THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



21 



The following table, attached to the interesting Re- 

 port of the Comptroller of the State of New 

 York, shows what progress some of the States of 

 the Union are making towards contracting; a per- 

 manent debt. The bank investments, which are 

 principally confined, we believe, to South Caroli- 

 nia, Kentuckv, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi 

 and Arkansas, may not be considered an absolute 

 expenditure : the "internal improvements" have 

 not only expended the present investments, but 

 in most instances will ask and require more. 

 STATEMENT 



Of stocks and bonds issiied by the several States, 

 with the rate of interest, and the objects for which 

 loans have been made. 



Disasteis at sea in 



The subjoined we find in the 



1838. 



'Sailor's Maga- 

 zine," and it gives a record which has been careful- 

 ly kept during the year IS.^S, of marine disasters, 

 which have been published in various newspapers 

 in the country, of which publication has been 

 made in the Sailor's Magazine froin month to montli . 

 Those only have been selected which resulted in a 

 total loss of the vessel. The greater part of the^ 

 vessels were American, and a large propsirtion of 

 the disasters took place near the American coast. 

 The total number of vessels wrecked in the year, 

 was4'27. 



Ships and barks, I'^i 



Brigs, 147 



Schooncrs, IGd 



Sloops, 

 Steamboats, 

 Classes of ves- 

 sels unknown, 



The whole amount of sU^ck and bonds 



issued and authorized to be issued 



by eighteen States, amounts to, $141,'26'J,002 

 Of this amount, the proportion for 



internal improvements 



is, $84,856,243 



For banking, 5),31."i,n00 



Miscellaneous, 5,097,75'J 



$14],2fi9,002 



No rsturns have been received from the State of 

 Georgia or Delaware. The States of New Hamp- 

 shire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and 

 New Jersey have not issued stock of any kind, atid 

 North Carolina owes no debt. 



Of these vessels there were lost towards the close 

 of the last year, but reported in this, 45. 



January, 39 July, ~ 



February, 31 August, 4 



March, 17 September, 108 



April, 36 October, 32 



May, 14 November, 17 



June, 25 December, 3 



Precise time unknown, 2y 



In addition to these known losses, there have 

 been reported 27 vessels missing, concerning which, 

 there is very little doubt but they are lost, with all 

 on board. In the above named vessels there were 

 reported the loss of 753 lives. This does not prob- 

 ably include all the lives lost by these disasters, but 

 only those mentioned with certainty. Many of the 

 wrecks were fallen in with at sea, and the fate of 

 the crews was wholly unknown. Undoubtedly 

 the loss of life has been great, and many a crew 

 has been wholly swallowed up, and no one spared 

 to tell the melancholy tale. Surely " there is sor- 

 row on the sea," that never will be fully disclosed 

 until the sea shall give up its dead, and the myri- 

 ads who repose in the caverns of the great deep 

 shall rise to judgment. 



Students in N. E. Colleges. 



The number of students in several of the prin- 

 cipal colleges in the United States is stated in the 

 last number of the Journal of Education as fol- 

 lows : 



Harvard University. — The number of student:) 

 in the university, is 396 ; in the divinity school 10; 

 in the law school 78 ; in the medical college 82 ; 

 undergraduates 217 ; seniors 72 ; juniors 44 ; soph- 

 omores 54 ; freshmen 55 ; resident graduates 2 ; 

 and university student 1. 



Yale College. — In the theological school 74 ; in 

 the law school 32; in the medical college 46 ; of 

 the undergraduates 411 ; seniors 05 ; juniors 102 ; 

 sophomores 106; freshmen 103; total 55^1. 



Dartmouth. — The number of undergrailuates is, 

 in the senior class 61 ; junior 56 : sophomore 83 ; 

 freshmen 101 ; total 301. The number of medical 

 professors is 6 ; and of students 78. 



Amherst College. — The recently published cat- 

 alogue of this institution, gives in the list of stu- 

 dents, 3 resident graduates; 56 s"niors; 48 juniors; 

 47 sophomores ; 37 freshmen. Total 192. 



Williams College.— The catalogue gives, seniors 

 37; juniors 31 ; sophomores 38 ; freshmen 2!). To- 

 tal 135. 



The University of Vermont. — Contains 102 stu- 

 dents ; 34 pursuing the studies of the first year ; 

 25 of the second, 20 of the third ; and 23 of the 

 fourtli. 



Alleghany College. — This college contains 173 

 students. Seniors 8 ; juniors 11 ; sophomores i52; 

 freshmen 66 ; and in the preparatory department 

 66. The number of properly members of college, 

 is of course 107. 



13 



Mississippi Valley, — An idea of the immense 

 productive wealth of this valley may be formed 

 from the annexed table of articles shipped down 

 the river during the year 1837. It is compiled from 

 authentic sources, and the aggregate value of these 

 products is estimated at .•J20,000,00n. 



200,000 bales of cotton, 40,000 hhds. tobacco, 

 300,000 bbls. flour, 150,000 bbls. pork, 12,000 hhds. 

 bacon, 5,000 hhds. hams, 50,000 cwt. bulk pork, 

 200,000 kegs of lard, 50,000 pieces bagging, 50,- 

 000 coils rope, 200,000 bbls. corn, 400,000 bushels 

 corn, 10,0i)0 bhls. beef, 300,000 pigs lead, 5,000 

 bbls. of whiskcv, 100,000 barrels coal, 3,000 bales 

 buffalo robes, 20,000 Iviles hay, 2,000 packs deer 

 skins, 2,000 kegs shot, 500 baies fur, 2,000 tons pig 

 iron, 500 casks flax seed, 400 bbls. linseed oil, 

 600,000 staves, 25,000 bbls. apples, 3,000 bbls. corn 

 meal, 500 casks cheese, 2,000 bbb. cider, 800 boxes 

 candles, 2.5,000 bbls. oats, 15,000 bbls. potatoes. 



Potatoes, — 1,000 tons of potatoes had been ship- 

 ped in the Thames, Eng. in October, for the Now 

 York market. The value of the potatoes sent from 

 Maine to southern ports has been stated at $300,- 

 000. Five hundred barrels of Irish potatoes arriv- 

 ed at New Orleans on the 18th November. The 

 price there was %'J per barrel, or fifty «ents per 

 dozen. 



Premium Butler and Cheese, — The Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural Society awarded, in December, 

 the following premiums for the best butter and 

 cheese exhibited for tiietr inspection. 



$100 to L. Chamberlain, of Westborough, Mass. 

 for best butter. 



$50 to L. B. Hapgood, Shrewsbury, Mass. 2d 

 best. 



$30 to W. Barhop, Barnet, Vt. 3d. best. 



$•50 to D. Lee, Barre, Mass. for the best old 

 cheese. 



$30 to T. Fisher, Burke, Vt. for the best new 

 cheese. 



The premium butter sold from 33 to 47 cents per 

 pound, ll was mostly exhibited in stone pots. 



Cotton — its first Introduction and Cultivation. 

 South Carolina first commenced its cultivation in 

 the Union, in 1785, and Georgia immediately after. 

 The Saw Gin, for separating the seed from the cot- 

 ton, was invented by Eli Wliitney, a native of Mas- 

 sachusetts, in 1703. This improvement or inven- 

 tion produced an astonishing revolution in the cul- 

 ture of cotton. As a proof of this, it is only ne- 

 cessary to remark that in 1790, the exports of this 

 article were 400,000 lbs., in 1791, 200,000 lbs., and 

 in 1792, 150,0110 lbs. This indicates great despon- 

 dence »n the part of cotton growers, but in 1795, 

 after the invention of the "Gin," the exports were 

 6,250,000 lbs., being an increase of nearly forty- 

 two fold over '92. In 1S;55, the yearly export was 

 336,500,000 lbs. '. and in 1836, 423,000,000 lbs. ! 

 Owing mainly to an inflation of the paper curren- 

 cy and corresponding contractions, as well as to 

 the temerity of the credit at different intervals, the 

 price of cotton has been extremely variable. Com- 

 mon qualities jold in 1819 .at 22 cents per pound, 

 and for a number of years thereafter, from 8 to 14 

 cents, but in 1836, it went up to or exceeded the 

 prices at and preceding 1819, but fell in 1837 to a- 

 bout 9 cents in Liverpool. The stimulus to this un- 

 natural vigor became spent and a general exhaus- 

 tion followed. It should have been added above 

 that the average price of cotton in 1618, wss 34 

 cents per pound, and in the latter part of 1819, only 

 10 cents ! Such are some of the incidents in the 

 history of cotton growing in the U. States. The 

 cause of its vicissitudes will be;readily seen by a 

 reference to our banking history during the same 

 period. — Jloch paper. 



The Countess of Haddington, in 1705, sold her 

 jeipels that she might be enabled to plant her estates 

 with valuable and ornamental trees : we think she 

 possessed both good sense and good taste in h(?r 

 choice of ornaments. 



The Farmers of the town of Scarborough, Cum- 

 berland county, Maine, received the present year 

 from the State treasury .$742 72 on 1000 bushels of 

 wheat and 15,179 bushels of corn. 



The number of seamen registered in various 

 ports of tht> United States, during the year com- 

 mencing in October, 1837, and ending in Septem- 

 ber of the last year, as is shown by the returns 

 made to the oilice of the Secretary of State, is as 

 follows ; — Maine 867, New Hampshire 140, Massa- 

 chusetts 2,5-54, Rhode Island 253, Connecticut 104, 

 New York 9.82, Pennsylvania 523, Maryland 300, 

 District of Columbia 27, Virginia 206, North Caro- 

 lina 71, Alabama 45, Louisiana 382, Florida 39. 

 Total 6,493. 



Official Salaries in Texas. — President, with house 

 furnished, 10,000. Vice President, 3,000. Attor- 

 ney General, 3,000. Post Master General, 2,000. 

 Commissioner General of the Land Office, 3,000. 

 Treasurer, 2,500. Auditor, 2,500. Secretaries of 

 the Navy, Army, State and Treasury, 3,000 each. 

 Chief Justice 5,000. Associate Judge.', 3,000 each. 

 Members of Congress, $5 per diem. Speaker of 

 the House |!7 per diem. Foreign Minister, for out- 

 fit, I, .500; .salary per annum, 5,900. 



llit^hest point in Maine. — The true altitude of 

 Mount Ktaadu above the level of the sea is five 

 thousand three hundred feet, or a little more than 

 one mile perpendicular elevation. It is therefore 

 the highest point in the State of Maine, and is the 

 most abrupt granite mountain in New England. 



Common schools in jVcio York. — It appears from 

 the annual report of the Superintendent of Common 

 Schools, that the number of such schools in this 

 State, on the 1st of July last, was 10,583, from 9830 

 of which reports were received by the Commis- 

 sioners. In the schools from which reports were 

 received, the average period of instruction in 1837 

 waseight months. The numberof children in the 

 9830 schools reported, was 529,113 in 1837; being 

 4725 more than in 1836. The whole number of 

 children between 5 and 16 years residing in the 

 same districts on the 31st Dec. 1837, was 539,747 ; 

 being 10,634 more than the number at school. 



The present productive capital of the Cotnmon 

 School Fund on the 30th Sept. last, was $1,929,- 

 707, having been increased during the year end- 

 ing that day, 10,060, chiefly from sales of State 

 Lands.— j\'. Y. Jour. Com. 



From the statement of the General Chamber of 

 Canton we learn that the quantities of tea export- 

 ed into the United States, from July 10, 1837, to 

 June 12, 1838, were black teas 36,757 peculs, 63,- 

 041 chests; green teas 77,131 peculs, 120,059. 



The following is the amount of Fish inspected 

 in Baltimore during the year 1638 ; 



bbls. 

 Herrings, 35,475 



Shad, 2,673 



Mackerel, 7,112 



half bhls. 

 320 

 115 

 274 



We subjoin the inspections for the preceding 

 eight years : 



Inspections of Wheat Flour in Baltimore. 



