90 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2- 



be rendered delicate by excess of care. A racing 

 colt is sometimes stabled; but one that is destined 

 to be a hunter, a hackney, or an agricultural 

 horse, should merely have a square rick, under 

 the leeward side of which he may shelter himself, 

 or a hovel, into which he may run at night, or out 

 of the rain. The process of breaking-in should 

 commence from the very period of weaning. The 

 foal should be daily handled, partially dressed, ac- 

 customed to the halter, led about, and even tied 

 up. The tractability, and good temper, and value 

 of the horse, depend a great deal more upon this 

 than breeders are aware: this should be done as 

 much as possible by the man by whom they are 

 led, and whose management of them should be 

 always kind and gentle. There is no fault lor 

 which a breeder should so invariably discharge 

 his servant as cruelty, or even harshness, towards 

 the rising stock; for the principle on which their 

 after usefulness is founded, is early attachment to, 

 and confidence in man, and obedience, implicit 

 obedience, resulting principally from these. 



From the National Intelligencer. 



SUBMARINE ARCHITECTURE ALEXANDRIA 



AQUEDUCT. 



We have never had an opportunity of inspect- 

 ing a more remarkable triumph of art than the op- 

 eration of building mass}' stone piers in the bed 

 of the River Potomac, nowgoingon near George- 

 town, at the expense of the Alexandria Canal 

 Company, under the direction of Capt. Tumbull, 

 of the U. S. Topographical Engineers. We yes- 

 terday paid a visit to the work, and found it to sur- 

 pass our previous conception of it, as well in re- 

 gard to the magnitude of the enterprise, as to the 

 ingenuity with which very formidable obstacles 

 have been overcome. These piers, the reader 

 must understand, are to support an aqueduct, or 

 canal, being a branch of the Chesapeake and 

 Ohio Canal, which is to cross the river in this 

 manner on its way to Alexandria. It is truly a 

 stupendous undertaking, with no parallel in this 

 country, and, we believe, scarcely equalled in any 

 other. The pier which is begun is the second 

 from the Alexandria (or Virginia) shore; the first 

 being the next to be built. The foundation of this 

 pier is on the bare rock, and the structure is of so- 

 lid masonry, formed of very large blocks of excel- 

 lent stone from the falls 1 quarries, skilfully laid in 

 water cement. To accomplish the object, a vast 

 coffer dam has been constructed, the interior of 

 which is about eighty feet long and nearly thirty 

 wide. The depth of water to be shut out by this 

 dam is 18 feet, and the depth of mud below that 

 depth of water, which mud it was necessary also 

 to remove, was more than 17 feet; so that the 

 building was begun at a depth of thirty seven feet 

 below the surface of the water. Notwithstand- 

 ing which, so successful had been the prepara- 

 tions for resisting the vast external pressure of 

 water, that the rocky bottom was laid bare the 

 whole extent of the area, enclosed and even swept 

 clean and dry with brooms, before the cement 

 was applied, in which, a few days ago, the first 

 course of stone was laid. The length of the pier 

 now building is, at the base, sixty-six feet, run- 

 ning in its length with the current and the tide; its 

 precise breadth we do not remember, but it must 

 be something over 15 feet. The mason work of 



the pier is going on rapidly and successfully. It 

 had yesterday reached above 10 feet in height 

 from the bottom. The whole number of these 

 piers (some of them even larger than this) is to 

 be eight, besides the end piers or abutments, and 

 upon these the canal is to be carried, at an eleva- 

 tion of thirty leet above the level of the river. 



We have given this sketch of a very remarka- 

 ble work, in our immediate vicinity, first, because 

 it is remarkable; secondly, to express our admira- 

 tion of the spirit of the town of Alexandria in per- 

 severing in this undertaking of her's in defiance of 

 all obstacles; and thirdly, that we may give the 

 credit due to the accomplished engineer, who had 

 labored so untiringly in carrying on this operation, 

 and has now the gratification of rejoicing in its 

 success. He is ably assisted in this duty at present 

 by Lieut Ewing of the artillery, now on Topo- 

 graphical duty. 



[The following letters, though treating on several 

 different subjects, are all in some degree connected 

 with each other, and with two others which have been 

 already published — one "On the cultivation of corn 

 mixed with other crops," at page 634 of Vol. II, and 

 the other in last No. page 62, "On making rice on 

 dry lands," These and the previous statements of the 

 profitable application of so much labor and care for the 

 purpose of making manure and improving the soil, 

 are the more deserving of attention, because proceed- 

 ing from the rich and new lands of Alabama, where 

 (as in all similar situations,) it is generally held to be 

 useless to expend any labor, either to increase or pre- 

 serve fertility — or for any other purpose indeed, ex- 

 cept to make as heavy a crop as possible in the cur- 

 rent year, without regard to future consequences.] 



For the Farmers' Register. 



RICE BREAD — ON CORN MIXED WITH OTHER 

 CROPS, CONTINUED. 



Discovering from your letter of the 15th Febru- 

 ary, that cultivating rice on dry land was new to 

 you, I have thought that one of the ways in which 

 we use it, may be so equally. This mode of pre- 

 paring it, grows with us out of the circumstance 

 of raising it ourselves, with much ease, and hav- 

 ing it in plenty. This grain is made to add to our 

 bread stulls, and is found a most superior addition. 

 It is sent to the mill in its rough state, ground as 

 wheat, and bolted, or returned to be passed, as 

 corn meal, through the fine [sieve. The flour is 

 put through the usual process of making wheat 

 bread, and made into loaves, in the form of what 

 is termed "family bread.' 1 '' When baked, it is as 

 light and spongy as a fine muffin — and when ac- 

 companied by good butter, cannot be surpassed, in 

 my opinion, by any preparation of the bread kind. 

 Like the corn, it requires to be used in a warm 

 state. When cold, it becomes unfit for use total- 

 ly. But here again, domestic economy has con- 

 trived a valuable appropriation of what becomes 

 cold, or is left after meals. Thrown into a pot 

 with clean water the next day, it dissolves as soon 

 as the water arrives at the boiling point, and if a 

 fat fowl is added, makes, with the usual additional 

 items, a superb soup. The absolutely necessary 

 point in the fabrication of this bread is to have it 

 light. This the Indians effect, who make it well, 



