FARMERS' REGISTER— CORN INJURED BY CUTTING TOPS. 



355 



such were used. However, we know tliat the 

 charge for constructing, etcetera, has lieen ,^809,- 

 000, or for 135 miles .$;5,175 for a single mile. 

 Thus, the iron is about 8705, the construction and 

 part of the etcetera about ^4,470. There are 

 other etcetera, which the report says will amount 

 to .^200 ,000; probably it will reach ^300 ,000; 

 although when one third of the contract labors had 

 been completed, the engineer tliought 8^300,000 

 would cover the entire construction, &c. &c. The 

 freight of one bale of cotton is to beouc dollar 

 and fifty cents, from Augusta to Charleston. 



However, I am forgetting my subject, which 

 was the modus operandi. The early and anxious 

 object of attention should be tlie site of the road; 

 and the dictum of Mr. Howard as to distance, 

 should, I repeat it, be well and carefully recollect- 

 ed. The site once determined, (he object should 

 be to clear it of timber, reserving such as may be 

 of use in the construction of the road, and letting 

 this all be done, as far at least as is possible, by 

 the slave labor of the country. This finished let 

 levels be taken of each mile, or when in level dis- 

 tricts offering little deviation from a flat of as ma- 

 ny miles as will form one contract. Then, the 

 draftsman, having exhibited the elevations and de- 

 pressions on paper, will be able to ascertain what 

 number of cubic feet of dirt is to be removed; 

 and, with this working section in his hand and the 

 ground staked out, the ordinary overseers and 

 drivers of the country, as well as every other in- 

 telligent man, can eifect the work either by his 

 own or his negroes' labor, as well as it can possi- 

 bly be done by the engineers and laljorcrs of New 

 or Old England, or of Old Ireland. 



This was the annual charge of Engineers &c. 

 on the Charleston road : — 



Chief Engineer, (for 8 months,) ^3,000 



Commissioner, 3,000 



1 Resident Engineer, 2,500 



2 do. do. 4,000 

 Road attention, &c. &c. 1,240 



814,340 

 In short, surveying, superintending, and engi- 

 neering have cost the company .952,607 ! ! ! And 

 I verily believe, although they only estimate their 

 eventual expenses at iJf' 167,000, they will amount 

 to $200,000. They cannot expect to carry more 

 than 150,000 bales and at 50 or 60 cents per bale : 

 this will be the maximum. 



The next consideration would be the superficial 

 work. I should think, that as the road v, ill lie lit- 

 tle short of 300 miles, the chaai)est and best way 

 •would be to commence a preliminary road, till the 

 road is well settled and the materials brought, at a 

 cheap rate, for its final completion, and then to lay 

 down two or four sills, Vveil and firmly connected 

 and to each of them, attached on the upper side, a 

 lath of the hardest wood, about 2h inches wide and 

 If or 2 inches thick. Then an iron wheel cast to 

 fit this lath would, as soon as the centre was filled 

 up, be used by the wagons and horses, as they 

 were formerly in Wales, be substituted fur the 

 expensive steam car which is to cost the Charles- 

 ton company -S 108,000, and )i554,000 for the wear 

 and tear. They do but calculate on .^27,000. 



If the Charleston Rail Road Company would 

 furnish us with the particulars of its etcetera, and 

 let us know what it would have cost to have gradu- 

 ated Mr. Howard's 150 miles, and what it did cost 



to frame Mr. Black's 135, so liable to decay as 

 well as to destruction by fire, much light might 

 be thrown on the subject. However, I do not ex- 

 pect lux e tenebris. I shall take the liberty to 

 conclude by averring, that in my humble opinion, 

 fully §1,000 if not 81,500 per mile, 7nore than was 

 necessary, has been expended ; and more, infinitely 

 more than would have been necessaiily disbursed, 

 if a cheap preliminary rail road had been laid down. 

 Such is understood to have been the case in the 

 Camden and Amboy road, between Philadelphia 

 and New York. 



I look with great impatience for the address of 

 the committee: we shall behold the efforts of a 

 master mind, in the production of the patriotic and 

 polished Gaston. 



A word at parting, as to the number of laborers. 

 Of the 232,000 persons, the labor of one twentieth 

 or 11,600, might be a])plied. But we will calcu- 

 late only on 5,000 being obtained; of these, we 

 will suppose there are 4,000 negroes and 1,000 

 whites ; there are 300 miles or 600,000 yards to 

 be completed ; if each man would perform 2 yards 

 per diem, after the ground was cleared, it would 

 be 10,000 yards per diem. Hence, 60 days would 

 complete the labor. The labor of each day would 

 cost $2,500, thus producing a total of #150,000. 

 However, for etcetera, we will quadruple or quin- 

 truple it, and we shall have 300 miles of road for 

 the same sum as the sage Charlestonians have to 

 pay for 1.35 miles. 



Labor is calculated at 50 centSs,per day, under 

 an idea that tiie citizens of North Carolina will 

 take contracts and receive pay for their completion 

 in rail road slock, which v,ill be good at the banks. 

 If any be left not so taken, contracts may be made 

 for a lesser sum per diem. 



TELFORD. 



Carthage, August, 1833. 



CORIC irCJUKED BY CUTTING THE TOPS. 



From the New England Farmer. 



I noticed a statement in the New England Far- 

 mer, by which it appeared th.at the early topping 

 or cutting corn stalks, proved, upon fair experi- 

 ment, to be injurious to the ears of corn, and that 

 the corn not topped at all was heavier than that 

 which was topped. All the farmers in New Hamp- 

 shire, I believe are in the habit of cutting the 

 stalks while the corn is in the milk, or before the 

 inner part of the kernel is hard. A little reffec- 

 tion convinced me tliat this practice is wrong. I 

 this year raised 1 ctv.cen two and three hundred 

 bushels, and suffered no part of the corn to be 

 topped. After the corn Avas fully ripe, I com- 

 menced by having the corn cut close to the ground, 

 tied in small bundles, and put into small shocks by 

 the side of the corn field, to dry, and thence con- 

 veyed to the Ijarn; a practice which in common 

 seasons Avill be beneficial — but afterwards I found 

 the corn so fully ripe and dry, standing in the field, 

 that I had it cut close to the ground and conveyed 

 in small loads to the liarn, husked immediately 

 and put into a granary made for the purpose, 

 standing on posts, properly ventilated. The re- 

 sult was, that my corn was very heavy, large, 

 perfectly sound, and " as sweet as a nut." Many 

 ears were found from twelve to fourteen inches in 

 length. But I plant a large kind of yellow corn ; 

 (lic kernel is vci'v large. Many have expressed 



