Permanent Funds, 30th September, 1834.

125 shares in the Little river turnpike company,

at par,

250

James river turnpike co.

7947

Bank of Virginia,

66

12,550 00 50,000 00 794,700 00

3381

Farmers' Bank of Virginia,

338,100 00

900

Bank of the Valley,

North-western bank of Virginia,

Add the state's subscription to the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal company, "transferred to, and vested in" the fund
for internal improvement, by the act of March 8th,
1834, 2,500 shares, or

1,423,661 11

250,000 00

$1,673,661 11

50,000 00

1,375,050 00

17,500 00

31,111 11

250,000 00

298,611 11

*$1,673,661 11

Bank of Virginia,

Ashby's gap turnpike company,

Loan to Richmond dock company, at 6

per cent.

375 shares in the Bank of Virginia, (loaned to Richmond dock company,)

Manchester and Petersburg turnpike company,

Middle turnpike company,

Richmond dock company,

400 920

Snicker's gap turnpike company,

20,000 00

Swift run gap turnpike company,

46,000 00

48

Tye river and Blue ridge turnpike company,

་་

2,400 00 387,800 00

Amount carried over"

Smithfield, Charlestown and Harper's ferry turnpike company,
Warm springs and Harrisonburg turnpike company,
Wellsburg and Washington turnpike company,

4800

3,000 00,

23,000 00

4,500 00,)

7,500 00

471 56,)

6,661 77

70,000 00,)

50,000 00

Amount unproductive,

Total amount of disposable funds,

MANUFACTURES.

Few countries possess greater advantages than Virginia, for success in manufacturing; she has labour sufficiently cheap and abundant, inexhaustible supplies of fuel, and almost unlimited water-power. But planting and farming continue the favourite pursuits; her citizens seeming unwilling to invest their capital in enterprizes new and hazardous, and for which they have not been rendered competent by their habits and education. There are however extremely valuable flour mills, and some nail, cotton and other manufactories at Richmond, of which a more detailed account will be given when we speak of that city. In speaking of Wheeling in the N. W. part of the state, we shall give an account of her manufactories of cotton and woollen cloths, glass, iron, nails, porter, &c. which are nume. rous and valuable. The salt works on the Kanawha produce annually about 12,00,000 bushels of salt, and the amount is only limited by the demand; those on Holston produce from 150,000 to 200,000; and there are others on a smaller scale which will be noticed in their proper places.

AGRICULTURE.

There is great diversity in the agriculture of the state, but it is for the most part badly conducted. The old practice of cultivating land every year until exhausted, and then leaving it to recover from its own resources, still continues in many places. In others the three shift system prevails;that is first a crop of Indian corn, sceond, wheat, rye or oats, and third-the year of rest as it is erroneously called, but in which in fact the stock are permitted to glean a scanty subsistence from the spontaneous vegetation;after which it is again subjected to the scourging process of cultivation, while little attention is paid to the application of manures or the artificial grasses. This destructive system for the most part prevails from the sea board to the head of tide-water, and on the south side of James River to the Blue Ridge. On the north side of that river, especially towards the Potomac, cultivation is much better; a regular system of rotation in crops is attended to; grass seeds, generally red clover, (trifolium pratense) are sown on the small grain; animal and vegetable manures are saved with care and judiciously applied, gypsum is used to great extent and with very powerful effect. In the valley district, also a good system of cultivation is pursued; and irrigated meadows are common, and very productive. On both sides of the Blue Ridge, maize or Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, and buck wheat are the principal grain crops. Tobacco is the principal staple of most of eastern Virginia, but in the Valley is cultivated only in its southern portion, and not at all beyond the Alleghany. The grasses common to both regions are the red clover (trifolium pratense,) orchard grass (dactylis glomerata) timothy (phleum pratensa,) and herds grass, (alopecurus pratensis,) the two former are cultivated on dry, the latter on moist soils. In the eastern and southern counties, cotton is planted to considerable extent. the shores of the Chesapeake barley and the castor oil bean (ricinus com munis) are cultivated; and on some of the best lands above tide-water hemp is raised to advantage.

On

The Trans-Alleghany country, being exceedingly mountainous, and remote from market is chiefly devoted to raising live-stock. No more grain is raised than is sufficient to supply the country itself, and the travellers and stock-drovers who pass through it; but in summer the visitors of the

mineral waters, afford a very considerable market, consuming an immense quantity of provisions. The climate and soil are very favourable to grass, and afford excellent pastures. The greensward and white clover, (trifolium ripens) spring up spontaneously wherever the timber is removed or deadened, and on rich ground are very luxuriant. The cattle are fattened gene

rally on fine pastures of clover and timothy mixed.

It is difficult to speak with precision of the profits of agriculture in Virginia, in many instances it yields a bare subsistence to the cultivator, in others a neat income of two or three per cent; but where the lands are in good heart, careful and judicious husbandry practised, and wheat and tobacco the principal crops, there is no doubt that with slave labour a profit of from 6 to 8 per cent may be annually realized from capital invested; to accomplish this however, great attention and activity are necessary on the part of the proprietor. Lands in the Valley, in consequence of there being fewer slaves, are more equally divided among the whites; the young population settle more at home, instead of moving to the west-and the lands are generally better cultivated: these circumstances cause land to sell generally higher in that section, and the country to be more prosperous, although running streams are less frequent and communication with market more difficult and expensive.

In 1831 according to official returns 4459 hogshead of tobacco were delivered from the several warehouses in the state for exportation or manufacture, and during the year ending in June 1832, upwards of 544,000 barrels of flour passed the various inspections. The quantity of flour inspected however constitutes but a very uncertain index of the amount produced. Virginia flour, especially the Richmond brands, stand very high in foreign markets, and in South America particularly, bear a price far above all other flour. Most of the vegetable productions found in the southern and middle states are common also to Virginia. West of the Alleghany the sugar maple grows in abundance. There are some excellent native grapes, the culture of which it is presumed will claim greater attention, since the winters have been found too severe for the foreign vine. The subject of judicious and scientific agriculture is receiving more attention every day. The good work is promoted by agricultural societies, and Mr. Edmund Ruffin's valuable production, the Farmer's Register, decidedly the best work upon the subject, published in America.

COMMERCE.

The value of imports into the state of Virginia, between October 1st 1830, and September 30th 1831, was $488,522, and the domestic produce exported amounted to $4,149,986,-foreign produce exported $489,-total exports $4,150,475. This immense difference between the imports and exports is made up by imports from sister states, the precise amount of which it is impossible to ascertain, but there is always a balance against us to the credit of our northern friends.

At the same time the amount of tonnage employed was as follows:American entered, 2,2933, foreign entered, 9,983-total entered, 32,916. departed, 11,879-total departed, 60,598.

64

departed, 48,719,