aneville, sold 80 hogs,
averaging 443 pounds each, at $6.10 per cwt. There are but very few fat
hogs left. The cold, dry weather has improved the condition of corn in
the cribs. Coarse feed is scarce. Considerable corn has been shipped
here from Kansas. Bran and middlings are coming in from Minneapolis, and
sell at $15 and and $17 per ton. Cheese factory dividends for November
from $1.50 to $1.60 per cwt. Large quantities of milk are daily shipped
into Chicago from this county.

J. P. B.

* * * * *

I see that you request items in regard to the cold wave that swept over
our country during the first week in this month. There is no doubt the
cold was as intense over the country generally as it has been known for
many years, or perhaps ever before, but so far as I can learn the
damage to fruit trees, etc., is very slight. On the morning of the 16th
of December we had our first snow, but the weather was quite pleasant to
the end of the year, with occasionally slight freezing, but thermometer
never down to zero.

The result of this favorable weather was the thorough ripening up of the
wood of all fruit and ornamental trees, so that when on the 5th of the
present month the mercury ran down to 26 degrees below zero, and in some
parts of the country far below that even, the damage was very slight.
The writer has been extensively engaged in cutting scions, and knows
whereof he speaks. I have also examined some peach trees and find the
wood slightly discolored but not dead. I did not thoroughly examine the
fruit buds of the peach, but suppose, of course, they are all killed.
Had this intense cold weather occurred early in December, there is no
doubt but the damage would have been immense.

There has been a great loss of potatoes in cellars and pits, as most
people had worked themselves into the belief that we were to have a mild
winter, and had not prepared their cellars to resist cold at the rate of
30 degrees below zero. The result is that thousands of bushels of
potatoes are frozen and ruined, and although the largest crop of
potatoes was raised last year that ever was raised in the United States,
yet potatoes will be high priced before planting time.

H. A. TERRY.
CRESCENT CITY, IA., Jan. 19.

Seed Corn Famine.

Probably nineteen farmers in twenty must buy seed corn for next spring's
planting, on account of the failure of the '83 crop to ripen. We must
look sha