FARiMERS' REGISTER— CHARLESTON RAIL ROAD. 



741 



power on the rail road is at present inadequate for 

 ihe trade and transportation on it, and tlie directors 

 have thcrclbrc. (k-.termined to increase it greatly 

 beyond its present amount, by tlie coniniencemcnt 

 of the lidi business." 



horses and passengers, being not unfrequcntly in-' 

 Biantly enguiled, and sucked beneath the ice, tliere 

 being no warning of liic danger until llie horses 

 sink, dragging tlie carriole and its inmates after 

 them. In general, it isibrtunule tlie weak or thin 

 places are of no great extent; and when the horses 

 are Ictund to be sinking, the passengers instantly 

 leap out on the strong ice, seize the ro|)es which, 

 with a running noose, are |)laced ready liir such 

 an emergency on every sleigh-horse's neck, and, 

 by sheer pulling, the animal is strangled in order 

 to save his life! This is absolutely a I'act. II" the 

 horse be allowed to kick and struggle, it only serves 

 lo injure and sink him; as soon, however, as the 

 noose is drawn tight, his breathing is momentarily 

 checked, strangulation takes place, the animal be- 

 comes motionless, rise.s to the surtace, floats on one 

 sitle, and is then drawn out on tiie strong ice, 

 when the noose being loosened, respiration recom- 

 mences, and the horse is on his feet carrioling 

 away again in a iew minutes as well as ever. 

 This singular and almost incredible o])cration has 

 been known to be performed two or three times a 

 day on the same hoi-se; and the Americans say 

 tiiat, like Irishmen, the animals are so used to 

 being hanged that they think nothing about it. 

 Often, however, horses sleigh or carriole, and pas- 

 sengers, are in a moment sunk and swept beneath 



the ice. The traveller on the Irozen rivers, but I tions from the foreign or dead languages. These 

 more especially on the iiozen lakes, incurs also arc but evidences of pedantry, at best, when there 

 great danger Irom the lar^e cracks or openings is a corresponding expression in our own tongue, 

 which run from one side of the lake to the other, The sciences, connected with agriculture, have 

 from one to six feet broad, causing, at some distance I peculiar ierms that cannot be well dropped; but, 

 from the crack, a shelving up of the ice lo the wherever it is possible, the common parlance mode 



OIV THK DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF BtlRNING, 

 ANn I'l.OUGlUNG IN, ROUGH VEGETAULK 

 MATTER. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' KogUter. 



A correspondent in your February No. page 577, 

 very properly comments on the advantage and pro- 

 priety of every writer for your paper signing his pro- 

 per name, to all communications, stating tacts in ag- 

 riculture. Jlis remarks are sound, and well ex- 

 pressed. We cannot all Avrite either with elegance 

 or learning. I?ut, there are few farmers that are 

 subscribers to the Register, who are unable to ex- 

 press the results of their experience, in "brief 

 and good phrase." Nundjeis have already at- 

 tempted it, under their own signatures, with 

 complete success, and beneficially, to the commu- 

 nity. We ought all to be aware that your work 

 is not intended for (he disjjlay of fine writing or 

 book learning; and, whoever writes for it, should 

 make his style as plain as he can, avoiding techni- 

 calities, when it can be done, as well as quota- 



height of several feet in proportion to the breadth of 

 the fissure. The sleigh drivers, when they see 

 no other chance of passing or of escape, make 

 the horses endeavor to leap the chink at full gal- 

 lop, with the sleigh behind them, at the imminent 

 risk of being engulfed in the lake. 



INCREASE OF TRANSPORTION ON THE 

 CHARLESTON RAIL ROAD. 



The Charleston (S. C.) Patriot of the 4th inst. 

 publishes a corporative view of the receipts of this 

 road tor the first three months of the years 1834 

 and 1835, which presents the fcillowing result: 



1834 1835 



January, 8^,229 $13,290 



February, 8,174 14,875 



March, 11,988 17,459 



$24,391 $45,624 



Showing that the receipts of the present year 

 are nearly double what they were in the correspon- 

 dent period of the year 1834. This is exclusive 

 of the amount received for carrying the mails. 

 The same paper further states, that the number of 

 passengers (exclusive of those in the company's 

 eervice) fi^om the 1st of April 1834 to the 1st of | 

 April 1835, has been twenty-nine thousand two 

 hundred and forty eight — and that on the 2d inst. 

 141 passengers went up in the steam car William 

 Aiken, yielding $607 38. 



"Thiii increased business on the road has greatly 

 exceeded the most sanguine expectations of its 

 projectors, and furnishes the best criterion of its 

 prosperity. It has been found so highly beneficial 

 in extending the business of Charleston, that the 



of conveying the same idea ought to be em[)loy- 

 ed also, that every class of readers may get the 

 meaning with the least trouble. 



The correspondent alluded to, Peter De Quir, 

 ought to have practised on his own rule. He adds 

 a P. S. to his letter, and asks the following ques- 

 tions, to be answered, either by the editor, or 

 some of his friends: 



"Is it ever advantageous or proper to burn land? 

 Is there any kind of vegetation which grows in 

 our fields, that it would be more profitable to burn 

 off than plough under? Will the ashes produced 

 thereby, compensate for the loss of vegetable mat- 

 ter? VVill not the crop be better the first year 

 when coarse grass or broom sedge is burnt, than 

 it would be, if ploughed in? But will not the land 

 be ultimately benefited in a greater degree by turn- 

 ing in such a cover?" 



Many years' observation on the subject of these 

 questions has enabled me to form an opinion on 

 them, which I think is not essentially different from 

 the opinions of most practical farmers. That 

 opinion, however, is at the service of P. D. Q. 

 and others, who have doubts on so plain a sub- 

 ject. 



There are very few circumstances that can jus- 

 tify burning. VVith some men, who use small 

 ploughs, and advocate shallow ploughing, it is a 

 custom to burn the dead vegetable matter on their 

 fields, when it is the least in the way of their 

 ploughs, and particularly for corn and oats. 1 

 have endeavored to reason several out of the prac- 

 tice; but was actually laughed at by them, as a 

 theorist. I have noticed, that, if the dead matter 

 be so thick as to impede the perfect operation of 

 ploughing it under, the after tillage, if corn be the 

 crop, is more difficult; and when the covering be 



