THE WISCONSIN FARMER.



selling through this region; som of whom
are beginning to fear lest it should prove a
second edition of the Multieaulis or somnthing
similar, and would much prefer to stop where
they are, rather than incur the further ex-
pense of setting and cultivating two or three
years, and then be compelled to abandon or
dig them up.     Truly yours,
                            EDWARD PXER.
  FoND Do LAc, Oct. 12, I08.
  Answza.-In order to be able to give the
most reliable answer to numerous interroga.
tories of this sort, we recently addressed a
letter of enquiry on the subject of the White
Willow to Hon. John P. Reynolds, Sec. Ill.
State Ag. Society. It will be seen from his
response herewith published, that our own
views as freely expressed in this journal last
spring, are in the main entirely confirmed.
As to the nursery men who laud the willow
so highly, we have good reason to believe that
some have not been actuated by good motives
in so doing. In fact, we have pretty good evi-
dence that a few of them have made much
money by selling the common teamp willow
at high figures, for the newfangled " White"
or "1 Grey."-EDITOR.
      LuTTER OF SECRETARY REYNOLDS.
          Ori. C or THE IaLS. STLTn AG. SocTr, I
                   Springfield, Oct. 13, 1503. 5
  PROF. J. W. HOYT, &c'y State Ag. Soriect,
Hadison, Wis.:
  DEAR Six :-Your favor of the 9th inst. is
received, and contents noted.
  I have not been impressed favorably with
the use of the White Willow for any economic
purpose except to produce a poor quality of
fuel rapidly, in situations where it is desira-
ble to do so; and yet, as you know, many
gentlemen of larger experience and better
judgment than I, some of them leading Nur-
serymen, esteem it highly as a fence plant,
&c., &c .
                 Very truly yours,
                     JoHx P. REYNOLDS,
                           Cor. Sec y, &c.

  The body of a guide, lost in 1844, has been
found in the crevice of a glacier near Mont
Blanc, in a perfect state of preservation.



     A EN"& Iof   Wet wn-A 6_nd-
  We see it stated in Eastern journals that in
New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Con-
necticut, extensive manufactories are now de-
voted exclusively to the manufacture of stock-
ings and socks for the army. Before the out-
break of the rebellion these factories had in-
troduced knitting machines which they run
by steam or water power, turning out such
quantities, at so low a oost of manufacture,
that the country was flooded with this class of
goods, and socks and stockings were cheaper
than ever before. But now these establish-
ments are working entirely on government
contracts, and as a consequence the supply of
socks and stockings will be almost entirely
cut off; jobbing houses and heavy dealers, in
this city, with whom this class of goods is a
leading feature, have very meagre stocks.
The present prospects are that good fair socks
will command from $6 to $6 per dozen this
fall and winter, and that country merchants,
and to a great extent our city dealers, must
depend upon the home manufacturers for
their supply.  Very opportunely for the
West, and for the country at large, family
knitting machines are being introduced, es-
pecially in wool growing districts. Even at
the present high prices of wool, those who
make it into socks, instead of selling it in
bulk, will realize fully three times as much
as they could otherwise. We hope to see
these machines introduced into farmers' fam-
ilies throughout the country, where they can
be profitably worked by either the women or
the children. Capitalists could profitably put
a number of these machines in operation; and
inasmuch as in several States they have been
introduced with the best results into Blind
Asylums, Reform Schools and State Prisons,
we suggest the propriety of introducing them
in similar institutions in the Northwest.
  Woman's sphere is limited at best, and it is
fortunate for those whose husbands and fathers
are in the army, and who are dependent upon
their own efforts for a livelihood, that they
can accomplish this with'ease and pleasure,
by the aid of the knitting machine.-Chicago
2 ribune.

Returns of half-time industrial schools in
England, that is schools of pupils who devote
ialf their time to work and half to education,
ihow that the mortality is reduced to one-
third of what it is at the same age in the gen-
eral population of England and Wales, show-
ing the importance of preserving the balance
between intellectual and bodily labor.

A German agriculturist says that before
ie plants his potatoes he washes them in
chlorine water, and dries them in the sun.
le says that this has saved them from potato
lisease during several years.



423