1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



479 



timorc, during (he years 1820, '21, '22, '23, '24, 

 '25, and '26. "The following are his calculations. 



Annual deaths among whites in New York : 

 To population (blacks excluded) as one in 40,17 

 Do in Philadelphia, 39,65 



Do in Baltimore, ^ 39,90 



Deaths among blacks in New York as one 



in 19,01 



Do in Philadelphia, 19,-52 



Do in Baltimore, 39,99 



Deaths among Iree blacks in Baltmiore to popu- 

 lation (slaves and whites excluded) 1 in 32,08 

 Do among slaves, 77,68 



This calculation presents some very important 

 facts ; first, the great disproportion between the 

 deaths among the whites and blacks; and second, 

 the still more striking dlircrencc between those of 

 the li-ee blacks and slaves ot the city of Baltimore. 

 It speaks volumes in favor of the care bestowed on 

 the slaves by their masters, who it seems, have 

 only half the chance of living which the slaves 

 themselves have, and the mortality among the 

 latter is only one fourth as great as among the 

 free blacks of our own city. Indeed, in the year 

 1824 there was but one death to 120 of the slave 

 pojjulation in Baltimore, and in 1825, not one in 

 88. 73. The average number however, for six 

 years, is as stated above. 



Again, in the county of JMiddlesex, Virginia, 

 calculating for a population of 2000, there are 

 none of the free colored people who have attained 

 the age of 100 and upwards, while of the slaves 

 there are 18. 7. In Princess Anne county there 

 are 24, and in Orange 20, to the same proportion 

 of the slave population. Throughout the United 

 States, according to the last census, there are 14. 1 

 in a population of 20,000 slaves, who have reach- 

 ed the age of 100 and upwards, and but 1. 02 

 among the same number of the free. According 

 to the reports of interments ibr the city of Balti- 

 more, for the years 1831 and 1833 it appears that 

 eight persons attained the age of 100, whereof se- 

 ven were colored, whose united ages amounted to 

 759. It is also a fact well ascertained, that the 

 slaves in the principal slave-holding states, double 

 their number in something less than 28 years; 

 while it is evident that the free colored population 

 would actually become extinct in the course of a 

 few years, were their number not recruited by 

 constant accession from the slave states. 



only spurious but worthless. We have heard of 

 no im|)ositions of this kind in the sale of trees and 

 slips; but we have heard of an individual, we 

 hope not a Yankee, who is said to be travelling in 

 the western states, and selling cabbage seed at 

 A'5 an ounce, and affirming it to be genuine Chi- 

 nese mulberry seed of the first quality. 



The same fraud may easily be practised upon 

 the community in the sale of trees and slips, un- 

 der the pretence of their being the Chinese mul- 

 berr}'. The eagerness of some men to furnish 

 themselves, will induce them to purchase a few 

 even at the most extravagant prices, and there 

 are sharpers enough in the community to take ad- 

 vantage of it. We should not be surprised to 

 hear tliat the old dealers in "wooden nutmegs" 

 and "horn flints" had turned their attention to the 

 manufacture of Chinese mulberry trees, &c. and 

 that their agents and pedlers were selling them in 

 large quantities and at high prices. It is to be 

 hoped, that this will not be the case ; but as long 

 as there is even a possibility of it, a little vigilance 

 will do no harm, and it may prevent purchasers 

 from being swindled out of their money by dis- 

 honest men. We would therefore, recommend 

 to gentlemen who are desirous of purchasing, to 

 apply to nursery men, or regular dealers, in pre- 

 ference to buying of travelling agents. They are 

 generally men of character and responsibility, and 

 there is no danger ot imposhion in the character 

 of the articles they sell. The same may be true 

 of travelling dealers ; but as long as there are but 

 a limited .number in market, there is no necessity 

 of hawking them about the country ; and we 

 should suspect the individual who should be thus 

 engaged. We understand, however, one or two 

 nursery men have travelling agents ; but in every 

 instance they are furnished with proper creden- 

 tials, and consequently the same confidence is to 

 be placed in them as in their employers. 



From tlie Sillc Culturist. 

 FRAUDS IN THK SALE OF TREES, &C. 



The great demand for trees, slips and seeds of 

 the Moras Multicaulis and other varieties of the 

 Chinese mulberry, and the high prices they are sel- 

 ling for in market, should admonish purchasers to 

 guard against frauds and impositions in the sale 

 of spurious articles. The intrinsic value of these 

 varieties to practical silk-growers, and the enor- 

 mous profits which nurserymen derive from_ their 

 cultivation, have already created a demand altoge- 

 ther beyond their ability to supply, even at the 

 most liberal prices. This fact, in connection with 

 the strong desire which is now manifested by ma- 

 ny enterprising farmers to engage in the business, 

 has opened the door to unprincipled speculators to 

 palm upon the credulous articles which are not 



From llie Silk Cultiirist. 

 MIGRATION OF FISHES. 



It is a well established historical fact that the 

 rivers of New England were originally plentifully 

 stocked with migratory fish, particularly salmon, 

 shad, bass and alewives. In the Connecticut, 

 shad were so abundant that they were sold by the 

 fishermen for two and three cents a piece, on con- 

 dition however, that the purchaser took an equal 

 amount in salmon, which were still more abun- 

 dant, at the same, and sometimes at a less, valua- 

 tion by the pound. In the Merrimack also, sal- 

 mon were caught in such quantities as to furnish 

 the principal part of the food of the inhabitants in 

 its vicinity — and there is a tradition that a father, 

 in indenting his son as an apprentice to a me- 

 chanic, insisted on an express stipulation that he 

 should not be compelled to eat salmon more than 

 half the lime. 



It is also a well known fact that for the last half 

 century shad have been annually diminishing in 

 these rivers, and that salmon have entirely de- 

 serted them ; while in the Saco, Androscoggin, 

 Kennebeck, Penobscot and Machias, they are 

 caught ill considerable quantities. The desertion 

 ol the salmon ti-om the Connecticut and Merri- 

 mac, and several intermediate rivers, while they 

 continue their annual visits to the rivers of Maine, 



