But as the winds in summer blow from Whatever his knowledge of architecthe opposite quarter, frosts frequently occur, late in the spring and early in the autumn, sufficiently severe to cut down beans, melons, and other plants of that description. About the 1st June rain generally ceases to fall in sufficient quantities much to benefit a growing crop; and, if it fail to rain about the autumnal equinox, the drought will continue until about the 1st of November. Though the climate of Oregon is, in this particular, more uniform than that of the western states, it has also its variations; the winter sometimes being, for two or three weeks together, clear and frosty, and cloudy weather and rain sometimes occurring in summer; the present year agrees with the exception nearer than the general rule. Markets-Scottsburg, at the head of tide water on the Umpqua River, and twenty-five miles from the ocean, is near the southwest angle, and the shipping point for the valley; above this point the river is not navigable, and as yet there is no road leading to it passable except with horses. But the principal market for the products of the farm is found in the gold mines of the Klamath and Rogue rivers. These mines lie between the 41st and 43d degrees of north latitude, and are principally supplied from Oregon. Wagons are sometimes used as a means of transportation as far as Shasta city; but, owing to the badness of the roads, pack animals are mainly employed. Labor, for the summer, is worth from three to five dollars per day, and but few laborers are to be had at these prices. These circumstances, together with its recent and very rapid settlement, controlling the farming operations of this country, rude and primitive as they may appear to farmers in a more advanced condition, are yet in accordance with sound judgment and good policy, and go to show that many of the practices of our ancestors were not so much the results of ignorance as of necessity. The immigrant arrives late in autumn at the end of an exhausting journey in a wilderness. He has first to direct his attention to the comforts of his family; their subsistence is to be procured, perhaps, from a distance, and they are to be protected from the inclemencies of winter, which is now fast approaching. ture, or his ability to avail himself of the labour of others, there are no quar ries of stone or kilns of brick ready to furnish material for his walls, nor machinery to prepare the wood for the com pletion of the edifice. Wealth cannot call these things into existence, nor here secure the services of mechanics to usé them, were they to be had; and if without it, which is too often the case, so much heavier is the iron hand of neces sity upon him. Like circumstances, at all times and places, produce like results, and the pioneer here, as elsewhere, erects a log cabin as his first edifice. The same necessity governs his first efforts in agriculture, and for one or two years there is little attention paid to the culture of anything not needed for his own subsistence. And it must be borne in mind that but few of the settlers are yet prepared to avail themselves of the natural advantages of the country, or to turn their attention exclusively to those branches of agriculture that the markets and means of transportation make most profitable; which subjects I shall now proceed to notice. Grasses of nutritious quality cover the whole country; that of the hills being varieties of the buck grass, or festuca, common to all the elevated regions of Oregon. The valleys produce a ranker growth and greater variety, among which may be mentioned a valuable clover. The excellence and abundance of these grasses, which, from the mildness of the climate, continue their growth through the winter, make the country, to all grazing animals, a natural home. Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Hogs, are free from disease-always in good condition; and beef, mutton, and pork, of superior quality, are at all seasons slaughtered that never received either food or shelter at the hand of man. Besides the surface and climate, which must ever mark it as a grazing country, there are many temporary and local causes to encourage the raising of animals at present. Horses and Mules. - As horses and mules are extensively used in the carrying business, they are in good demand; $100 being about the average price of Indian and Mexican breeds, fit for service; and those of the United States Markets-Labor-Grasses-Horses and Cattle-Crops, Etc. 603 rate much higher-good horses and the dry, or hay state, it is liable to be mules bringing double that rate. Cattle are also in good demand, as bullocks can carry themselves to market, and gather their food by the way; and butter and cheese are articles in which, with Oregon, no country can compete. Bullocks, on foot, rate from six to ten cents per pound, the price depending on the tractability of the animal in being herded and driven. Spanish stock, $15 to $25 per head, according to training. Tame cows, with calves, $50 to $100. Butter, 75 cents; cheese, 50 cents per pound. Sheep are not valued for their wool, though there are now in the country some of the best wool-bearing breeds. The short, sweet grass and pure air of the mountain pastures encourage a remarkable fecundity and fatness in the animal. Young lambs are being added to the flock in every month of the year. It is not uncommon for a mutton to yield 20 pounds of tallow while the flesh, for fineness of flavor and texture, is nowhere exceeded. Mutton is a convenient article of food at home, as well as in the mines. Salt provisions being little used, an ordinary family, even in summer, will consume a mutton while it is still sweet and fresh. Hogs, as yet, succeed well, but it is probable their food will first cease to be produced spontaneously. The mastbearing trees are few in number and variety, black oak and hazel comprising the whole. The clover and nutritious roots of the valleys being their principal dependence, besides their own tendency to destroy, each field put in cultivation directly diminishes their pastures. Their flesh being not much eaten at home, they are mostly made into bacon, and in that shape are a valuable item in the trade to the mines. Stock hogs, 8 to 10 cents per pound; pork, fresh, 10 to 12, and bacon, 25 to 50 cents per pound. Hereafter, when the number of grazing animals approaches more nearly to the capacity of the country to maintain them, the danger which may be apprehended to this branch of the business is, that grasses starting up with the first rains of autumn continue their growth through the winter, and ripen about midsummer, and, except on damp places, remain dry until rain in sufficient quantity again falls to renew its growth. In burnt off; and when such an accident happens, and the rains are late in falling, and are followed, as is sometimes the case, with cold, rainy weather, and even snow, the scarcity produced by the fire will be prolonged through the winter, which must result in a ruinous loss to such farmers as are unprepared to meet it with food for their animals. Such was the case in Willamette, in the winters of 1846-47 and 1848-49, in which hundreds of animals perished of starvation. Crops. On the dry lands, any crop ripening by midsummer succeeds well. Wheat, peas, oats, barley, &c., are cultivated for home consumption. The want of mills and labor-saving machines, and the price of labor, discourage their cultivation as articles of export. Vegetables.-such as maize, potatoes, cabbages, &c., requiring the whole summer to perfect them-will some seasons succeed without irrigation; but, as the crop is liable to be cut short by drought, usually a spot naturally damp, or that can be easily irrigated, is selected for the kitchen-garden. The mode of culture is simple and primitive. The emigrant, who has arrived too late for fall-ploughing, in early spring turns over the green sward of the prairie, with a huge, clumsy plough, drawn by oxen. On this he sows his crop of spring-wheat, peas, or oats, and harrows it in with a wooden harrow or a scragged tree-top; the first, if a springcrop, yields from 10 to 25 bushels per acre, being varied by the manner and time of setting the crop and the continuance of the rains. If sufficient rain falls about the autumnal equinox, which is generally the case, fall wheat is sown; but if this should not happen, it creates no uneasiness, as the crop may be set at any time until March without any perceivable difference in the yield, and but little in the time of ripening. It is common, however, to sow more seed on late sowings. The yield of the fall crop, though affected by the same causes, is more uniform and abundant than that of the spring, and from 20 even to 50 bushels of wheat are harvested per acre. The rotation of crops, though doubtless here of as much advantage as elsewhere, is attended with one serious inconvenience, the frosts of winter being insufficient to But the very means which have given the farmers of Umpqua great advantages in the market will tend to make them of short duration; because a portion of the country embraced in the northern mines is well adapted to the purposes of cultivation, and much more of it affords fine pasturing. destroy peas or oats. Wheat, if following decided advantage over other parts of a crop of either, is frequently choked the country. and intermixed with their voluntary growth; and oats particularly are very injurious. The same result also follows in sowing in fall after a spring crop, -the two kinds of wheat become intermixed, to the injury of both. At the time of harvest, the weather is usually dry and pleasant. Wheat and oats are cut with a cradle, and peas pulled by hand. There being no barns, a clayey spot is made smooth and hard by being dampened and beaten with mauls, or tramped with animals. Around it a high, strong fence is made, and over it those fond of the shade throw a few bushes. On this "floor" the grain is laid regularly, the heads pointing obliquely upward. A wild skittish band of horses are turned in and driven against the bristling heads of the grain, and, by their scampering, in a very short time the wheat is threshed from the straw, and much of the straw itself broken to pieces, much more time being required to separate and remove it from the grain than is occupied in threshing. Leaving the bottom undisturbed to the last, as it is sometimes dirty, the threshed grain is pushed to the centre, and another floor laid down; and so on until the crop is threshed. Formerly we depended upon the sea breeze, which springs up each evening, to separate the wheat from the chaff; but now, as we can obtain fanning-mills at $100 each, most of the farmers have provided themselves with these modern inventions. Of the whole list of vegetables and fruits found in the temperate zone, there is scarcely one that may not here find its favorite soil, and, with a little attention, be adapted to the climate; and in the vegetable market, having no foreign competition, the farmers have the greatest encouragement to engage. In regard to prices, it must be borne in mind that three-fourths of the inhabitants of Umpqua are immigrants of the present year, who must be fed, and furnished with seed-that, within the same time, the newly-discovered mines of the north have attracted between ten and twenty thousand persons, whose supplies are drawn from Oregon principally; and, as the roads are bad and transportation expensive. Umpqua, being the nearest farming district to the mines, has had a The grazing in the neighborhood of Shasta city is excellent, and a fine yield of both potatoes and gold may be dug from the same plat of ground; and, as the price for which vegetables, butter, and cheese are sold in the mines must be enormous, it is a profitable business to pay high prices for them here and carry them 200 or three hundred miles on the backs of animals. Many have exchanged the pick and shovel of the miner for the implements of husbandry, and farms and dairies are being established in the very heart of the mines themselves. The peaceful relations which have at last been established with the Indians of Rogue River, will also have their irfluence, as they have opened to the farmer a valley surrounded by mountains rich in gold, remarkable for its health, beauty, and agricultural capacities; and as the distance from the ports of the Pacific, and the extremely rough and mountainous country lying between, will make transportation always difficult and expensive, the northern mines may shortly be independent of commerce, except for groceries and manufactured articles. When the mines cease to consume the agricultural products of Umpqua, it is difficult to foresee what other market will be found, or what will be the effect upon the pursuits of the inhabitants. The great natural advantages of the country and the nearness of the market, are overbalauced by the high prices of labor, difficulties of transportation, and want of machinery; and, until great changes in the prices of labor and improvements take place in the other cannot compete with obstacles, we Chili and the Atlantic States in the provision trade of the Pacific. These things considered, though there is perhaps not one farmer in a hundred discontented or desirous to exchange his home in Oregon for the one he left in the States. I do not think a greater proportion of the prudent would advise their friends who are well and comfortably settled in the Operations of the United States Mint-Coinage of 1852. 605 States to exchange the many comforts and advantages they now enjoy, and perform the arduous and dangerous jour ney over the plains, for the certain privations and uncertain advantages of a home in the wilderness. ART. X.-HOME AND FOREIGN COMMERCE. UNITED STATES MINT STATISTICS SINCE 1790-MISSISSIPPI BONDS-COINAGE LAW OF 1852SILVER COIN-STATISTICS OF COTTON TRADE-MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD, BANK AND FACTORY STOCKS-COMMERCE, WILMINGTON, N. C.-CANADIAN CURRENCY. OPERATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES The total amount deposited for coinMINT. The coinage at the principal age was $56,788,479; of which there mint, during the year 1852, amounted was in gold, $55,717,488, and in silver, to $52,403,669 44; of which $51,505,- $1,070,991. 638 50 were in gold, $847,410 in silver, and 50,630 94 in copper. This coinage was comprised in 32,612,949 piecesbeing the largest number ever before struck at the mint in a single year. The deposits received were $50,874,131 in gold, and $952,297 in silver; making a total of $51,826,428. The coinage at the branch mint, New Orleans, amounted to $4,622,000; of which $4,470,000 were in gold, and $152,000 in silver. The number of pieces struck was 1,418,000. The deposits were $3,935,668 in gold, and $118,694 in silver; total $4,054,362. The coinage of the branch mint, Charlotte, North Carolina, amounted to $396,734 in gold-comprised in 91,780 pieces. The deposits were $430,900 in gold. The coinage of the branch mint, Dahlonega, Georgia, amounted to $473,815 in gold-comprised in 101,890 pieces. The deposits were $476,789 in gold. The total coinage at the four mints was $57,896,218 44; of which there was -in gold $56,846,187 50, in silver $999,410, and in copper $50,630 94. This coinage was comprised in 34,224,619 pieces. The deposits of gold received from mines in the United States amounted to $54,506,963; of which there was from California the sum of $53,794,700; from other states of the Union, $712,263. During the year 1851, the amount of gold received from California was $55,938,232; from other states, $602,380; total domestic gold, $56,540,612. Hence it appears that the receipts from California in 1852 fell short of those in 1851 by $2,143,532, while those from other states of the Union were increased by $109,883. The coinage of three-cent pieces amounted to $559,905, which was 56 per cent. of the total coinage of silver. The demand for this piece has not been due to its intrinsic importance in currency, but to the fact that it is the only one whose proportionate value to gold allows of its issue from the mint, under present laws. The necessity of some legislation, which, by readjusting the proportionate weights of the gold and silver coins, shall admit of the issue and permanent circulation of the latter, is becoming every day more imperative. SUMMARY EXHIBIT OF THE COINAGE OF THE MINTS TO THE CLOSE OF 1852. Total. .1838 1838.. $194,876,142 00..$65,795,018 90..$1,446,457 3,450,668 50.. 39..385,078,778..$262,117,618 29 44,545,145.. 47,052,665 00 837,788.. 3,450,668 50 1,093,685 4,817,809 50 .$237,030,485 00..$78,961,818 90..$1,446,457 39..431,555,396..$317,438,761 29 MISSISSIPPI BONDS.-We wish that for such a paper, and it would do much some citizen of the state would prepare good. At present, we can only furnish for our pages a full history of the bonds a few statistics from a writer in the question, with all the arguments pro and Bankers' Magazine: con in regard to it. We are anxious Statement of the Planters Bank Bonds, issued by the State of Mississippi. 1831. July 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable July 1, 1841, $500,000 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March sand dollars were issued on the 1st March, 1833, and payable as follows: Five hundred thousand dollars 1st March, 1861, Five hundred thousand dollars 1st March, 1866, 500,000 per cent. per annum. 1, 1861 (twenty-eight years), 500,000 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March 1, 1866 (thirty-three years), 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March 1, 1871 (thirty-eight years), Total bonds issued, Interest to 1854. Interest on first issue of $500,000, from July 1, 1840, to July 1, 1854 (fourteen years), Interest on the bonds, dated March 1, 1833, $1,500,000, from September 1, 1840, to September 1, 1854, (fourteen years), $2,000,000 $500,000 500,000 500,000 All of them bearing interest at six Commissioners were appointed to negotiate the bonds, who succeeded in doing so at a premium 500,000 of thirteen and one-quarter per cent. (131), so that after paying two millions to the Planters' Bank, the state had left, and after defraying all expenses attending the negotiation, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,ters' Bank as a sinking fund, and was 000). This sum was placed in the Planto be added to by the dividends of the bank on the state stock, from which fund money was to be drawn semithe interest on the state annually to pay 420,000 1,260,000 bonds. 3,680,000 161,920 $3,518,080 In addition to this debt of $3,518,080, the State of Mississippi is indebted in the sum of $5,000,000 for bonds issued to the Union Bank of Mississippi in 1838, and for the interest ($300,000) that has annually accumulated for the last twelve years. The whole revenue of the state at this period does not exceed $225,000 annually, although the census shows a population of about 600,000 persons within its limits. The Planters' Bank of Mississippi was chartered in the year 1830, with a capital of three millions of dollars, and by the first clause in that charter, the amount of two millions of that stock was reserved for the state, and the remaining one million for individual subscription. The books were regularly opened and the stock subscribed accordingly. The bank's dividends averaged ten cent. for a number of years, and the per interest on the bonds was regularly paid up to 1st of September, 1839, when the state stock in the Planters' Bank was transferred to the Natchez Railroad Company. At this period the "Sinking Fund," ,"created by the dividends on the stock over what was required to pay the interest on the state bonds, reached nearly eight hundred thousand dollars. This fund belonged to the state, and, under the charter of the bank, was controlled by the auditor of the state, and president and cashier of the bank. A very large portion of this fund was lost by the general bankruptcy of 1836-39; what was left of it, however, was taken possession of by a commissioner ap-, pointed by the state, who received, with the bills receivable, about sixty thousand dollars in cash. This money is now in the state treasury, together with about an equal sum collected by the commissioner since the fund was transferred. What disposition is to be made of the funds remains to be seen. CALCULATION UPON PAYING $250,000 ANNUALLY, FOR TWENTY-TWO YEARS, IN LIQUIDATION OF THE PLANTERS' BANK BONDS. outstanding The bonds of the state were issuedthe first five hundred thousand dollars Am't of bonds (500,000) on the 1st July, 1831, and payable ten years after date. The remaining fifteen hundred thou in 1854. $1,912,000.....$114,720..$1,606,080..$250,000..1854 1,912,000. 114,720.. 1,470,800.. 250,000..1855 1,912,000.... 114,720.. 1,335,520.. 250,000..1856 |