REVIEW OP THE APRIL NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
283 
the same do-nothing habits of the present popula¬ 
tion. The truth is, the present population must 
themselves put shoulder to the wheel, before calling 
upon Hercules. Their minds must be enlightened 
upon the subject of improvements in agriculture. 
This can only be done by reading good publica¬ 
tions upon this subject. How should they be in¬ 
duced to do it ? Who will answer ? Several edi¬ 
tors of Southern agricultural papers will answer 
—that they have tried and found the spirit lacking. 
Mount Airy Agricultural College. —I do most 
sincerely hope that this project of Mr. Gowen will 
succeed. And as we know that he has the means, 
and is also possessed of a character noted for great 
energy and perseverance, I believe that he is more 
likely to succeed than any of his predecessors in 
the same cause. And if he does, his name will be 
immortalized among the list of great benefactors of 
his adopted country. A much better disposition 
will he make of his wealth, than did Stephen 
Girard; inasmuch as he proposes to try the experi¬ 
ment while he is here himself to direct and control 
it. I have not the least doubt but the required num¬ 
ber of pupils will be offered at once. The location 
is one of the most delightful ones in the vicinity of 
Philadelphia. [It is with deep mortification we in¬ 
form Reviewer, that this noble offer of Mr. Gowen’s 
has come to naught from mere apathy on the part 
of the public. Had he proposed some scheme by 
which Mexicans could be killed by our armies with 
twice the ease that it is now done, he would have 
been overrun with applicants in less than one week.] 
Letters from the South, No. 6.—This is a valua- 
ble number, for the historical sketch of Louisiana, 
and the statistical tables given. The speculation 
as to the future advancement of New Orleans, I 
must notice slightly. And first—“ It is the only 
capital that can ever be established for an extensive 
region of fertile country immediately surrounding 
it,” &c. If Mr. Allen means by the expression, 
“ immediately surrounding it,” the lower part of 
Louisiana; I answer that that portion of the State 
will never contain “ a dense population,” until 
want of room upon all the vast regions of the West 
compels the children of generations in a very remote 
futurity, to reclaim the swamps and lagoons of that 
part of the State for cultivation. If he means by 
the term “ immediately surrounding” all that vast 
country that now finds easy access to the New Or¬ 
leans market, then I beg to know why he says that 
no other rival can be established. There are those 
who, think that the new capital at Baton Rouge 
can be made to rival the old capital. And certainly 
there are several points on the river between New 
Orleans and Natchez upon which the persevering 
spirit of Yankee character could , and if they shojild 
undertake, would build a rival that would render 
the present proud city of New Orleans, as compara¬ 
tively insignificant as is now the “ ancient capital 
of Louisiana” when compared with the present one. 
Besides, what effect will be produced upon the trade 
of New Orleans, when the Mississippi River is in¬ 
tersected by three great Eastern Railroads ? One 
from Natchez, through the heart of Mississippi, 
Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and onward to 
all the great markets of the East. Another, the 
completion of which is near at hand, will connect 
St. Louis with Baltimore direct, and only two days 
apart. A third will unlock the icy barriers of the 
North; for within ten years, a car loaded in mid 
winter at Galena, will be delivered four days after 
in Boston or New York. And while ice does im¬ 
pede the outlet of the produce of the upper Missis¬ 
sippi and all its great inlets, during winter, and snags 
and sawyers at all seasons (which our government 
will not remove), these great roads will be kept 
open, and the produce of all the contiguous country 
will find an Eastern market. It only needs Eastern 
men to see how easily they can cut off a vast 
amount of the trade of New Orleans, by these roads 
as they will immediately be built. This they can 
do, but live at New Orleans they cannot do without 
risk of life. It is this risk that makes the extrava¬ 
gant prices noticed in the notes to the article under 
review. And while the same risk continues, simi¬ 
lar prices will prevail, which, added to the fact that 
much of the produce received at New Orleans, finally 
finds an Eastern market, after a long and danger¬ 
ous sea-voyage, will enable these great railroads 
to become very formidable rivals.* 
Review of the October No. Reviewed. —I am 
made to say by a slip of the pen or a miss of the 
type, that “ butter is thoroughly spoiled in warm 
weather by washing it in cold water.” I never 
meant to say that. And every one who has ever 
eaten Dutch butter in good old Holland, can never 
think that cold water will injure butter. The very 
nature of the article is sufficient to show that cold 
water cannot injure it. 
Mr. Norton’s Letters , No. 4.—I little thought 
when I wrote my review of Letters from the South 
No. 4, in which I barely alluded to the system of 
management of the dykes and canals of Holland, 
that your readers were so soon to be furnished with 
such an interesting article upon this subject, as 
they are by this letter of Mr. Norton’s. And I re¬ 
peat, that until just such a perfect system as the 
Waterstaat of Holland, is established upon the lower 
Mississippi and its branches, vast tracts of the 
country never can be cultivated. Individual enter¬ 
prise can do wonders; but neither it, nor the im¬ 
perfect levee system of Louisiana can ever set 
bounds to the mighty flood that rolls its torrent into 
the ocean through the Mississippi. Speaking of 
the Rhine, Mr. Norton says; “the bottom of this 
river, is in many places, above the adjacent land,” 
&c. I predict the same result for the Mississippi, 
if the practice continues to prevail of shutting up 
all the outlets but the main one. Already has 
immense labor been spent, which, for want of sys¬ 
tem, some subsequent improvements have rendered 
useless. For instance, the extensive levees around 
Lake Concordia, an old bed of the river opposite 
Natchez. 
A California Farmer. —Now what are all these 
thousands of oxen, horses, mules, sheep, and hogs 
worth ? It certainly looks like extensive farming, 
on paper. And yet I suppose there are many o£ 
our New York farmers, who could sell out for more 
cash than this Californian, who counts his eattle by 
the thousand. 
Ladies’ Department. —A feather-house, I like very 
well, as described by E. S. But I like those 
* Up to the year 1723, the “ ancient capital of Louisiana,” was 
at Biloxi Bay, which is now, merely a little French village of the 
same name, to be found on the sea-coast of Mississippi. 
