Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, December 27, 1842, Image 1
if n r iti t f ?5,1
JUJfB
VOLUME VIII. C1IERAW. SOUTH-CAROLINA, TUESDAV, DECEMBER 37, 1812. NUMBER 7.
By M. MACLEAN.
Ts**s:?Published weekly at three dollars a
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A year's subscription always due in adranee.
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in arrears.
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ordered out.
0*Tho postage must he paid on letters to the
?ditor on the business of the office.
g* m x cp vrx* it zp m &
From the Soulhern Planter.
CULTURE OF SUGAR BEETS AXD MAXGKL
W I'RTZEL.
A primary object with yon, Mr. Editor,
being to procure practical information
for your readers, I tako the liberty of
fcsendinir von a northern agricultural pa- i
D ^ ?
per, containing instructions for tlie? " cul-1
Cure of Sag ir Beets and Manuel WurtO
O |
zel"?and, at the same time to suggest,
the expediency of referring to your files 1
of northern and eastern agricultural jour- !
nala, as a source of the most reliable in.
I
formation on the subject of root culture. j
My own ignorance may mislead me? !
hut I cannot and do not believe that there I
is one of your Virginia subscribers qnali- '
fied by bis own practical experience, to
write upon this subject?unless, indeed.
Mr. Corbin Warwick be of the number; |
his farm being the only one I have seen j
upon which a systematic course of root j
culture for stock feeding has been pursued j
for any length of time. I do not believe 1
another farm can be found, which has yet J
afforded one bushel of roots per bead, per .
?inter, for the horned cattle upon it. |
Rut he this a< it may?those of us who j
have no in format inn to give, mu, on me j
contrary, sorely feel the want of it?when !
we seek instruction fiom agricultural i
journals, require?not theoretical essays
?not accounts of crops made and fed
nway by the firesides of gentlemen of
ioisure?but we want the results of actual
experiments wiu? various crops, and ;
"all how and about i'," so far as the con- 1
trihutors to agricultural journals have j
tried them.
For invsclf, I know it would lie pre- 1
sumptuous to profess to give any tiling
original. Some gleanings, however, j
which I have picked up from the advice j
and experience of others, I will mention. I
1 have cultivated the Ruta Bnga turnip
several years?the Mangel Wurtzel one j
year, and the Sugar Beet one?vet am j
<?y no means certain that crops of corn j
& upon the same land would not have given
more and better food, especially if ground I
in the cob. As to cultivation?following
the puhlisited experience and practice of
northern and eastern cultivators, I have
always passed a roller over these crops
immediately after sowing. The roller is j
also used after seeding oats with clover !
and meadow grass, if tho land lie drv
L * l.ir.L- iKn iir:irlirn a food
Cnoilgfi j ami i 111111rv w.. _ n _
one. The use of the coulter, especially j
in the culture of Ruta Baga, was rccom- i
. 1
wended to Hie 4>y a friend from the lip- j
per country, and has been successfully ;
pursued ever since.
A means uf protecting the turnip crop
from the fly, by sprinkling tolmcco trash \
over it, was suggested to ine liv one of I
my negroes (an old farm hand) some |
years ago, and another and a better one i
besides?to wit, Scot. And this reminds J
me of another piece of information probably
[lor I do not now remember] deriv.
ed from the same humble source, which I
have tried with equal success; pounded
charcoal sprinkled over melon, cucumber,
and other similar vines, when the dew is
on, effectually protects them from the bug, 1
which otherwise very often destroys them, i
411 tliA.?n things, however, arc probably j
O ' '
familiar to many of your readers, though
# ' ij
they are new to me.
But, nhout the root crops. As everv
man is apt to form some opinion upon
subjects of a practical character that arrest
his attention, so, no doubt, many ex- j
pericnced farmers have formed opinions
upon this ; and for the general good, these
opinions,especially where they have been j
tested by experiments, should be given
to you. |
It has occurred to me, [and I mention it
only to elicit the opinions of practical
men, not pretending to be one myself,]
that where the system of agriculture, as
in the Northern and Eastern States, is
? i , ;
upon a smaller seal*', ana in many jmrnrulars
necessarily different from ours,
[ilie climate heing so much less favorable
than ours to the growth of Indian, corn,]
the field culture of roots may form an essential
part of it. But here, in a corn,
wheat, and tohacco growing country,
where all the manure we can raise is required
lor those crops; where, among the
corn, npon good land, we can raise large
j supplies of cymlins for summer, and j
i pumpkins for autumn and early winter
feeding: it may be questionable whether 1
Virginia farmers can well go farther in |
j the root culture, than a good crop of Rata J
j Bnga turnips, which keeps well through j
J the winter, gives large teturns, and re- /
quires cultivation at a season when it i
can most conveniently he afforded. ;,
I J i J
I These, however, arc only my own ? no- J
1 lions," entitled, I freely admit, to very j
j little consideration ; hut I shall he grati- ,
ficd if the expression of them has the ef- ! j
feet of drawing out those who really are \
- ?j ?I i
quail tied lo give meir upiuiuua nuu mc
results of their experiments through the t
Planter. 1
One word more. A writer in your last 8
pnpcr seems to think himself entitled to F
the reward -of j?20,000 offered hy the j |
British government for an antidote to the
t
depredations of the turnip fly. I think ^
my old man Dick has the better claim,
and if there is to he competition for the
prize, insist upon putting him in as com- ! f
] petitor. Very respectfully,
A SUBSCRIBER. J
The article to which we are referred 1 I
by our correspondent, is the following, )c
from the American Farmer: c
I (
I As the culture of both these varieties , f
I of beets is precisely tho same, we shall j
treat thern both under one general head.
And before we proceed to lay down our (
i plan of treatment, we will say to our agricultural
brethren, that if they consult ^
their own interest, or give heed to the
comfort of their milch cows, they will at (
! once proceed to make arrangement* lor j j,
entering into the culture, though their first j
experiment may be made upon but a sin- !
gle acre. At throe pounds to the acre, I
that quantify of ground will produce , '
upwards of a thousand bushels, and when
wo sav that wo have seen beets, of either ' ?
i . n
variety, weighing more than twenty
pounds, we think we cannot he charged j
with exaggeration when we assume three 1
I ~ j m
lbs. as the average weight of an acrcable
product. With this brief introduction, r
we shall now proceed to give such direc- e
tions as we believe will ensure u good i
crop. . f
Preparation of the Ground. i;
As soon as the ground is sufficiently
dry for the purpose, it should be ploughed v
up with a strong tenin and heavy plough, f
as deep us possible. The ploughing com- p
pitted, let the harrow reduce the clods by ' ^
being passed over Ifie ground terrgitrwisc j ^
ami cross wise. The ground thus pre- i
pared should he permitted to remain until 1 e
ju?.t before it is lirne for putting in the ! "
seed, when manure?well rooted is best j c
?should be hauled on and evenly spread :
over the surface, at the rate of twenty j I1
double horse cartloads, say forty bushels t
each, to the acre. As spread, this manure c
should be ploughed in about three inches v
deep?As soon as this second ploughing is | u
finished, the ground should he thoroughly ! ,|
harrowed to render the tilth fine, alter ' c
which the roller should he passed over it,
: care would answer. ' '
After Culture. '
After the beets come up and are three j I
; or four inches high, let careful hands go
' through them and thin them out, so as to |
*
when it will be in a condition lor seeding, j
which operation should he performed as ^
soon thereafter as possible, as it is all-important
to put the seed into a fresh bed.
Time of Planting.
For a general crop, from the middle of <!
April to the 20th of May, is the period f
when the seed should be sown, though j F
good sized beets could he raised, in strong (i
ground, at a much later period, say the n
last of May. We, however, recommend cj
early planting. i d
Of the Soil. ! t
The soil host adapted to the growth of v
I beets, is a deep loam, or rich sand mode* r
ratcly dry. j t
Method of Planting.
If you have a drilling machine, (and if ?
you have not one, we would advise you to
get one,) all you will have to do is to put a
yc ir seed in it, and after staking off your ,
ground in rows tiro feet apart, to drill in ^
your seed. But if you have no machine, 1
then get n wido mouth bottle, or tin ; i
horn with the large end stopped, put your j a
seed into one or the other, and after hav. j r
ing a drill made an inch deep, go along [
the drill with your bottle, or horn, in hand, ; v
and drop the seed therefrom, about four ^
inches apart, let a hand follow the dropper t
with a rake, and cover over the seed ns v
dropped, reversing the rake and pressing |
down the furrow with its hack. j ,j
in this way, two smart, active hands ;
I iwnil/l nut in nn arm a dav. With a Ilia- ' ^
I I ,
, chine lour acres may he put in, in the
same time with case. The machine . 1
makes the furrow, drops the seed, covers r
them, and rolls the ground all at the same f
time. Mr. Page of this city has a drill J r
which is highly recommended, a notice of i
which will he found in another column. {t
Preparation of the Seed, and quantity to ; 1
the Acre. t
Make a decoction of horse dung, in suf- j r
licicnt quantity tofoat the seod, into this (
put in the proportion of four ounces of j ,
j saltpetre to each gallon. In this soak the j (
j seed from 24 to 48 hours, when they will j j
j he fit for drilling. As you take them out 1
| for that purpose, roll them in plaster ; 2 I
j Ih. of seed'to the acre is about the right
j Quantity, though 1 lb. sowed with great ,
stand from eight to twelve inches apart in
the rows. And n9 the beets generally
come up double, one must be drawn out,
ntherwise they are liable to grow crooked,
ir lap over each other, and materially lessen
the product. At the time this thinriing
is going on, the beets should have
ho ground stirred around them and beween
the rows, so as to loosen the earth,
?nd cut up every vestige of weeds or
jrasf.
If a small cultivator, 18 inches wide,
vere to bo procured, to run between the
ows, it would lessen the cost of culture
vonderfully, as then the hoes would only
>.nrn ?ti. Iks a'iplK arminrl nnH h?twppn
IUVU IU oil! IIIC tUIIU Uli/UMU M MU uv... w.
he roots. The great object in cultivaing
those roots, is to keep the glass
ind weeds down until the leaves ex- j
>and sufficiently to repress their growth,
n a word, keep the earth loose and clean ;
>ut never hill. If the cultivator bo passed
hree times through them, and the hoers
veed between and around the roots that
lumber of times effectually, the business
>f culture will be found to have been perorined.
Pulling the Leaves.
Lnto in the summer, when pastures
?egin to decline, and afford but little suc:ulent
food to the milch cattle, the leaves
?f cither of these beets will be found to
urnish a most excellent resource, as they
tiny bo stripped ol nil their lounge except
he crown leaves, without injury to the
oot, at least three times between that
ime and their being harvested. In strip,
ling the leaves, they should be pinched off
vith the finger and thumb.
We have thus early called attention to
his subject, in the hope that it may awa;en
a sufficient degree of enterprise to
nduce many to commence the culture, as
ve are certain that, if they hut once make
i beginning they will continue it.
EXPERIMENTS WITH HOME MANURE.
t'o the Editor of the Farmers' Register.
Fatr/ax county, Va., Dec. 10/A, 1840.
On rending the article headed 4 Extra,
icons Manures,' page 589, October num.
>er of the farmers' Register, I a in remind,
id of mv promise to give you the results
if my experiment with bone-dust, or more
iroperly speaking, crashed bones, as a
nanure.
My first application of bone manure
vns on turnips, in 1833; the result, so
ar as relates to the first crop and the oxlensc,
is slated at page 152-3, vol. 7ih
if the Register. I have therefore only
0 add the results of two years' additional
xperieucc in the use and effect of bone
nanure in comparison with stable or othr
putrescent manures produced on a farm.
in order to ascertain, with as much
irccision as I could, the requisite qunntiy
of hone per acre, as well as to he pre.
isc in its application and coi. pari.son
k ith other manures, 1 laid off an ac re of
ground whtch i designed for turnips, and
livided it into eighty.one equal parts by
:ross furrows at the proper distance. Upin
two.thirds of the ground thus laid off,
1 good two-horse cart load of stable or
iinn yard manure was dropped in each
quare, which of course was manuring at
1 4 - Ol 1?vn/ln r% n ro 'Pn
he goo a rate 01 oji iunun pvi u^iv. ?
ither part9 of the ground, crushed bones
roni the Roxhury [Mass.) mills were apd'ed
at the rate of lr>, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50,
10, 70, and 81 bushels to the acre, pure
is they came to me, without adulteration
ir admixture of any kind. On the resilue
of the acre, a compost, consisting of
he summer scrapings of the cow yard,;
vilhout straw or litter of any kind, with
inly 8 per cent, of hone, was applied at
he rate of 13 loads of 25 bushels each,
icr acre. The ground had previously
een icell ploughed early in the spring,
nd a dressing of good fresh lime had
?een applied on the first harrowing. The
arm-yard manure was regularly distribucd
on the ground and lightly ploughed
n as fast as spread ; having previously,
s well ns every other part of the ground,
eceived a good dressing of plaster of
*aris. The hone manure and compost
vere harrowed in with a heavy two horse
lanow, and the ground so rested until
he appearance of rain, the 8th of August,
then, immediately preceding a shower,
lie seed was sown and well harrowed in.
I'he rain which fell was not a soaking
me, but a transient summer-shower,much
?l_.
>i which ran on, especially irom ui?i j/viion
of the ground to which the bone mature
itad been applied ; the part manured
rotn the farm-yard, presented a rather
rtore uneven surface, one consequently
nore favorable for the reception and rerntion
of rain, which fact was well cstailished
by an examination of4hc ground
he next morning, when I found that the
noisture had penetrated at least two inches
deeper in the one case than in the i
ther, and which circumstance gave to
hat portion of the ground manured from
he farm-yard a very decided advantage
jver the hone manure for the first two
* ' 1 -. ..ulln/l Clldl.
weeks, or unui ampie nun nu|>|>nvu ...... ^
::ient moisture. The ground upon w hich
this experiment was made is high and
Jry, and was, at the time, exceedingly
poor stilt* clay land, upon which I had, in
vain, two years in succession, tried to
produce black-eyed pens.
The growth of turnips on such parts of
the land as had received not less than 60
bushels of crushed bone, was quite equal
in the end to the best growth when the
farm-manure was used at the rate of 81
cart loads to the acre ; whilst the growth
on all smaller allowances of bone, was
inferior, and most so where the least quan.
tity was used. Rut on that portion of
the ground which was dressed with the
bone compost, as above stated, the growth
throughout was decidedly superior to any
other part, and the product, at maturity,
was at least one.third inore than was produced
on an equal quantity of the ground
manured from the stables. The succeed,
ing year, 1839, the entire acre was plant,
ed with sugar beets, and every part treat,
ed precisely alike, viz. : the seed drilled
and cowred by hand with a light compost
from baskets; the crop, owing to an
unfavorable season and neglect of early
tvnu nnl h i n rr #*vtriinf<linarv.
b - -
(hough decidedly best where the bone
manure had been applied. The beet
crop was followed this year, (1940,) by
Italian spring wheat. The growth of
straw was most splendid, but like our
winter sown wheat and rye, this season,
was almost ruined by the rust; but in
this, the third crop in two years from our
manuring, the superiority of the bone
manure was more apparent than ever,
and as before, on that portion of the
ground to which the compost wa9 applied
was greatly .superior to every other part,
and even on those parts of the ground
where the smaller portions of bono had
been applied, the straw was as heavy as
it was on the ground which had received
manure frorn the farm at the rate of 81
loads per acre. The wheat stubble was
not grazed after harvest, and although
the season wns very dry, the volunteer
red-clover and crab-grass, following a
spring crop, was so rank as to make it
exceedingly difficult to turn it under, with
a first rate two-horse plough, with the
usual appendage of a heavy chain ! Thus
affording incontestable proof of the, as
vet, undiminished offoct of the bono manure
under most severe cropping.
Of the compost above described, I applied,
at the rate of 100 bushels per acre,
to a poor piece of new ly mowed meadow,
(in 1833 ;) the succeeding crop was inore
than doubled by the application ; the crop
of pr.uoni ypjir (1840) wns still better
than the last, and from the after-growth
this year, 1 have little doubt of further
and progressive improvement for several (
years to come, as the coarser particles of i
the bone are not yet entirely decomposed.
A piece of wheat on which a like proportion
of the bone comjtost was applied, and '
harrowed in with the seed, was greatly
benefitted by the application; and the
clover which followed the wheat was 100
per cent, better than that on either side
of the bone compost belt, which run
through the field, although the other parts
of the field were similarly treated, cxcoptins
only the addition of not more than .
at the rale of 24 bushels of bone manure <
to the acre. The conclusions, then, to |
which my mind is brought by the forego- I
ing experiments arc, 1
First, That when applied at the rate 1
of from 50 to 80 bushels per acre, on the
exhausted lands of Virginia, one bushel
of crushed hone is more than equal to one
cart load of 25 huuhels of go?>d farm-yard (
manure, in its effect upon the first crop. (
Secondly, That the effect of bone manure ,
is more durable than that of any putrcs- i
cent manure usually produced on a farm, 1
Thirdly, That when applied on land I
whic.h is in good heart, the effect is much |
more powerful than it is on very poor 1
land. Fourthly, That when combined '
with manure and applied in the form of
compost, the effect, both instant and remote,
far exceeds any other application (
of the components when separated with
which I am acquainted or ever witness,
ed. And lastly, If stable manure lias to (
!>c purchased or even hauled more than
hnlf n miIf fmm iinur stables- bone ma
'"*y " ?.? j ,
nure at fifty rents per bushel, the price
it cost me delivered on the farm, is the
cheapest manure of the two. You:?,
Thomas Ap C. Jones.
pig oil and whalr oil.
I
Two lamps of same sixe and pattern,
were filled and trimmed precisely alike,
one with lard oil, which cost 75 cents
per gallon, and the other with sperm oil,
which cost 87 1-2 cents per gnllon. The
lard oil burned out in seven hours; the
sperm oil lasted eleven and a quarter
hours.
Cornstalk "Sugar.?We have received from
Mr. Webb, of Wilmington, (Del.) whose experiments
in making maize sugar have been so widely
Dublished. a sample of his sucrar. It is of a very
liglit color, and of delicious flavor, but of finer
grain than the best New Orlcaus sugar, and not
so well crystallized. A gentleman in this neighborhood
intends to cultivate an acre of Indian corn
for sugar this year, and he says ho will convince
the West that 1,000 pounds can be produced from
en acre.?L)ui*rillr Journal.
REPORT |i
OF THE POST MASTER GENERAL. I
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, >
December 3d, 1842.
To the President of the United States? ^
Sir : In presenting to your considora* I
tion a report of the condition end opera* I
tions of the Post Office Department for |
the year preceding the 30th of June,
1842, it affords me pleasure to say its t
condition has been improved, and the scr. 5
vice hn9 been attended with more than or*
dinary success, whether considered in reference
to the management of its finan- p
cial concerns, or the regularity and ex* r
tent of its operations.
A public service, which requires the p
agency of 13,733 postmasters and clerks, c
2,343 contractors and their agents; cov- t
ering, during the year, 34,835,991 miles 1
of transportation, and extending almost to ; a
the door of every citizen, must encoun- r
tcr difficalties, and be subjected to occa* t
sienal irregularities, not only from the ' t
neglect of some of its numerous ngents, i p
but from physical causes, not in the power
of this Department to overcome. ' I
When the vast machinery of the Gen* j p
crai Post Office, the minuteness of its ; r
details, and the character of the majority c
of the roads over which the mail is trans*
ported, are contemplated, there should he p
more of astonishment at the general reg* j r
ularity of the service, than of surprise and I p
discontent at occasional failures. Abso- j i
lute certainty and unbroken regularity in ; ]
the arrival and departure of the mails, at
ail times, cannot and ought not to he ex* *
pccted. And it is with pleasure I bear ]
testimony, on this occasion to the general c
zeal and fidelity of those employed in this r
branch of the public service. c
The whole amount of mail transportn*
tion for the year ending June 30th, 1841, a
was 34,995,525 miles, at a contract cos' s
of 93,159,375. The whole amount of r
transportation for the year ending June
30th, 1842, wns 34,835,991 miles, at a r
contract cost of 93.087,796. s
The amount of expenditure of the de* a
partment, for the year ending June, 1842,. <j
was estimated, in my report of December 1 j
last, at 94,490,000. The revenue to be
derived from postage, dec. in thesamore. a
port, was estimated at 94,330,000. The v
amount estimated for the expenditure did f
not include the sums due by the depart* u
monl nrinr to the 31it March, 1841.?
Thus exhibiting a probable liability of c
9110,000 beyond its estimated current re- i
ceipts of that year. c
T/? Krin^ tj10 cxn^n'li.turfls wi.ihin the x
income of the Department was a duty de- (
manded at my hands by a regard for the r
observance of the principle upon which 1
desire to conduct the administratiofi of the p
General Post Office, viz: that while the 4
Department should not be regarded as a i b
source of revenue to the Government, it A
murtt not become an annual charge upon
the public treasury. n
To effect this object, great labor and n
minute attention have been bestowed by fi
all concerned. c
A revision of post-roads and post-office9, g
necessary to a reduction of unprofitable d
routes, and the discontinuance of unpro- f<
Juctive and useless post offices, and tho 0
substitution of others at more important
points bettor suited to the public wants ; o
the institution of a system for the preser- ! o
ration and safely of the public property,
and the reduction of useless expenditures, j y
was a task requiring no ordinary portion 'p
of labor and time, and its performance ?
could not fail often to subject the the head p
of tho Department to censure ond criti- p
cism from those who did not feel the ne- b
cessity of the measures adopted. The c
effect has been salutary to the public scr- p
rice, us well in reference to its incomo, as j(
to its usefulness and cost. ^ 1 refer you to g
[he reports of the 1st and 3d assistant j<
postmasters general, which will give more s<
in detail the effect which has been produ- i h
:ed by the measures adopted. ; J
Useless and unproductive routes have i(
been discontinued ; while others, more (|
convenient, less expensive and more pro- ; a
ductive, have been substituted. In many b
instances, where the nature and size of (|
the mail did not demand the higher grade t<
of service, the less expensive modes of h
transportation have been employed. This v
may he more satisfactorily illustrated by ; u
a reference to the service in the North, ; |j
western and Southeastern Districts, coin- j n
prising the States of Michigan, Indiana, j r
Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, a
Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Lou- u
isiano, and the territories of Wisconsin e
and Iowa, prior to the l?t July, 1842, and i
the service under tho recent lettings. t
The whole number of miles of mail ser- n
vice in these districts annually was II,.] t]
005,865, costing annually the sum of e
81.102,045 prior to the 1st July last.?
The recent contracts require the transpor- p
tation of the mail in each year, 11,424,128
miles, at a cost of $957,768?thus 8
giving in fact, 418,263 miles more of ser. i
vice, for $144,277 less expense. And I p
do not hazard much when I assert that ; p
this saving has been made while the ser- j t
vice itself has been, in the aggregate, i c
imnroved. |
The heretofore henvy expenditure of f
mail bags and locks has been greatly reduced.
Entertaining the opinion that by
a proper system of preservation, and a
just responsibility imposed upon public
agents, the number of mail bags on hand
was equal to the wants of the service, and
i
1
.vouM be sufficient to meet its demands
or several years, I have, in effect, ordered
heir manufacture to eease.
By the roport of the third assistant, it
rill be seen that the expenditure for mail
>ags was, in the year 1837, 956.702 28
n 1838, 38,737 36
n 1839, 36,082 46
n 1840, 35,337 23
From 1st April, 1841, to 1st April, 1842,
he amount expended was but 913,566*
10.
From 1st April, 1842, to 1st Oct., 1842
?6 months?97,640 59. A large pro*
proportion of which was for mail bags
nsnufactured prior to 1841.
It is important, in every branch of the
public service, to impress upon thoso in its
imployment the necessity of taking care
>f, and preserving the public property.?
rhis is beat done, by the adoption of an
ipprouriato system, and holding to a just
cspofllibility those charged with adawwa- ?
rative duties; and, wnen tney prove
hemselves faithless or negligent* to appoint
others in their places.
The good effects of this rate are stricty
illustrated, not only in the item of expenditure
just enumerated* but they are
nanifested throughout the results of the
intire year's service.
It will he seen, by reference to my report
of December last, that the amount
eccived from postage on letters and newspapers,
nnd fines* for the year, commencng
1st July, 1840, and ending 30th June*
1641, was stated to be $1,379,317 76.
The amount arising from the same
ources for the year ending 30th June*
[842, is 84,546,240 13. Thus showing
in increase of the revenue of the Departncnt,
of $160,982 35, over the rovenu*
>f the preceding year.
This increase has not been tho result of
in increase of mail matter, I am peruaded,
but has arisen from a moresystenntic
and vigilant execution of the law.
The gross expenditures of the Deportncnt
for rtie year ending 30th June, 184'?, o
far as they have been audited andpaid*
re84,027,710 62?exceedingI he amount
lerivcd from postage, during tho same
renr, $31,470 49. "
It will be remembered that by tho act
ipprovetl the 9th September, 1341, there
vas appropriated, 44 to enable the Post Ofice
Department to meet ita engagement*
md pay its debts," the sum of $182,657.
Of this sum there has been expended,
luring the last fiscal year, the turn of
$392,664 51, in satinfaction of demands
igainst the Department, prior to the month
if Apni. 1841. Tho report oLLheXhiof
>lerk upon this subject, No. 1, will exhibit
nore in detail the application of this fund.
There remained unexpended of this ap*
ropriation on 30lh June, 1842, $89,992*
19, to meet such other demands as may
o established to be due prior to 31st
larch, 1841.
The sum of $392,664 51 constitutes
o part of the $4,546,246 13, given above
s the revenue for the last year derivable
rom postage and fines. It does, however,
onstitute part of the $4,627,716 62, the
ross expenditure for that year, and, if deucted,
will show the gross expenditure
ir ordinary current service, to bo $4,235,*
52 11.
This would present an apparent balance,
r an excess of revenue, over expenditure
f $311,194 02.
As it is highly probable that there aro
ct claims unsatisfied, not having been
resented for payment, and claims which
rero due prior to that time, and which, if
resented, would have been audited and
aid within the year, and which havs
ecn paid since 30th June, 1841, and
onsequently will be charged in tho ex*
enditures for the current year, it is not
itended to convey the idea that this
I a f*.
311,194 02 is a surplus on nanu, our u
i a fact from which I am authorized to
tato that the income of tho Departnrant
as been equal to its current expenditures
uring the year ending in June; and it
iduccs me to hope that, unless the burens
of the service shall be too greatly
ugmented by the additional rates created
y the act of the last session of Congress,
he Department will, in future, be enabled
d sustain itself. I cannot anticipate,
owever, any grent extension of the ser.
ice, beyond its present limits and amount,
nless Congress shall, in some mode, re*
ieve the department from the heavy an*
lual demands made upon its income by
ail road transportation, and protect it by
ppropriate legislation, against the inroads
ipon it by private expresses and rival mail
stablishments.
It affords me great satisfaction to report
o your Excellency, that every legal do.
fiand by the contractors, properly vouched,
pon the Department, for services render,
d since I have had the honor of superin.
ending its operations, has been promptly
a id.
Justice to contractors requires that, as
oon as they have performed the service,
hey should be paid. To enable the De*
* ??i
tartment 10 go mis, punctuality uu mo
mrt of poatmaatera in the payment of the
lalance due from them at the ond of each
[darter, is all important.
In ovcry instance where there hat been
t failure on the part of such postmasters
o meet the drafts of the General Poet OfIce,
I have felt it a duty not to be omitcd
to relieve such from the burden of bficial
duty. The knowledge of the
existence of this rule has banished dcfal:otion
from the dopartmont.