HOUSES OF REFUGE AT ENTRANCE OF THE MUTLAH. The Court of Directors of the East-India Company have lately received from the Government of Bengal, the following notification, which is published for general information : HOUSES OF REFUGE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE MUTLAH, FOR SHIPWRECKED MARINERS. The houses of refuge are numbered in succession to those already erected on the sea-face of the Sunderbunds, and are situated as follows: No. 4, PAINTED WHITE.-Erected on the southeast part of Dalhousie's Island, at the eastern entrance of the Mutlah River, on a sandy patch, about five feet above high-water mark, and about 100 feet in shore, distinguishable by a white flag from a long spar and bamboo, which have been put up close alongside of the house, visible considerably above the surrounding trees. No. 5, PAINTED WHITE.-This house is erected on Bagadoonee Island, about seven miles eastward of No. 4. It stands on the southeast part of the island, above a small sandy beach, about 100 feet from high-water mark. A long spar and bamboo, with a flag, have been put up alongside, and may be seen considerably above the trees. In each house there is a supply of water and biscuit, a catamaran and paddles, a letter of instructions, and a chart of the Sunderbunds. By order of the Officiating Superintendent of Marine, H. HOWE, Secretary. FORT WILLIAM, the 7th March, 1857. STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c. THE CROPS OF THE WEST IN 1857. The Cincinnati Gazette has the following estimates of the crop of 1857, compared with the production of 1849, in the nine great grain-growing States of the West. The Gazette says the estimates are based on sound data in relation to increase of population and ratios of production, and on the assumption that the crop of this year will be a full average. Of course, Providential circumstances may mar this flattering prospect; but with continuance of weather favorable for ripening the wheat in the higher latitudes, and with a late fall, in which corn will have time to mature, those figures seem to be as nearly right as any that can now be made : This shows an advance of 55 per cent on the production of 1849. The increase of population is about 35 per cent; so we have allowed a large margin for more favorable crops. Looking to the consumption of Indian corn bread, the consumption of wheat for flour and seed in these States will not exceed 45,000,000 bushels, so that there will be, assuming an average crop, twenty-eight millions of bushels for exportation. This is probably double the amount which went out of the This is an increase of 33 per cent, or about the same with the population. Of this great cereal crop fully one-half goes into surplus, partly in bulk, partly as pork, lard, whisky, cattle. There will be a greater surplus in 1857 than in 1850, by full 60,000,000 bushels, which is equivalent to an increase of thirty millions of dollars. There will be half the same increase on wheat, and one-fourth as much on oats. The advance in hay, which is already much of it gathered, will be full fifteen millions more, which chiefly appears in the weight of cattle, horses, &c. In addition to all these considerations, we must remember that the crop of 1856 fell below that of 1849 very much. If our hypothesis of a full average crop should turn out true, we think the surplusses of the West will be from eighty to a hundred millions of dollars better than in 1856. There is a full demand for these, and our railroads furnish a cheap and ready outlet to all markets. TOBACCO GROWING IN BADEN. A joint-stock company has been formed in Baden for the cultivation and dealing in tobacco, and 750,000 florins of the first subscription of one million was taken by the managers and capitalists of Baden; 250,000 florins, which had been left open for general public subscription, was immediately taken by the tobacco merchants, &c. Almost any amount of capital could be raised for this enterprise, because it has been satisfactorily shown that the cultivation of tobacco has been a most profitable business, even in unfavorable seasons. The extension of the tobacco cultivation has recently given rise to the establishment of new cigar manufactories in Baden, particularly in Sinsherin, Ziegelhausen, Ebervach, &c. The orders for cigars are often so considerable, that the manufacturers have a difficulty in obtaining workmen, even at advanced wages. In connection with the cultivation of tobacco, it may be mentioned that the consumption of guano and artificial manures, which hitherto was especially important in Prussia and Saxony, begins now to increase in southern Germany, and the number of manufactories and depots of these articles is constantly augmenting. The increase of the production by these manures is particularly appreciated in the Baden and Bavarian palatinates; without this artificial renovation, it would be impossible for some districts to grow tobacco without neglecting other crops. A TABLE FOR THE COTTON PLANTER. Gen. P. A. MORSE has published in the Natchitoches Chronicle, some interesting statistics connected with the growth of the cotton plant. As the subject of supply is one of great agricultural importance, we place the statistics and statements on record in this department of the Merchants' Magazine. The table embraces a series of thirty-two years, and comprises the latest spring and earliest fall frosts, the time of cotton growing, and the period of the earliest bloom for seventeen years. These data apply to 31° 40′ north latitude. From the foregoing results the writer establishes the following averages:— Average latest spring frost..... Average earliest fall frost.. Average time between latest and earliest frost.. March 23 7 m. 3 d. June 5 condensed shape, The arguments which follow cannot well be presented in a and we therefore copy at some inconvenience the article in full. It will do very well to keep. During the early portion of the present season there was a succession of frosts, more or less intense, until the commencement of May. March was unusually cold and unfavorable to cotton, and the severe frosts on the 5th of April, completely destroyed the young cotton, and was equally fatal to the corn which had been planted early. Most of our planters considered it most prudent to replant both corn and cotton. During the month of April there were several frosts, but Estimated. none after the 23d that injured the cotton to any considerable extent. The months of May and June have been unusually favorable, and the cotton crop now presents as promising an appearance as I have ever known it, for the time it has been growing. Nor while it is admitted that the present cotton crop is quite promising for the season, it must be equally admitted that it is from twenty to thirty days later than the average of the thirty-two preceding years. If we take the above average for the earliest fall frost of the present year, the statement for 1857 will be as follows: Latest spring frost, April 23. Earliest fall frost, (average) October 26. Growing season, 6 months and three days. The first bloom, which is probably the fairest test of the present condition and prospect of the growing crop, proves that the average growing season will be at least twenty days short of the usual period. If we take the average date of frosts, we find thirty days deficiency. Then the question of a short or average crop of cotton for 1857 depends upon the date of the fall frost. There can, under no circumstances, be a large crop-we are too late in the commencement; and though much may depend upon the date of the fall frost, there can, under no circumstances, be more than an average crop. Before I proceed to show what I would consider a small, average, or large crop for 1857, I will call attention to some facts connected with the above table. It will be seen, that as a general rule, the magnitude of the crop depends upon a long or short period, between the spring and fall frost. In 1839, the spring opened on the 6th March, seventeen days earlier than the average, and the growing season continued twelve days later than the average fall frost, giving for the growing season eight months one day, and a crop of 2,177,000 bales-an increase of more than 300,000 bales over the year immediately preceding. The crop of 1840, besides the influence of a short season of six months and twenty-four days, was diminished by an overflow in the Mississippi, and reached only 1,635,000 bales. The crop of 1842 was very large, and it will be observed that the season commenced on the 22d February, and continued until the 26th October, a period of eight months and four days, yielding 2,378,000 bales, and an increase of more than 700,000 bales over the previous year. The crop of 1848 was an unusually short one of 1,779,000, resulting from a short growing season of six months and five days, and a general visitation of the army worm. The crop of 1849 is again a short one of 2,097,000, showing a deficit of more than 600,000 bales from the previous crop; the growing season was only six months and twenty-two days, and there was an overflow in Red River during the summer. The crop of 1855 was an unusually large one, on a growing season of a few days short of seven months, but it will be observed that the whole season was remarkably favorable, and that at least 250,000 bales of the previous crop was received, which had been kept back by low water in the rivers in Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. The crop of 1856 has been variously estimated, but taking the present deficit at all the ports, and the probable amount to come forward, it will probably not exceed 2,950,000 bales and I believe this figure has been generally adopted-I shall take it as a basis of calculation. I will now proceed from the above data, to give my estimate of the probable supply of cotton to be received from the growing crop. Taking the average of the last five crops as the basis of our calculation, without regard to the late spring frost of the present season, the result will be as follows: But if the fall frost should take place at the average date, 26th October, the growing season will be only six months and three days, one month short of the average, and we can only expect a proportionally short crop. Average crop in bales, 1857.... Deduct 14 per cent for one month short of average growing season.. Leaving for the actual crop only..... 8,279,800 459,000 2,820,800 From the above I conclude that even if the fall frost should be protracted to the 19th of November, the latest period for the last thirty-two years, the growing crop cannot exceed 3,275,000 bales, which would be much short of the commercial wants of the world, and if the fall frost comes at the average period of the 26th of October, or as often occurs before that time, the crop will not exceed 2,830,000. VIRGINIA TOBACCO. We are afraid some of our Virginia friends will not exactly relish the description given in the following paragraph from the correspondent (English) of the London Times : As a cigar, the Virginian leaf is naught; the native article has a vile, acrid flavor, resembling those patronized by Polish Jews on German railways, and which the Germans expressively call "mouth destroyers." The only cigars at all satisfactory profess to be from Havana, and are as dear as in London, which in the original habitat of tobacco is one of the many inconsistencies a traveler has to reconcile with preconceived ideas. As prepared for the pipe, the “real Virginia" is better, but still far from the standard, and if Sir Walter Raleigh's first essay had been no better than my last, he would never have imported the habit. But, like everything of which the consumption has more than overtaken the production, tobacco everywhere has become sophisticated. Refuse, that a few years ago was used here for manure, now commands a fair price, and is in the market. A patent has been taken out at Washington for making tobacco by infusing the leaf of maize in a decoction of quassia and capsicum. It is said to be an excellent imitation of the genuine weed-quite equal to the British dock or cabbage. The leaf of the sun-flower is also mentioned as a possible substitute for the real article. Another villainy of the tobacco trade is to soak an inferior kind in a solution of prussic acid, which produces an almond flavor, and loss of the use of the lower limbs in the smoker, if he persists in smoking it after this warning. Altogether, from what is to be learned of the tobacco plant in this its native seat, it is impossible to regret that the fields have gone out of cultivation to such an extent, or are devoted to grain. CULTIVATION OF GREEN AND BLACK TEA. ROBERT FORTUNE, in his "Residence among the Chinese," says, "If there is any one now who still clings to the old idea that green teas can be made only from the plant called Thea virides, and black ones only from the plant called Thea bokea, he will find a difficulty in giving credit to the account I have to give of the manner in which the Ning-chow districts have changed their green teas into black. But, however difficult it may be to get rid of early prejudices, "facts are stubborn things," and the truth of what I have to state may be fully relied upon. Many years ago a spirited Chinese merchant who, no doubt, saw well enough that black and green teas could be made easily enough from the same plant, had a crop of black teas made in the Ning-chow district and brought to Canton for sale. This tea was highly approved of by the foreign merchants of that port, and was bought, I believe, by the great house of Messrs. Dent and Company, and sent to England. When it got home it found a ready sale in the market, and at once established itself as a black tea of the first class. Year by year after this |