®l)c jTavmcv's ilTontl)!!) llisitor. 



79 



Basiness Condition or the Country. 



We take ihe followinj; flatleriii;; pictilie of tlii> 

 coM(liti(jii ami prospects of busiiiL'ss, fi-uiii the 

 New Vork Express: 



'I'lieic iippiuir lo be no i|iii'sti()iis at home to 

 iiitenu|)l tiie prosperous (•oiidilioii of tlie eomi- 

 tr}, iiiid if our foreign relations terminate har- 

 iMonioiisly all will he well. The ajirictiltural, 

 iiianufactminfr, mercantile ami Dirclianical in- 

 terests aie ill a healthy and sound condition. 

 The favorahle terms on uliicli many articles are 

 admitted into l''ii;;lan(l, in consequence of the 

 > alteration of the tarilT, have already had a very 



j;c)od intkicnco oii Iiade. IMany articles, never 

 hi'lijre sent, have heeii already ship(ied, and cal- 

 cnlalioiis are made for an extensive ex|iort. Our 

 mamifaclnres, particularly of cotton, are more 

 jirosperons than tliey ever have heeii. The sea- 

 son for the sale of domestics, for the Spring', is 

 nearly over, and it is adinilled hy all familiar with 

 trade, that prices have rarely ruled hif^her, and 

 tli;it the stocks left over are very small. All the; 

 cotton fuctorii's are in full operation, w illi as ac- 

 tive a demand for goods as they can supply ; the 

 piolits of a well rc;{ulate<l factory have hcen dn- 

 rini; the past year, full up to 25 per cent., and 

 many others liave laid lip a eonsidciahle surplus 

 lieyond this. .Mthough the sale of goods this 

 Spring has not hcen as large as was anticipated 

 hy many, yet there lias heeii a very fair hnsiness 

 done, and it is generally conceded that the pay 

 has been gooil, helter than an average. Indeed, 

 one of onr largest iii)|)orters of Jirilish goods in- 

 forms us that he has not during the past year lost 

 a dollar hy a had debt, which, to him, in a long 

 course of trade, is unprecedented. 



.Vllhongh Ihe larmers have not obtained great 

 prices, yet on th(^ whole they have not much lo 

 complain of. 'I'he provision market has been 

 high. I5i;ef and I'ork are selling beyond an aver- 

 age price. Cheese, butter and lard cnmrnand 

 good rales. Flour, although selling undei- live 

 liollars, still soils proportionately higher than 

 heretofore. The transportation of a barrel fiom 

 Rnfialo is hut a little over (ifiy cents, and from 

 Detroit about /.5 cents. This is full half a dollar 

 lesu than formerly, and is so much in the pockets 

 of the firmers. The cotton grower is not so well 

 paid as foriTierly, lint still planting is a fair busi- 

 ness. Grain is low, Ijiit not lower than flour and 

 many other articles. Mechanics of all kinds now 

 find full emplu_\ ment in every seclion of the coiiiv- 

 try. There is a great deal of building going on. 



Jntenial improvements are he^'inning to re- 

 ceivu a new impetus ; Railroads are extending in 

 every direction ; employment is given to labor- 

 ers, and \}iin chamiels of transportation are open 

 to give increased facilities to trade. 



Whitewash: It is .vow the season. — There 

 is nothing which so much improves the appear- 

 ance of a house and the premises as painting 

 and while washing the tenement and fences. 

 The fiillowiiig receipt for white washing lias 

 been finmd hy experience, to answer the same on 

 wood, brick and stone, as oil paint, and is much 

 cheaper. 



Receipt. — Take half a bushel of unslaked 

 lime and slake it with hoiiing hot water covering 

 it during the process. Strain it, and add a peck 

 of sail dissolved in warm water, three pounds of 

 ground rice boiled to a thin paste, put in boiling 

 hot, half a pound of powdered Spanish whiting, 

 and a pound of clear glue, dissolved in warm 

 water. Mix, and let it stand for several da^s. 

 Then keep it in u kettle on a portable furnace, 

 and put on as hot as possilile, with a painter's or 

 a white wash bnisb. 



One of the most valuable improvements which 

 we have met for some time, is the "Compound 

 Lever buckle," invented by Henry Lawrence, of 

 Chenango coniily, N. Y. The article is intended 

 chiefly for the use of the trace or tug in harness- 

 es, and is equally applicable to the heaviest or 

 lightest dralt. Its peculiar udvantaces are, that 

 it dispenses with ihe u:^e of the tongue, thus ob- 

 viating the necessity of cutting holes in the trace, 

 and giving lo it grcalir strenglh ami dui-abiliiy. 

 Every one has noticerl that a trace breaks first 

 where the tongue of ihe buckle goes through ; 

 this is owing to the w hole strain of the rliaft 

 coining on hut a small portion of the trace, and 

 to the leather becoming rotten and weakened by 

 Ihe holes letting in wei. Willi this buckle, the 



trace can he taken up or nllered lo any required 

 position, and is instantly fiisiened with the utmost 

 exactness, lo a hair's breadth. It is :in article of 

 great simplicity, neatness and durahilily, and we 

 have no doubt is destined to come into general 

 u.se. The patentee has left one of the buckles at 

 this ofTice, wh(-re it may be seen hy those inter- 

 ested in such iinproveinents. — .llbany Cultivator. 



The Food of IMan. — The Genesee Farmer 

 gives this brief summary of the native countries 

 of our most familiar plants: 



'J'he potaloe is a native of South .America, and 

 is still found wild In Chili, I'l'ru and iMoiite Video. 

 In its native state the root is small and bitter. The 

 first mention of it by European writers is in 1588. 

 ll is now spread over the world. Wheat and rye 

 originated in Tailary and Siberia, where they ari' 

 still indigeiions. The only country where the oat 

 is found wild is in Abyssinia, and thence may be 

 considered a native. Maize or Indian corn, is a 

 native of Alexico, and »as nnknown in Europe 

 until after the discoveries of Columbus. Tlie 

 liread fiuit tree is a native of South Sea islands, 

 particularly Olaheiie. Tea is found a native no 

 where except in China and Japan, from which 

 country the world is supplied. The cocoa nut is 

 a native of most eipdnoclial countries, ami is one 

 of the most valuable trees, as food, clothing and 

 shelter are afhjnlrd by it. Coflee is a native of 

 Arabia Feliv, but is now spread into both the 

 East and West Indies. The best cofli^e is brought 

 fiom Mocha, in Arabia, whence about fourteen 

 millions of pounds are annually exported. St. 

 Domingo furni:<lies from sixty to seventy millions 

 of pounds yearly. All the varieties of the appb; 

 are derived from the crab apple, vvbich is finmd 

 native in most pans of the world. 



The |)each is derived from I'ersia, where it still 

 grows in a native state, small, bitter, and with 

 poisonous qualities. Tobacco is a native of Mex- 

 ico and South America, and lately one species 

 has been Ibimd in New Holland. Tobacco was 

 first intrfiilnced into En;.'land from North Caro- 

 lina, in liib'G, by Waller Raleigh. Asparagus was 

 brought from Asia ; cabbage and lelluce from 

 Holland; horse radish from China; rice from 

 Ethiopia, beans from the East Indies ; onions and 

 garlics are natives of various places both in Asia 

 and Africa. The sn;;ar cane is a native of Cliiiui, 

 and the art of makinjisusar from it. 



were obliged to import English butchers to 

 pack our pork before their counlryineii would 

 buy it. 



The cost of tanning is of course ninch inoro 

 in England than here. The great length of time, 

 the additional labor, anil ihe'bigli cost of hark, 

 recpiires a great price for the leather. Sole 

 leather is usually from 153 lo 40 cents per pound. 



The hark costs from $35 to iSGO per loii, and is 

 brought in a ground state from ihe liahic and the 

 iMediieiraucan, as well as from her own forests. 

 Hemlock lanned, or red leather, is unknovMi in 

 England. — Danvers Courier. 



Maple Sugar. — The Vermont Mercury says" 

 — '• Vermont has doubtless made this year many 

 more tons of maple sugar than will suflice for 

 the wauls of her population, and so long as good 

 maple sugar can l)o obtained at prices varying 

 from six to eight cents a pound, few will he 

 found who will not prefer their own home-manu- 

 factured article, to paying the inices now asked 

 for Southern siiirar." 



English Leather. — The prospect of the ad- 

 mission of foreign leather into the ports of Great 

 ISritain, has led lo some curiosity among tanners 

 here to know iheir mode of mannfaciiiriii'', cost. 



Sole leather in England is always tanned with 

 o:d< bark, and always in cold liquors. The hides 

 are much more carefully worked and cleansed 

 there than by our tanners. They are never 

 sweated to remove ibe hair, hut limed cari.'fully 

 and drenched low, every care being taken to work 

 out all impurities and make a clean and haudsome 

 grain. It is inncli more thoroughly tanned than 

 onr leather, requiring from a year and a half lo 

 four ye;irs to fit it for market. 



In tanning upper leather still more care is used, 

 and every eirorl made to produce a clear and even 

 grain. Not only oak bark but the bark of the 

 Scotch Larch, Sumac and Valerian are much 

 used to give a handsome .color to tlie hide or 

 skin. Leal her, either up[ier or sole, as we make, 

 ii, would find no sale in England. Tliere sole 

 leather is so well and thoroughly filled w itb hark 

 thai it is nearly inijiervions to wali;r, while ours 

 will absorb it like a sponge. Onr leather is be- 

 lieved to be more durable than theirs, but not so 

 useful while it lasis. Even if it is as good in all 

 respectSjit would have to encounter the prejudice 

 of John Bull against every thing be does not 

 make himself If IJioilier Jonathan is to supply 

 John wiib shoe leallier, he must make it in the 

 English mode. W^e iniisl have English tanners 

 to learn lis the art as there practised, just as we 



Ex|)orts of 1842— Cotton, 

 " " Tobacco, 



The following table will show the principal 

 sources of our wealth : — 



$47,593,474 

 0,540,755 

 " Rice, 1,<J07.387 



" " Flour, 7,375,356 



" " I'ork, Hogs, Lard,&c.,2,CaD,4n3 



" " r,eei;Callle,llides,&c. i.21->,(i38 



" " I'.iilter and Cheese, 388,185 



« " Skins and Fur.s, 598,487 



" " Fish. 730,106 



" " Lumb.M-, 3,';i30,003 



" " Maii'fac'rsofall kinds, 8,410,(iU4 



It will be seen from this table, that nine-tenths 

 of our export trade is drawn from the soil, the 

 fore^t and ihe sea; and that the wealth of the 

 United Stales is principally derived (iom these 

 sources. In a natnr.d statu of our foreign trade, 

 or in the absence of commercial restrictions, we 

 would for years to come, perhaps fiir centuries, 

 conlinue to produce a surplus of agriciilinral 

 producLs, or we would continue to draw from the 

 forest, the soil and the ocean, to an extent fiir be- 

 yond onr consumption, and exchange with for- 

 eigners for such artich'S that we could not grow 

 or make as they could. Such a state of trade 

 would not he the least inimical lo the establish- 

 ment of such manufacliires as the condition of 

 our country, or li.e genius of our people would 

 justify; and they would spring up, fiom lime to 

 time, as the country became .seiiled and the pop- 

 ulation full. No inielligcnt man could doubt that 

 such would he the r<\-ult, if trade was free r.nd a 

 sound currency provided. 



But an op|)osite policy has hcen advocated by 

 a p irlion of our people — a prdicy, that if carried 

 out in this infant state of our country, "ill cause 

 our fields that are now culliv^itcd and smile with 

 the labor of the husbandman, to become forests, 

 and ouragriciiltnralists to become mannliiclurers; 

 and will, as surely as the sun will rise lo morrow, 

 bring upon onr now comparatively happy people, 

 Ihe (qipression, the vices, and llie |iovi'ity of the 

 laboring classes of maimfacluring Euf^land. This 

 policy is n home mnri.et for our agricnlluralisfs, and 

 lite mnrl-el nf tlie world for our mamtfocturcrs. — .'\'. 

 Y. Plebeian. 



Gypsum for Stables. — The London .Agricul- 

 tural Gazette says: "In our concern, where we 

 have a great number of horses, we use gypsum 

 in our stables, strewiuL' it on the floor, which ar- 

 rests the ammonia as it is fio'ined, and thereby 

 not only hel|is to preserve a most valuable fer- 

 tilizer, but also renders the stable much more 

 wholesome for the horses. If, in the hot stables 

 that are sometimes inet withal inns, where the 

 air is so charged with ammoniacal vapors, that 

 when you enter your eyes are affected, a little 

 gypsum were strewed on the floor every day, all 

 that ofTensive smell wouhl be done away, and 

 the stable be much more healthy for ilg inhabi- 

 tants." 



x\ IMassachcsktts Tow.x. — We are informed 

 by one of our enterprising merchants, that the 

 firm with which he is connected, trans(iorled to 

 Boston and nnikited, during last fall and winier 

 more than five hundred tons of pork, butter and 

 cheese; and that the average annual amount of 

 llieso three articles sent from this place to Iho 

 Boston market would not faM much short of six- 

 teen hundred tons; and ihat thi; amnnnt of mer- 

 chamlise purchased and disposed of annually by 

 our merchanls is Uiore than one hundred and 

 iwenly-five thousand dollars. Let it not be sup- 

 posed that in the abcjve place agricullure alone 

 comprises the whole or the principal business 

 of the population. The products of the loom 

 and Ihe woj-k-shop, in this jilac-e, largely exceed 

 the agriculturiil, and furnish an amount of trans- 



