28 WESTERN CANAL. 



and it took in going and returning, three days, a I 

 $2 per day; in the aggregate, §9; while by land 

 it would have employed 40 wagons two days, 

 which at §2 per day, would have cost §160. 



I am of opinion that the salt of Salina can be 

 sold at Albany, when the canal is finished, for 31 

 cents a bushel. At Salina it can be purchased for 

 25 cents a bushel, and the expense of conveyance 

 will not exceed six cents. The principal cost now 

 is the barrel, but when conveyed in bulk, this will 

 of course be done away. I saw a salt boat build- 

 ing near Syracuse, which was intended to convey 

 1600 bushels in bulk. 



In like manner gypsum can be got at Utica for 

 %2 a ton, and delivered at Albany for $1 J or $2 

 more. This source of fertilization will be diffused 

 through this channel over the whole state. I have 

 much to say on this subject, and I am now con- 

 sidering whether it will be best to prepare it by 

 calcination or grinding before transportation, or 

 transport the raw material. Suppose that 100,000 

 farmers should each save twenty dollars a year in 

 gypsum, and ten dollars in salt, by means of the 

 canal, here would be an annual saving of three 

 millions of dollars, a sum more than sufficient in 

 two years to make the whole canal. And this is 

 a very moderate calculation. Salt is essential to 

 the health of cattle, and the consumption of this 



