oe 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1 



planted here were entirely tree of the black seed, 

 which made their a|)pearance precisely as they 

 did in the u'leen seed — and the rot was the conse- 

 quence, 'i'he Pel it Gull' are small and white, and 

 covered, lliicker than either ol' the two first men- 

 tioned, with a fibrous substance. These are tree 

 ol" blade sleek seed, when first planted, but I dis- 

 cover in mine that this black blast (tor I can call it 

 nothing else,) is making its appearance. Of the 

 Alvarado I know nothing. It appears, then, that 

 so far, all kit\ds of cotton seed, when first planted 

 are good and sound, and that alier a while, they 

 degenerate, which is always knov.'n by the pre- 

 sence of black seed. Is it not evident from ihese 

 facts that our climat-s is alone the cause of bad 

 seed? Wheat will not grow well here, and when 

 .our fiirmers net fresh seed they flatter themselves 

 that they have at last Ibund the riijht kind. But 

 their expecla'ions are soon blasted by the "6/fls/." 

 What is the remedy for this radical deftjct? We 

 must either procure new seed every three or four 

 years, or invent some plan to separate the black 

 seed from the good. The farmers in Mississippi 

 buy fresh seed every three years, and I should 

 advise those of Georsia to do the same. 1 have 

 tried only the Petit Gulf, and find them good. 

 They are not so good the first year as they are 

 the second; they get better the third year; but the 

 fourth, they have too many black seed in them. 

 As to Dr. Harden's idea, that a "rich oily" sub- 

 stance in cotton seed, injures hogs, it is contrary 

 to the experience of most liirmers. I feed my hogs 

 on cotton seed. If thev are boiled first or made wet 

 they do no injury. His plan of manuring is rather 

 ioo expensive — thirty dollars to the acre. 



A Farmer. 



AVILD GKESE DOMESTrCATFD. 



■^o the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Talbot County, Md., Jpril ]8, 1837. 



Your correspondent IL, of Albemarle, Virginia, 

 Is hereby informed, that the wild, or Canada 

 goose, has been domesticated in this county more 

 than seventy years. When a small school boy, 

 about half a century ago, I used to pass a field 

 where upwards of thirty, quite tame, were ke[)t. 

 They were bred frotTi a pair winged by the pro- 

 prietor: and a lew of their descendants are still 

 here — some on my own iarm. They are as tame 

 as domestic geese, and highly prized lor their 

 beauty and musical notes. The mongrels do not 

 breed, but are excellent for the table. 



H. S. 



Communicated for tlie Farmers' Register. 



HEPORT OF THE SURVEY FOR A RAIL ROAD 

 FROM PETERSBURG TO FARMVILLE. 



To the Subscribers to the Survey : 



Genti^emen: 



I have the honor to submit to you the result of 

 an examination made under my direciions, for a 

 fine of rail road from Petersburgto Farmville. In 

 doing this, I shall confine my remarks to an exhibit 

 of the line traced, with an estimate of the proba- 

 ble cost of the same, derived from a careiul ex- 

 fttnioation of the country, and calculations, in de- 



tail, of the quantity and quality of the work to be 

 done. From the absence of sufficient information 

 on my part, as lo the business the road will pro- 

 babl\' command, an esiimate of the probalile reve- 

 nue will not be attempted; and as the amount of 

 machinery and trant^porting power required, de- 

 pends upon the amount of work to lie done, an es- 

 timate lor that item is also necessarily omitted. 



Description of the Jiovte. 



The character of the country over which the 

 line is traced, naturally separates it into two divi- 

 sions. The first includes so much of the line as 

 pursues the ridge which divides the tribiuaries of 

 the A[)pomattox from those of the Nottoway. 

 The second covers the distance passed over in de- 

 scending li'om the ritlge to the valley of the Appo- 

 mattox, and pursuing the valley of that stream to 

 Farmville. 



The first division commences at a point on the 

 Petersburg and Roanoke Rail Road, about three 

 miles from the Petersburg depot, and ttikes a 

 course nearly due west, till it intersects "Cox road," 

 at Booth's branch, crossing the head waters of In- 

 dian town run in the vicinity of R. Boiling's; it 

 then pursues "Cox Road," with sliglit deviations, 

 to Mrs. Sutherland's tavern, where it deflects to 

 the riirht and assumes for one mile ailirection near- 

 ly coincident with the Namozene road ; it then 

 (leflects-to tlie left, and passino- to the riirht of jAIr. 

 Slauirhier's, again intersects "Cox road" at Capt. 

 Steward's. 



It is believed that t'hc location could be improv- 

 ed between Mrs. Sutherland's and Capt. Stew- 

 ard's, so as to obtain a line nearlv straight, without 

 any material increase of cost. The point of com- 

 mencement could be alfo advantageously chang- 

 ed, so as to make tiie line tin independent one liotn 

 Petersburg, which could be efiected without addi- 

 tional expense, and with but little, if any increase 

 of distance. 



From Capt. Steward's the route is nearly the 

 same as thtit of " Cox road" for a distance of 

 twenty-two miles, the principal deviations occur- 

 ring between Vaughtui's house and Spain's store, 

 in the 25th mile, and at Wilson's tavern, in the 

 27ih mile, the <j:reatestof which is twelve hundred 

 feet. Near Mr. Clarke's, in the thirty-filih mile, 

 and about three-fourths of a mile from Blacks and 

 Whites, the line diverges to the right, crossing the 

 head waters of Cellar creek, and ascending the 

 slope of its western bank; it attains near Mrs. 

 Eppes' the summit of a ridge which it traverses 

 to Nottoway Court Bouse, leaving it about lour 

 hundred yards to the south. Thence passing 

 through the lands of Dr. Campbell, it pursues the 

 crest of the ridge tor five miles, when it falls on to 

 its southern slope, and by a very direct route, cross- 

 ing several minor tributaries of the Lazaretto 

 creek, it regains the crest of the ridge in the vicini- 

 ty of Col. Tilman E. Jeter's; which it follows to 

 Burke's tavern, at the intersection of the Prince 

 Edward and Nottoway county line. 



The distance traversed by the line from the point 

 of commencement to Burke's, is fifty-two miles, 

 the whole of which, with but one or two trifling 

 excef)tions, is upon the crest of a ridge, the general 

 elevation of which is from three to lour hundred 

 feet above the waters at its base. The formation 

 of this ridge is such, that any line of moderate eX' 



