11. Agriculture. The vegetable productions of the United States are exceedingly various;

there are some, however, common to every section of the Union. Maize, or Indian corn, an indigenous American plant, is cultivated from Maine to Louisiana, but succeeds best in the Western and Middle States. It is adapted to a greater variety of soils and situations than wheat, and yields generally double the produce: land of the first quality has been known to give 100 bushels to an acre. Wheat is also cultivated from one extremity of the Union to the other, but of superior quality in the Middle and Western States. The cultivation of tobacco begins in

Maryland, about the parallel of 39° or 40°, and continues through all the Southern States, and in the Western States, chiefly south of the Ohio. It forms the staple of Maryland and Virginia, where it is raised to a greater extent than in any other part of the Union. Beside the large quantity made into snuff, cigars, and manufactured tobacco in the country, about 90,000 hhds. are annually exported. The soil and climate favorable for cotton are not found beyond 37°, though it can be raised as far north as 39° on both sides of the Alleghanies. It was first cultivated for exportation in 1791, and is raised from the Roanoke to the Sabine, forming the staple of the Southern and Southwestern States. In 1800 the cotton crop was 35,000,000 lbs.; at present it is 480,000,000, of which about four fifths are exported. The rice crops require great heat and a marshy soil, commence about the same parallel with the cotton, and have nearly the same geographical range. Rice is cultivated to a great extent in the Carolinas, Georgia, &c., Louisiana, and as high as St. Louis in Missouri. The sugar-cane grows in low and warm situations as high as the latitude of 33°; but the climate favorable for its production does not extend beyond 31° 30'. It is now cultivated to a great extent in Louisiana; about 700 plantations in that State producing 80,000 hogsheads of 1,000 pounds each. Oats, rye, and barley, are raised in all the Northern, and in the upper districts of the Southern States. Hemp, flax, and hops, are produced of an excellent quality. Hemp grows naturally in the Western States, and hops in the Western and Middle States. The vine has been successfully cultivated in various parts of the Union, and the mulberry-tree grows spontaneously, and has been extensively planted of late years. Fruits of all kinds of the temperate and tropical climates, and the culinary vegetables which have been introduced from Europe, thrive here. The dairy and grazing are also important resources in some parts of the country, and great quantities of beef and pork are raised for exportation, particularly in the West. The number of sheep in the United States has been estimated at about 20,000,000, yielding about 50,000,000 lbs. of wool annually.

12. Commerce. The United States are the second commercial power in the world, their maritime navigation being inferior only to that of Great Britain, while no country in the world displays such a length of internal navigable channels, natural and artificial. The amount of shipping owned in the United States is about 2,000,000 tons, independently of a great number of large river boats, which navigate the great rivers of the south and west, and the numerous coal-boats of the Pennsylvania waters. Such has been of late years the rapid growth of manufactures, the great developement of internal resources, and the extension of inland navigation. that the coasting trade has steadily increased at a rapid rate, while the foreign trade has been nearly stationary. The annual value of imports is from seventy-five to a hundred million dollars; of exports about eighty millions, of which twenty are articles of foreign produce, and the remainder of domestic. The principal articles of domestic produce exported are cotton, to the value of $40,000,000; bread stuffs $12,000,000; tobacco $6,000,000; rice $2,000,000; timber, naval stores, and pot and pearl ashes, &c. $3,000,000; dried and

pickled fish, whale oil, &c. $2,000,000. The articles of domestic manufacture exported, to the value of $7,000,000, are chiefly cotton goods, manufactures of leather, soap and tallow candles, hats, furniture, refined sugar, tobacco, &c.

13. Manufactures. The manufactures of the United States, though of recent origin, are already extensive and increasing. The vast territory of the Union, with all its diversity of climate, and the immense water power afforded by its rivers, furnish the raw materials for almost every sort of manufacture, and a cheap moving force. There are upwards of 1,000 cotton mills in the country, with upwards of 1,800,000 spindles, and 48,000 looms, and producing 230,000,000 yards of cloth yearly; 300 furnaces make 200,000 tons of iron, which is manufactured into every variety of useful articles; 5,000,000 bushels of salt are made from the sea and the salt springs of the interior; woolen goods to the value of $70,000,000; hats and caps to that of $10,000,000; leather and its various manufactures of the value of 40,000,000; furniture to the same amount; paper to the value of $3,000,000; and glass of the same amount, are among the leading manufactured products.

14. Fisheries. The products of the fisheries are of great value, as appears from the preceding statements relative to commerce. Cod are taken chiefly on the Newfoundland Banks, and are dried and salted; herring and mackerel are taken along shore, and the river fisheries are valuable. The whale fishery is chiefly prosecuted in the Southern Atlantic, the Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and the American seamen have far outstripped other nations in the pursuit of this gigantic game. Upwards of 130,000 tons of shipping are employed in the whale fishery, obtaining annually above 100,000 barrels of sperm oil, 115,000 barrels of whale or black oil, and 120,000 pounds of whale bone.

15. Public Lands. The National Domain, or Public Lands, consist of tracts of territory ceded to the general government by the several States; of the lands in the territory of Louisiana, purchased of France; and those in Florida, acquired by treaty from Spain. A vast portion of this land is occupied by the Indians, who are considered as proprietors of the soil till the government extinguishes their title by purchase. A General Land Office at Washington directs the sale of these territories. All the lands are surveyed before sale; they are divided into townships of six miles square, which are subdivided into sections of one mile square, containing each 640 acres, and sold in sections, half, quarter, and half-quarter sections The minimum price is fixed by law at a dollar and a quarter an acre. All sales are made for cash. Salt springs and lead mines are reserved, but may be sold by special orders from the President. One section of 640 acres is reserved in each township as a fund for the perpetual support of schools. Five per cent. on all sales of land are reserved, three fifths of which are expended by Congress in making roads leading to the States in which the lands are situated, and two-fifths are expended by the States for the promotion of learning. Up to the present time about 200,000,000 acres of the public lands have been surveyed, of which about 80,000,000 have been sold, and 20,000,000 granted by Congress for education, internal improvement, and other purposes. There remain about 100,000,000 acres surveyed and unsold. The whole quantity of land owned by the United States amounts to about 1,000,000,000 acres.

16. Revenue and Expenditure. The revenues of the United States are derived from customs on imports, sales of land, the post-office, and the public lead mines. Of these the customs constitute much the largest item. The amount of the revenue has varied during the last few years from 25 to 30 millions of dollars, of which from 20 to 24 millions were received from customs or duties on foreign merchandize imported into the country, and from 3 to 10 millions from the sale of the public lands. The ordinary expenses of the government amount to about 14 million dollars yearly, the surplus having been employed in the payment of the public debt. The ordinary appropriations are as follows; civil list $1,500,000; military establishment, including fortifications, internal improvements, &c., $5,000,000; Indian affairs, $930,738; pensions, 2,000,000; naval establishment, $3,856,183; miscellaneous, as supporting light-houses, &c., $1,392,336; for foreign intercourse, $298,550. The expenses of the civil list are the payment of the executive, legislative, and judicial officers of the government.

17. Taxation, Salaries. Congress possess the power to impose direct taxes, but this branch of the revenue having been found one of the least productive, and the other sources of supply being abundant, there is no taxation by the general government. Each State levies its own tax for the expense of its local government; and each city or town provides by taxation for its own municipal concerns. Both the rate and manner of taxation vary in different States.

In some there are taxes on fisheries, mills, carriages, horses, cattle, watches, &c., in others, none of these are taxed. The most common are the capitation and property tax. In Massachusetts every male citizen from 16 to 60 is subject to a poll tax, which is commonly a dollar, or a dollar and a half. The State expenses of Massachusetts amount to less than a dollar to each individual, or the value of one day's labor. The town tax varies in proportion to wealth and numbers in different towns. In remote country towns, with no density of population, the the tax is about 1 dollar 25 cents to each individual; in Newburyport, a large town, not of the first class, 2 dollars; in Boston, 5 dollars. Taxes for the support of religion, are, with trifling exceptions, voluntary.

The highest salary is that of the President, who receives 25,000 dollars a year; Ministers Plenipotentiary receive 9,000 dollars annually, and the same sum for an outfit; the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, War, and the Navy, and the Postmaster-General, 6,000; the Vice President, 5,000. The Chief Justice, 5,000; the Associate Justices, 4,500; Chargés d'Affaires, 4,500; Secretaries of Legation, 2,000; Members of Congress, 8 dollars a day.

18. Army and Navy. The peace establishment of the army, as at present fixed by law of Congress, includes 12,500 men; the army is divided into 2 divisions, the Eastern and Western, and consists of 4 regiments of artillery, 8 regiments of infantry, and 2 regiments of dragoons, under the command of a major-general and 2 brigadier-generals. Connected with the War Department is the Military Academy at West Point on the Hudson, for the education of officers. The Navy of the United States is small, but in admirable order, and is of great importance in peace, by affording protection to commerce in foreign seas. There are navyyards at Portsmouth, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Norfolk, and Pensacola. The naval force comprises 12 ships of the line, 26 frigates, 24 sloops of war, and some smaller vessels; and graving or dry docks of granite have been constructed at Norfolk and Charlestown, of a size to receive the largest vessels.

19. Posts. The post roads in the United States amount to about 350,000 miles, and the annual transportation of the mail is about 35,000,000 miles. The number of post offices is 12,600; the revenue arising from the department is expended upon the extension and improvement of the post establishment, so as to maintain a regular and safe conveyance to the remotest settlements.

20. Mint. The mint is established in Philadelphia, with branches at Charlotte in North Carolina, and Dahlonega in Georgia, for the coinage of gold, and one in New Orleans for the coinage of both gold and silver. The whole coinage from 1792 to 1838 was as under.

21. Slavery. Slavery exists in 13 States; Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas, also in the District of Columbia, and the Territory of Florida. There are also some slaves in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but slavery, being abolished by law in these States, will cease on the exportation or death of such as are slaves at present. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, have no slaves, and in Maryland they are on the decrease. In South Carolina and Louisiana only do they exceed the free population.

22. Religious Denominations. The religious sects are numerous in the United States; they include Baptists, who have 5,075 congregations, and 3,370 preachers; Methodists, with 2,200 preachers; Presbyterians, with 2,532 congregations and 2,008 preachers; Orthodox Congregationalists, 1,000 ministers and 1,381 congregations; Episcopalians, 596 clergymen and 950 churches; Dutch Reformed, 190 churches and 132 pastors; German Reformed, 160 ministers and 570 churches; Christians, Universalists, Lutherans, Friends, Roman Catholics, and Unitarians, with some separatists from the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

23. Education, Libraries. There are about 70 colleges in the United States, but most of these are merely high or classical schools, and many of them have no funds and a small number of students. In several of the States the lower or elementary branches are made accessible to all gratuitously, by means of free schools; this is particularly the case in New England,

New York, and Ohio, and more recently measures have been taken to introduce the same blessing into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Ample funds exist in the Northwestern States for the support of public education, and the system of free instruction has been partially established; but the recent settlement and sparse population of those States have hitherto been an obstacle to its complete and efficient operation. In the Southern and Southwestern States little has been done for common education. None of the institutions of the country afford means for a thorough, learned, and scientific education, such as is provided by the European universities. There is also a great deficiency of libraries in the country, and no writer or student can pursue an extended course of historical or scientific research without finding himself embarrassed by the want of books. There are many libraries in Europe, which contain upwards of 200,000 volumes, but there is not one in this country that contains 50,000.

Harvard University
Boston Athenæum
Congress Library

43,000
30,000

New York Society
Philadelphia City

20,000 Charleston City

30,000

44,000

15,000.

24. Canals. Of the interior water communications of this country, those bestowed by nature have already been alluded to. No part of the world presents such an extensive river commerce. Steam vessels, a grand improvement first introduced in America, ply on all the principal streams, and of nearly 200,000 tons of this species of craft belonging to the United States, almost the whole is on the interior waters. Neither the States nor individuals have been slow in improving and extending these natural advantages; and the spirit with which they have undertaken, and the perseverance they have shown in executing, the most magnificent plans, have shed a lustre on the American name. The great land-locked bays of the coast have been connected by a chain of canals, affording a safe internal water-route from Narragansett Bay to Albemarle Sound. The eastern and western waters have been united by several channels, which either turn the flanks of the Alleghanies or surmount their summits. The waters of the lakes and the Mississippi have been connected at various points, and the obstacles in the navigation of the most important rivers have been overcome by removing the bars or ledges which obstructed their channels, or by side-cuts, locks, and dams. The whole length of this artificial navigation is nearly 4000 miles, all of which, with one or two trifling exceptions, has been executed in the short space of 20 years. These great works have already given fresh life to the existing manufactures, and encouraged the establishment of new branches, invigorated, and in many places, created, internal trade; promoted agriculture, which requires a cheap and easy transportation for the bulky articles which it consumes and produces, and developed, in an astonishing degree, the mining industry of the country.