62 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1. 



<liv'ision by the line run, is seventeen and a fourth 

 miles. 



69:|: miles. 



151 



Comparison nf Distances. 



The whole ofthslensih ofthe road as 



surveyed is, 

 The distance by a straight line is, 



Making a loss of 



The lensrth ofthe first division is, 

 And the distance by a straight line, 



Makinga loss in tl'.e first division of 

 And in the second of 



On a final location ofthe work, the to- 

 tal distance from Petersburg to 

 Burke's, would probable not exceed 51 miles. 



And that from Burke's to Farmville be 



reduced to 16 '■ 



Making a total distance of 



67 



Estimata of the Cost of Construction. 



The excavation necessary to form the bed of 

 the road will be mostly sand, but occasionally, and 

 probably always in deep cuts, mixed with gravel 

 and reddish clay ; in a tew cases soft sandstone 

 will be encountered. The embankments will be 

 in a great measure formed li'om the cuts, and 



when not, the material necessary is always at 

 hand, and easily Avorked. This work is estimated 

 at prices varyi:icr, according to circumstances, li:om 

 twelve to Iwenty-tVv^o cents per cubic yard. 



The drains and culverts are designed to be built 

 of stone or brick, and the masonry of the [bridge 

 exclusively of stone. In all structures which will 

 admit of brick being substituted for stone, the ma- 

 sonry is estimated at the cost of brick work, at 

 twelve dollars pet thousand. The masonry ofthe 

 bridges is estimated at six dollars per perch, which 

 will be ample, as all that kind of work is either at 

 or in the vicinify of the Appomattox, a boatable 

 stream, on the banks of which, good stone is rea- 

 dily procured. Timber suitable lor the superstruc- 

 ture, exists in but limited quantities on the line of 

 the road, and this item is accoruin«rly estimated at 

 a price that will justify its being transported long 

 distances. 



In the valuation of the work a constant regard 

 has been had to the scarcity of labor, the high 

 price of provisions, and the generally enhanced 

 cost of almost every item that enters into the con- 

 struction of a rail road. 



Graduation and Masonry of the first Division. . 



Excavation, 888,494 cubic yards? (ro/inQoi kt 

 Embankment, 846,697 " < t^24U,by4 bJ 



Masonry, 35,767 00 



$276,661 57 



Graduation and Masonry ofthe Second Division. 



S 188,532 84 

 105,053 00 



Excavation, 454,204 cubic vards. 

 Embankment, 674,834 '' 

 Masonry and bridging. 



Total second division, @293,.385 84 



Total for the whole distance, 570,247 41 



Superstructure, 69i miles at 84,084 per mile, 282,817 00 



Turn-outs, turning platlbrms, and sidelings, 24,300 00 



Depots, water stations, wood sheds, and car houses, 23,000 00 



8900,364 41 



William H. Morell, Civil Engineer. 



PROSPECT OF THIC "WHEAT CROP. EFFECTS 

 OF USING IMPERFECT, OR DAMAGED SEED. 



Though there is much difference in the appearance 

 of wheat crops in dilleient places, arid even some- 

 times, and in a remarkable degree, on similar lands on 

 adjoining farms, still there can be no doubt of the la- 

 mentable fact that the prospect of the crop in general, 

 throughout Virginia, is very bad, and that the product 

 must be much below a fair average for the land. Such 

 etatements are already scouted at in some of the edito- 

 rial articles of leading newspapers, as the regularly re- 

 curring, and generally false prophecies of coming bad 

 crops, dictated either by knaves who desire to swell 

 prices for their profit, or by the fears of the desponding 

 and uninformed. There may be good ground, some- 

 where, for this charge: but we claim that it shall not 

 be extended to this journal. All persons are liable to 



be deceived on this subject: but we were not deceived 

 last year, while sending forth the worst accounts of 

 expected failure in the then g]-owing crops, which then 

 were disregarded, or not believed — and our predictions, 

 gloomy as they were, fell short of the disastrous results. 



We warnod farmers (at page 319, vol. iv.) against 

 relying upon the defective wheat of the last crop, for 

 seed, whenever better could be obtained. To the very 

 general use of this bad seed, is doubtless owing much 

 ofthe sickly condition of the growing crops. The un- 

 exampled cold in last November, gave a heavy blow to 

 the then very young plants of the early sown, as well as 

 retarded for a long time the germination of all the late- 

 sown seed. But the product of well filled and well 

 matured seed might have withstood these inflictions, 

 under which that of shrivelled and light seed has dwin- 

 dled or perished. 



Our warnings on this head were founded mostly on 



