186 



NEW EiNGLAiND 1' AHJVIEU. 



INTF.KX AL IMPROVEMENT. 



CANAL FROM WORCKiTKll TO l'llO\ IDENCi:. 



We have been h'i:;dly (.Te^i.-ntcil with a pamjihltt en- 

 titled " An account of the proposed Canal from Wor- 

 cester to Providence ; containing the Report of the Fn- 

 fjinccr; together with some Ilemarks upon Inland Nav- 

 igation. Published by order of the Committee for the 

 County of Worcester :" and shall take some note of its 

 contents, confining ourselves, however, principally to 

 the facts which it contains. The project of opening 

 inland navigation from the waters of Narraganset Bay, 

 in Rhode Island, to Worcester, in Massachusetts, thro' 

 the valley or basin of BlacUstone river, was fust at- 

 tempted about the year 1706, by the late John Brown, 

 who, with the aid of an Engineer, surveyed the route, 

 and fo'.'.nd the plan not only practicable, but ea5y of 

 execution. A'any inlelligeiit gentlemen were disposed 

 tr> aid in the work, but to effect it, an act of incorpora- 

 tion from each of the States of Rhode Island and Mas- 

 sachusetts, was necessary. The Rhode Island legisla- 

 ture passed an act, which vested a company with pow- 

 ers and privileges to prosecute the design, but the le- 

 gislature of Massachusetts withheld its assent to a cor- 

 responding Act of Incorporation. 



This vote of the Massachusetts legislature preTcnted 

 for a time any farther attempts to carry the project 

 into execution. Committees, however, have been re- 

 cently appointed to investigate the subject, who en- 

 gaged Benjamin Wright, Esq. Chief Engineer upon the 

 middle section of the great Erie Canal, to make a to- 

 pographical survey of the route. Mr. Wright, with 

 Oe aid of two assistant engineers, completed a survey 

 in September last, and made a Report from whence 

 the following facts arc obtained. 



The distance over the route for the proposed Canal 

 is 45 miles as a canal would run j and the descent is 

 151 1-2 feet, from Thomas-street, in Worcester, to tidi 

 Abater at Providence. The ground is remarkably fa- 

 rorable. The soil generally easy to excavate — the 

 embankments neither large nor extensive — very little 

 solid rock to be removed — the aqueducts ajid <-"tverts 



arc not numemn. n- <>», :..o A c.xnal 32 feet wide 



"^t top, 18 feet at bottom, and 3 1-2 feet depth of water 

 •would be the proper size to be formed. Locks of 70 

 feet between the gates, and 10 feet in width, would be 

 .sn.Ticicntly large for the trade intended— bearing in 

 mind a proper economy in the use of water, and in the 

 erection of the locks. North Pond, lying two miles 

 Northerly from the Court-house in ^V•orcestcr, and 

 Dority Pond, in MiUbury, arc calculated to be suffi- 

 «;ient to afford, by means of dams erected at their oul- 

 i-ts, lockage water for 1 9,602 locks of 8 feet lift each. 

 :.ong Pond, which falls into Blackstone River, covers 

 at least 1,500 acres, and may be raised 6, 8, or 10 feet 

 above its present level, with a small exiiente, and would, 

 in the greatest drought, secure an abundant supply for 



" The plan, then, i.i feasible, the supply of 

 water abundant, and the expense much less 

 than was contemplated; the only question, there 

 foie, which remains to be settled is, whether it 

 is cTpedieni ? On this point, those who have most 

 carefully and deliberately examined the subject, 

 would almost consider it heresy to doubt, so 

 manifest are the advantag'es, and so obvious the 

 importance to a large and fertile section of the 

 coimtry, whose prosperity probably experiences 

 a severer check from the high charges for trans- 

 portation on tonnage than from any other single 

 cause, it is probable the question of expedien- 

 cy would not have slept, under the decision of 

 the Legislature in 1790, until this time, without 

 a renewed ai)plication for an Act of Incorpora- 

 tion, had there not been, during a large portion 

 of that period, a peculiar concurrence of circum- 

 stances, which probably will not again recur." 



" It \i calculated that the expense of trans- 

 porting on a Canal, exclusive of tolls, amounts 

 to ONE CENT a ton, per mile, or one dollar a ton, 

 for one hundred miles, while the usual cost of 

 conveyance by land, is one dollar and t'j.'enty Jive 

 cents per hundred weight, or tzcen1y-Ji-ce dollars 

 a ton, for the same distance. '^ The celerity 

 and certainty of this mode of transportation are 

 evident. A loaded boat can be towed, by one 

 or two horses, at the rate ol twenty-tive or thir- 

 ty miles a day. Hence, the seller or buyer, can 

 calculate, with suflicient precision, on his sale, 

 or purchases — the period of their arrival — the 

 amount of their avails, and the extent of their 

 value. A vessel on a Canal is independent of 

 winds, tides and currents, and is not exposed to 

 the delays attending conveyances by land ; and 

 with regard to safety, there can be no compe- 

 tition. The injuries to which commodities are 

 exposed, when transported by land, and the dam- 

 ages to which they are liable, when conveyed 

 by natural waters, are rarely experienced on 

 Canals. In the latter way, comparatively speak- 

 ing, no waste is incurred, no risk is enconntered 

 and no insorance is required. Hence it follows, 

 that Canals operate upon the general interests 

 of society, in the same way that machines for 

 saving labor do, in manufactures. They enable 

 the Farmer, the Mechanic, and the Merchant, 

 to convey their commodities to market, and 

 to receive a return, at least t-jeenty-four times 

 cheaper, than by roads," [exclusive of tolls, 

 which are usually very moderate.] " As to 

 all the purposes of benelicial communication, 

 they diminish the distance between places, and 

 therefore encourage the cultivation of the most 

 extensive and remote parts of the country. 

 They create new sources of internal trade, and 

 augment the old channel ; for the more clieap 



AGRICULTURE. 



the Canal wit'.iout injuring, in the smallest degree, the 



Important mauufactuiing interests along the Blackstone I '^^ transportation, the more expanded will be 

 :iud its branches. ° j its operation ; and the greater the mass of the 



'i'hc whole expense, as reported by Mr. Wright, will \ Products of the country for sale, the greater 



amount to $32:i,319. In this estimate is included 

 415, j9j for contingencies. 



Vv'e shall conclnde this notice by the following ex- 

 frac's, given verbatim from the pamphlet before us : 



•''1 he Report states that " the- ground is re- 

 inarhably favorable — the soil generallv easy to 

 excavate — the embankments neither large nor 

 extensive — very little solid rock to be removed, 

 and the Aqueducts and Culverts not numerous 

 or expensive ;" and it may be added that the 

 route is remarkably direct. This fully accounts 

 for the estimates of the Engineer, falling short 

 of public expectation. 



will be the commercial exchange of returning 

 merchandise, and the greater the encourage- 

 ment to Manufacturers by the increased econ- 

 omy and comfort of living, together with the 

 chea|)ness and abundance of provisions and raw 

 materials. Consequently, Canals are advantage- 

 ous to towns and villages, and to the whole 

 country, by increasing population, augmpiiling 

 individual and aggregate wealth, and extending 

 foreign commerce." 



Erom the Middlesex Garette. 

 At a meeting of the Trustees of the Society of 

 Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers, 

 holden at Concord, Jan. 1st, A. D. 1823, the 

 following premiums were awarded : 

 To Col. Joseph Valentine, of Hopkinton, the 

 sum of fifteen dollars, for the greatest quantity 

 of Indian corn, raised on one acre of land, being 

 119 [>ushels, 3 pecks and 2 quarts. [For the 

 soil and process of cultivation, see our la«t, na^e' 

 178.] '^^ ' 



To Ebenezer Little, of Shirley, the sum of 

 ten dollars, for the next greatest quantity of In- 

 dian corn raised on one acre, being 06 bushels. 



To James Kimball, of Littleton, the sum of 

 seven dollars, for the greatest quantity of Bar- 

 ley raised on one acre of land, being 10 1-2 bush- 

 els of heavy two-rowed barley, weighing hO 

 lbs. the bushel. 



Several other claims for premiums on Agri- 

 cultural experiments were laid before the Trus- 

 tees, and were deferred for further considera- 

 tion, to the adjourned meeting of the Trustees, 

 which will be holden at Darrah's Hotel, in Con- 

 cord, on the 11th day of March next. 



Agreeable to a vote of the Society in 1821, 

 the Treasurer has distributed among some of the 

 most intelligent and attentive farmers in the 

 County, a quantity of Chili wheat and Riga flax- 

 seed, for the purpose of having their value 

 tested by various experiments. Seven of the 

 persons, who received some of the wheat and 

 llax-secd, have made reports to the Trustees, and 

 although the experiments have been made in 

 different parts of the county, and on a variety of 

 noils, the residt of each has been nearly the same. 

 The wheat has in every instance failed. It 

 jrew with great luxuriance and apparent health 

 and vigor, and seemed to promise an abundant 

 product ; but in each case there has been a gen- 

 eral blast of the grain — no kernels have been 

 produced which will equal either in si2^ or fair- 

 ness, those which were sown. 



The success of the flax has been different. In 

 every instance it has farsurpassed any which has 

 been ordinarily cultivated in this county. That 

 which was sown on a rich soil grew to the height 

 of six feet, and arrived at maturity in due season. 

 No facts have yet been communicated from which 

 the quality of the flax when fully prepared for 

 the spindle, can be determined with certainty, but 

 it is believed that it will be much superior to the 

 flax usually raised in this vicinity. 

 By order of the Trustees, 



N. BROOKS, Rcc. Sec. 



Many who find the day too long, think life too short. 



Description of a method of cultivating Peach 

 Trees, with a view to prevent their premature 

 decay ; confirmed by the experience of forty-Jive 

 years, in Delaware state, and the Western parts 

 of Pcnn-syhania. By Thomas Coulter, Esq. 

 of Bedford County, Pe7insylvania. 



From the Transactions of the American Philosophical . 



Society. 



The death of young peach trees is principal- 

 ly owing to planting, transplanting, and pruning 

 the same stock, which occasions it to be open 

 and tender, with a rough bark, in consequence 

 of which insects lodge and breed in it, and birds 

 search after them, whereby wounds are made. 



But short as lii'c is, some lind it long enuugh to outlive 'he gum exudes, and in a few years the tree is 

 their characters, their constitutions, and their estites, I useless. To prevent this, traosplaat ;^our trees 



