THE TRAVELLER.-NO. 4 
91 
THE TRAVELLER—Wo. 4. 
Journey from New York to Florida .—A few 
notes of this journey may be interesting to 
readers. December 11th, I left New York on 
that excellent boat, the John Potter, which leaves 
the wharf nearest the Battery on the North 
River, every day at noon, and arrives at South 
Amboy, 30 miles, in an hour and three quarters. 
It takes less than fifteen minutes to transfer a 
load of passengers and baggage to the railroad, 
and in four hours and a half, I tavelled with great 
ease the 96 miles between New York and Phila- 
delphia. This is an excellent road, and is well 
furnished with first-class engines, cars, and con¬ 
ductors. Fare $3. I have heretofore spoken 
of the beneficial effects of this road to the agri¬ 
culture of New Jersey. 
December 12th, I left Philadelphia at 3 o’clock 
by express train for Baltimore. The distance, 
time, and price, is about the same as between 
New York and Philadelphia. Between Phila¬ 
delphia and Wilmington, 30 miles, the road 
passes over a very valuable agricultural district, 
much of which being owned in England, is but 
poorly improved by the tenantry. A few miles 
after leaving Wilmington, the road penetrates a 
tract of country either naturally poor or made 
so by poor cultivation. The Susquehannah is 
crossed by a ferry at the old town of Havre de 
Grace, and from thence to Baltimore the land 
is much of it fiat, wet, cold, unproductive, and 
uncultivated; yet all this might be warmed into 
productiveness by a better system of cultivation ; 
but this will never be while land is of so little 
value as at present throughout this vast country. 
December 13th, I proceeded to Washington, 
40 miles. Fare $1.80, with only two or three 
little spots like an oasis in a desert, to relieve the 
eye from the painful contemplation of a worn- 
out country—once fertile. The wire fence 
erected by Col. Capron along this railroad, at 
Laurel Factory, still draws the attention of every 
observing passenger. It fulfills all the purposes 
anticipated in the description given in vol. 7 of 
the Agriculturist. I believe it is the only prin¬ 
ciple upon which wire fences can be erected to 
give satisfaction. It stands firm through all the 
variations of the seasons. 
The land within sight of the dome of the Ame^ 
rican capitol is about as unpromising to the eye 
as it is to the cultivator. It looks poor, is poor, 
and cultivated poorer; yet wherever the expe¬ 
riment of deep plowing, draining, and manur¬ 
ing has been tried upon this unpromising soil, 
it affords profitable returns. For a market 
gardner, no place offers greater inducements, 
than the vicinity of Washington. Commodore 
Jones, who has a farm a few miles up the Poto¬ 
mac, told me that, when he commenced opera¬ 
tions there, a few years since, it was the universal 
opinion of his neighbors, that he could not raise 
grass. But he commenced a new system with 
a new set of plows procured from you, turning 
over a deep furrow and following with a subsoil 
plow, the first one ever used in that vicinity, and 
by the use of the first lime, plaster, guano, and 
bone dust, together with all the manure that 
could be saved or manufactured, he soon had 
good fields of grass for hay or pasturage. Sub¬ 
soil plowing not only saves land from suffering 
by drouth, but is almost invaluable in prevent¬ 
ing the soil from washing away and forming 
deep gulleys. At first, his neighbors were very 
shy about experimenting with any of these fer¬ 
tilisers. Now, it is not unusual for one man to 
expend $500 for such substances, and make a 
large profit, too, upon the outlay. 
December 17th, I passed from Washington to 
Richmond, 133 miles. Fare $5. The boat leaves 
there at 9 o’clock, stopping at Alexandria, about 
10 o’clock, passes Mt. Vernon, the resting place 
of him who said—“ Agriculture is the most healthy, 
the most useful , and the most noble employment of 
man ” It arrives at Acquia Creek, 55 miles, about 
one. Here we take good cars upon a railroad, 
which, after struggling through many difficulties, 
is now in very good condition; and if the owners 
of the lands along side of it only understood 
their interest, they would make it the means of 
improving large tracts, that now pain the eye 
with their barrenness. The advantages of rail¬ 
roads to agriculture seem to be as yet but little 
understood. The time will come when these 
worn-out fields will be whitened with lime 
brought over this road, the product of which 
will furnish constant employment to the freight 
trains, in transporting it to market. The soil is 
exhausted upon the surface, but the land is not 
“worn out.” By means of the railroad, ferti¬ 
lisers will improve and render much that now 
looks bleak and desolate, desirable for a new 
class of cultivators. The greatest difficulty with 
the present owners is, they own too much. This 
and the fertility of new lands in the west are 
the causes of so much worn-out soil in the old 
states. It is more immediately profitable to cut 
down and destroy the forest and virgin soil, than 
it is to save or renovate the old fields. But who 
would always live a border life, half civilised 
and half savage for the mere love of cash accu¬ 
mulation ? But this condition of things will con¬ 
tinue, until the west is filled up, or until our 
