1836] 



FARMER S' REGISTER, 



851 



As a national work, therefore, yours cannot be 

 considered as secondary to none in the country. 

 But one of tiie most happy resuhs of the railway 

 system in the southern country, and which will be 

 imparted by your rail road, to that portion of the 

 state most concerned, is tlie efiect it will have, by 

 the speedy concentration of troojis to put down, ii' 

 not entirely suppress and remove all apprehensions 

 of servile disturbances and insurrections. The 

 speedy transit of the mail, especially between 

 commercial cities, is an object of solicitude with 

 all governments. Your improvement iully meets 

 this object, and its imi)orlance under this head also, 

 cannot lail to attract the attention of the general 

 government ; and also the concentrated concurrent 

 interests of the large cities at the north. And 

 having the effect, as we have assertCil, your road 

 will have, to tiu'n the whole stream of travel be- 

 tween the north and the south, through Charles- 

 ton, and on the Charlesloa and Hamburg, and the 

 Charleston and Cincinnati Rail Roads, she, as well 

 as those interested in these two great improve- 

 ments, are deeply interested in your success, and 

 will no doubt contribute largely towards it ; and 

 the trade and travel which it will throw on the 

 Portsmouth and Petersburg railways, will greatl}- 

 enhance their profits, and advance the prosperity 

 and wealth of' Petersburg, Norfolk, and Ports- 

 mouth. 



The counties along the line have manifested the 

 interest with which they regard it, by the hand- 

 some subscriptions wliich they have made. 



The benefits to Wilmington will be immedi- 

 ately felt in the great increase in the exchange of 

 commodities, which the increased facilities of com- 

 municating with a rich back country will atlbrd. 

 And she may be justly proud of the rank to which 

 she will elevate herself, in having projected and 

 carried into efiect, an improvement which may be 

 characterized as a great national and stale work. 



All, which is rcspecfully submitted by, 

 Gentlemen, 



Your obedient servant, 



WALTER GWYNIV, 



Civil Engineer. 

 Wilmington, Aug. 15, 1S36. 



vancingSO 'r. each, have formed a joint capital of 

 200 fr., and with this they produce between 40 

 and 50 lbs. of sugar, of rather inferior quality, a 

 day. They employ currycombs to rasp the beet 

 roots, which lh(!y put into a napkin press to extract 

 the juice, and then boil the syrup in common culi- 

 nary boilers. 



We learn from Berlin that the manufacture of 

 sugar from beet-root has bec^ome cjuite a mania in 

 Prussia, and that the land-owners Imve given u|) 

 the cultivation cf potatoes for distillation, and 

 planted all their fields with the new saccharine 

 root. — \_English pajier. 



BEET ROOT SUGAR. 



A remarkable proof of the facility with which 

 beet-root sugar manufactories may be established, 

 is presented at this moment at Wallers in the de- 

 partment du Nord. — Four of the villages, by ad- 

 may be thrown, in a few hours, upon any point threat- 

 ened by an army. Nashville may succor New Or- 

 leans in sixty liours; Cincinnati may aid Charleston in 

 about the same time ; Pittsburgh will require but twen- 

 ty-four hours to relieve Baltimore ; and troops from 

 tfiat city, and from Boston, may leave each place in 

 the morning, and meet in New York in the evening. 

 This wonderful capacity for movement, increases in 

 effect, some of the most important elements of national 

 power. It neutralises one of the great advantages of 

 an assailing force, choosing its point of attack"^ and 

 possessing the necessary means of reaching it. De- 

 tachments liable, under former circumstances, to be 

 cut off in detail, may now be concentrated without de- 

 lay, and most of the garrisons upon the sea-board may 

 be brought together, and after accomplishing the ob- 

 ject of their concentration, be returned to their sta- 

 tions in time to repel any attack meditated against 

 them." 



From llic Gmicsec Farmer. 

 THE PERSIM?,IOX. 



( Diospyros virginiana.) 



The Persimmon tree perfectly matures its fruit 

 in the Genesee Country, though we have not seen 

 it growing indigenously fiirlhcr nurtli than the 

 banks of the Susquehanna near Catawissy. It is 

 entirely hardy. The fruit is pleasant, "in form 

 and bigness like a date, very firm like that fruit 

 and almost as sweet," and we think it well 

 worthy of the attention of those who have a taste 

 for varieties. 



This tree belongs to Polygamia Dioecia of the 

 Linnasan system — the male flower growing on 

 separate plants, while those which produce the 

 fi'uit have hermaphroilite flrowers. Botanists have 

 considered that the anthers of the latter were ef- 

 fete and useless. On examining both kinds of 

 flowers however, we discover nothing to warrant 

 the conclusion ; and we were strengtliened in our 

 doubt by the circumstance of a large grove ot 

 these trees, all originating from one root, that 

 were productive ; while no male or barren tree 

 vv'as known to exist in the neighborhood. The 

 case seemed to be nearly analogous to what often 

 occurs in our wild grape, and in the strawberry ; 

 and we therefore made the following experiment : 

 One persimmon tree had not fiiiled to bear fruit lor 

 several years. At the distance of twenty feet 

 from it on the west side, stood a tree which pro- 

 duced only staminate flowers, and another at 

 twice the distance on the east side. In the year 

 18.32, we cut down both the male trees just as the 

 fertile flow&rs were beginning to open, and imme- 

 diately removed them so that none of the pollen 

 could reach those flowers. Ti".e consequence was, 

 — not a single persimmon loas produced in four 

 years. Vigorous suckers from the stumps of those 

 trees however sprung up ; and this spring we ob- 

 served that one of them had a kw flowers : The 

 fertile tree is now once more set with fruit. 



From this experiment, which we made at our 

 cost, both nurserymen and customers may learn 

 the futility of planting out a single tree, far remote 

 from all others, with the hope of its bearing fruit. 

 We Iiave seen a tree that was set out when no 

 other was known to be within hundreds of miles. 

 Neither the nurseryman nor the purchaser, knew 

 to wdiich sex it belonged, and it is doubthil if the 

 proprietor knows at this day, for it has alwa3's 

 been barren. Our advice to such as wish to cul- 

 tivate the persimmon, is t]iereft)re to buy trees in 

 pairs, and to buy them of tliosc who are worthy 

 of their confidence. 



