FARMERS' REGISTER 



193 



RAIL-ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The Journal of Ihe Franklin Institute contains 

 a detailed account of the rail-roads in a nunnber nl 

 the stales, vviih the lenjjili, rosts, &c., (Vom the 

 fables of which the National Gnzeiie cives ihc 

 Ibllovvintr; In Pennsylvania, Ihe number of rail- 

 roads are thirty-six, the nuiriber of miles opened 

 five iiundred and seveniy-six and a half, the total 

 length of road eijrhl. hundred and filiy miles and 

 a quarter, and the amount already expended 

 S 15.640,450. In Virginia, the Carolina?, Georgia 

 and Florida, there are twenty-three voads, and 

 nine hundred and nineiy-fbur miles opened ; total 

 length, sixteen hundred and seventy-five miles 

 and a half. Amount expended, §18,442,000. In 

 Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and 

 Keniucliy, there are twenty-seven roads, one 

 hundred and ninety-five miles in operation ; total 

 length of roads, eleven hundred and forty-eiiiht 

 miles and a quarter. Already expended, .$9,- 

 621,000. In Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois 

 there are twenty-nine roads, one hundred and 

 ninety-six miles in operation ; total length of roads, 

 two thousand eight hundred and twenty-one miles 

 and a haii: Amount expended, ^5,623,640. 



WILD DOGS OF VAN DIEMEN S LAND. 



From tho Penny Magazine. 



The annoyance and danfrer occasioned by the 

 wild dogs in Van Diemen's Land is still a subject 

 of great complaint in the papers of that colony ; 

 and the most active exertions hitherto used, seem 

 to have had little eHect in abating the nuisance. 

 The dogs appear rather to increase in number 

 and boldness. A case is mentioned, in which a 

 person named Akerley was assaulted by thirteen 

 of these animals, and would probably have been 

 killed if he had not contrived to get up into a tree. 

 The means hiiherlo employed to eradicate them 

 do not seem to have been commensurate with Ihe 

 growth of the evil. A society has been establish- 

 ed at Gaddpsden, near Campbell Town, to effect 

 their destruction ; and the house of Ihe chairman 

 exhibits a collection of el<ins, to the number of a 

 hundred, ofdnirs that have been lulled, of almost all 

 kinds, from the shepherd dog to the Newloiind- 

 land. h is thought that unless the most decided 

 measures are taken, it will be impossible to pasture 

 sheep in the colony. The dogs bring forth six or 

 eight young at a litter, and commence breedini; at 

 one year old, while the sheep brines (brth only 

 one, and does not commence breeding until two 

 years of age. — The ultimate and discouragmo- 

 prospect which this opens, is brought nearer by 

 the daily defection of the domestic dogs of the 

 colony to the wilil ones. " At the reiTiote stock- 

 hunts," says a recent paper, "a free man keeps as 

 many dogs as he pleases; frequently six or eight 

 are kept ; theee dnirs provide ibr themselves, and 

 continually make off to the wild packs. All re- 

 monstrance is received with a smile of contempt, 

 and returned by insult ; and until such people are 

 Btricily prohibited from keeping dogs in the pasto- 

 ral districts under heavy penarties,"iuatters are not 

 hkely to mend : indeed it is to be feared that the 

 evil is fixed for ever— that it has been too long 

 neglected, and is now past remedy." We are 

 Vol. VIII._75 



too well assured of the resources and p<- wer of 

 civilized men <o partake of these apprehen>ioiis j 

 but atiy delay now in oriraniziuir a {)liin ol simul- 

 taneous operation against the doirs, is hkely to ren- 

 der their future extirpati n a matter of great and 

 increasing difficulty and expense. Meanwhile, 

 at this distance from the spot, it is interestinir to 

 watch the various aspects in which this remark- 

 ah.'estate of things appears, and to observe the 

 different measures which it may be necessary to 

 adopt airainst the canine depredators. S nee 

 willing the above, we find that an "Act of Coun- 

 cil" has been issued for the purpose of restraining 

 the increase of dogs. All dorrs are to be register- 

 ed ; and none are lo be left at large except in Ho- 

 bart town and Jjaunceston. Unregistered dogs, 

 or dogs found at large contrary lo this order, are 

 to be killed. The persons killing them are to ba 

 paid from 5s. to 40s. ear^h, out of a fund formed by 

 the registration fiies. — The registration fee for a 

 watch- dog kept chained, or aslieep-dcg, is 2s. 6d.; 

 all other dogs 10s. or if females double the respec- 

 tive amounts. The local newspapers are not very 

 sanguine in expectaUons of good from this niea'- 

 sure. 



From the Southern Cultivator. 



The growing of hemp is becoming of more im- 

 portance annually to the farmers of^Midd'e Ten- 

 nessee, and especially lo the citizens of Maury, 

 Giles, and parts of Williamson and D.tvidson 

 counties. Many farmers have been experintent- 

 ing in these counties, for several years on a small 

 scale; and so far as I have knowledge, they have 

 uniformly resulted in the full conviction of the prac- 

 ticability of its being a crop every way adapted to 

 Ihe climate and soil, thai [)ays tjie liirmer larger 

 annual profit than either cotton or the rearing" of 

 stock ; whilst the growth and rnanaiiemenl of 

 hemp, in those counties are at least a hidfcentury 

 behind the growlli of the same article 250 miles 

 north of us, amonii tlie all-eiiteiprtsing and indus* 

 trious citizens of the niidiile and upper counties of 

 lLir-lan)ed Kentucky. And I think that it is a du- 

 ty we owe to our county, country and state, (hav- 

 ing the soil and laborers tii abundance,) to awaken 

 to the ncknowledgeil importance of the cultivation 

 uf hemp. The pecuniary and einbarrasseil con- 

 dition of our once prosperous and happy country 

 demands that the energy, industr}', and iniienuity 

 of every man should be brought into action to im- 

 prove and circulate widely every item of our 

 knowledge of the growth of every arlicle that can 

 bogrown in ourcountry, Ibr consumption orexporf, 

 (that pays well for labor,) that we may as much 

 as poijsible conceal our large importing debis, and 

 stand out boldly against all the reverses of the 

 times. 



The cultivation of hemp, in the counties abova 

 mentioned, should not be second in irnporiance 

 to any. The advantages of soil and climate, our 

 contiguity to the cotton growitig states, give us an 

 advantage over all other hemp growing districts, 

 (Kentucky beinnr the nearest) of 25 per cent, at 

 least — having 250 iniles in aiivanre of the best 

 bagging and rope market in the United Stales, to 

 say Dothing of the comparative low price of our 



