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PRICES OF PIGS. 
Waar may be styled a record sale of pedigree pigs was held on the 14th 
April last, at Elphicks (Kent), when the noted herd of Mr. HE. Buss was sent 
tothe hammer. The Live Stock Journal, speaking of the sale, says:—‘‘ The 
prices made for individual specimens were, in several cases, high, and show that 
the yalue of pedigree pigs of superior quality is such thatit pays well to produce 
them. The Berkshire boars went at prices ranging from 25% guineas to 11 
guineas, one only going a great bargain at 8 guineas. The large White York- 
shires were in good demand, and sold at from 163 guineas to 11 guineas. The 
sixty-eight lots made an average of £6 7s. 5d. Forty-one of these were young 
pigs farrowed since 1st December, 1896 (é.¢., less than four months old).” 
FRUIT EXPORT—CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
Tue value of the fruit exported during the month of March, 1897, from 
the Cape of Good Hope, as shown in a table published in the Agricultural 
Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, was—Grapes, £2,365 14s. 6d.; apples, 
£5; pears, £74 10s.; a total of £2,445 4s. Gd. 
GRAPES FOR ENGLISH MARKETS. 
Tits possibility of landing grapes upon the English market in good condition 
has long been a question (says the Melbourne Age) of doubt and the object of 
experiment. Several trial shipments have been made through Messrs. P. R. 
Baker and Co. this season by fruit-growers from the Goulbourn Valley, Heath- 
cote, and Bendigo districts, the first of which comprised three small consign- 
ments of the Doradilla, Waltham Cross, Pink Lady’s Finger, and Raisin de 
Dame varieties, and were despatched by the “Ormuz’’ on 13th March last. The 
account sales are now to hand, and seem to point to the fact that the Doradilla, 
Waltham Cross, and Raisin de Dame varieties, when properly packed, may be 
shipped with success. Prices realised by one shipper were 17s. per case for 
Doradilla and 15s. for the two other sorts named, while another grower realised 
a fraction under 20s. per case for the whole shipment of Doradillas. The Pink 
Lady’s Finger variety was a failure. These grapes were packed in cork-dust 
and put up in shallow trays, two of which were nailed together, and occupied 
about the same measurement as a bushel case, and were shipped in the ordinary 
cool chamber. By way of comparison, it should be noted that the value of the 
Doradilla grapes at the time of the shipment was made was from 2s. to 3s. per 
case. 
The grapes shipped from Sydney to London this season realised from 6s, 
to 7s. per case, and are reported to have arrived in good condition. 
AMERICAN VINES. 
By the courtesy of the Vice-Consul for the French Republic (the Hon. 
_E. B. Forrest, M..C.), we have received a letter from the proprietor of the 
Alénya Vineyard and Nursery, near Elne (Pyrénées-Orientales), describing some 
American vines particularly adapted to caleareous and rocky soils. M. 
Rességuier, the proprietor in question, quotes, in support of the claims of the 
Berlandieri vine of Texas to immunity from disease (including the dreaded 
hylloxera), the opinion of M. Pierre Viala, Professor of Viticulture at the 
Yational Agronomical Institute, on the rehabilitation of the vineyards of the 
Department of Maine-et-Loire, expressed at the conference at, Angers in 
October, 1890. M. Viala then expressed himself as follows :—“ The American 
vines, grafted or not, die on all the calcareous soils. To graft them on well- 
known stocks would be to expose oneself to a‘certain checkmate. I¢ will be 
better to wait.” Subsequently M. Viala visited Texas, and thoroughly went 
into the guestion, and on his return he said:—* The &erlandieris, which I 
recommended on my return from America, where I had seen them green and 
vigorous in the chalk lands of Texas, will enable us to renovate our vineyards 
