It must be understood, in this recapitulation, that the cistern sugar, of 184,372 hhds. has been included, at an estimate of 5 per cent. per hhd. on that part of the crop which was made principally by the usual process of open kettles. The total amount of the crop has been made without any regard to the weight of the hogheads, as very few, if any, average less than 1,000 lbs. net, while the greater portion average 1,100 lbs., and a good many crops exceed that average considerably. The aggregate produce of 42 plantations, 17,763 hhds., ought to be considered as a distinct article. Some of them work, besides their own, a considerable quantity of the common brown and cistern sugar, which is returned to market refined, either as loaf, crushed, powdered, clarified, etc., thus adding to these sorts and diminishing by so much the amount of brown sugar. The molasses is generally estimated at higher quantities than last season. Some plantations have produced considerably of that article, and many planters who worked up their cistern sugar and molasses last season, have not seen proper to do so this; thus adding so much to the quantity of these articles. The yield, therefore, may be estimated at 50 galls. per 1,000 lbs. of sugar, or upwards of 10,500,000 galls. Notwithstanding the extended culture and the new plantations throughout the sugar parishes, the crop this season is very short. Last spring was very cold and rainy, and almost the entire planting region of Louisiana was without rain from the beginning of July to the very last of the grinding season. Nearly every planter had to haul water to grind-some from a very considerable distance. Some had to withdraw their cane and wait for rain to fill their reservoirs, before making sugar. The crevasses in Pointe Coupée and West Baton Rouge caused great ravages, not only to the plantations in these parishes, but also to those on Bayou Grousse Tête, Bayou Plaquemine, Bayou Pigeon, in the parish of Iberville; Bayou Chêne, in the parish of St. Martin; Belle Rivière, Bayou Boeuf, in the parish of Assumption; Bayou Black, in the parish of Terrebonite; Tiger Island, Bayou Boeuf and Bayou Têche, in the parish of St. Mary. All the plantations on both sides of Bayou Téche, but particularly those on the left or east side, suffered very materially from the water thrown into the lakes by these crevasses. The Bonnet Carré crevasse destroyed, in the parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson, not less than 5,000 hhds. of sugar. Finally the frost, which made its appearance on the night of the 25th of October, although light, did great injury to all the plantations in the prairies. A killing frost, in all that part of the country above New-Orleans, took place on the nights of the 15th and 16th of November; and the last frost, which was as severe as any remembered in Louisiana, took place on the nights of the 7th and 8th of December. The ground was frozen hard, and all the cane standing was destroyed, and great injury also done to the cane in windrows. Taking the two last sugar-making seasons into comparison, it would be very difficult to come at a proper estimate of the loss by the frost. In 1849-'50 the cane stood in the fields to the very last hour, improving every day. The present crop was partly arrested on the 26th of October, and nearly all entirely so on the 16th of November, and from that time it kept losing more and more every day both in quality and quantity. The produce this season of 1,490 plantations, including those that were destroyed by the crevasses, is shown to be 211.203 hhds., including cistern sugar, equal to 231,194,000 lbs. of all sorts. There are but very few new plantations preparing for the next crop, the improvement in the price of cotton having deterred many from entering upon sugar who were nearly ready to embark in that culture. How long it will be before they cultivate sugar time can only show. The state of Texas, if we are well informed, has suffered still more than Louisiana, and although there were a good number of new estates, the product of this crop may not be as much as the last. For once, after several years, there are very few new engines or sugar-mills under contract for the ensuing crop. Of the 1,495 sugar-houses in operation for the next crop, 908 are by steampower, and 587 by horse-power. The following table has been taken from the Annual Reviews of Messrs. Josiah Anderson, of St. Louis, and Richard Smith, of Cincinnati : RECEIPTS OF LOUISIANA SUGAR AT WESTERN PORTS. St. Louis, hhds. sugar. .11,612.... 12,671.... 21,323....25,817....25.580 bbls. and boxes......5,752. .9,114. 10,033....10,079....23,000 Cincinnati, hhds. sugar....... .13,710.... 16,649. bbls. and boxes......7,140.... .12,313. Pittsburgh, hhds. sugar, (supposed). Wheeling, Va., hhds, sugar, (do.) Portsmouth, Ohio, (dǝ.) Maysville and Augusta, Kentucky, hhds.. Madison, Indiana, hhds.. Louisville, hhds... Evansville, hhds.. Cumberland River, hhds.. Tennessee River, hhds.. Mills's Point, hbds.... Memphis, hhds.......... Steubenville and Wellsville, Ohio, hhds... Point Pleasant and Guyandotte, hhds... Lawrenceburg, Aurora and Vevay, Ia., hhds.. .... .27,153....22,685....26,760 .14,103. ..9,422.... 15,472 ... .6,000 . 1,500 ..1,600 1,500 . 1,000 .14,000 .3,500 ..5,000 2,000 1,000 .6,000 800 400 500 400 500 1850. Warsaw, Henderson and Owensburg, Ky., hhds.. Aurora, Jeffersonville and New-Albany, Ia., hhds.. Mount Vernon and Shawneetown, hhds... 900 800 500 .1,500 Many small landings on the Ohio, at least 30 in number, say, hhds...... .5,000 Exclusive of the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and part of Texas, by way of Red River... The following table shows the amount of Louisiana sugar worked up by our local refiners last year, including that of Messrs. Belcher Brothers, of St. Louis: Sugar, Sugar, Molasses, Cist'n Sugar, Cist'n Sugar, Louisiana Steam Sugar Refinery...1,800..2,100,000..110,000..5,000..2,000,900 Battle-ground Ref'y, (besides the } crop of the planta'n, 550,000lbs.) .1,850..2,195,000..37,120....595....309,400 Lafayette Steam Refinery... .625....732,000.. (besides the crop of the plant'n, .2,222..2,443,042.. Valcour Aime, St. James Ref'y, 1,000,000 lbs.).. Havana, boxes............. .86.....37,175.. There are two smaller refineries in St. Louis, not included in the above. 5.-FLAX vs. COTTON. Much speculation has of late been elicited by the threatened competition of flax with cotton. We have refrained from any remarks hitherto, in the expectation of more accurate and reliable data, and are not prepared to do more now than furnish some statistical matter, which we clip from an exchange paper. Some considerable inquiry has of late been made in relation to the probabilities of a sufficient supply of flax-cotton in the Northern States, in case there should be a demand for it for manufacturing purposes. The following data, gleaned from reliable sources, will be satisfactory to those interested in the growth of cotton, or the manufacture of linen therefrom. The annual imports of fine linens average about $6,500,000, and the wholesale prices of these cloths range as high as to average 65 cents per yard; while the retail prices go up to 95 cents and $1 20 per yard. In 1840, the number of acres of land on which grain, &c., was grown in ten of the Northern States, was about 29,000,000; and the flax crop of that year, in all of the states north of the Ohio River, including Maryland, covered some 4,000,000 acres. The average crop of flax-lint is about 350 lbs. per acre, of which one-third, or say 120 lbs. is flax-cotton, leaving 120 lbs. of coarse tow for paper, bagging, or any other article it will make. The flax-seed is about 15 bushels per acre, and is generally worth $1 per bushel. We may readily suppose that in all the states suitable for the growth of flax, 8,000,000 of acres could now be turned to that crop without at all disturbing the present serial crop, or diminishing the quantity now devoted to the culture of other crops. This basis gives us the following results: 8,000,000 acres, average 120 lbs. flax-cotton per acre.. 8,000,000 acres, average 15 bushels seed per acre. 8,000,000 acres, average 230 lbs. flax-tow, rough, per acre... 1,840,000,000 This being sufficiently near the amount of such a crop of flax, the following figures give us the value of the same, as near as we can determine from our present limited knowledge of its properties: 960,000,000 lbs. flax-cotton at 7c. per lb., at factory.. 100,000,000 bushels seed at $1 per bush., at factory. 1,840,000,000 lbs. coarse tow, at 3c. per lb., at factory. Total...... $67,200,000 100,000,000 55,200,000 $222,400,000 The cotton crop of '49 and '50 was about 2,200,000 bales, at say 400 lbs. per bale; and the price averaged 11 per pound-value, $90,400,000. The flax-cotton would be 2,400,000 bales of 400 lbs. each, giving above the present average of cotton, 200,000 bales. The difference in the total value of the two crops would be $132,000,000 in favor of the flax crop. Allowing these estimates to be high, still $132,000,000 is quite a margin to work on. For the new Leavitt machinery, the flax may be either mowed or cradled, so that the harvesting of the crop may be done on the cheapest possible scale. Farmers would do well to consider these facts, and act aceordingly; for that there will be a demand for their flax crop of the coming season, there can be but little doubt. Those who raise flax should, after threshing the seed, bind up the stalk in convenient bundles to handle. It should then be laid as even as possible, and in this condition stacked away, and covered with straw, to dry and prepare for market. DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 1.-SOUTHWESTERN RAIL-ROAD CONVENTION AT NEW-ORLEANS. THE MADISON CONVENTION; SPEECH OF JAMES ROBB, ESQ. We conclude the report of the proceedings of this important body, which we begun in our last number, but which we have been obliged to curtail much more than was expected or desired. This is less to be regretted, as the committee contemplate soon the publication of an elaborate report, in which they will embody most of the facts and statistics which are applicable to the case. We shall make the effort to publish this report in full, with accompanying maps. The speech of James Robb, Esq., before the Convention, we regard a document of so much interest and value, as to be incapable of any division. We annex it entire. Mr. Marshall, in an elaborate speech, advocated the construction of a rail-road from Brandon, Mississippi, into Alabama. We have hitherto embodied the statistical advantages of this route, and can only now give the resolution of Mr. Marshall, which was adopted: Resolved, "That in the opinion of this Convention, the extension of the Southern Rail-road, from Brandon, in the State of Mississippi, to Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, would bring to the City of New-Orleans a large and valuable trade that now goes to other places; and it is, therefore, her manifest duty to contribute liberally to the construction of that road as speedily as practicable." Mr. De Bow read a paper on the construction of a road from Memphis to Louisville, the production of M. Butt Hewson, Esq., Engineer of Memphis. He also offered a resolution to the effect, that this Convention resolve itself into a general Southern and Western Rail-road Convention, to meet in December next, in NewOrleans, and that circulars be issued, inviting the attendance of delegates from all such states as would desire to cooperate with us in a general system of rail-roads. The resolution, after being sustained at some length by the mover, was referred. The same reference was made, on the resolutions of Mr. Gribble, calling for a trunk road to the Northwest. Judge Woodruff's resolutions on the subject of a reform in the laws of Louisiana, operating upon the finance and credit of the state, were referred to a special committee. Judge Preston's resolutions are worthy of a place entire, whatever differences of opinion may exist upon the general views embraced. The New-Orleans and Carrollton Rail-road Company have a perpetual charter. It is true, in consideration of banking privileges, their works were to become the property of the state in seventy-five years, but in consequence of their abandonment, this and every other bonus is abandoned, and the length of the road left entirely in their power. The capital of the company is fixed at $3,000,000, with most ample powers of expropriation for building warehouses, wharves, &c. Their original object was to make the road from New-Orleans to Bayou Sara; to use the words of the charter, "running along, or as near as conveniently may be, to the left bank of the Mississippi, straightening the route, however, at such parts as to said company shall seem expedient, to cut off the bends of the river, with power to run lateral roads into the interior from any point on said main rail-road for a distance not exceeding fifty miles," which would extend from our capital to the state line. Let the charter of that company be adopted, its rail-road property be taken in stock at a fair value; let the subscriptions of individuals be payable in money, work, materials, &c.; also, in debts of the municipalities, the cities of Lafayette, Jefferson, and the corporations of Carrollton, Baton Rouge, and of the portions of the parishes on the left bank of the Mississippi River, through which the road will pass. Let all those corporations bind themselves to pay their indebtedness, thus converted into stock immediately by a tax imposed on all objects of taxation according to the assessment rolls. Let all those corporations be authorized and requir ed, by an act of the next Legislature, to take stock to the whole amount of the capital not paid up, in proportion to the assessed value of their real property, and to lay and collect a tax forthwith for its payment, reimbursable in certificates of stock to each tax-payer. Let the fundamental rules of the company be adapted to this arrangement, each full paid share to entitle the stockholders to a vote on all subjects. If the Third Municipality prefers to invest her means in a branch to Madisonville, let her be exempted from the arrangement. The enumerated expenses of the road to our state line will cost $1,000,000. A tax of 1 per cent. on this amount will produce $1,000,000, being the amount required reimbursable in stock, and for contingencies the amount which may be subscribed by individuals. The grand depot to be made on the property of the Canal and Banking Company, opposite the race course. For For the Third Municipality, at the head of Esplanade-street. For the First Municipality, at the head of Canal-street. For the Second Municipality, at the head of Delord-street. For the city of Lafayette, at the head of Jackson-street. For the City of Jefferson, at the head of Louisiana and Napoleon Avenues. the remainder of the parish of Jefferson, at the head of the upper line street of Carrollton. Branches of the road to be made to each depot accordingly, and any necessary portions of the public battures to be taken for the depots. Eastern Route.-Let the road pass on Mr. Phelps's survey to Bonnet Carré Bend, unless engineers can establish it on the top of the levee, and combine with it a more secure levee system. In that event to claim from the state and United States our portions of the levee fund, which is large, and the work of the planters henceforth in widening and heightening their levees at a suitable distance from the river, to be paid in stock. From Bonnet Carré, on a short line if possible, to the capital at Baton Rouge, avoiding, however, the navigable portions of Blind, New-River, and Manchac Bayou. From the capital to Clinton, thence to Liberty, thence to Gallatin, thence |