342 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 6 



unknown cause, it was introduced among my 

 wheat. I ibund this remedy unavailing als^o lor 

 this disease; and my crops were not relieved until 

 I purchased a new stock of seed wheat and .?coured 

 my granaries. In one of these years, it happened, 

 that my crops, thus treated, suli'ered as much, per- 

 haps more, than in any previous season: and li'om 

 these experiments, (which were fully and liiithllilly 

 executed, and on a large scale, because 1 enter- 

 tained saniruine hopes oi' success,) I am under the 

 fullest conviction, that the germinative principle is 

 enfeebled by the process, ani the plant rendered 

 thereby an easier prey to the fly, or any other in- 

 vading insect.* 



I liave, my dear sir, lar exceeded the limits of 

 my design in this communication; but really, the 

 question of a remedy for the Hessian fly is so inter- 

 esting — the detection of a prevalent error in respect 

 to it so essential to its true solution — the chief re- 

 medy oHered is so confidently pressed upon the 

 public, and so palpably worse than nothing, inas- 

 much as it holds out false views, and obscures the 

 path of research, coming too under the sanction of 

 many and highly res])ectable sources, from New 

 York to Virginia, inclusive — these considerations 

 make my apology tor the zeal which I iiaveevuiced, 

 and the freedom which has been taken, by 

 Yours respectfully, 



JOSKl'ii K. MVHE. 



ON THE RAIL-ROADS OF XORTH CAROLINA, 

 AND THE SOUTH GENERALLY. 



To tlie Editor of tlie Fanners' Register. 



To the fact of my not having, until nearly hall 

 August had expired, seen the reply of P. Q., [in 

 No. 3, vol. 4, of the Farmers' Register,] must 

 be attributed my silence on the subject. I really 

 did not intend to be harsh or unpleasant. The pa- 

 per was written currents calamo, and jierhaps, 

 rather severely expressed ; if so, it was owing to 

 my having been charged, in imagination, with 

 "dealing damnation'" around me, when as to the 

 WUmington, &c. road, in reality P. Q. was in a 

 similar m.anner, doing the very saaie. The paper 

 alluded to was sent to Wilmington with a view, 

 I candidly confess, of counteracting his maledic- 

 tion. Whether it appeared or no, I am ignorant. 

 The Rip-van-Winkle presses are strangely con- 

 ducted, and, as well as the good citizens of Wil- 

 mington, _/ear/'«% inspired. They will understand, 

 if they see this. 



I plead guilty to the charge in his 3d paragraph; 

 and, considering the actual condition of the south, 

 and the attempts of Baltimore, &c., &c., to convey 



*rrom our experience of brining and hming seed 

 wheat, to prevent the smut, we have arrived at a dif- 

 ferent opinion from Dr. Muse — as we have never 

 known that disease to occur after the preventive pro- 

 cess had been "fully and faithfully executed." Still 

 we admit that such negative proofs, are not conclusive, 

 as possibly some other unknown causes may have 

 checked or prevented the disease. In another opinion 

 expressed above, we are much disposed to concur — 

 that is, that the process of brining and liming, (at 

 least as usually, and perhaps carelessly, executed,) 

 serves to weaken the germinating power of the seed, 

 and thereby enfeebles the plants. En. Far. Reg. 



the produce, and carry on the commerce of the 

 west, to the Patapsco, the Delaware, the Hud- 

 son, and last, but not least, the St. Lawrence, still 

 think the "prejudice" with which i am charged 

 justifiable, and rather a subject of congratulation 

 than of condemnation — certainly now in Virginia, 

 eventually, with Rip himself. 



We agree as to the "vast chain of public works;'' 

 and I repeat it, I still rejoice in the success of the 

 Gaston Rail Road — for, such 1 presume, is the 

 result, but I will candidly confess I have not yet 

 learned the road is in progress, which, possibly 

 would have been the case, if the subscription had 

 been completed. I am necessarily ignorant of 

 what is going on, in either North Carolina or Geor- 

 gia, as it" most especially suits the Charleston — in 

 fact, the only presses of South Carolina — to keep all 

 that those slates do, or attempt to do, perfectly out 

 of sight — always excepting when it affects the in- 

 terest of the "Emporium of tlie South" that is to 

 be 



P. Q. asks mc, if "ever my pen can stop tlie 

 march of the work," the great rail roatl to the 

 south? In reply, I would ask him when and 

 whether the road is to be continued to Fayette, 

 &c., &c.; and if continued, is it likely to be as 

 soon in operation, as the road from the Tennessee 

 line, &c., to llaltimore. In this state of things, I 

 cannot argue the matter; but notwithstanding hia 

 argument is so plausible, I still believe, that a 

 "line from Darlington, &c., v/ouid make travellers 

 forget that Raleigh was in existence." P. Q. 

 '•supposes''^ the Raleigh route extended south, and 

 then asks rny opinion as to the comparative merits 

 of the two routes. I reply, that the Wcldon, Ha- 

 lifax, and Waynesborough. is yet my favorite route. 

 The road through Raleigh, Fayetteville, Cheraw, 

 Camden, Columbia and Augusta, cannot be made 

 at any thing like so cheap a rate, or acconmio- 

 date any thing like so wealthy and wanting a 

 country, as that pointed out by Col. Long. The 

 one will suit pedlers, the other planters. Fxcept 

 on the river banks, in this Carolina deseria route, 

 there is no valuable cultivation. Above and be- 

 low it, there is very much. P. Q. speaks of "the 

 frequently disagreeable and sometimes dangerous 

 passage across the Chesapeake." This will vanish 

 when the road is made, down the Eastern Shore, 

 to the point opposite Norfolk. It will give an 

 agreeable variety, and make Philadelphia, &c. &c., 

 as accessible as Richmond or Wilmington. It is 

 to the former the multitude will direct their stejis. 



I have not your Register by me, and with a hail 

 memory am unable to get at (he jioint of P. 

 Q.'s last paragraph. It should seem my object 

 was general. It was written under a strong fiiel- 

 ing that something should be done, and "done 

 quickly." The north has capital, can command 

 nerve, and possesses energy. Louisville is unit- 

 ing with Baltimore, and N. Orleans with Louis- 

 ville; and, if the Planet, with her wrought iron 

 rimmed wbeels, is to carry a load of 333,000 lbs., 

 I have no hesitation in saying, that the cotton of 

 Tennessee, and upper Ahxhdnm certainly, and that 

 of Louisiana ;>08s/6/)/, is destined, ere long, to find 

 its way to Baltimore, Phdadelphia, &c. — indeed, 

 already have 100 bales, in one ])arcel, Ibund their 

 way to the latter ))Iace, by way of the Schuylkill 

 canal. And. if, as in the case of flour, &c., John 

 Bull will receive thecolton of the west as Colonial, 

 receiving vice the duties, the advantage of the ex- 



