THE GENESEE FARMER. 



335 



in intynial commerce equal to more than forty mil- 

 iions of tons. Bat there is another addition to be 

 made to this which cannot be exactly entertained. 

 It is the immense amount of tonnage in the transpor- 

 tation of articles at a small distance, as from the 

 farmer to the village, and of a <^reat class of heavy 

 articles not brought into the above estimate. For 

 example, v>'xi have coal, the transportation of which 

 amounts in these States to oae million of tons ; lum- 

 ber, brick, lime, salt, all natural produce of the coun- 

 try, which must amount iu weight to as much more ; 

 adding these to the former aggregate, and we have, 

 at least, six millions of tons entering into the com- 

 merce of the Ohio Valley and the North-west. 



" This will be fully confirmed by a bird's eye glance 

 at the value of this produce. Let us take, as an 

 illustration, the commerce of the exporting ports of 

 Ohio alone. The commercial statistics of the State 

 enable us to arrive at this with some accuracy. 



"In the Review of Trade and Commerce of Cia- 

 dmiati for 1854, we have the following results : 



Value of exports, $45,432,000 



VaJueof imports, 65,730,000 



S111,16L',000 

 Add for non-enumerated articles, .- 10,000,000 



Aggregate value of Cincinnati commerce,... §121, 162,000 



"Taking the most recent returns, some of which 

 however, are not later than 1851, we have the fol 

 lowing aggregates of Ohio commerce, viz.: 



Total commerce of Cincinnati, in value, $121,162,000 



" " Cleveland, " 35,476,327 



" " Sanduskv Dist.," -. 22.445.016 



" " ToUdo Dist., " -. 30,904,891 



" " Portsmouth, " 3,000,000 



" " Harmor, " 1,.500,000 



" " Several small points, 1,000,000 



Commerce of Ohio, in value, ..$215,518,234 



" Doubtless the value of some portions of the mer- 

 chandise has been counted twice; but, a^ an offset to 

 this, there is a large value in cattle exported on foot, 

 in produce sent via Pittsburgh, and in the interior 

 trade from tovvn to town not included in the above. 

 As full confirmation of the above general views, we 

 give the amount and value of certain agricultu-al 

 produce arriving and departing from the above ports 

 iu the year 1853: 



Amount. Value. 



Flour, bbls., 1,489,440 $8,930,440 



Wheat, bush., 6,160,440 7,776,484 



Beef, bbls., 47,625 5o.5,OCO 



Pork, bbl.s., 419,195 6.560,837 



Whisky, bbls., 351,708 2,813.664 



Bacon, lbs., 5,680,791 440,857 



Cheese, lbs., - 8,170,000 61O,.5O0 



Butter, U)S., 6.185,000 1,013,000 



Wool, lbs., - 7,000,000 2,500,000 



"These few articles of agricultural export from 

 Ohio alone, and which comprise only those of bulk 

 and strictly field produce, will illustrate fully the mag- 

 nitude and importance of that internal commerce 

 which is annually increasing with immense rapidity, 

 and which will furnish full employment for all the 

 railways, and canals, and roads, which are likely to be 

 made." 



■ a -^' W i 



S. M. Baker, a Pickaway farmer, has owned dur- 

 ing th«^ past year, upwards of three thousand cattle : 

 his capital actively employed in his business being 

 somethin'^ over $150,000. 



EXPERIMENTS IN IRRIGATION — KILN- 

 DIUED CORN xMEAL. 



Mr. Editor : — I have noticed with some interest 

 your late articles on irrigation. More thorough in- 

 vestigation will not only show the great advantages 

 of irrigation, but also the fact that it can be done 

 with spring as well as soft water. 



Some persons have supposed that the water used 

 must be poured upon the plant, or made to ovcrtiow 

 it, or at least overflow the ground ; whereas, the wa- 

 ter should pass up through the soil liy means of capil- 

 lary attraction, thus supplying moisture in nature's 

 own way, and in nature's own quantity. It is true 

 that showers are beneficial on the leaves occasionally; 

 but the greater portion of the water soaks into the 

 soil, to be returned to the plant as it needs it by the 

 capillary tubes. 



I have a piece of ground of about two acres, oa 

 which I have been making some experiments the past 

 season, having a stream of water from a spring pas- 

 sing through it. I plowed the ground (which wag 

 sod) in May last, into lands ten to twelve feet widq, 

 and four furrows deep, by throwing each successive 

 furrow on the top of the last, thus placing the sod at 

 the bottom and the mellow dirt on the top, and break- 

 ing it up near twenty inches deep. By the way, I 

 think much of this mode of sabsoiling, as mine was 

 all done with one pair of small horses. The dead 

 furrows, or ditches, between the difierent lands were 

 cleaned out with the hoe, and were filled with water 

 at such intervals as it has been found nece.s,sary during 

 the summer for the purpose of irrigation. The wa- 

 ter was not permitted to overflow or run off", but set- 

 tled into the soil, and suppUed the planUs by capillary 

 attraction. 



The result has been very satisfactory. All kinds 

 of roots are surprisingly large and beautiful ; and 

 notwithstanding the season has been so dry that nearly 

 all the gardens in tiie town have been ruined with 

 the drouth, tus well a^ many trees kiliL'd, still there 

 are beets on these beds that will mea.-;u;-c over two 

 feet in circumference, and nearly as long, with carrots, 

 pansnips and other vegetables in proportion. 



One square bed of strawberries, set iu hills eighteen 

 inches apart, and transplanted about the middle of 

 May last, produced more than half a bushel of berries 

 that we kej)! an account of, besides what were eaten 

 from the vines and destroyed by the birds. Some of 

 the berries measured three and a half inches in cir- 

 cumference. 



From one bed that contained nine square rods, or 

 one-eighteenth of an acre, have been sold about ^60 

 worth of vegetables during the summer, lieside^ 

 the quality of the vegetables has not been inferior to 

 the quantity. Vegetables grown quickly, and with- 

 out being retarded by drouth, are far more healthy 

 and palatable. 



In reference to the articles in the Farmkr on the 

 use of corn meal and hominy, I would si-nply remark 

 that the use of the.«e wholesome and palatable arti- 

 cles of food will greatly increa.se when the right plan 

 is adopted to furnish them to the community in a 

 proper state. Much of the corn meal that is now 

 useil i<* soured in a grea'er ur less degree, and is there- 

 fore partially decayed and uuwholeoomc 



