16 



F A R M E R S = REGISTER. 



[No. 1 



nnr'Ni with 20 tons of horse or Plalile duna: ever}' 

 toiirlh yi'iii', aiTordiiii^ lo Frofpssor Coventry, and 

 (■oiif:e(iiiL'ni'y entails an expenditure of £5 in that 

 year, if tlien produces ten times the quaniityof 

 wheat sown. But an acre of the sarrre land, sim- 

 ilarly sown, and manured with Flemish manure, 

 would require only llmr tons of if; and entail, at 

 the price we have fixed (or that manure, an ex- 

 pense ol" £2 8-5. Ii would, then, produce Ibur- 

 (een times the quantity of" wheat sown. 



Sur-pcHinir tiie produce of the acre manured 

 with h'l'rie or stable diivix to be five quarters of 

 wlie it, t an i sell l()r £1.5, that of the acre ma- 

 nured wiili Flemish manure, will be seven quar- 

 ter^;. and .sell lor £21. 



The end ol this comparative farming operation 

 4hereliire would be, 



Isf, a saviuL'' ill ni inure, £2 129. per acre, 

 •2i)d, a surplus produced, £6 Os. do. in money, 



Total £8 12s. per acre. 



A sum which the employment of the Flemish 

 manure would |>ut into the pocket of the farmer, 

 above the larii'est numerical result he can obtain 

 hv his mode of cultivation. Thus far as to his 

 private interest; hut in this operation the |)ublic 

 would also be a uuiner, inasmuch as by rneans of 

 it, two more quarters of whftat per acre would be 

 sent into the market — a circumstance, which in 

 the year 1832, would have prevented iheneces- 

 ,sity of import iiiir into this country 463. .502 quar- 

 ters of foreiirn wheat, as appears fiom a return 

 njade to an order of the House of Commons in 

 1833. 



But even tliis marvellous result of Flemish ma- 

 nurin.ix, in the cultivation of wheat lands, falls into 

 insiffnificnnce, when compared to that which it 

 yields when applied to other cultivations, the pro- 

 duce of which, as I ascertained by minute person- 

 al inquiries at some of' the larirest f^irmino; estab- 

 lishments in Beli!;ium, instead of beintjnine only, 

 above the ordinary produce, as before mentioned, 

 rises as hicrh as 12, 15, 20 and even 40 per ar- 

 pent. The same may be said of it, when applied 

 to lands con)pletely barren, and which, havintr 

 been orisiinally rented for one florin the arpent, 

 have, in the course of four years, been improved, 

 through Flemish manuring, into an easy rent of 



t Tnis is assumin2;a most favorable return, since I 

 tiiid in a report on the "Allotments," in the par's!) of 

 Missenden, (as a fact of which they seem proud) that 

 the land would, under the plonnjh, in an average year, 

 produce only 20 bushels of wheat, or 2.J quarters: and 

 even Mr. Birrows, in his first-rate experiment of four 

 acres of drilled wheat, obtained no more than sixteen 

 quarters and three bushels, making four quarters and 

 less than one bushel per acre. Now I have it in my 

 notes, tak^n under the distation of Mr. Smet, a great 

 farmer ia East Flanders, that a measure of wheat land 

 corresponding to an English acre, manured with Flem- 

 iiih manure, produc-^d last year 7^ sacks of wheat of 

 the best quality. The sack contains four measures 

 each, weighing 180 lbs. of 16 ounces; consequently 

 there grew upon that acre .5,400 lbs. of wheat. Where- 

 as, taking the Winchester bushel of wheat to weigh 

 60 lbs.; the acre of wheat land among the " Allot 

 ments" at Missend^-n, produced only 1,200 lbs. and 

 the experiment of Mr Burrows 1,980 lbs.; while ad- 

 mitting even my assumption of fivequaiters to be cor- 

 rect, the acre in England would yield no move than 

 2,400 lbs., being less than the half of the Flemish 

 produce. 



30 florins per arpent. Examples of this sort are 

 nunierous, and many such were furnished me by 

 the authorities at Brussels, La Haye, Rotterdam, 

 and Berlin. 



From tlie St. Louis Bulletin. 

 THK KAFT IK RED RIVER. 



The obstruction originally occupied a space of 

 upwards of two iiundred miles; and, there is suf- 

 ficient evidence thai it has existed for ages before 

 the discovery of the country, while its banks ex- 

 hibit indubitable proof, that it once extended not 

 within fifty miles of the confluence of that river 

 with the Missi&si|)pi. 'J'he annual increasement 

 has been estimated at two miles; and once lijrmed, 

 the serpentine course of llie stream forbids all pos- 

 sibiliiy of removal, except by artificial measures, 

 or the slow [irocess of decay, in some places the 

 raft is condensed to an astonishing depth, and 

 forms what is called "the sunken rail:" a single 

 strong log removed will sometimes liberale hun- 

 dreds. The raft region may now be considered 

 under three divisions; that from which the raft is 

 entirely removed, extending 140 miles from the 

 commencement; that in which the raft is cut up 

 and pulled m pieces, and not floated off — for which 

 nothing is wanted but a strong current, which 

 must immediately take place — 33 nules m exti-nt; 

 and that, lastly, which has not yet been com- 

 menced. Tiie water expelled from the channel 

 l>y the rait into the lakes, parallel to the banks as 

 the obstruction is removed, turns and deepens the 

 bed of the stream. At the commencement of the 

 raft there is little or no current. This has added 

 much to ihe labor in romoving the obstruction; 

 and many of the logs removed, have floated back 

 subsequently by a rise in the Mississippi. The 

 removal now of a few yards of solid raft causes a 

 fall of eighteen inches above it, and a rise six feet 

 below. There remains only about four miles of 

 the raft to be removed, and, when the channel is 

 once clear, the current will be powerful and deep, 

 and the banks on either side will be lofty and firm. 

 Capt. Shrieve declares, that all can be accom|)lish- 

 ed in three months, after a suitable appropriation 

 fiom Congress is made. 



The magnitude of this undertaking, and the re- 

 sults which must ensue from its accomplishment, 

 cannot be too hiirhly appreciated. The river is 

 navigable for more than 2,000 miles above the 

 raff, and through a reirion unrivalled in fertility 

 Though now thinly settled, it is rapidly populating 

 — hundreds await the removal of the raft as a 

 signal ibr entering the country — and all its vast 

 resources and natural wealth must soon be devel- 

 oped. The result of this undertaking once in- 

 volved in doubt, as well as the permanent advan- 

 tages which must ensue, are no longer problema- 

 tical. The indefiiitigable industry, the untiring 

 enterprise — the indomitable perseverance, and the 

 enlarged and truly scientific designs of Capt. M ' 

 Shrieve, the projector and accomplisher of this 

 noble national work, can never be estimated be- 

 yond their merits. His history is identified with 

 that of the empire of the west; and his fame will 

 endure so long as the magnificent streams with 

 which his name is associated, shall continue to roll 

 on their volumed waters to the deep. 



