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142 AGRICULTURAL. DANIEL LEE, M. D., Editor. SATURDAY '....SEPTEMBER 24,1559. GYPSUM—ITS VALUE IN AGRICULTURE. "Wo see it stated in the editorial columns of a late number of the Baltimore Rural Register, that Mr. David Dickson, of Hancock county, in this State, has recently ordered twenty tons of gyp sum, mixed with ten per cent, of potash; and also that “he requires twenty tons of bone dust dissolved with one-third sulphuric acid, and mix ed with ten per cent, of potash, to be used,” it is supposed, “with his guano, for his next crops.” The large importation of gypsum and bone dust for agricultural purposes, suggests the pro priety of making a brief statement of some of the more important facts relating to these commer cial manures, and particularly to the cheaper one, or sulphate of lime. In every one hundred pounds of ground plaster or gypsum, Mr. Dick son will pay for the transportation of twenty one pounds of water from Nova Scotia to Balti more, as water of crystalization in the rock, for the grinding of the latter into a powder, and for the transportation of the same quantity of water to Savannah, and thence by railroad and wagon to his plantation. Deducting the twenty-one per cent, of water, there remains seventy-nine per cent, of anhydrous sulphate oflime. In this salt the acid and base staud to each other as forty of sulphuric acid combined with twenty eight of the oxide of calcium or lime; making sixty-eight the atomic number of dry gyp sum. At this ratio, seventy-nine parts will con tain very nearly forty-eight of acid, und thirty one oflime. Wo have understood that there is no lack of lime and marl in some parts of Han cock county; and if so, it is hardly worth while to bring lime all the way from Nova Scotia, and pay for two or three trans-shipments, commis sions, and for grinding it by steam or otherwise in Baltimore. In every forty pounds of sulphuric acid there are twenty-four pounds of oxygen, a substanco that forms eight parts in nine of all the water that falls in rain on Mr. Dickson’s farm. The other sixteen .parts iu forty of sulphuric acid, are sulphur, which is really the substance need ed as a fertilizer, and food for plants. Os sul phur. he gets not far from nineteen pounds in one hundred of gypsum, and that in a sparingly soluble, and therefore in an assimilable condi tion. But is there no sulphate of iron, or coppe ras in the springs and branch water on Mr. D's. farm ? Is there no sulphate of alumina or alum, or iron pirites from which sulphur in some avail able form, may be obtained? Without know ing positively, we believe there is, and if so, he needs only shell marl or lime, to make gypsum at home for one-tiftk what it now costs him. — We have resided forty years not far from the best plaster beds in New York. Ground plas ter has never been sold where the mineral abounds there at more than three dollars a ton, nor at less than a dollar and a half a ton, to our knowledge. Under ordinary circumstances, a dollar will pay for grinding a ton of rock, which nan be delivered in Savannah by vessels coming South in ballast for lumber, cotton, and other staples, as cheap as in Baltimore. Last year we bought a few tons in Georgetown, D. C., where there is a plaster mill, and learned that it was delivered there at about three dollars and a half in the rock, from Nova Scotia. We paid seven dollars a ton for the ground article. If our read ers in Hancock will buy plaster in the rock by the cargo in Savannah, and grind it themselves, it will probably cost them not more than six dollars a ton. But their better course would be to make the sulphate of lime at home, provided there is near them any natural supply of the oil of vitriol, or compound of iron and sulphur.— In Western New York, plaster grows from day to day, and year to year; and we may as well tell how it grows. In some places the earth and soil abound in copperas and alum salts, aud in iron pirites.— Oxygen from the atmosphere, or water in and on the ground, decompounds the pirites, convert ing the sulphur into an acid, and the iron into an oxide. Now, as lime has a stronger affinity for sul phur acids than iron or alumina has, the reader will see that if lime be present in the soil or ground, the sulphate of lime will be formed, which is gypsum. There is a large spring in the town of Byron, Genesee county, whose water once turned the wheel of a gristmill, winch so abounds in free sulphuric acid that if neutralized with lime, it would yield several tons of gypsum every 24 hours. We have said enough to explain one of the sources of acidity in soils, and one of the reasons why lime ing and marling are equivalent to the applica tion of gypsum in many districts. Fortunately, the chemical tests for lime and sulphuric acid, are alike simple and reliable. Both of these substances are indispensable to the growth of agricultural plants, and deserve to be carefully studied. Iu our “ Study of Soils ” they will be subjected to a thorough investigation. The sol uble and insoluble phosphates of lime (bone earth) will bo traced to the phosphates of iron and alumina, and toother primitive 'sources. — We desire to develop, if we can, a taste and a demand for agricultural knowledge, as the ba sis of a learned and scientific profession. What is the value of “ the one third sulphuric acid” in the 20 tons of bone dost ordered by Mr. Dickson ? How far will it go in making acres of cotton ? Will any one complain if we study this acid in connection with the Cotton plant, aided by the most careful and trustworthy analyses of both ? It is pretty evident from the way in which one of the most enterprising planters in Georgia buys gypsum, bonedust, potash and guano, that he believes in feeding the land which enriches WUM BOTOSHBU HEM IBH EIEEEIIE. him. It is not, however, the best economy to purchase manure which is far-fetched and dear bought. We have at home manorial resources, of which the banks of oyster shells one hundred feet in depth at Shell Bluff on the Sa vannah river, and the vast deposites in the Oke fenoke swamp, are feeble types. These prolific remains of animals and plants will reproduce, in the great economy of nature, plants and animals again. We are not opposed to sending to the west coast of South America for the dung of sea-birds, nor to Nova Scotia for lime, and the oil of vitriol, provided we do not neglect great er and better sources of supply in the planting States. Whether we shall extract potash and gold from Georgia granite and its debris, or im port them, is a matter of home industry which is worth considering. The six and two-thirds tons of the oil of vitriol which Mr. Dickson will get in his twenty tons of bone dust was made of sulphur, imported most likely from Si cily. At another time we may undertake to prove that one-tenth of the money spent this year in pleasure trips at the North, by Southern planters, would suffice to erect all the plaster mills, bone mills, and sulphuric acid factories, needed in Southern agriculture. The farmers of Hancock might as well have their coni and wheat ground in Baltimore, as their gypsum, and the bones of cattle, or coprolites. Sulphu ric acid is made by burning sulphur ; and it is strange indeed if sulphur cannot be burnt as well in Georgia as in Maryland, New York or England. In place of spending so much money abroad, and importing indefinite tons of water, oxygen and lime, at high prices, would it not be wise to practice a little more economy at home ? Without good economy, no one can well im prove cultivated land while growing staples for exportation. There can be no doubt of the val ue of sulphur, phosphorus, potash and ammo nia in cotton, corn, and wheat culture ; but there is serious doubt of the propriety of send ing thousands of miles for these things, when they abound much nearer the place of consump tion. WHAT IS THE VALUE OF PARENTAL BLOOD ? In asking the question, what is the value of parental blood, we wish to enquire wherein the blood of one parent of the same species and sex is better than that of another parent, for all use ful purposes. There is no question in stock husbandry, nor in the social life of the most cultivated of the human race, in which opinioh is more at variance than in regard to the intrin sic value of what is technically termed “ Blood,” whether in man or beast. This fact of itself goes far to prove that the subject is not gener erally understood, if it be understood at all by any one. Parental blood relates mainly in its true character to the lifetime of a species, which so rarely dies that all men of science believe that this life often continues hundreds of thous ands and perhaps millions of years, before it be comes extinct. Compared with the other mam malia, man is of recent creation, and still in his feeble infancy. Horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, have, perhaps, reached the middle ago of their respective species, and can now be made as per fect and valuable as they ever will be. At an other time, under the head of Agricultural Geol ogy, we will trace both the birth and the demise of many species of the higher orders of animals; at present let us study the laws and influences which govern the improvement and deterioration of congenital blood in each individual, and con sequently, the quality and value of that of each generation. Sagacious and inquiring men, who derived most of their incomes from sheep husbandry, early observed that a flock kept on good pas tures, and every way properly attended to, gave twice the number of natural increase, or of lambs born and reared, and about twice the clip of wool per head, that a neglected flock yielded. It required no great mental powers to learn that a mother sheep must necessarially starve her young when she failed to find herbage enough to keep herself from starving. In case the sup ply of food was scanty for several generations, it is obvious that the lacteal gland or organ for the secretion of milk, would be but partially devel oped, and that the offspring of ewes whose ca pacity for yielding nutriment tp their young was thus impaired, would have a poor chance in ear ly life. This course steadily pursued, must inev itably produce inferior lambs, and not only deteriorate, but soon run out the best flock iu the world. The blood in both parents being feebler, and more liable to all constitutional de fects and diseases in each generation, the extinc tion of the whole flock comes by an irreversible law of nature. Let us now see how the natural capacity for producing milk, flesh, and wool, and for the rapid multiplication of the species may be increased. The most celebrated flock in modern history is probably that known as the new Leicester, or Dishley sheep, whose improvement commenced 1755, by Robert Bake well, of Dishley, in Lei cestershire. Although he greatly over-fed his ovine pets, and thereby impaired their physical stamina, and power of reproduction; yet by the skillful selection of parents, aud pretty close con sanguineous breeding, his flock became famous, not only over all the British Islands, but all over Europe and America. When he had obtained a family of sheep whose blood was superior to that of any other family in England, lie did not, from fear of in-and-in breeding, injure his flock by admitting any inferior blood to dilute, or con taminate the same. Mr. Low, Professor of Ag riculture in the University of Edinburgh, than whom there is no higher authority on this sub ject. in his masterly work on the “ Domesticated Animals of the British Islands," says: “ His stock became gradually known and ap preciated in the country around him; but it was not until after the lapse of nearly n quarter of a century that it arrived at that general estimation in which it was afterwards held. He early con ceived the idea of letting his rams for the sea- son in place of selling them. The plan was ridiculed and opposed in every way; and it was not until after the labor of many years, that he succeeded in establishing it as a regular system. It is said that his rams were first let in 1760 at seventeen shillings six pence each; but this was certainly before his breed had arrived at its ulti mate perfection. His usual price afterwards be came a guinea, and in rarer cases, two or three; but the price rapidly advanced with the increas ing reputation of his stock. In 1784-5, the price had risen to about one hundred guineas for his best rams; and in 1760, he made about one thousand guineas by the lettings of his stock: and in 1789, he made one thousand two hundred guineas by three rams, and two thousand guin eas by seven; and in the same year he made three thousand guineas more by letting the re mainder of his rams to the Dishley Society then instituted.” At another time we will copy from Mr. Cul ley a description of Bakewell’s best sheep. Mr. C. was a contemporary of Mr. 8., and a suc cessful stock-breeder, as well as an able and re liable author. It will be seen by the above citations, that the selling of the improved blood of male sheep without selling the animal, began in 1760; and that from seventeen shillings and sii pence as the price, the commodity rose gradually in value at public sales from year to year for twenty-nine years, when the blood of three rams for One season brought six thousand dollars, our curren cy, and that of seven more brought ten thousand. If the reader will torn to the last issue of the Field & Fireside, anl notice the account there given of Mr. Jonas Yebb's Southdowns, ho will see that lie has refuse! two hundred guineas, or one thousand dollars for the use of a ram a season. Without going into particulars, we may state the fact, that Mu. Wibb's income, from the let ting of about 150 rans, has ranged from $12,- 000 to $30,000, for tie last twenty years. He sells no females, to be kept in Great Britain, and no cross from hh best males, can equal his own pure blood. The investigation of pure blood, in horses and neat cattle, will confirm the logical deduc tions drawn from the history of the Leicester, Southdown, Spanish und French Merino Sheep. There is a great value in good blood , as we shall demonstrate for the general improvement of all domesticated animals, man included, before we shall have done with this important subject. Improvement is attained and attainable, far less by the act of extending life from one genera tion to another, than by the antecedents of parents and progenitors from whose blood life is communicated to offspring. If the fathers eat sour grapes the children’s teeth will be set on edge. “ Like begets like and the great change for the better or worse, takes place in that plastic, growing period of animal existence, from its earliest embryo condition, to the time when the young first becomes a parent. Then, . even visual impressions often leave indelible marks, as when ring-streaked and speckled cat tle were begotten through the influence of peeled saplings used by Jacob. To make parental blood really b etter in each succeeding generation than it was before, in volves a clear and correct knowledge of the laws of vital progress. Neither fashion, nor tradition, nor ignorance in any form, must be al lowed to warp this wonderful living machinery out of its natural sphere. Nature, or better, the infinitely wise Creator, has adapted our domestic animals to supply some of our most urgont and obvious wants: and yet, we should be care ful not to overestimate their capacity for the change which our avarice may crave, or our reason contemplate. Society should first learn not to lose in the hands of the million, the improvements really made by a fortunate few, who both work and study for the public benefit. The relapse of pure blood into that which is impure, is a serious loss to the world. The new Leicester sheep, and some of the best cattle, horses, hogs and dogs, have become valueless by sheer mismanagement. The laws of nature were outraged, and she disowned the offending animals, as she always will under like provocations. Breeders must learn to judge wisely, in the every day care of stock animals. They must become men of true science in their profession, and see the folly of making males and females monsters in size, fatness, or any thing else. cookinTfooiTfor swine A Kentucky farmer has been making experi ments in feeding several lots of hogs, changing them from raw r to cooked, and from ground to unground food. The results of these several trials are communicated to the N. Y. Tribune , from which we give the general estimate. One bushel of dry corn made five pounds and ten ounces of live pork. One bushel of boiled corn made fourteen pounds and seven ounces of pork. One bushel of ground corn, boiled, made in one instance, sixteen pounds seven ounces, in another nearly eighteen pounds of pork. Esti mating corn at ninety cents a bushel, and pork at eight cents a pound, we have as the result of one bushel of dry corn. 45 cents worth of pork; of one bushel of boiled corn, $1.15 worth of pork, and of one bushel of ground com boiled, $1.36 worth of pork. -w- Cashmere Goats. —We have received from Mr. Richard Peters, a pamphlet, giving an in teresting account of the Cashmero Goat, so fa mous for the fineness and value of their fleeces. Mr. P. writes us that he has between four and five hundred; mostly grades, of this variety of the goat species, and finds them very hardy and useful in killing briars, sassafras and other bushes, as well as prolific and valuable for their annual clip of wool, or exceedingly fine hair. - ' Here is a beautifyl little paragraph which we find in ono of our exchanges : “If there is a man who can eat his bread in peace with God and man, it is the man who has brought that bread out of the earth. It is can kered by no fraud; it is wet by no tears; it is stained by no blood" white EDUCATION—LETTER FROM T. R R COBB, ESQ, Nothing will contribute bo much to elevate and improve the practical agriculture of Georgia, and of any other Southern State, as the adoption of the system of Free Education, so plainly and forcibly set forth in the following communication, which inculcates the sound views of the statesman rath er than those of the mere politician. The Mind of the people must be duly cultivated in order to secure the wise cultivation of the Soil. Figs do not grow on thistles, nor grapes on thorns. It is fitting that the Empire State of the South should take the lead in discharging the great duty to bring a fair common School education within the reach of aIL We copy what follows, from the National American: Athens, August 30th, 1859. Editors National American: Gentlemen : Tour favor of 18th has awaited a leisure hour for reply. I am sincerely glad that the zeal of all the friends of Free Educa tion in Georgia has not evaporated, and that there are some who, even in the midst of a political excitement, remember that a much more impor tant question than any presented by party is sues awaits the determination of the people of Georgia. The apathy of Georgians upon this question has not only excited my surprise, but has se riously aroused my thoughts to discover the phi losophical principle upon which to explain it— All over this world —wherever civilization ex tends—schools become the care, and are fos tered by the attention of both the people and the government! In La Plata, I see it stated in a late paper—amidst the revolutions of the Government —free schools are being established; a Normal school for the education of Teachers is in successful operation in the capital, and gen tlemen from the United States are now employ ed to perfect a system, thus nurtured by the gov ernment. In Russia, I find from a similar source schools are established by the government in every parish, and as the inhabitants are forced to labor, the Sabbath day is taken for free instruc tion. Even among the Cherokee Indians, whom we expelled as savages, the official return shows thirty schools in successful operation, with 1,500 pupils in attendance, and with twenty-eight out of the thirty teachers, natives —only one-fifteenth of the teachers imported 1 How does Georgia compare in this respect with the expelled In dians? The secret of our humiliating position, is not to be found in pure indifference, for the evi dence around us is overwhelming that our peo ple, or at least a portion of them, are fully alive to tho wants of their children, and freely re sponding to supply those wants. Private schools, relying on private enterprise, are well sustained in most of the cities, towns, and even villages. High Schools, especially for Females, are multiplying all over the State. The Male Colleges are very well sustained, and the Cata logues of many Northern Institutions embrace the children of Georgia parents. Sectarian zeal is awakened and kept burning in behalf of denominational schools, until some have even boldly assumed the position, that any attempt to promote secular education is a secret blow at the legitimate field and province of the Church. In her physical development, our State has hith erto refused, to a great extent, to follow the ex ample of many others, by extending a helping hand to private enterprise in works of Internal Improvement —whether wisely or not, I shall not presume to decide. But certain it is, she has demonstrated that private enterprise, unaid ed, has done more to develop her resources than has beeu effected in other States by Legislative aid. This fact, I think, has impressed upon many of her citizens a conviction that interfe rence by the State in any matter which private enterprise will undertakers unwise and impolitic. And, hence, I deduce the disinclination exhibit ed by many of the wise and tho good, to a sys tem of Governmental Education. The argumont is plausible, but specious.— Such objectors forget that in all the works of physical development, the powerful stimulant of private interest and personal emolument, has been the moving cause ; while State prosperity has been only an incidental effect. Where this same cause has operated in the Educational movement, we have seen it prosper, and hence our Schools of higher Grade in cities and towns. But this stimulant does not exist to such an ex tent as to embrace within its benign effects the masses of the State. A large majority of the chil dren of Georgia are left to gather the crumbs which fall from old field schools—the parents wanting the ability or inclination to make extra efforts for a higher education. Sectarianism may be enabled to create a zeal which will furnish denominational education to all I would prefor this to ignorance ; but I confess I do not desire to see the education of the children of the State thrown into the hands of any one denom ination of Christians, however pure their doc trines, and however worthy their membership. Moreover —according to my views of Govern ment —Education is a debt which the State owes to her children. The common law declares it to be a parental duty. As a common parent the Government owes it to all her offspring. It is not voluntary with the State to withhold or to grant this as a boon. It is a debt—a duty— she owes, and no excuse, but bankrupty, can palliate her repudiation. Is the State bankrupt ? On the contrary, her coffers are overflowing, while the smallness of her taxation is, I believe, unparalelled in the world.. Six avd one half cents on every hundred dollars of taxable property this year brings in an amount sufficient, not only for her current ex penses, but to pay the interest on her Public Debt: while the income of the State Road is an nually reducing that debt $200,000, after pay ing SIOO,OOO to the purposes of Education. Can Georgia plead povorty as an excuse for her de reliction in duty? When our forefathers were but a handful—when Indian foes menaced their dwellings and rendered necessary almost a standing army—when the debts incurred in her Revolutionary struggle were still unpaid—those noble ancestors, in words that never can die, de clared this- great duty of Government, and inserted in the Constitution of the State, their solemn bond that this duty should be discharged! How has the bond been respected by their pos terity? The University of tho State, establish ed by them, has received a step-daughter’s por tion-%ieglect and obloquy—while in common education every boon offered has beon insepara bly united with the condition ol acknowledged pauperism. If the proceeds of the State Road are not ap plied to the cause of Education, what shall be done with it ? Leave it in the Treasury to bo pocketed by defaulters, or legislated out by lob by-members? I am thankful that, since tho Yazoo Fraud, the history of our State has not been stained with the record of Legislative cor ruption. But tho wisdom of our Saviour’s pray er against being led into temptation, is as appli cable to Legislators as to the humblest individ ual. If we would keep our rulers pure and uncorrupted, let us not leave a half million of dollars annually subject to their discretion. I do not impeach them—l merely aver that they are men. Some demagogue may suggest, reduce the people’s taxes. I have already alluded to the fact that our taxation is the lightest of any civil ized Government. But let us meet the sug gestion—reduce taxation one half. To whose benefit does it redound? The rich man, who pays one hundred dollars makes fifty by the ope ration. The man in moderate circumstances, who pays ten dollars, makes only five by the re- ' duction; while the poor man, who pays but little over the poll tax, makes nothing by the re duction ! How plausible, but how delusive the cry of reducing taxes! The man who needs not the aid, gets all the benefit The man who struggles for bread, gets none! "Whereas, by devoting this income to the cause of Free Edu cation, every man—rich or poor—shares equally in the benefit. I am no politician, and would make a bad fig ure electioneering; but I would be .grilling to meet any man upon this issue before any au dience of voters in Georgia. I have heard, with sor ow, that a prejudice is sought to be aroused in some quarters by the argument that our plan is to take a fund devoted to educating the poor , and divide it equally with the rich. I cannot account for such an argument only on the ground of gross ignorance or senseless stupidity or wilful misrepresentation. Our aim is to add to the fund until Free Education is offered to all. Our conviction is, that instruction from ■ a competent teacher for three months , is more advantageous than a year's training by an in competent teacher. The experience of other States, and common sense, tells us that our sys tem, if practicable, will afford superior teachers. Now, with these facts, what other hypothesis, than those suggested above, can account for the argument which excites such a prejudice? I pity the poor man who trusts his faith to such keeping. You ask mo to advise and suggest a scheme which will meet the approbation of the Legis lature. I defer rather to their wisdom. No constituency have authorized me to speak on that question. As one of the people, I have a right to express my wants, and that right I ex ercise. I trust sufficient intelligence will be found in the next Legislature to give some form and shapo to our Education; and that they will not leave it as the last General Assembly did, to varying Grand Juries and irresponsible county officers. We need not expect a perfect work at once. The last Legislature did much in increasing our funds. The next, I trust, will do more in au thoritatively adopting some uniform system, and in giving ample power to proper officers to carry it into effect. Time will suggest defects. Ex perience will rectify them. When once in the right way, we need not fear the result. I trust tho people of Georgia will express their wishes, on this subject, to their Legislators, pri or to the first of October next. Ido not mean political meetings or party leaders. I mean the parents —those who have children they love, and for whom they would provide. Let them speak, one by one, to candidates soliciting their votes, and in such a manner that their voice will be remembered. What is a Senatorial election in comparison with this question ? When will the masses of the people learn the true questions in which they are interested ? Ido not desire to dispar age the importance of a Senatorial election, (al though I conceive it to be much more desirable to send a man who shall, by his public bearing and private life, do honor to and reflect properly the dignity of the State, than merely to triumph with a pure partizan.) But I do aver that it will be of much less detriment to the State to have even an unworthy Senator for six years, than to have our population remain in disgrace ful ignorance. But I weary you. lam done. If the people are true to themselves, Free Education is with in their grasp. If they are not true to them selves, all that we can do is to sorrow over their infidelity, and not seek to force upon them, un willingly, a blessing which they cannot appreci ate. The next Legislature, I hope, will reflect the people’s wishes. With their voice lam con tent. Bespectfully, Thomas R. R. Cobb. AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. The Editor of this department of the Field and Fireside will deliver an agricultural ad dress, in Marietta, Ga., on the first Tuesday of next month, October 4th, at the Court House. COTSWOLD SHEEP. Col. J. W. Ware, of Va., writing on the ques tion, “Are Sheep or Hogs the most Profitable Animal to Fatten?” to the Genesee Farmer , says: “Os all sheep, I prefer the Cotswold, from ex perience. They mature early, are large, hardy, and take on fat easy. During the summer and fall that they are one year old, (not fed on grain,) no mutton can be more delicately flavored, juicy and tender. Over two years old, many muttons are better, as they then tallow too heavily for the appetite; but the butcher will give almost any price for them; and what pru dent man wishes to keep muttons to four years old, when ho can sell them at one year old at much better prices than any other sheep at four? I have rarely, if ever, sold my muttons of this breed, the fall after one year old, under $lO each, and have sold older ones much higher; and never sold them at the same age under $8 each without having Fed gram at all; and the fleece amply pays the keep. Can any breed. of hogs show such clear profit and in so short a time? and they have no wool to pay cost of keep.” University of the South. —Hon. Oliver J. Morgan, of Carroll Parish, Louisiana, who is now spending his third summer at Beersheba Springs, in this State, on Saturday, August 20th, gave Bishop Polk the large sum of forty thous and dollars to establish a Professorship of Ag ricultural Chemistry in the University of the South. This truly magnificent donation com pletes the subscription required by the charter, five hundred thousand dollars, though the Trus tees have no idea of stopping here. The sucoess which has attended this enterprise thus far is unprecedented, and bears pleasing testimony both to the energy and ability of the distinguish ed gentleman having it in charge, and the lib erality of our Southern citizens. Nashville Banner. According to advices received in St. Louis, 3,449 emigrant wagons have passed over the Western Plains this'season, for California and Salt Lake City, four-fifths of them going to Cali fornia. Loose cattle estimated at from 120,000 to 140,000; sheep, 6,000.