as the flowers 
contain a large quantity of honey, they are 
very attractive to these little but industrious 
insects. But the sweet, nectar is placed at 
the bottom, of a long, slender tube, far too 
small to admit the body of our industrious 
honey gatherers; consequently it must re¬ 
main there untouched, unless some other ex¬ 
cept the natural route to it could bo devised. 
Gardeners, however, have frequently ob¬ 
served that the Humble bees hud a way of 
their own for reaching the sweet drop, for 
they will cut through the. tube just above 
the base and extract the honey, without any 
further difficulty. Is it instinct or reason 
wliich enables them to take this short-cut. to 
the honey i They are certainly equal to the 
exigencies of the cage, and thereby display 
capabilities of a high order. 
The Nenescah River flows into 
the Arkansas River at this point, aud both 
rivers have a fall of 0 to 9 feet to the mile. 
The wheat that is now growing looks well, 
and bids fair to yield largely. 
I was a l’eader of your paper for quite a 
while before removing to this State, and am 
not disposed fc<> be without it any longer, as 
I consider it tho best Agricultural paper pub¬ 
lished in America. Kansas. 
