60 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 



this snbjeet made 4!li March last, by order of Con- 

 gress, is a document oj'much value and ini|)or!ance, 

 and contains a variety of tables relating to the 

 growth and inanufiicture of cotton in all parls of 

 the world. The first export of cotton /i-om the Uni- 

 ted Slates, appears to have been in 1785, 5 bags, 

 aud in 1786, G bags. As late as 1794, Mr Jay, 

 when making a treaty with England was not 

 aware that any cotton was exported from the 

 United States. From that time to tlie present, the 

 culture lias increased, until our crops are now 

 over 1,300,000 bales a year. 



From tills report it also appears that the import 

 of cotton goods from India to England has ceased, 

 and that the export of them ti-om England has 

 mcreased wilh astonishing nipidiiy. 



When the East India Company's monopoly of 

 all the trade of India ceased in 1815, tlie first pri- 

 vate merchant ship that sailed iiom England lor 

 India, was the ship John Gladstone, belonging 

 to Mr. John Gladstone ol'Liverpool. This event 

 was mnch spoken of in the papers at that time, as 

 opening a new era in commerce. It now ajipears 

 that the export of cotton goods alone, from Eng- 

 land to India, is over ten millions of dollars annual- 

 ly, being more than their export of cotton goods to 

 the United States, which is about eight millions of 

 dollars. But now thatthe East India Company's 

 monopoly was last year put an end to in China, as 

 well as in India, a vastly greater field is open in 

 that quarter for English cotton goods, which will in 

 consequence, increase in an equal ratio the con- 

 sumption of American cotton in England, quite as 

 fast as we are able to increase our supj;lies. 



From Low's Elements of AgiiciiUure. 

 MILLET. 



Under the term millet are comprehended certain 

 plants of different genera which are cultivated for 

 their seeds: — 



1. Panicum miliaceum — Common Millet. 



2. Setaria italica — Italian Setaria. 



3. Setaria germ anica— Gorman Setaria. 



4. Sorghum vulgar — Indian Millet. 



Common millet grows several feet high, and is 

 terminated by a large branched panicle haniringto 

 one side. It is very prolific in seeds. These are 

 small and smooth ; in some sorts brown, and in 

 others yellow. The phmt is cultivated extensively 

 in Russia, in Italy, and Germany. Its seeds, being 

 divested of their outer covering, are used in tfie 

 manner of rice, and furnish a nourishing and grate- 

 ful food. They are also made into bread, which, 

 however, is not esteemed. They are used for the 

 feeding of domestic fowls, for which they are well 

 suited. The straw produced is bulky and valued 

 for provender. 



The cultivation ofconunon millet is not practised 

 in this country. It is not wilh us a part of the food 

 of the people, while with respect to the feeding of 

 domestic fowls, we have so many resources intlie 

 waste of our cereal grains, that there is scarcely 

 need of cultivating any jilant expressly for the pur- 

 pose. But more than this, millet is not well suit- 

 ed to the colder parts of Europe, and supplies of it 

 can be obtained in unlimited abundance from the 

 shores ofthe Mediterranean. 



The Italian setaria, cultivated in the south of Eu- 

 rope, is only known to us in this country as a plant 



of the garden. It is too delicate for the northern 

 parls ol" Europe; for even about Bordeaux it is a 

 precarious crop, sutlering frequently lixmi the ef- 

 iects of ii'ost. 



German setaria is cultivated in Hungary in fer- 

 tile subhumid soils. It is used in its green state, or 

 as dried ladder for horses and oxen. 



The Indian millet furnishes bread to the Ara- 

 bians and other [leople ofthe East. The flour is 

 known to the Arabs under the name of dourra ; 

 and it is truly the bread-corn of Africa, being 

 grown over all the parts of that vast continent. It. 

 is cuhivated likewise in Italy and the south of 

 Germany; and it was long ago introduced into 

 Spain, it may be supposed by the Moors, if not at 

 an earlier period still by the Carthaginians. It 

 has been introduced also into the islands of the 

 West Indies under the name of Guinea corn and 

 into the Southern United Stales of America. 



This fine plant gpws with a strong reedy stem 

 with broad leaves like those of the maize, but 

 smaller, and producing a large panicle. Its seeds 

 are smooth and roundish, resembling those of the 

 common millet, but larger. They are ground into 

 flour, but the l)read made of it is dark m colour and 

 coarse. In Europe the grain is chiefly used for 

 feeding domestic fowls and pigeons, for which it is 

 well suited. 



This plant is the native of a warmer country 

 and demands amoreijenial clinuitelhan we possess. 

 With us it will scarcely even ripen its seeds, and 

 frequently not even expand its flowers. Other 

 species of Sorghum are likewise cultivated, but the 

 same remark applies with more or less force to them 

 all. 



COMMEKCIAL REPORT. 



The active business which was done in domes- 

 tic produce previous to the present month, has not 

 continued, and the prices of the most important ar- 

 ticles have declined, though they still continue 

 high enough amply to repay the labor of producing 

 them. 



The price of tobacco has fallen ^1 to-Sl 50 per 

 cwt., and sales range from 5 to .f 10, not including 

 fancy qualities. Accounts from the European 

 markets are generally unfavorable, and the season 

 for shipment has not arrived. Cotton has also de- 

 clined about a ceni, and may be quoted 15.| to 

 17^ cents, (in Petersburg,) with httle disposition 

 evinced on the part either of buyers or sellers to 

 let the article change hands. The advices from 

 Europe are favorable, but prices in this country 

 had anticipated more than all (he advance that 

 has yet taken place there; about 70,000 bales 

 more have been brought to market than at the 

 same time, in 1835. 



Flour is dull, at ^6 75 per barrel for country 

 brands; but the stock in Virginia is unusually 

 small. Large supplies from the west are arriving 

 in the northern cities, since the- opening of the ri- 

 vers aiul canals, and the foreign demand is very 

 limited, being confined to the West Indies and 

 South America. Importations of wheat, rye, oats, 

 and barley to a considerable extent have been 

 made at New York, fi-om England, and the con- 

 tinent of Eurojie — a circumstance unprecedented 

 in our commercial annals. 



Indian corn commands ^4 per barrel, (or 80 



