92 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the various streams and rivulets along this level, all pass 
under the canal. At Rochester, the Genesee river passes 
under it, and at Schenectady the Mohawk. 
“ The bottom of the Wisconsin improvement, as built and 
projected, is a natural bottom, safe, and not liable to break 
away, and passes neither over nor under other bodies of 
water. 
“ On the enlarged Erie canal there are seventy-one locks, 
110 feet long by eighteen feet wide. 
‘‘Upon the improvement on the Fox river side, there are 
built and projected about twenty-three locks, of which all but 
two are 160 feet long and thirty-five feet wide. Of the two 
referred to, both to be enlarged, one is 140 and the other 145 
feet long. On the Wisconsin side there will be needed, it is 
supposed, from ten to fifteen locks, making in all, when 
completed, thirty-eight locks, 160 feet long by thirty-five 
feet wide. 
“ The depth of the Erie canal is nominally seven feet, but 
practically six feet. 
“ The present depth of the eastern end of the improvement 
from lake Winnebago to Green Bay is about four feet. The 
proposed depth for the proposed entire improvement is five 
feet. 
“ The bottom of the Erie canal is narrow and the locks 
small, only permitting the passage of narrow boats, which, for 
the most part, are sharp at the bottom to avoid friction. 
“ The improvement, and the locks upon the improvement, 
will permit boats to pass which are flat-bottomed and fifty per 
cent, longer and one hundred per cent, wider than the boats 
upon the canal 
“ It is estimated that the tonnage which will sink a river 
boat four inches will sink an Erie canal boat one foot, so that 
for the purposes of commerce a depth of four feet in the 
improvement is equal to a depth of at least six feet in the 
canal. 
“ The motive power on the canal is horse power, and on the 
improvement steam. The movement of freights on the canal 
