The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-09-28
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

| his two sons, are probably the largest
| peach growers on the Atlantic coas,,
| and perhaps in the world. An early
| estimate indicated that the ex-governor
| and his sons would send to market
| about 275, 900 baskets of peaches. The
| three men own between twenty-five
and thirty peach farms.
! Roots draw enormous quantities OF
moisture from the soil and by this means
| it is discharged into the atmosphere. For
| example, the common suntiower was
| found to exhale twelve ounces of water
in twelve hours. and an oak tree with
an estimated number of 700, 900 leaves
| would in the same way give off some
thing like seven hundred tons of water
| during the five months it carries its
foliage.
| The growth of the orange industry
| in Florida has increased from pro-
| duction of 600, 900 boxes in 1885 to
| $500, 600 for the season just closed, and
according to conservative estimates,
the combined crop will be fully 5.OOo.-
| 600 boxes, of which over 1000 900 will
be marketed. The average price re-
ceived by growers the past season was
Sl.sl per box -Charleston News and
Courier.
Birds have very acute vision, per-
haps the most acute of any creature
and the sense is also more widely diff
fused over the retina than is the case
with man. consequently bird can see
sideways as well as objects in front of
it. bird sees-showing great uneasi-
ness in consequence-a hawk long be-
fore it is visible to man. SO. too, fowls
and pigeons find minute scraps of food,
distinguishing them from what appear
to us exactly similar pieces of earth or
gravel
The growth of ivy on the walls of
houses renders the walls entirely free
from damp. the ivy extracting every
particle of moisture from wood, briclc
or stones for its own sustenance, by
means of its tiny roots. which work
their way into the hardest stone. The
overlapping leaves of the ivy conduct
water falling upon them from point to
point until it reaches the ground, with
ont allowing the walls to receive any
moisture whatever from the beating
rain.
| hClui HN ii'Ai AN0N SSSoiohNt' IN VIZ
1898 crops, show a decrease of $50, 900
bushels in the wheat harvest as COM
pared with 1892, decrease of 1.115,00O
bushels of oats, a decrease of 5000
bushels of barley and of 2 $50. 900 BUSH
els of potatoes. In the extent of land
broken up but not under crop there
was an increase of Is, 500 acres, but the
total area actually under crop was ST.
400 acres less than in 1892. The Hessian
fly did considerable damage, ranging
from five bushels per acre to half the
entire wheat crop, in different sections
The annual report of the Hun
garian minister of agriculture has APP
peared. Its estimate of the worlds
production of wheat this year is 2.279,
900, 600 bushels, against the official
average of 1850, 900, 900 annually for
the last ten years The report also
gives the following figures: The de-
ticits to be filed by the importing
countries will require $40, 900, 900
bushels. The surplus available in ex-
porting countries to satisfy this de-
mand is 37S. 1904. 900 bushels. The
worlds product of rye is given as 4s5,-
600, 900 hectoliters.
The sugar cane was introduced into
the Madeira islands in 1925, and in 1898
the annual product exceeded 4, 900, 900
pounds. The introduction of sugar
cane into the West Indies, however,
destroyed the industry, and grape Gull
ture took the place of the sugar cane
until 1852, when the phylloxera nearly
swept all the vines out of existence.
The sugar cane is again being Guilt
waited, and last year half million
pounds We're made. The supply will
always be limited, because the cane
cannot be protitably cultivated at
higher elevation than 200 feet
A new material is proposed as
substitute for leather. 1t is called
'tlexus fibra," and is derived from
flax, suitably prepared and oiled. 1t
has the same appearance as leather,
is particularly supple, and takes
polish equally we'll with the best
kinds of calf. The material is said to
possess great tenacity. while affording
great ease and comfort to the foot
when made into shoes Flexus libra,
being of vegetable origin, is calcu-
lated also to facilitate free ventilation,
and thereby to obviate the discomfort
arising from what is called drawing"
the feet.-St. Louis Globe Democrat
For centuries the mud wasp has
built its cells of soft mud in the bot
tom of these cells the female lays its
minute egg, building its mud home just
the size that the young will be when
grown. Before closing this mud-walled
cell the wasp catches a suitable sized
spider, injects into its body fluid that
causes it to remain torpid through the
winter until with the warmth of re-
turning spring the wasp grows, con-
suming the spider for food, thus gain
ing strength to break the mud walls
and emerge into the outer world full
winged insect. And yet no mud wasp
from the beginning has ever seen it's
young.
The Necessary Fan.
Fans have long since gone beyond
the stage of strict use, and are now re-
garded as part of the finished toilet
of the well dressed woman. For this