STATEMENT SHOWING THE AGGREGATE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY WHICH CAME TO THE HUDSON RIVER ON ALL THE CANALS DURING THE YEARS 1847, 1848, AND 1849, UNDER THE DIVISIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE ABOVE TABLE. 1848. The forest.. Agriculture Total.... 1847. 1849. 8,044,646 FREEMAN HUNT, Esq., Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc. DEAR SIR-Annexed you will find a statement of the operations of the Havana and Union Railroad, for the year 1849, submitted for insertion in the pages of your excellent Journal. Yours truly, DAVID M. BALFOUR. OPERATIONS OF THE HAVANA AND UNION RAILROAD, FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER DECLINE IN PRICES OF RAILROAD STOCKS. The Boston Traveler shows that a reference to a record of sales of railroad shares, for a period of about two years, gives the following result: Vermont and Massachusetts 74 27 Norfolk County..... 76 45 Vermont Central.... Here is an extraordinary fall in value of this species of property; but there is a large class of railways-Stonington, Reading, Long Island, Norwich and Worcester, Worcester, Lexington, &c., &c.-costing some tens of millions of dollars, which, from prices quoted, and those merely nominal, seem to be of little or no value-not enough, nor onefourth enough, to pay the interest on sums advanced for their creation. THE READING RAILROAD, PENNSYLVANIA. The annual report of the Reading Railroad has been published, and presents the following result of the business of the last fiscal year, closing November 30th, 1849. The receipts of the year were: Travel, 95,577 passengers, equal to 49,097 through passengers... 66 1,097,761 19-20 tons coal. United States Mail.. Miscellaneous receipts.. Hauling cars and valley passenger train to June 30 $155,903 18 106,846 86 1,648,900 46 9,400 00 5,901 47 7,434 61 $1,833,590 59 942,540 83 $984,049 76 647,815 45 $336,239 31 168,625 00 Net surplus..... $172,011 31 Which has been disposed of as follows: Int'st on floating debt to June 30, carried to defer'd stock divid'd fund Amount, 1849, 1870 bonds, to be brought in.. 75,000 00 26,669 03 7,537 53 $172,711 31 Total.... The net profits of the last five months of the fiscal year, during which time 589,315 14-20 tons of coal were transported, were $605,972 38, while for the seven preceding months, with a coal tonnage of 503,447 5-25 tons, the net earnings were but $378,077 30. LONG ISLAND RAILROAD. The directors of the Long Island Railroad Company report the actual condition of the company, January 1, 1850, as follows: To provide for this indebtedness, and for further outlay in the running gear of the road, which will become necessary from its increasing business, the company propose an issue of $500,000 in bonds bearing interest at 6 per cent per annum, interest payable semi-annually, secured by a mortgage on the road, Shepherd Knapp, Esq., being the trustee, the larger proportion of which new bonds-namely, $347,363 96-will be absorbed in the exchange for that amount of bonds now outstanding. MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. THE CULTIVATION OF TEA IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Considerable interest having been manifested on the subject of introducing the cultivation of the tea plant into the United States, and repeated applications made to us for information touching the success of the amateur attempts that have already been made in the Southern States to produce that delightful beverage, we addressed a letter to our esteemed friend and correspondent, JUNIUS SMITH, Esq., requesting him to furnish us with such information as his brief experience and the circumstances connected with his efforts in that direction would permit. The following letter, although not furnishing as ample details on the subject as we desired, will, without doubt, interest many of our readers. We have little or no doubt as to the eventual success of the enterprise, in certain regions of a territory like that of the United States, varied by every variety of soil and climate. This opinion is based not only upon Mr. Smith's experience, but the opinion of intelligent Americans who have resided in China for many years, and who are practically acquainted with the tea-trade, if not with its culture. GOLDEN GROVE TEA PLANTATION, GREENVILLE, S. C., February 5th, 1850. TO FREEMAN HUNT, Esq, Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc. DEAR SIR:-Your favor of 25th ultimo I have received. In compliance with your request, I send you a few lines on the subject of tea cultivation, to which I have now for three years devoted my time and attention. We have had here what you in New York call an open winter. I have not seen a flake of snow this winter, and yet we have had sharp frosts and stern, wintry nights. The thermometer, at 7 o'clock yesterday morning, stood at 20°: this morning, at the same hour, at 18°. The tea-plant has the test of a decided winter, and holds up its head like a veteran soldier. I do not perceive that it has sustained the slightest injury; on the contrary, fresh leaves have put out and grown during the winter, in a moderate degree. As all the branches, twigs, and leaves are the growth of the last season, and therefore delicate and tender, I deemed it prudent to afford them shelter during the frosty nights, especially as most of the plants are now in fruit. The foliage, you are aware, is an evergreen leaf. It looks fresh and healthful. This shelter, which I constructed myself, and, for aught I know to the contrary, is original, is cheap, easily made, and most efficient, and I think ought to be in the hands of every florist and horticulturist in this fitful and delicious climate. It is in the form of a tripod, in a conical shape. Three sticks, the size of a man's finger, spread at the base, form the feet-brought together at the apex, form a cone. A hoop, inside the cone, about the center between the base and the apex, forms the frame. This is thatched with broom-sedge, a coarse grass common in this part of the country, and of little or no value, instead of straw. A cord is stitched through the broom-sedge, or straw, round the hoop, which keeps it in its place, and another string is tied round the sedge at the top, where it is cut off. The three legs are sharpened at the bottom, and project three or four inches below the thatch, which gives the shelter stability, and sufficient hold upon the ground to protect it from the violence of the winds. It stands like a gentleman's hat upon his head, and is put over and taken off the plant with the same facility. I do not suppose the tea-plant will require any shelter after the first or second year of its growth. In consequence of the frequent application for tea-plants and tea-nuts, and the difficulty in obtaining and getting them home in sound condition, in anything like sufficient quantity for my own use, I have determined, nevertheless, to yield to the demand, and to accommodate the public so far as I can, with both plants and nuts, this spring. I do not contemplate manufacturing any tea until next year, because the increase of the tea-nuts is an object of far greater consequence to the country than the immediate indulgence in a choice cup of tea from the produce of our own cultivation. I should be very glad to receive your Magazine regularly, as I know it will always afford me, in this secluded corner, both instruction and amusement. Yours truly, JUNIUS SMITH. MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF CINCINNATI. We have received a copy of the fifteenth annual report of the Board of Directors of the Young Men's Mercantile Library Association of Cincinnati, a well considered business document, presenting a clear and succinct statement of the condition and progress of the institution during the past year. The whole number of members at the commencement of the year, was 1,517, added during the year by election, 181 active, 96 honorary, and one life. The discontinuances have been by resignation, death, and removal from the city, 172-leaving the present number of regular members 1,623. The whole number of volumes on the catalogue at the date of the last annual report, 8,195. There have been added during the year, by purchase, 1,431; by donation, 120; by binding of magazines and periodicals, 58; total additions, 1,609. Aggregate cost of same, including binding, but exclusive of subscriptions to magazines and periodicals, $1,888 08. In referring to the valuable donations made to the library during the year, the following allusion is made to Dr. Spooner's splendid work:— "Special thanks are also due, and have been officially tendered, to D. O. Macomber, Esq., for his munificent donation of a copy of the American edition of Boydell's celebrated engraved illustrations of Shakspeare, from the original plates, as restored by Dr. Spooner and associates, of New York. The work, when completed, will comprise one hundred illustrations; thirty of which have been already issued. To our collection of works of art, this generous gift forms an addition of great and permanent value, and must secure to the donor the grateful recollections of every member of the Association." The Reading Room appears from the report to be, as it should, a leading feature of attraction, and has received throughout the year its proportionate share of attention from the Board. Nearly every important point in the United States and British America is already represented by daily, semi-weekly, or weekly issues. The foreign list, too, is quite extensive, and embraces a number of files both in the French and German languages. No discontinuances have been ordered by the Directors, and the domestic list remains nearly the same as at the date of the last report. From the report of the Treasurer, embracing full details of receipts and expenditures, it appears that the receipts during the year amounted to $5,428 27; and the expenditures during the same time to $5,360 81, leaving a balance in the Treasury of $57 76. The death of the Rev. James H. Perkins, a warm-hearted and valued friend of the Association, is referred to in terms of befitting eulogy. We give the closing paragraphs of the report of the retiring Board of Directors, who seem to have discharged the duties of their office with great fidelity. "Our Association has already attained a position of commanding eminence among kindred institutions of our State and nation; and it now remains for us, the young men of Cincinnati, to say whether her past successes shall suffice to fill the measure of our ambition, or whether she shall be urged onward to higher and bolder achievements-whether as merchants, we will contribute a portion of our time and money to the up building and support of a noble public institution, that shall be a lasting monument to our intelligence, liberality, and taste, or whether we will meekly consent to wear the stigma applied to our profession by a British statesman, that our "ledgers are our Bibles, and our gold is our God. To elevate the standard of mercantile intelligence, and as an important auxiliary in the great work of intellectual self-culture, this Association was designed by its founders. This, let it be remembered, is its true, its exalted mission. For the credit of our profession, then, and the honor of our city, let us cherish and uphold it. "From the wearisome toils of an exacting vocation-from the feverish excitement of commercial strife, we may turn to this treasure-house of knowledge as to a well spring of pleasure. Here, too, we may acquire those substantial and enduring riches, the merchandise whereof is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold." The following gentlemen compose the Board elected for the year 1850:Joseph C. Butler, President; James Lupton, Vice President; Robert L. Fabian, Corresponding Secretary; George S. Dodd, Treasurer; William H. Davis, Henry R. Smith, William J. Whiteman, D. M. Corwine, C. R. Fosdick, Directors. AIR FOR MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN. The object of this paper will be rather to enliven consideration on the subject of air -to snuff the candle, as it were-than to adduce a novel and extensive elucidation. To throw out a few hints upon the subject will be the ultimatum of our present purpose. It is thought that ventilation should, if possible, invariably exist in ships and other vessels to a sufficient degree to preserve, in a salutary state, the articles with which they are burdened. The scalding and vapid influences of condensed and impregnated atmospheres have their influences upon numerous productions of the different climes. The qualities of some become changed-others loose their aroma, and others are induced to early decay, or are actually destroyed, before the vessels arrive at their destined ports. Some of these evils cannot, doubtlessly, be fully remedied; others as doubtlessly can be, with proper exertion and precaution. Here, then, is a field for the exercise of human intelligence and persevering invention, to obviate, in some degree, the evils resulting from artificial atmospheres in our vessels. Store-houses, on docks and in cities, where articles of importation or exportation are temporarily deposited-cellars and "lofts" wherein articles await local sales-deserve also attention. The impure and poisonous airs which many articles engender should have vent, and that which is wholesome be extensively admitted, in most instances. The articles, too, which are inflammable only from the gases they emit, should meet attention as a preventive of devastating explosions. Ignition from spontaneous combustion may also be prevented. Proper distinctions between articles requiring change of air, and those not actually requiring it, should be observed. Here, too, is a field within the province of the storeman or warehouseman, in attention to the subject of air. An extensive scientific view, indeed, of the various ærial and atmospherical influences and phenomena peculiar to different climes, seasons, and circumstances, may be advantageously directed to preserve, in the best manner, articles of merchandise, as well as for the purpose of general edification. Where commercial trade prevails extensively, air, with its precise effects and tendencies, in its different degrees and localities, deserves a primary attention. Many commodities, as has already been hinted, require this; and the more important considerations due to health also require it. The general medical agencies, with respect to health, of various temperatures and changes of temperature-of moist and of dry airs-deserve attention. The effects which these agencies produce in other climes, and in our own, on those who secure their influences in the bath-the effects which these agencies produce upon the physical frame and system generally, and the evils directly ensuing an improper or inefficient application of them, likewise merit attention. The more general advantages of air, however, may be gained in the place of business, and at the home of the merchant. The counting-room, store, or other businessplace, should be, for instance, as eligibly situated as practicable, to receive advantages of free air. Its construction may frequently be such as to attain this object in a great degree, where the unfavorableness of locality would seem to be a barrier against it. Free ventilation, in all seasons, is important. The influence of hot stoves, in confined rooms, is enervating and relaxing. The contaminated, unwholesome air, which many citizens breathe in their places of business, is often inadequate, in vital principle, to decarbonize the blood, or excite salutarily the nervous system. In some situations, plans might be adopted to cast off exhausted air by exciting an artificial circulation. The situation of a residence deserves especial attention. Much of the time of the merchant must be spent where the air is not in its purest or freest state. Hence it is more than ordinarily important that in recreating hours, and in hours of repose, attention should be given to this subject. The dryest situation in the city is preferable to others—a situation whence water flows, and where the atmosphere is the nearest ex |