extent of late years, owing to the ceficiency of the French crop; and but small supplies can be expected from Prussia, the war having materially checked agriculture in that country. The chief European dependence of Great Britain, under these circumstances, must, therefore, be upon Russia, which has of late years improved the quality and increased the amount of her wheat crop. The importation from Russia during the first eight months of the current year was 4,600,396 cwts., or about 30 per cent. of the entire receipts from foreign countries. The crop in Eastern Europe appears to be excellent, and unusually large supplies from that source are anticipated. It appears probable, therefore, that the deficiency in the supplies from France and Prussia may be fully compensated by the increased amount derivable from Russia, Hungary, Gallicia, Moldavia and Wallachia. In the English markets, however, it is anticipated that the drain upon these resources will be so close as to produce a comparatively high range of prices, and hence the advance in prices since the middle of August, indicated by the following comparison of quotations: Nor is it to be overlooked that California has recently so largely increased her surplus of wheat that the shipments thence to England are assuming important proportions. The Report on Agriculture for October estimates that the quantity available for export this year will amount to about 10,000,000 bushels. Under all these circumstances, it would appear that the necessities of Great Britain will not be such as to compel her to pay extraordianarily high prices for Western breadstuffs. And it would, therefore, result that there is nothing in the condition of the foreign markets to afford any reason for the prevailing high prices in our markets. But, although there may be no facts to warrant the present extraordinary prices for breadstuffs, there is yet undoubtedly a cause for the advance. That reason appears to centre in a speculative mania. For reasons best known to themselves, the Western dealers are holding back their produce; and the result may be seen in the following receipts of flour and wheat at tide-water from the opening of navigation to the close of October: With such light receipts at the seaboard, and within two or three weeks of the close of navigation, it is not surprising that the idea of a short supply for the winter months should foster an extravagant speculation in this inarket. The course of the Western holders, however, is, we think, unwise, and, what we have already said, demonstrates that it can but result in compelling Great Britain to obtain supplies from Europe which otherwise she would have bought here at full prices, and to place our present surplus at her disposal next year at much lower values. CANALS OF NEW YORK.* The canals of New York for administrative purposes are divided into three divisions, viz.: the Eastern, the Middle and the Western, which are under the charge respectively of Division and Resident Engineers. EASTERN DIVISION. The Eastern Division embraces the Enlarged Erie Canal, from Albany to the Oneida Canal, at Higginsville, the Champlain Canal, and the Black River Canal and River improvement, as follows: The other feeders and reservoirs (not navigable) are shown in the following table: Sources. Mohawk River, at Rexford Flats... Schoharie Creek.. Mohawk River, at Rocky Rift.. The supply of water for the Eastern Division of the Erie Canal is derived from the sources named in the following table: Champlain Canal, from Mohawk River, at Cohoes Dam.. .... Mohawk River, at Little Falls. 10,602 Illion Creek 12,643 800 cubic feet' *Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor on the Canals of New York for the year ending $ptember 30, 1865, prepared by Hon. William B. Taylor, with maps, &c. Albany, C. WENDALL, 1866. 1 vol., pp. 185. The water supply of the Champlain Canal, from the junction with the Erie Canal to one mile north of Waterford, is from the Mohawk River, at Cohoes, five miles; thence to the crossing of the Hudson River, 14 mile south of Fort Miller, from the Hudson River, at Saratoga Dam, 24 miles; and from Saratoga Dam to Whitehall, the supply is from Glen's Falls Feeder and Wood Creek, 35 miles. The supply of water for the Black River Canal is as follows: From Rome to lock No. 9 at Mohawk Aqueduct, 7 miles, from the Delta Feeder; from lock No. 9 to lock No. 34, 10 miles, from Lansing Kill Feeder; from lock No. 34 to foot of lock No. 102, from Black River Feeder, and from lock No. 102 to lock No. 109 from pond above dam at Lyons' Falls. The water furnished by the reservoirs, drawn only in the very dry season of the year, is passed down through the natural channels of Black River and Woodhull, about 20 miles each, to the pond above the dam at head of Black River Feeder; thence the necessary quantity is taken into said feeder and passed to the summit level at Boonville. From the summit the Canal is supplied both ways. The remaining water, which is designed to supply the Erie Canal, is passed off at the south end of summit by a waste-weir into the Lansing Kill, thence into the Mohawk River, and taken into the Erie Canal by the feeder from Mohawk River at Rome. MIDDLE DIVISION. The Middle Division includes the enlarged Erie Canal from Higginsville to the east line of Wayne County; the Chenango; the Oneida Lake; the Oswego; the Baldwinsville; the Cayuga and Seneca, the Crooked Lake and the Chenango canals; the Oneida River Improvement; the Seneca River Towing Path, and the Cayuga Inlet, the lengths of each being as shown in the following table: Of this length, 155.35 miles are navigable for boats of the largest class, and the remainder for smaller ones. There are also upon this division, for the supply of water to the several canals, the following works, viz.: Reservoirs-Erieville, Cazenovia Lake, De Ruyter, Skaneateles Lake, Madison Brook, Woodman's Pond, Leland's Pond, Bradley Brook, Eaton Brook, Hatch's Lake, and Kingsley Brook. Feeders. Oneida Creek, Cowassalon, Chittenango, Carpenter Brook,, Jordan, and Weedsport, and the feeders connecting the several reservoirs with each other and with the canals. WESTERN DIVISION. The Western Division embraces the enlarged Erie Canal from the east line of Wayne County to Buffalo, together with the Genesee Valley Canal, as described in the following table: The canals in this division are supplied with water from the following Sources: Erie Canal.-Lake Erie; Tonawanda Creek at Pendleton; Oak Orchard and Tonawanda Creek Feeder at Medina; Genesee Valley Canal at Roches.er, and Genesee River at Rochester. Genesee Valley Canal.-Allen's Creek at Scottsville; Genesee River near Mount Morris; Caneseraga Creek Feeder, two miles north of Dansville; Mill Creek at the head of Dansville Branch in Dansville; Wiscoy Creek Feeder; Genesee River Feeder at Oramel; Rockville Reservoir in Belfast; two branches of Black Creek on Summit; Oil Creek Reservoir on Summit, two miles north of Cuba; Champlain Creek at Cuba on Summit; Griffin Creek at Cuba on Summit; Ischua Feeder from Ischua Creek, connects with south end of Summit; Haskell Creek, near Weston's Mills; Dodge Creek at Portville, and Oswayo Creek south of Portville, all on extension, and Alleghany River, at head of Canal at Millgrove. Canals. Length: The following statement gives the length of each canal, the quantity of rise and fall in feet, the number of locks, size of chambers, and the size of prism. Size of prisms. 70 & 56x7 feet. Champla n Canal.. 66.00 Giens' Falls Feeder. 7.00 Oswego Canal 38.00 154 50 17 66 Cayuga Inlet.. Crooked Lake Canal. Boats navigating the enlarged canals are built 97 feet long, and 17 feet 8 inches wide; and, by resolution of the Canal Board, are restricted to a draft not exceeding six feet below the surface of the water. Their heights above water are likewise regulated, so that no part of the boat or load shall exceed 114 feet above the surface of the water. Boats navigating the old canals are built 78 feet long and 143 feet wide, and are restricted to a draft of 3 feet below the surface of the water, no part of the load or boat being allowed to exceed 9 feet above the surface. The heavier built boats on the Erie canal weigh 75 tons, and the boat and cargo of the largest class 290 tons. The scow boats on the Genesee Valley and other non-enlarged canals weigh about 30 tons, and the boat and cargo some 110 tons. AUTHORIZATION, COMMENCEMENT AND COMPLETION. In the following table will be found the dates of the authorizing acts, the dates of commencing and completing each work, and the cost as estimated by the engineers, and the actual cost, with the average annual cost of repairs per mile: The Genesee Valley Canal was completed to Dansville November 1, 1842; to Olean, November 1, 1856; and to Millgrove Pond, December, 1861. The Champlain Canal, between Fort Edward and the Lake, was opened November 24, 1819, and the whole completed as above in 1822. TOLLS RECEIVED AND COST OF REPAIRS. The total amount of tolls received on all the canals from 1821 to the close of 1865 has been.. Cost of repairs, 181-665..... $93.943,120 21.035,519 Tolls, 1821-65, less cost of repairs....... $72,907,602 The amount of tolls received and the cost of repairs annually for the twenty years ending September 30, 1865, are shown in the annexed summary table: 493,157 1857. 2,629,366 762.043 |