776 



FARMERS' REGISTER— SJEASON— COMMERCIAL REPORT. 



of whose operations some account was given in our 

 last number: and the fruits, presented in the products 

 of these small farmers, certainly place Mr. Blacker's 

 services in a much higher position than would have ap- 

 peared from the previous account alone, highly as we 

 then thought and spoke of them. 



THE SEASON THUOUGII APRIL. 



The spring to this time, (April 28th,) has been as 

 remarkably cold, for the time of year, as the winter had 

 been below the temperature of our usual cold season. 

 The corn planting has been made very late, by wet, as 

 well as by cold weather: and those farmers who, on 

 warm and dry soils, had been enabled to plant earlier, 

 have had the leaves of all the young plants which had 

 come up, cut down by severe frost. There will be 

 very little if any early fruit. The wheat crops generally 

 through the country show almost unprecedented injury 

 from the severe cold of winter. On the rich low grounds 

 of the upper James River, usually sown entirely in 

 May wheat, the destruction is greater than is known 

 elsewhere. From a private letter (of March 31 ) from the 

 owner of a body of this very fertile and valuable kind 

 of land, in Goochland, we take the following state- 

 ment. "Our May wheat, on the stiffest James River 

 low grounds above the fails, is so entirely destroyed 

 by the severity of the winter, that some have already 

 decided to sow the land in oats— and all are hesita- 

 ting whether it is not advisable, and only waiting the 

 latest hour that it will answer to sow oats, to decide — 

 to see what change may possibly take place in that 

 time. At present, the prospect appeals utterly hope- 

 less. Other wheats are much injured — but this is the 

 worst." 



In our own neighborhood, the wheat on marled land, 

 having been in a measure protected by the peculiar 

 warming power of that manure, shows a superiority to 

 wheat on other lands, much greater than in proportion 

 to the mere difference of fertility — and it may be an- 

 ticipated that the benefit of marl on wheat this year, 

 will be double as much as is generally seen after fa- 

 vorable winters. 



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6. The mutual obligations of the publisher and sub- 

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For the Fanners' Register. 

 MONTHLY COMMERCIAL REPORT. 



The business of the present inonlh has been at 

 advanced prices on every article of domestic pro- 

 duce — and foreign commodities generally have 

 also brought higher rates. 



Tobacco is sold at prices beyond what have 

 been current for several years pas(. General sales 

 .S'5 50 to $11 — extreme prices .^5 to ^14. Sup- 

 plies begin to arrive freely, but of the extent of the 

 crop no correct estimate can yet be made. 



Cotton has also advanced to unusual rates. It 

 is now 1^ cents per pound higher than last month: 

 sales to some extent having been made in Peters- 

 burg at 17 to 18 cents. Supplies which were 

 kept back by the inclemency of the winter begin 

 to appear, but only in moderate quantities, and 

 nearly the whole that remains in the country will 

 probably be at market during the ensuing month. 

 It will require a considerable advance in foreign 

 markets to pay the prices given here for both cot- 

 ton and tobacco. Whether there is any good 

 grounds for expecting such an advance, it is diffi- 

 cult to say. The increased consumption of cotton 

 is doubtless calculated on — but this does not apply 

 to tobacco. 



A small improvement has taken place in the 

 price of flour, which may be ascribed to the appre- 

 hension of a short crop of wheat. It is said that 

 the fields in Virginia never presented a more bar- 

 ren aspect. — the efl'ect of the severest winter of 

 the present century. 



Money continues to be plentiful, particularly in 

 the large cities, which have generally received an 

 accession of banking capital. 'JMie rate of ex- 

 change on England has been from 8^ to 9 per 

 cent, premiun), and some shipments of specie were 

 consequently made. Stocks of all kinds keep up; 

 and among those which are getting into favor, it is 

 pleasing to enumerate those of the rail road com- 

 panies both at Richmond and Petersburg. A 

 new work of this description is about to be under- 

 taken by the enterprising citizens of the latter place 

 — to wit, a branch from their present rail road,^ to 

 Wilkins' Ferry on the Roanoke River, at a point 

 above the principal obstructions to the navigation, 

 and but little affected by freshets or low water — 

 possessing also the advantage of a landing im- 

 mediately at the road, and avoiding some of the 

 expenses at present incurred. This new rail road 

 will offer a great facility to the growers of to- 

 bacco and wheat on the Roanoke, as well as to a 

 portion of the cotton country. The work will be 

 commenced forthwith. The operations on the 

 Richmond and Potomac road are contuiued with 

 great spirit — those on the great James River and 

 Kanawha work are about to be commenced. 



X. 



^pril 27, 1835. 



