508 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



nating on the Roanoke, about fifteen miles above, 

 the first, (at a point recently honored with the 

 name of Gaston,) avoiding the great falls of the 

 river between that place and Blakely, and con- 

 necting with the Petersburg road near the village 

 of Hick's Ford, is now in active progress, and 

 will be completed during the ensuing year. 



From Gaston the line of rail roads can be con- 

 tinued on the great mail route to Raleigh, and 

 thence south, to Col.unbia, and west, into the in- 

 terior of North Carolina, il the legislature of that 

 etate will foster such undertakings. 



Retracing our steps to Petersburg, we find a 

 a rail road about to be constructed from thence to 

 Richmond, 20 miles; of the successful and speedy 

 prosecution of which, there, is no doubt. 



From Richmond a great work is now in rapid 

 progress, extending north through Fredericksburg 

 1o the Potomac 70 miles, and thus completing an 

 entire line from north to south through the state of 

 Virginia. A branch from this road westwardly is 

 projected to Taylorsville and Charlottesville — 

 through a rich and fertile country. 



The stocks of the Petersburg, Greensville and 

 Potomac roads all command a premium, and that 

 from Richmond to Petersburg will be readily ta- 

 ken so soon as the charter shall be obtained. 



Turning our view west, we find the Winches- 

 ter and Potomac Rail Road, of about 35 miles 

 nearly completed, and an extension from Winches- 

 ter to Staunton (say 90 miles,) about to be com- 

 menced. A reference to the map will show that 

 these will form an uninterrupted communication 

 from the latter place to Baltimore. 



Among the works now contemplated, are a con- 

 tinuation of rail road from the several points of 

 termination already mentioned on the Ronnoke, 

 by Milton and Danville to Evansham in Wythe 

 county — thence, as a matter of course, to the line 

 of Tennessee. A rival to this is projected from 

 Lynchburg to Evansham, Abingdon, &c. Both 

 are splendid projects, and either of them would 

 form an extended arm toward a connection with 

 Nashville, Mobile and New Orleans. 



Last, but greatest in extent, is the work now 

 commenced by a canal and rail road from Rich- 

 mond by Lynchburjj to the navigable waters of 

 the Kanawha and Ohio — an undertaking, toward 

 which, the commonwealth has engaged to con- 

 tribute its million, and which, when completed, 

 will be second to none in the union. 



R. R. 



EXTRACTS OF PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



[Though in this puffing age — when editors of pe- 

 riodicals not only accept and repeat, but beg, buy, ex- 

 change, and manufacture the most fulsome and dis- 

 gusting puffs of their works and of themselves — when 

 the most exorbitant of the trade bring together, and re- 

 publish regularly, all the puffs that they have procured 

 by these various means — still, as holding in deserved 

 contempt these acts of meanness and fraud, we may 

 need the indulgence and pardon of our readers for ex- 

 hibiting such extracts as some of the following, howe- 

 ver different may be the motives which have actuated 

 their writers, from those who make and publish puffs as 

 a part of the regular pecuniary business of publication. 

 But besides the vast difference of persons, and of mo- 

 tives, there is a general remark applicable to these ex- 



tracts from the private letters of our correspondents 

 which serves to qualify their expressions, and to ex- 

 cuse their being here introduced. The writers of these 

 pieces (and of many others which we have suppress- 

 ed, because conveying nothing but mere applause,) 

 seem to personify the Farmers' Register, and to address 

 to its editor the testimony of approbation which all its 

 contributors have a right to share, and of which but 

 a small portion belongs to us individually. This gen- 

 eral correction, or substitution of names, being un- 

 derstood, it may be permitted to publish expressions of 

 approbation, which, on account of the sources from 

 which some of them proceed, deserve to be highly 

 prized by every contributor who has added something 

 to the reputation and usefulness of the Farmers' Re- 

 gister.] 



Halifax, Va., 



I cannot permit this opportunity to pass without 

 expressing to you the pleasure and profit which I 

 continue to derive from your labors. I was at 

 first fearful that the subject would be exhausted in 

 six or eight months, but it appears to expand in 

 your hands, and I now verily believe, that, if 

 you reach the age of four score, and continue di- 

 ligent, you will hardly be able to correct all the 

 abuses and ignorances which beset the noble sci- 

 ence of agriculture. You have called forth a spirit 

 of improvement in the Old Dominion; you have 

 infused life into a dead body, and should you now 

 drop your pen and sleep — you will pardon me 

 lor saying, that I know of no man who even then 

 could say, that "/ have done more service to 

 the state." * * * * 



In this section of the state our system of tillage 

 is not quite so barbarous as it once was, but still it 

 is wretched. The spirit ol emigration here is en- 

 tirely at war with the spirit of improvement. 

 Men constantly say, "Why improve? I am going 

 in a short time to the west." Others again, "My 

 land will support me as long as I live, and my 

 children will, as soon as they are of age, go out." 

 Now if men would wish to improve, and would 

 seek for information, there would be some hopes 

 of the country; but when they flatly tell you they 

 care nothing for it — what can be done? Argu- 

 ment and exhortation are thrown away, and one 

 is almost tempted to despair of the Old Dominion. 

 If any thing can be done to dispel this frightful 

 lethargy — you are the man to do it. Go on, sir, 

 and do you at least not despair: for so soon as you 

 give the cry of retreat "sauve qui peut" there 

 will be a general rush to the "land of milk and 

 honey," and your humble servant among the rest. 

 Persuade every body to live in this country, and to 

 make the country worth living in. May you suc- 

 ceed. 



Westmoreland, Va., 



I cannot refrain from expressing the great plea- 

 sure I have already received from the perusal of 

 the 1st Vol. of your paper, and I feel satisfied if 

 its circulation could be more widely extended in 

 our Northern Neck, that in a few years our sec- 

 tion of country would wear a very different aspect, 

 and our lands, instead of being a "drug in the 

 market," would assume a value equal, if not su- 

 perior, to any in the state. It will no doubt be 

 gratifying to you to learn that since your periodical 



