00 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June, 1845 



On a sniall part of the field, five bushels of arti- 

 ficial gypsum, from the ivoiy-black factory, were ap- 

 plied. If post^ible, the rye is worse than on the 

 limed part. 



Eight years ago, a load of yard manure vvaa drop- 

 ped in a heap on the ])oorer part of the limed field, 

 and alterwards carefully scraped up and carted away. 

 On this spot the rye is fully equal, if not superior to 

 that receiving the bone, being of a richer green. 



The lime and bone dust were harrowed in. The 

 time of sowing the soil, and every circumstance, 

 were such as to make the experiment a fair one. — 

 JV. Y, Farmer aud Mechanic. 



CANAL STATISTICS. 



We compile the following abstract of canal sta- 

 tistics from the late annual report of the Canal 

 Commissioners to the Legislature. The facts there- 

 m stated will be found very interesting : 



" It will be seen that there is an increase in the 

 tolls compared with 1843, of $364,784. Of this in- 

 crease, ^237,92], or 65 per cent, is on descending, 

 and $126,863, or 35 per cent., is on ascending 

 freight. 



'' The total tonnage of all the property trans- 

 ported on the canals, ascending and descending, its 

 value, and the amount of tolls collected for the five 

 years preceding, is as follows — viz. : 



Year. Tons. Value. ToVi. 



1840 1,410,046 $66,3(13,89-2 $1,775,747 



1841 l,.'')2l,66l 92,202,929 2,034,8f2 



1842 1,230,931 60,016,608 1,749,190 



1843 1,513,439 70,276,909 2,081,090 



1S44 1,816,586 92,750,874 2,440,374 



" The total tons coming to tide water, for each of 

 the last five years, and the aggregate value thereof 

 in market, was as follows — viz . : 



Year Tuns. Value. 



1840 009,012 $23,213,573 



1841 774.334 27,225,322 



1842 060,020 22,751,013 



1843 836,861 28,4."i3,408 



1844 1,019,094 34,183,107 



"The whole quantity of wheat and flour which 

 came to the Hudson river from 1840 to 1844, inclu- 

 sive, with the aggregate market value of the same, 

 and the amount of tolls received on all the wheat 

 and flour transported on the canals in each year, 

 from 1840 to 1844 inclusive, is as follows : 



Year Tons. Value. Tolls. 



1840 244.802 $U),302,S02 $700,071 



1841 20:,300 10,165,355 621.040 



1842 in8.231 9,284,778 600,727 



1843 248,780 10,283,455 731.810 



1844 277,805 11,211,077 610,711 



" The tons of wheat and flour shipped at Bufllilo, 

 Black Rock, and Oswego, from the year 1840 to 

 1844 inclusive, and the total tons of wheat and flour 

 which arrived at the Hudson river, were as follow 

 — viz. : 



Year. Buffalo. Ji. Rock. Osicego. Total. To. tons ar. 



Tons. Tons. Tons. at tiae ua'r. 



1840.... 9.5,.573 12,825 15,075 123,473 244,802 



1841.... 100,271 21,843 16.077 147,791 201,360 



1842.. ..107,522 13,0.35 14.338 1.34,895 19H,231 



1843.. ..146,126 12,882 25 8.58 184,800 2-IS,780 



J 844.... 145,510 15,600 42,293 203,472 277, b03 



"The per cent, of the tons of each class of prop- 

 erty which came from each canal, in the last five 

 years, is as follows — viz.: 



Champlain. Erie. Both. 



Prorliic's of llir rorest 89.96 44.02 58.20 



Dillo .if ngriculiiiro 2.91 47. 1 33.40 



Mnnufartnr.s 1.39 2.40 2.11 



Mt'rchan.lUe 02 .10 .07 



Other article* 5.72 6 37 6.16 



100.00 lOO.OO 100J)0 



WHAT SHOULD PAREiNTS DO WITH 

 THEIR BOYS 1 



Many parents have sons whom, when they arrive 

 at years of discretion, they are uncertain what to do 

 with. For instance, a respectable mechanic has a 

 good, stout, heart}', and wcll-dispoeed son, whom he 

 wishes to bring up respectably. If he is in easy cir- 

 cumstances, he somehow or other seems to think 

 that his son must be brought up to some higher busi- 

 ness than a mechanic. He therefoie co eludes that 

 he must send him to college, and make him a lawyer, 

 a doctor, or a clergyman, and the honest, well-mean- 

 ing parent labors hard to earn money to pay the ex- 

 penses of a collegiate education for the purpose of 

 making him respectable — to make him take a higher 

 rank in the world than that of a mere mechanic. 

 Here is a great mistake. When the boy leaves 

 college, what is he to do ? He is then just qualified 

 for nothing. He turns pedagogue for a while. He 

 beats learning into the youthful progeny. But ftw, 

 very few, think of pursuing the business of a school- 

 master as a permanent profession. Afler continuing 

 it for a year or two, he quits it, and commences the 

 study of one of the learned professions. Here are 

 three or four years spent in preparing to become a 

 professional njan, and at additional expense to his fa- 

 ther. He at last is admitted to the bar, or receives 

 a degree of M.D., or is licensed to preach. The 

 next thing is to get a living by the profession he has 

 chosen, and this is not so easy a matter. All the 

 learned professions are full to overflowing, and there 

 seems to be no room for new beginners. The con- 

 sequence is, that the young aspirant drags along 

 without getting business enough to pay the rent of 

 an office. Year after year he toils, or would toil, if 

 he had any thing to do, without making half enough 

 to pay his own expenses. To be sure, there are 

 some whose superior intellect and commanding ta- 

 lents will enable them to rise at once to eminence, 

 and to command a business which will render them 

 independent ; but these cases are few and far be- 

 tween. 



When such do occur, the superiority of mental 

 power will shine out beforehand, and should be fos- 

 tered. But the propensity which some mechanics 

 have of bringing their sons up at college, to make, 

 them more respectable, we think to be a great error. 

 It is injuring his son more than benefiting him, un- 

 less some extraordinary mental energy displays it- 

 self in the youth. He goes through college, and 

 thence 



Procreding soon, a grnduated dunce, 



he is just fitted for — what ? He has spent the best 

 part of his youthful days in qualifying himself for a 

 profession, from which lie cannot gain a living, or at 

 least but a very scanty one. 



In our humble opinion, as the professions now are, 

 we should say to mechanics, and indeed to profes- 

 sional men in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred — 

 Give your sons a good education, and then put them 

 as apprentices to some respectable business. They 

 will then, as soon as their time of apprenticeship is 

 expired, be independent, capable of earning an hon- 

 est living at once. The profession of a mechanic io 

 daily becoming more and more respectable, thanks 

 to the good sense and good judgment of the present 

 age ; and it can no longer be thrown out as a mark 

 of reproach, " You are a mechanic." It is, on the 

 contrary, an honor. 



As the question has been recently discussed 



