RAFTING, similar to that which formerly distinguished the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and to that which is still employed by the wood dealers on the great rivers of northern Russia and Siberia, is in use among the farmers of the middle and upper courses of the Yang-tse-Kiang as a means of getting their produce to market. They join rafts till they have a surface of two or three acres, care being taken not to have them too large for the river at its narrowest passages, and on these they build veritable farmsteads, with dwelling houses, barns, stables, and pigpens, for horses, cattle, and swine; and provide supplies of hay, fodder, and provisions for beast and man, to last the human and animal population of the craft during their journey of six hundred or nine hundred miles. The men on board are not idle through this journey, but have their stock of osier twigs and spend their time making baskets and other articles. Arrived at one of the great river marts, the people dispose of their animals and products, sell the articles they have made, and find markets for the material of their rafts with the dealers in lumber and firewood--just as the Ohio and Mississippi boatmen used to do. Then they return home. NOTES. The New York School of Applied Design for Women, 200 West Twenty-third Street, was organized for the purpose of affording to women instruction which will enable them to earn their livelihood by the employment of their taste and manual dexterity in the application of ornamental design to manufacture and the arts. Besides eight elementary courses, it has a course in historic ornament, advanced courses in the applications of design to the manufacture of wall paper and silk, and of the elementary instruction to the work of an architect's draughtsman, and to illustrating and lithography; and special courses in book-cover designing, advanced design, animal drawing for illustration, stained glass designing, watercolor painting, and interior decoration. The instructors are practical men from manufactories and architects' offices. Pupils are allowed to proceed as rapidly as they master the successive steps in the course of instruction, without having to conform to a fixed period.