1339] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



373 



DECLINK OF SOUTHERN COMMERCE. 



From the Journal of Commerce. 



The report ofa committee of tho- Southern Con- 

 vention, which was lield last April, in Charle.=!ton, 

 lurnishes the followiiio: table, showing the compa- 

 rative progre.?s of commerce at the north and 

 south : — 



"The statistics of" the United Stales enable us to 

 present the followinii: statements exhibiting at. one 

 view the rise, progress, and decay of southern 

 commerce. They arc extracted Horn one of the 

 documents formerly published by this convention, 

 and show that the time was, when the people of 

 the south were the largest importers in the country. 



"In 1709, the value of the imports of the several 

 colonies was as follows : — 



Of Virginia, - - - £851,140 sterling 

 New England stales 561,000 do. 



New Yor1<, - - - 189,000 do. 

 Pennsylvania, - - 400,000 do. 

 South "Carolina, - - 555,000 do. 



"The exports were in about the same proportion: 

 Virginia exporting nearly four times as much as 

 New York ; and South Carolina nearly twice as 

 much as New York and Pennsylvania together ; 

 and five times as much as all the New England 

 states united. 



"The same relative proportion of imports is pre- 

 served until the adoption of the federal constitution, 

 when we find them to be in the year 1791 as Ibl- 

 iows : 



"Of New York, - - - ^3,222,000 

 Virginia, - . - - 2,486,000 

 South Carolina, - - - 1,520,000 



"There are no data to show the imports into the 

 several states from the year 1791 to 1820; but the 

 general fact may be assumed, that the import trade 

 of New York and other northern states has been 

 constantly progressing, while that of Virginia and 

 South Carolina has as regularly diminished. From 

 1821 to the present time, we have sufficient data, 

 and they exhibit the following as the state of the 

 import trade : 



New York. Virginia. S. Carolina. 



1821 S 23,000,000 fi' 1,078,000 8 3,000,000 



1822 35,000,000 864,000 2,000,000 



1823 29,000,000 681,000 2,000,000 



1824 36,000,000 639,000 2,400,000 



1825 49,000,000 553,000 2,150,000 

 1827 39,000,000 431,000 1.800,000 

 1829 43,000,000 375,000 1.240,000 

 1832 57,000,000 550,000 1,213,000 



"Thus, the import trade of New York has grad- 

 ually increased from £189,000 sterling, about 

 §^840 000, in the year 1769, and from about three 

 millions of dollars in 1791, to the enormous sum in 

 1832, of fifiy-sevcn millions of dollars ! While 

 Virginia has liillen off in her import trade, from 

 two and a hall millions of dollars, in 1791, to !i375,- 

 000 in 1829, and .-£;550,000 in 1832, not a great 

 deal more than the freight of half a dozen ships ! 



"From these calculations, a few curious facts ap- 

 pear. The imports of New York were, in 1832, 

 seventy times as great as they were in 1760, and 

 nearly twenty times more than they u-ere in 1791. 

 Virginia, on the other (kand, imported, in 1829, 

 about one-eleventh of what she did in 1769, and 

 about one-seventh of what she did in 1791. In 

 a period, too, of eight years, the aggregate imports 

 of New York amounted to three himdred and ele- 



ven millions of dollars ; those of South Carolina to 

 about sixit>en millions, and those of Virginia to 

 about five millions ! New York imported, there- 

 lore, in 1832, eleven times as much as Virginia did 

 in eight years preceding, and nearly four times as 

 mucFi asSouth Carolina did in eight years prece- 

 ding. Again, New York imported in one year 

 (1832) ne'tirly fifty times as much as South Caro- 

 lina in the same year, and about 110 times as 

 much as Vircrinia." 



REMARKS ON THE VEGETABLE KINGDO^r. 



Delivered before the Cumberland Jlgricultural So- 

 ciety, xlpril I2{h, 1839. 



By William B. Smith, M. D. 



fCommunicated for publication in the Farmers' Rcgi>ter.J 



I propose making some general remarks on the 

 vegetable kingdom, and will give an outline or 

 synopsis of botany, stripped of its cabalistical 

 covering. I shall do this in "simplicity and truth,'' 

 endeavoring to comprise much in a short compass; 

 and hope to be comprehensive without being con- 

 sidered technical. 



First, I shall give a short history of plants; 

 secondly, vegetable physiology ; thirdly, the anal- 

 ogy between plants and animals; and Iburlhl}-, 

 conclude with remarks on the fossil remains of 

 vegetables. 



77ie seeds. — The seeds of plants are of sexual 

 origin, and in many respects correspond with ihe 

 eggs of animals ; they are umbilically attached to 

 the parent, and when ripe, drop in a dormant state, 

 and; under favorable circumstances, remain ibr a 

 length of time, uninjured. They contain a vital 

 principle or embryo, and, when lully developed, are 

 an exact likeness of the parent. Seeds have one 

 or more coverings for the purpose of giving them 

 form and preservation, until the time arrives for 

 germination. They are wonderfully made, and 

 contain more mystery than has been explained l)y 

 the wisest philosopher that ever lived. An acorn 

 IS said to contain in its little shell, the rudiments of 

 every member of the largest oak. If this opinion 

 be correct, a germ is not a unit, but contains in its 

 compass a plurality or multiplicity of its kind, vviih 

 reproductive or procreative powers ; and maj' be 

 considered multiparous, capable of bringing lorth 

 many at a birth. An acorn, therefore, contains the 

 rudiments of many thousand young buds; some 

 of which require ages lor their fijll developemcnt. 

 The oak attains the age of one thousand years ; 

 duiing this period it is annually bringing into being 

 young trees. Every bud is a distinct tree, and 

 when evolved, will be like the parent. In a stalk of 

 corn, each o(F-set may be considered a mulliparous 

 shoot, producing i's like; and, with a few exceptions, 

 tiiis is the case with regard to ihe whole vegetable 

 race. We observe in seeds, a living principle, in 

 a minute organic germ, capable of wonderful de- 

 velopement. When seeds are placed in the soil, 

 liaving a due [)orlion of heat and moisture, they 

 swell, become soft and mucilaginous, are enlarged, 

 and in a short time, burst asunder their mem- 

 branes ; the little root is seen descending in the 

 earth, in search of humid, gaseous, elemental 



