Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-05-30
TIMELY TOPICS.

The American horse Parole is a queer
looking animal, with rough coat and
curious looking hooks, but when he
comes out on the track his preliminary
canter displays wonderful action and
great spirit. The London Telegraph
says that the victory of the plucky Yam
kee is a compliment also to the magni-
ficent ships which traverse the ocean,
and make the trip for men and horses so
different from what it was when the
first winner of the Derby, Diomed, went
to New York in a sailing vessel.
A farmer in the suburbs OF Philadel-
phia presented the Times of that city
with thirty-two stalks of asparagus,
weighing twelve and half pounds,
twenty inches in height and each stalk
as thick as a child's wrist. Mr.. Starkey,
the farmer, says this was the result of a
three days growth, and that it is a COM
mon thing for him to cut his asparagus
at eight O'Clock in the morning, and by
five o'clock that day it will have grown
out seven inches. Over an inch an hour
on Il warm day after a shower is a COM
mon growth.
A dispatch from Helena, Montana
Territory, tells this story of one mans
brave and successful fight against an
overwhelming array of savage foes !:
The vicinity of Fort Belknap swarms
with Sioux. A man named Lloyd,
while camped twenty miles from the
post, was attacked by fifteen warriors.
He scoOped out a rifle pit with his
hands, and after desperate fight of two
hours duration, in which three Indians
were killed, the intrepid white man sue
ceeded in driving off his assailants
Lloyd had but three cartridges left when
the savages abandoned their attack"
From limestone quarry in the town
ship of Lisbon, Wis, there was recently
exhumed quite number of petriipd
animals. One, large bullfrog, was
found solidly imbedded in large, fiat
stone, four inches thick, which was as
hard as the rock which surrounded it.
The shape of the frog is perfect. An
other petriied animal-remnant taken out
is Il pair of stays antlers, which are
about two feet and half in length.
They were broken in separating them
from the stone, but are of very good
shape. This stratum of limestone runs
entirely through the county, though in
some places it is a great distance from
the surface, and supplies building MI
terial for many.
Experiments in California have demon
strated that the soil and climate of that
State are admirably adapted for the
growth both of the tea plant and null
berry tree. Neither the culture of tea nor
of silk, however, seem likely to become
practicable there for the present. The
tea plant grows us readily on the Pacific
coast as the camellia. and requires even
less care. The difficulty, however. is in
devising some process by which the
leaves can be picked at cost low
enough to make the industry profitable.
1t is well-established fat that the tea
plant will grow in many of the South
ern States. 1t is not tropical plant
but hardy one, and fourishes best in
elevated regions, especially on the noun
tain sides. In India it is extensively
grown. There are large tea plantations
there, and the tea of that country is al
important article of traffic. But neither
TIA culture nor silk culture can be profit
ably conducted while the cost of labor il
as high us 1t is in this country, and will
no better labor-saving machiney thai
we now have for use in those industries