THE ftVIML HEW«? GfKEH. 
gations and dissecting purposes. Two of the 
kennels are devoted to dogs in various interest¬ 
ing stages of early or advanced rabies. “Hen 
cholera” is communicated, watched, and cured 
in the fowl house. The cattle exhibit, various 
stages of vaccination. Human beings have 
also their provided quarter. A spacious wait¬ 
ing-room is set, apart for patients, who troop 
in daily in picturesque groups—according to 
the French press—representing all nationali¬ 
ties. In the meantime the great savant occu¬ 
pies the former quarters of the Pasteur Insti¬ 
tute in the Rue d'Ulrn, and devotes himself in 
dignified seclusion to scientific reseat ch. 
How to Sell. —It is estimated that about 
one-half of those who sell farm produce get an 
average of 10 per cent, less for their goods 
than they otherwise would owiug to inatten¬ 
tion in selling. The National Stockman dis¬ 
cussing this subject., says a great many peo¬ 
ple sell their grain aud their live stock and 
their hay and their wool for a little less than 
they could if the matter of selling were more 
thoroughly studied; but the greater losses 
come in the handliug of what are usually con¬ 
sidered the lesser farm products. The time of 
selling is a most important consideration, and 
iu the products enumerated is perhaps as great 
as any other; but in these the manner of put¬ 
ting up, shipping aud placing in the hands of 
the consumer is of no less consequence, 
while in the lesser products these may be said 
to be almost everything. In butter and eggs 
and poultry and fruit and vegetables, nearly 
all of which must be sold when ready, a pro¬ 
per observance of all these things means a 
difference of from one-third to one-half in the 
prices obta ined. Here a re some questions which 
the farmer should answer: (t) In what form will 
my product best please the consumer? (2) 
How can I get it to him in the freshest and 
best, condition? (3) How can 1 lessen the ex¬ 
pense of transportation between us? (4) How 
can I most directly reach him without the in¬ 
tervention of too many others to share my 
profits? (5) How can I best become known 
myself as a prompt and careful shipper of a 
choice article of my own production? (6) 
What does my market most need that I can 
furnish it, and where can I find the best mar¬ 
ket for all I have to sell? 
Good Health in Mating Stallion and 
Mare.— In breeding horses, and indeed other 
animals also, many failures may undoubtedly 
be attributed to ill-health of sire or dam at 
the time of coupling. A recent author on 
horses says: “We must begin by pointing out 
an old and commonly practiced act of negli¬ 
gence, which not only every veterinary surgeon, 
bat every medical man, and all students of 
auiinal constitution, would concur in decrying, 
namely, the want of proper attention to the 
actual state of health of horse and mare at the 
time of mating. It seems never to strike 
breeders that before allowing a mare to bo 
served they should at least, take the trouble 
to ascertain if the horse is in good health; for 
it cannot lie taken for granted that because 
when robust aud iu strong exercise a stallion 
has fathered an Eclipse or a St. Simon he will 
be capable of begetting similar stock when ill 
and uncared for.” 
A whiter in the London Live Stock Jour¬ 
nal says he believes it is essentially necessary 
to have stock in perfect health for bit>eding, 
and no matter how well you may have 
mated your mares, if they are out of health or 
badly fed on luferior diet, you cannot expect 
to get a well-developed fo*tus that will grow 
into a good muscular horse. 
Hurrah for Us! In a recent work by An¬ 
drew Carnegie, of Pittsburgh, a Scotchman by 
birth, aud now an American manufacturer, 
the author gives many interesting facts show¬ 
ing the progress and prosperity of his adopted 
country. lie states that during last year 74.- 
000 more tons of Bessemer steel wore produced 
in the United States than in Great Britain; 
that more yards of carpet are made in Phila¬ 
delphia and the vicinity than in all England, 
Wales and Scotland; that the school libraries 
alone in this country contain 12,000,000 more 
books than all the public libraries of Europe 
combined; and that all the State and City 
debts of the Uuiou added together, rating 
them according to valuation of property, do 
not amount to one-fifth of the city debt of 
Manchester, Eng., or ono-tenth of the debt of 
Birmingham. 
Public Official Seed Testing. — The 
French Government has opened a most valu¬ 
able office in Paris, and the idea might well 
be adopted in this country. This office is for 
testing the quality of all seeds os to purity, 
soundness, vegetative power and freedom 
from weed seeds. If we had such officers, un¬ 
der proper control and backed by governmen¬ 
tal authority, where for n fee of a few cents a 
farmer could have a legal test and a guaranty 
for his seeds, it would be a long step in ad¬ 
vance. Whyjshouldn’t we have such officers? 
Seedsmen might kick, but the public would 
lie greatly benefited. 
The Cows that Pat.— If a whole herd of 
say 20 cows will average 10,000 pounds of milk 
without weeding out or testing individual 
cows, then in all probability at least 10 of 
them yield fi.OOO pounds, and perhaps the 
other 10 only 4.WO pounds each. In such a 
case it is easy to see, says the National Stock- 
man, that the best 10 cows pay a liberal 
profit, but hRlf of this is lost iu making up the 
deficiency of the other 10. It is good practice 
to weigh the milk of each cow once a week 
for the season, and then weed out those that 
do not come up to a profitable yield. 
BY THE SHORT WAY. 
Prepare the land for wheat as early as 
practicable.... 
Go over the field and sweet corn and cut 
out the plants where too thick for the cattle. 
This will help the corn crop as well as the 
cattle... 
Try buhach or Persian Insect Powder for 
the cabbage worm. Wet a tablespoonful of 
powder with alcohol—stir this in a pailful of 
water.. ..,. 
Prepare the plots for strawberry plants. 
Cut out the old canes of raspberries. 
Thin out the beets, clear up the pea haulm 
and plant, late cabbages or celery plants. 
Nip off the tops of Lima bean vines . . . 
Care for the tomatoes. If in the garden,three 
stakes to each plant with two cords around 
make a firm support. It is better to stake 
them now than to leave the plants to sprawl 
over the ground, unless the supply promises to 
be greater than the demand. As a matter of 
profit, it does not pay to stake tomatoes. 
It will pay farmers at this time to kill 
every potato-beetle and grub. The second 
brood of beetles is now appearing. 
Look to the branches of pear, apple and 
peach trees. If thinning the fruit Ls not de¬ 
sired, see that supports are provided to pre¬ 
vent the branches from breaking. 
We can never rid our gardens of purslane 
by merely hoeing up the old plants. They 
mature millions of seeds, which will germin¬ 
ate even when green. Either destroy the 
young plants, or prevent the seeds from grow¬ 
ing by frequently stirring the soil. 
Carefully cut off the pickles when of the 
desired size. Pulling or twisting them off 
injures the vines.... 
If the soil is dry, the early matured pota¬ 
toes may remain in the hills, but if wet, they 
had better be dug and stored, or rot will sure¬ 
ly ensue.. 
It is now a good time to layer such plants 
as do not freely root from cuttings. We have 
sent hundreds of cuttings of the Victoria 
Grapes to friends, and many have reported 
that they did not “strike.” It is the same 
with mauy other varieties of grape-vines. 
The lower strong shoots may now be easily 
bent into the soil and held there until well 
rooted.,j. 
Henry Stewart's flock of sheep on his 
North Carolina farm has recently been dam¬ 
aged to a considerable extent by hounds, 
which were permitted to go at large, wander¬ 
ing abroad day and night and trespassing 
where they will. And yet there were four 
bell sheep in the flock. Those persons who 
write so fluently, but so falsely, that dogs 
will not attack a flock in which a few bells 
are distributed mislead their readers and do 
mischief. Bells are no safeguard whatever_ 
An Ohio onion planter says that he sowed 
half an acre to onions a few years ago. They 
came up splendidly, but soon the maggot com¬ 
menced to prey on them, and continued to do 
so until he became discouraged, and he 
thought if they continued to eat one week 
longer his prospect for a crop of onions would 
be ruined. He sent and got five gnllous of car 
and put one gallon into 40 gallons of water, 
aud stirred it up thoroughly so as to give it the 
tar scent. He sprinkled his onions over once 
with this tar water, doing it with a common 
watering pot. He saw no more effects of the 
maggots, and had a nice yield of onions. He 
thinks that the scent of the tar water drives the 
fly away, aud it was by this means that he 
saved his crop of onions. . 
Farmers will now be thinking of stowing 
eggs away for Christmas, says a writer in 
the Ixmdou Fanners’ Gazette. Some have 
already done so. Generally in this month, 
when hens are layiug well, he begins to place 
a few away in small earthenware vessels. 
The simple plan adopted is adding 1pound 
of salt to a gallon of water. Boil this 20 min¬ 
utes, and add two or three spoonfuls of quick¬ 
lime. When cold, place the eggs in the liquid. 
He finds them to keep excellent to taste and 
like new-laid eggs for six months. This is, he 
is sure, worth a trial. 
THE^hides’of’over 1,000 horses are used an¬ 
nually in New York for covering base-balls. 
From one hide, it is said, the covering for 12 
dozen balls can be cut... 
"The New York Tribune has reduced Its agricultural 
department to four columns” 9ayg the Hr rax New- 
Yorker ‘‘It ought to be added,” says Mr. Stiles of the 
Philadelphia Press, "thafthls reduction Is only tempo¬ 
rary. Mr. Crandell, the agricultural editor, who has 
never before taken a vacation. Is now enjoying a little 
well-earned rest. When longer evenings and the sea¬ 
son of lighter work give farmers more time for read¬ 
ing, Mr. Crandell. with regained health, let us hope, 
will fill his pages as he has done with sueh success for 
many years.” 
We are mighty glad to hear it. though Mr. 
Crandell did not mention anything of the 
kind in a late call. We did not suppose he 
could bring himself under any circumstances 
whatever to lighten his load even for a week. 
The farm departments of the Press and Tri¬ 
bune are turned to and read by the writer of 
this note with more alacrity than are the col¬ 
umns of the average agricultural paper, and 
we don’t like to see them tampered with by 
the editors-in-chief... 
A correspondent of Puck says that a milk¬ 
weed is the proper thing to plant on a milk¬ 
man’s grave. Puck suggests that a water lily 
is more appropriate.... 
There are 150,000 milch cows in New Jer¬ 
sey, according to the 10th census of the United 
States, requiring annually about eight million 
dollars’ worth of food, a large enough sum to 
justify the consideration of methods in feed¬ 
ing them and to warrant the examination of 
the kind and quality of feeding stuffs offered 
for sale in the State.. ,, . 
Mr. J. M. White, of New Jersey, says that 
observation leads to the belief that many cul¬ 
tivators do not rightly discriminate between 
the “yellows” and the effects of the borer, and 
many times attribute the effects of the one to 
the other.. 
It may be a pretty big job to keep the flies 
out of the stables entirely, but it ought to be 
done if possible. The annoyance from flies 
while in the stable is often harder on the 
horses than hard work in the field. 
India is shipping wheat to Australia: 50 
tons left Calcutta for Adelaide the other day 
in one shipment.... 
The House of Assembly at Melbourne has 
introduced a bill providing for a system of 
irrigation, embracing an area of 3,250.000 
acres. The system is expected to prove of im¬ 
mense benefit to farming interests in the col¬ 
ony of Victoria. . 
Last year New Zealand exported 24. 023 
cwt. of butter at about 18 cents a pound; in 
1884, the exports were 15, 205 cwt. at a little 
higher price. She sent abroad also, in 1885, 
10. S53 cwt of cheese averaging about 10 cents 
per pound... 
In England “new milk” is being regularly 
sold at many railway stations. Boys take it 
rouud to the passengers in cans made for the 
purpose, and sell it at four cents per half-pint 
glass.. 
For the last six years or more there has not 
been published an issue of any English agri¬ 
cultural paper—so far as we can remember— 
which does not contain at least one article on 
“Agricultural Depression.". 
An expensive “Guide Book to the Domin¬ 
ion” and immigration pamphlet just issued 
from Ottawa, Can,, contains the following 
valuable agricultural information: “Seed time 
continues, according to the season, from the 
last week in April until early in May.” The 
British fanner, for whom the work is particu¬ 
larly intended, will be apt to consider this a 
rather short seeding time.... 
The Del Rio Dot is edited by a young lady 
She remarks: “Man proposes; but it some¬ 
times takes a great deal of encouragement to 
get him to do so.”. 
TRANSCONTINENTAL LETTERS.—LVI. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
.4 citrus fair; citrus growing in Northern 
California; hardiness of orange trees; 
the northern citrus belt; lemons and other 
fruits; licorice growth; seedling oranges 
and lemons. 
All the way down through the Saci*amento 
Valley we were surprised to sec so many or¬ 
ange trees iu fruit, as it had not occurred to 
us to see citrus fruits north of San Francisco. 
So when in January the announcement was 
made that Northern California would hold a 
citrus fair in Sacramento I was eager to see it. 
But a San Francisco gentleman said to me: 
“Oh, if you want to see citrus fruits, wait un¬ 
til March and go to Los Angeles and River¬ 
side. They can’t raise these fruits to any 
amount in Northern California. ” So I gave 
up going to the fail-, but the fair, after “elec¬ 
trifying” Sacramento, was accommodating 
enough to come down to San Francisco, 
where, of course, I went to see it, and San 
Francisco in turn was “electrified." Southern 
California was quite up in arms that the 
northern and central counties of the State— 
Shasta, Sacramento, Butte, Yuba, Placer, 
Tehama, Yolo. Sonoma, Calaveras, Amador, 
Napa. Colusa, Sutter, Solano, Navada, Tulare, 
Lake, Santa Clara, El Dorado and San Joa¬ 
quin-should presume to raise citrus fruits of 
splendid appearance and excellent quality. 
The fair was a popular exhibit, very hurried¬ 
ly conceived and executed, but in every way a 
perfect success so far as the exhibits were 
concerned. Although oranges have been 
growing in a haphazard way—seedlings most¬ 
ly—in Northern California for 20 years, it is 
but very recently that the people seemed 
awake to the fact that they might be raised 
to great commercial profit, as well as for orna¬ 
ment and home use. 
The citrus belt extends from the base of Mt. 
Shasta to the San Joaquin Valley, extending 
to the eastward up into the foot-hills to a 
hight of one to two thousand feet, and has an 
area of about 40.000 square miles. Orange 
trees are hardier than lemons, and they are so 
hardy that they grow in some counties where 
the snow lies in their branches for five weeks 
in Winter. Indeed, the extent to which the 
tree may be rendered hardy, has probably yet 
to be thoroughly tested. The summer heat is 
great in the Sacramento Valley, rhe trees 
have to be irrigated, and the fruit is ripe 
early in December, so as to supply the mar¬ 
ket at Christmas time. Placards were up all 
around in the Exhibition Hall, to inform the 
public that land in the citrus belt could be 
had from *10 to $50 per acre. 
After looking over the exhibit very care¬ 
fully, I thought that the finest display of 
oranges was made by Placer County, al¬ 
though Sacramento and Butte were not far 
behind. One party in New Castle (Placer Co.) 
has an orange grove of 200 trees; another 
party one of 250 trees, from which 18,000 
oranges were picked this season, up to Janu¬ 
ary 2. The shipments of oranges from New 
Castle amounted to 53.378. St. Michael, 
Mandarin, Navel (a seedless orange and very 
large) and Mediterranean Sweets. In addi¬ 
tion to oranges, the exhibits from this county 
included lemons in variety, very large and 
fine olives, olive oil. almonds, figs, dates, 
purnalos ia pear-shaped shaddocki, chestnuts, 
walnuts, Japanese tea, tea seed, and January 
roses. Sacramento County sent soft and hard¬ 
shell almonds, walnuts, Japanese persimmons 
(they grow beautifully in Alameda Co.), a 
large variety of oranges and lemons, olives, 
olive oil and licorice root. The licorice root 
" os grown six or eight miles from Sacramento 
City, and the grower told me that it grew like 
Alfalfa, with a very long tap root from 10 to 
30 feet deep in the ground. The lateral roots 
are preferred by druggists, who sell it drv at 
one dollar a pound, and buy it of the grower, 
dried, at 14 cents. The top, he said, looked 
like a young locust tree. This same man had 
a fine exhibit of olives, fresh, in pickle, and 
olive oil. The ripe fruit is dark like plums, 
and the leaf of the tree resembles that of the 
willow. I do not care for olives, except the 
oil: the ripe fruit is disagreeable to my taste 
—very. Before the olives are pickled they are 
treated to a bath of lye. which leaves them a 
light green, when they are put in salt and 
water—a little salt. The exhibitor declared 
that one could live well on olives and dry 
bread and have no need of animal food, and 
that they are a sure cure for dyspepsia. The 
olive tree lives and bears fruit forever, or 
“next to it.” 
Yuba County sent very fine lemons, and one 
lady, from Marysville, sent 1,500 oranges and 
1,000 lemons. There were lemons on trees— 
cut trees—trees two years from the graft, 
trees 12 feet high. This lady—Mrs. Karr- 
had 400 orange and 100 lemon trees. From this 
county come also pomegranates, almonds, per¬ 
simmons, foliage of India-Rubber tree, olives, 
limes, and branches of loquat in bloom—a 
tropical fruit which ripens iu July, and upon 
which the frost has no effect here. 
Butte County sent from Oroville lemons, 
oranges, almonds, pumwloes, olives, persim¬ 
mons, limes, bamboo, pomegranates, figs, 
plums, apples, and walnuts. From other 
towns came California black walnuts, resem¬ 
bling the English, but with smoother shell 
(native to the State), Eastern chestnuts, 
Italian chestnuts, pecans, hard and paper- 
shell almonds almond is seed of a fruit that 
looks like a furzy peach), English and black 
walnuts, oranges, almonds, and walnuts from 
au altitude of 1,000 feet, aud a lady sent 
oranges picked while three inches of snow 
were on the ground. A lady from Shasta 
sent oranges grown at au altitude of 1,150 feet. 
From Redding (Shasta Co.) came a very good 
exhibit of cotton grown without cultivation, 
and cotton can undoubtedly be raised in Cali¬ 
fornia as trell as tea. 
Some 18 varieties of oranges were on exhi- 
