Between the Crystal and Homossassa rivers, a distance of six miles, it is a prairie, with the exception of one or two hammocks, one of which is owned by the State. It is a question if this prairie would not be a fine sugar land, and the most of it easily brought under cultivation. The Homossassa is another spring river, about ten miles long, wide enough for steamboats, with rocky islands, shell islands, bayous, cross rivers and salt rivers enough for a person residing upon it to lose his way even in the day time. It is beautiful nevertheless, and a person would hardly be satisfied after a month's exploration. It abounds in fish, and near it there are fine oysters. On its northern bank there is land enough probably for three or four sugar plantations, and, on the South side the hammock, is about three miles deep and extends to the Chisewitska river, six miles. Some of these lands are rocky, and this is made an objection to them; but although it may be more difficult to cultivate, yet the crop of corn, potatoes, pumpkins and turnips, and the patches of cane. show that the rocks do not interfere with their growth. There are three plantations upon this river, but no sugar crop has yet been made. About sixty acres of cane have been planted this year, but it is intended mostly for seed, I presume. It should be observed that vessels can find safe anchorage off the mouths of these rivers, and there will be but little difficulty in getting the produce to market if once made. The ham The Chisewitska is another spring river, and is about ten miles long. Most of the lands upon this river, it is thought, will require draining. mock upon it extends South, so far as has been surveyed, two miles. The next twelve miles South to the Weekaiwachée, or Spring C. R., are not much known, as no settlements were made between the two, and there has been no survey. Immediately east of this is the Annuttiliga hammock, containing nearly forty square miles of hammock. This might be termed in Florida "up country," but I notice it, as no part of this hammock is over sixteen miles from barge navigation on the rivers Chisewitska and Weekaiwachee, and neither river over ten miles long. This hammock is well dotted around with permit claims, but the majority of those who have settled had not the means to plant extensively, and located there on account of the prospective value of the land. The remainder, with the exception of some few tracts purchased, has been located by the State. Many remark that the Annuttiliga and Chocochata country is as fine and as desirable as any in the State, and if we think rich lands, a high rolling country and beautiful places for residences a desideratum, it should certainly claim as much attention as any part with which I am acquainted. Chocochata hammock will not probably claim much attention from sugar planters, although the average distance from the Weckaiwachee river would not be upward of fifteen miles. On the Weekaiwachee river there are good lands, but they are mostly unsurveyed. This is another spring river, rising in the high rolling country, about two miles long, and emptying into the Gulf. South of Weekaiwachee there are no rich lands north of Tampa Bay, a distance of fifty miles, with the exception of one or two small hammocks; but it is a very desirable country for raising stock. My estimate of the lands adapted to sugar culture, in Benton county, is seventy-five square miles unoccupied. This, with the amount in Levy county, will make two hundred square miles. I have not estimated in this the small detached hammocks, nor any pine lands that may be used profitably for this crop. I have mentioned sugar, as I believe it will be the principal product of this section of the country, most of which is further South than Lake George, and a portion below Lake Monroe. These lands are as well adapted to cotton, corn and tobacco, as any other in the South. The State owns most of these lands. What is the best course to pursue to have them settled and to enhance their value? I propose to consider this in a future communication. AN ACTUAL SETTLER. 6. PRODUCTION OF GRAPES AND WINES IN THE SOUTH AND WEST. We have, in previous volumes, published a great many articles upon this subject, from the pen of Dr. Weller, of N. Carolina, Mr. Noyes, of Mississippi, and others. The subject has too much interest at the South, easily to be exhausted, and inquiries, relating to it, are frequently made of us. A few months ago, Dr. Weller was kind enough to forward us an assortment consisting of several dozen bottles of his wines, which we have either consumed or presented to friends for their opinion and judgment. With scarcely any exception, the verdict has been the highest approval, in which we heartily concur. Some of the specimens were what the Doctor calls "leaf wine,” "scuppernong hock," "scuppernong Madeira," "scuppernong champagne," etc. We preferred the "hock." The fault of over-sweetness, is one that is common to all American wines. We have preserved a few bottles, and may hereafter state how they are affected by time. It is known, to many of our readers, that Cincinnati and its vicinity have acquired great fame for the production of the finer wines; and the following, by Mr. Buchanan, a leading merchant of that city, will be read every where with interest: SELECTING AND Preparing the GROUND.-A hill side, with a southern aspect, is preferred. If the declivity is gentle, it can be drained by sodded, concave avenues; but if too steep for that, it must be benched or terraced, which is more expensive. In the autumn and winter, dig or trench the ground with a spade all over, two feet deep, turning the surface under. The ground will be mellowed by the frosts of winter. PLANTING.-Lay off the ground in rows, three by six feet; put down a stick, twelve or fifteen inches long, where each vine is to grow. The avenues shall be ten feet wide, dividing the vineyard into squares of one hundred and twenty feet. Plant, at each stick, two cuttings, separated five or eight inches at the bottom of the hole, but joined at the top-throw a spadeful of rich vegetable mold into each hole, and let the top eye of the cutting be even with the surface of the ground, and if the matter is dry, cover with half an inch of light earth. The cuttings should be prepared for planting, by burying them in the earth immediately after pruned from the vines, in the spring; and, by the latter end of March or early in April, which is the right time for planting, the buds will be swelled so as to make them strike root with great certainty. Cut off close to the joint at the lower end, and about an inch in all above the upper. PRUNING.―The first year after planting, cut the vines down to a single eye (some leave two; the second, leave two or three; and, the third, three or four. After the first year, a stake, six and a half or seven feet long, must be driven firmly down by each plant, to which the vines must be kept neatly tied, with willow or straw, as they grow. Late in February or early in March, is the right time for spring pruning in this climate. Summer pruning consists in breaking off the lateral sprouts and shoots, so as to leave two strong and thrifty canes or vines-one of which is to bear fruit the ensuing season, and the other to be cut down in spring pruning, to a spur, to produce new shoots. These may be let to run to the top of the stake, and trained from one to the other, until the wood is matured, say in August or September, when the green ends may be broken off. One of these vines is selected next spring for bearing fruit, and cut down to four or six joints, and bent over and fastened to a stake, in the form of a bow. The other is cut away, as well as the fruit-bearing wood of the last year, leaving spurs to throw out new wood for the next, and thus keeping the vine down to within one and a half or two feet of the ground. Nip off the ends of the fruit-bearing branches two or three joints beyond the bunches of grapes, but do not take off any leaves. If both the cuttings grow, take one up or cut it off under ground, as but one vine should be left to each stake. CULTURE.-The vineyard must be kept perfectly clean from weeds and grass, and hoed two or three times during the season. Keep the grass, in the avenues around, down close. About every third year put in manure, by a trench the width of a spade, and three or four inches deep, just above and near each row; fill in with two or three inches of manure and cover up with earth. WINE MAKING-Gather the grapes when very ripe; pick off the unsound and unripe berries. The bunches are then mashed in a mashing tub, or pressed through a small mill, breaking the skin but not the seed, and thrown into the press, and the screw applied until the skins are pressed dry. FERMENTATION-This process is very simple. The juice is put into clean casks, in a cool cellar, and the casks filled within about four or five inches of the bung, and the bung put on loosely. The gas escapes, but the wine does not run over. In from two to four weeks, generally, the fermentation ceases, and the wine clears; then fill up the casks and tighten the bungs. In February or March, rack off into clear casks. In the spring, a moderate fermentation will again take place; after that, the wine fines itself, and is ready for bottling or barreling. Use no brandy or sugar, if the grapes are sound and well ripened. Keep bunged up or corked tight, and in a cool cellar, and the wine will improve, by age, for many years. R. BUCHANAN. Mr. Charl & Cist. STATISTICS. Cost of my vineyard, of six acres-fourteen thousand four hundred vines : Trenching, two feet deep, $65 per acre;......................... Sodding avenues,. Cost of 30,000 cuttings, @ $2 50 per thousand,. Planting,.. Fourteen thousand five hundred locust stakes, @ $3 per hundred,. Setting 14,500 stakes,. Total, Cost of attending the first year-vine dresser $216, and a hand for one month,...... Contingencies, &c....... Average cost, say $300 per acre,.................. $390 60 75 70 435 55 $1,085 231 246 20 68 150 $1,800 The third year the vines will produce grapes enough to pay the expenses of that year-generally more. For the fourth year, and series of eight or ten years in succession, the experience of the past would indicate the following calculation to be something like a fair one: Say six acres average 250 gallons, at rates heretofore $1 per gallon,........... To attain this, the vineyard must be favorably situated and well attended, by a competent vine dresser, and free from the disastrous visitation of the rot. VINE CULTURE IN THIS VICINITY.-It is estimated that over three hundred acres are now planted with the vine, within a circuit twelve miles round Cincinnati; nearly two-thirds of which were in bearing last year, producing, notwithstanding the rot, so injurious to many, about 50,000 or 60,000 gallons of wine. The catawba is our great wine grape, and principally cultivated. The Isabella is not preferable for wine, and is only used for table use. Mr. Longworth, with unwearied zeal and liberality, is still experimenting with new varieties, and may yet find a rival for the catawba. N. B. Some vineyards, in good seasons, have produced at the rate of 600 to 800 gallons to the acre; but this is rare. The usual yield is 300 to 400 gallons, where there is but little rot. A bushel of grapes, if well ripened, will produce three and a half to four gallons of wine. By proper economy, a man may have a vineyard of several acres, in a few years, without feeling the expense to be burthensome. Commence by trenching one acre in the winter, and planting it out in the spring: next year another acre, and so on for five or six years. After the first year, he will have his own cuttings, from the first acre, and also grapes enough to pay for the cost of planting the succeeding additions to his vineyard. If he has suitable timber on his own land, the stakes can be got out in the winter with but little outlay in money. By this course, the cost of a vineyard of six acres, would not be half as much as mine. Some prefer planting in rows, four by five-others, four and a half by four and a half; and on level land, three and a half by six, or even seven feet. I have merely given, in the foregoing remarks, the course pursued by myself and some of my neighbors, without pretending that it is preferable to others. 7. FENCING. In many parts of the South, from the scarcity of timber, fences become an article of considerable annoyance and expense; which is especially the case on the prairie lands of Louisiana, and perhaps Texas. Hedges and ditches are substituted for them, and we have, on several occasions, recommended the "Cherokee Rose," Our attention has latterly been called to an article in the "Western Review," advocating wire fencing. This is a novel proposition and may not be unworthy of some consideration. The author, Mr. Sibley, makes his estimates for the neighborhood of St. Louis; but whether they would be correct in other quarters, or answer on a large as well as small scale, we are unable to say. For the illustration take one hundred and fifty pannels of twelve feet eachthe height to be four feet and six inches; the posts for the plank six feet apart; for the wires twelve feet; both to be strong and sufficient barriers against cattle, horses, sheep, hogs and pis; and both to be made of the very best materials to be obtained, of plank, posts and wire. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PANNELS OR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED FEET PLANK FENCE. 301 cedar posts, @ 25 cents, $75.25 | Setting posts, say 3 cts. each,... $9,03 6.00 Placing and securing ground 150 ground poles or rails, @ 4 cts.......... 1 string 12 inch plank, bottom,.. 4 string 6 inch plank, side, @ $13,50, 1 string 6 inch plank, cap,.... 301 battens, one to each post, @ 4 cts.,.. 100 lbs. nails, 60 to the pound,... 27,00 54.00 13.50 12.04 Cost of the materials on the ground,......$192,79 poles, say.... Carpenter for fitting and put- The whole probable cost,.... ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PANNELS OR LIGHTEEN HUNDRED FEET WIRE FENCE. 3,00 22,50 $34,53 5,00 $227,32 or say one dollar and fifty cents per pannel. or ninety cents per pannel. Bracing for 6 or 8 of the posts, say......... Cost of the materials on the ground,...... $117,50 The above cannot be far from correct. It may be safely assumed, that the rough plank fence will cost, at least, fifty cents per pannel more than the wire. The wires must be well coated with some substance to prevent rust. Three coats of white lead paint will be sufficient; which will cost but little, and is easily and quickly applied. The plank estimated in the foregoing statement, is supposed to be in the rough state, as taken from the land, and cannot be painted; it may be white washed however, which will cost at least as much as the painting of the wires. To put the plank on a fair equality with the wire, it should be neatly planed and thoroughly painted-which would add at least fifty cents to the cost of each pannel. No. 9 wire is probably the best size for this use; No. 10 may answer, and will cost a trifle less by measure, and only a trifle-there is no doubt about No. 9. The wires must be passed through the posts (except the top one), the holes bored with an inch auger, to admit a small paint brush. Stretch the wires very tight; this is effected with ease and expedition, by means of a simple contrivance (of my own), with which a common bench screw of wood, is employed with great power and convenience. Good cedar posts, only twelve feet apart, planted firmly, the wires well stretched and painted, with a good pole at the bottom to prevent pigs from rooting under; will present an impassable barrier to any animal that ought not to be outlawed-not at all liable to be injured by wind or rain storms-not easily impaired-occupying but little space-not obstructing the view-neat and pretty in appearance; and will be much more likely to endure fifty or sixty years, with a little care, than any wooden fence fifteen or twenty years, with much care, patching, propping, &c. To put up the wire fence, requires no machine; a handy man and smart boy will complete one hundred and fifty pannels, perfectly, in but little over half the time that it would employ two carpenters to finish the same length of plank fence. Supposing the materials are to be hauled overland ten miles, or any distance; not less than twenty two thousand pounds of wood will be required for the plank fence, including the posts-for the wire and posts, not over four thous and pounds. The foregoing estimates are for outside fencing. Many inside inclosures, where only the larger animals, horses and cattle, are to be restrained, may be made secure with three or four strands of wire, on posts three and a half or four feet in height-in some instances, even two strands might be sufficient. 8. COTTON; ITS PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND PROSPECT OF PRICES CONSIDERED, AND THE REASONS SUBMITTED WHY IT WILL LARGELY ADVANCE THIS SEASON AND MAINTAIN A HIGH ONE THE NEXT, BY GEO. G. HENRY, MOBILE. Important and interesting to so many as this staple is, it is one respecting which but little is placed before the world, and hence in the midst of its market, and the points of its production, we find very many having remarkably vague ideas in relation to it. Dry as is the subject, permit me to lay before your readers some observations and particulars which may strike many, even engaged in both buying and selling it, as deserving consideration, and which it would be well for all concerned to retain in their memory. Production, consumption and prices, are the three heads which the subject naturally divides itself under, and we will first glance at its PRODUCTION. Respecting the extent of cotton crops, there is usually diversity of expression; but among those who have an opportunity of forming an opinion from information found repeatedly correct, and from extensive personal observation combined, there is never a very material difference. The estimates of the crop of 1849, by those who thus systematically analyze their information and observation, who carefully bear in mind that obtained from sources which had frequently proved not far from the mark, and eschewed that which they had found frequently incorrect, I say, the estimates of this class of persons have varied between 1,900,000 and 2,000,000 bales since 1st November. My own hopes about 1st September, notwithstanding the late frosts, the heavy rains of July and the overflows of August, were that the crop might reach 2,100,000 bales; but after seeing the effects of those rains myself, in September and October, and getting together my information from the quarters I had not myself visited, I put my figures 1,900,000 bales, as the outside. And, with the most careful and diligent inquiry, I cannot now raise those figures, and feel confident that under no circumstances can the crop reach 2,000,000 bales. I will state my division of the crop and the substance of my present information: In the beginning of the season, my friends in the Atlantic States put their crop at 600,000 bales about, but the cotton which has been diverted from New Orleans, through their extended railroad system, in the direction of North Alabama and Tennessee and from the Chattahoochee, has been added to the receipt of Charleston and Savannah, though the less will go to Florida and New Orleans. In the Atlantic ports to the 12th inst., 550,000 bales had been receivedadding to which 87,000 bales on hand in the interior towns on the 1st of March (which in the two weeks it is most likely have been diminished smartly), and you have 637,000 bales. Take from 637,000, 13,000 on hand 1st September, at Augusta and Hamburg, and you have 624,000 bales. The whole country is said to be effectually cleared of cotton, effected through early high rains, extended railroad transportation, and prices which the people were urged to rapidly avail themselves of. Their crop, not a bad one, would bring them a large amount of money, and weakened their expectation it could fall off so much West as was represented. All this indicates they cannot, with their present stocks, receive 113,000 bales more, which they must do to net them 650,000. Florida has received, to the 14th March, 137,0 0, and with 13,000 at Columbus, would make 150,000; 10,000 bales more than which is not in her back country, from similar causes submitted with regard to the Atlantic crop. |