ive-acre vineyard
while they are at work in other business. One colony of this sort was
started eighteen months ago near Madera, in Fresno County. A tract of
3,000 acres was planted to Muscat grapes, and then sold out in five
and ten acre vineyards, on five years' time, the purchaser paying only
one-fifth cash. The price of the land was $75 an acre, and it was
estimated that an equal sum per acre would put the vineyard into full
bearing. Thus, for $750, or, with interest, for $1,000, a man working
on a small salary in San Francisco will have in five years a vineyard
which should yield him a yearly revenue of $500. From the present
outlook there can be no danger of over-production of raisins, any more
than of California wine or dried fruits. The grower is assured of a
good market for every pound of raisins he produces, and the more care
he puts into the growing and packing of his crop, the larger his
returns will be. For those who love life in the open air, there is
nothing in California with greater attractions than raisin growing in
Fresno County.--_N.Y. Tribune._

* * * * *

COLD AND MORTALITY.

By Dr. B.W. RICHARDSON.

During the seven weeks of extreme atmospheric cold in which the last
year ended and with which the present year opened, every one has been
startled by the mortality that has prevailed among the enfeebled and
aged population. Friends have been swept away in a manner most painful
to recall, under the influence of an external agency, as natural as it
is fatal in its course, and over which science, as yet, holds the most
limited control.

In the presence of these facts questions occur to the mind which have
the most practical bearing. Why should a community wake up one day
with catarrh or with the back of the throat unduly red and the tonsils
large? Why, in a particular village or town, shall the medical men be
summoned on some particular day to a number of places to visit
children with croup? What is the reason that cases of sudden death, by
so-called "apoplexy," crowd together into a few hours? Why, in a given
day or week, are shoals of the aged swept away, while the young live
as before? These are questions which curative and preventive medicine
have not yet mastered as might be desired. Curative medicine, at the
name of them, too often stands abashed, if her interpreter be honest;
and preventive medicine says, if her interpreter be honest, "The
questions wa