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.
 AN AMERICAN ITALY.
By Erwin Ledyard.

The Southern States of the Union have received only a small

proportion of the tide of immigration that has flowed into this
country during the last half century, and especially during the last
twenty-five years, swelling the population of new commonwealths,
causing towns to spring up, like Aladdin’s palace, in a night, and
giving to cities a growth phenomenal and marvelous. It is not the
purpose of this article to inquire why this has been the case; it is
sufficient to state a fact that is indisputable. During the past decade
the people of these Southern States have turned their attention
seriously to the question of attracting immigration, and thus
increasing their industrial importance and utilizing some portion of
the immense tracts of land now lying idle. Books and pamphlets
descriptive of the climate, soil, products, and resources of the
different States have been published, conventions have been held,
and agents have been appointed. The results of these efforts are
now beginning to be seen. The number of foreign settlers in the
South is steadily increasing, and the class of immigrants coming into
the section is, generally speaking, a most desirable one. They are
men of sufficient intelligence to think and act for themselves, and to
leave the beaten paths that have been followed by most of their
compatriots.
For a number of years the Irish were the most numerous class of
immigrants that came to the South. They settled for the most part in
the cities, and, as they have done elsewhere, early exhibited great
aptitude for politics, and much inclination for municipal offices. For
the most part they were useful and patriotic citizens, taking a deep
interest in public affairs and thriving in their various vocations. Then
came the Germans, also industrious, and more thrifty than their
Celtic predecessors. They also, with few exceptions, became
inhabitants of cities. Caring less for the machinery and minutiæ of
politics than either Americans or Irish, they devoted a large portion
of their leisure time to social relaxation, and to musical and dramatic
societies, and taught native as well as foreign born citizens the
useful lesson that a moderate use of wine and beer would give much
more rational enjoyment than an immoderate use of spirits, and
would leave no headache afterwards.
During all this time, extending to some eight or ten years ago, few
immigrants coming into the South settled in the country. Some may
have realized that “God made the country but man made the town,”
but few felt like venturing into what was terra incognita to them, a
region where, in their opinion, the negroes were the only people that
ploughed, hoed and planted, and where they would be compelled to
compete with that class of labor. More is now known about the
South, and the fact that white men in that section have for years
been working small farms by their own individual labor is now fully
recognized, and in Texas and other Southern States citizens of
foreign birth have turned their attention to tilling the soil. The tide of
immigration no longer spends itself when it reaches the cities.
This fact is especially apparent in the large counties of Mobile and
Baldwin in the southern part of the State of Alabama. Some years
ago a settlement of Italians was located near Daphne in Baldwin
county, close to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. The colony has
thrived and prospered, engaging in fruit and grape culture and
agricultural pursuits. A short walk brings its members to the town of
Daphne, where they can look out upon a sheet of water thirty miles
long and from twelve to fifteen miles wide, which, though not so
beautiful as Naples’ famous bay, is still fair to look upon, and glows
sometimes with as gorgeous sunsets as those that are reflected by
the blue waters of the Mediterranean, while the smoke that rises
from its shores is not that of a slumbering volcano threatening
devastation and destruction, but of industry and commerce,
promising peace, prosperity and happiness.
 The success of this colony is attracting other Italians to Baldwin
county, and also to its neighbor across the bay, Mobile county. Quite
a number have bought lands along the line of the Mobile & Ohio
Railroad, on a plateau or table land that begins some twenty miles
from the city of Mobile, and which extends to the northern limit of
the county. This plateau is from 350 to 380 feet above the level of
the sea, and from five to ten miles in width. The Italians who have
settled on it have cleared their land for cultivation and have built
themselves comfortable houses. They are all putting out fruit trees,
principally pears and plums, and grape cuttings of various kinds. The
pear trees are mostly what are known as “Le Conte” and “Bartlett,”
while the grapes are “Delaware,” “Concord,” “Catawba” and some
other varieties. They will probably in time turn their attention to
winemaking, and can then make use of the “Scuppernong” grape
that grows almost wild in the section of country in which they have
located and rarely fails to bear abundantly.
These Italians are a very different class of people from those one
meets in the purlieus of the fruit quarters or in the slums of large
cities. They are mostly from the north of Italy, although some of
them hail from Naples and its neighborhood. They are intelligent,
industrious, orderly and law-abiding, and they are so polite and
cheery in their manners and demeanor that it is a pleasure to meet
them. They seem to regard people of property and position, near
whose places they reside, in the light of friends and advisers,
entitled to deference and respect. Many good people in this country
have formed their ideas of Italians from what they have read of the
lazzaroni of Naples or the vendetta-loving inhabitants of Sicily.
Others have an undefined notion, gathered from operas and
melodramas, that most Italians who are not proprietors of hand-
organs and monkeys wear either red nightcaps and striped shirts or
tall hats shaped like the old time sugar-loaf, jackets or coats with
metal buttons and short coat tails, and leggins composed to a large
extent of particolored ribbons. This costume they accentuate with a
sash or belt containing a stiletto and a pair of villainous looking
horsepistols, and an old-fashioned muzzle-loading gun with a
crooked stock. These simple folks would be much surprised if they
could see the sons of Italy who have brought their lares and penates
to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. They dress as the average
American citizen dresses and the only vendettas that they swear are
against those birds and animals that injure their crops. Their hope is
soon to sit under their own vine and fig-tree in a land truly flowing
with milk and honey, and to make their lives bright with the light-
hearted gaiety and peaceful content that made existence pleasant
even amidst the exactions and privations of sunny, but overtaxed
and overcrowded Italy. Already the sounds of music are borne on
the evening air as these pioneers in a great movement of their race
rest at the close of day from their labors, and rejoice over their
freedom from heavy burdens, and in that feeling of independence
that the ownership of land gives to foreigners of small or moderate
means.
These settlers can truly be regarded as to the advance guard of a
race movement that will eventually make of Southern Alabama,
Southern Mississippi and a portion of Western Florida an American
Italy. The coming of Italians to Alabama can no longer be considered
as an experiment. As has been previously stated, the settlement in
Baldwin county was made some six or eight years ago. These people
can live on less than either Americans or negroes, for they have
been accustomed to the strictest economy at home. The great fault
of the colored race, and to a large extend of their white employers in
the South, is wastefulness. When negroes can make a living on land
in the section of country under consideration, Italians will surely be
able to do so. They have the utmost confidence in their ability to do
so. The negro is not satisfied unless he has meat to eat every day in
the year. The workers on farms and in orchards and vineyards in
Italy are accustomed to live on bread, fruit and vegetables for weeks
at a time. Their repasts often consist of a piece of bread and a
bunch of grapes, or a piece of bread and an onion.
That this class of immigrants will greatly benefit the section to
which it has been attracted, to use a Gallicism, goes without saying.
They will make good citizens, for they would not seek rural life if
they were the adherents of any special political propaganda.
Experience has fully demonstrated the fact that all foreigners holding
extreme opinions in regard to government and social order that
come to this country, Russian Nihilists, German Socialists, French
Anarchists, Irish Dynamiters, and Italian Red Republicans, make
their homes in cities, and generally in large ones. The quiet of
country life is distasteful to them. They must live in the midst of
agitation and turmoil, and constantly attend gatherings where they
deliver or listen to incendiary or socialistic harangues, or existence
becomes almost unendurable to them. These settlers in South
Alabama, on the contrary, are well satisfied with the institutions of
the country to which they have come in search of homes, appreciate
the safety and security that are caused by the supremacy of law and
order, and look forward to prosperous and happy lives in a land
where war is unknown, where the balance of power does not trouble
the souls of statesmen, and where no immense armaments are
maintained by imposing heavy and grievous burdens on the people.
They have come to stay, and many will follow in their footsteps. The
region to which they have betaken themselves has for years been a
market garden for the West. It will now also become an orchard and
a vineyard. We are living in an age of progress, and wonderful
changes and developments are ahead of us.
 LETTERS FROM NORTHERN AND
WESTERN FARMERS, GIVING THEIR
EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTH—VI.
[The letters published in this issue form the sixth instalment in the
series commenced in the October number of this magazine. These
communications are published in response to numerous inquiries
from Northern people who desire to know more about agricultural
conditions in the South, and what is being accomplished by settlers
from other sections of the country. These letters were written by
practical farmers and fruit-growers, chiefly Northern and Western
people who have made their homes in the South. The actual
experiences of these settlers, as set forth in these letters, are both
interesting and instructive to those whose minds are turned
Southward.—Editor.]

Fruit-Growing in Middle Georgia.

Charles T. Smith, Concord, Ga.—Concord is located in the fruit belt
of Middle Georgia. The country is slightly rolling and well watered.
The soil is productive and can easily be brought to a very high state
of fertility. For years cotton has been the staple crop, but King
Cotton has a powerful rival now in peaches and grapes. Fruit-
growing was introduced into Middle Georgia about twelve years ago.
The first plantings were small and there were many scoffers. The
industry proved to be very remunerative, and each year showed an
increased acreage until fruit farms of 100 to 500 acres are now not
uncommon, and hundreds of carloads of grapes and peaches are
shipped annually and are known far and wide for their superior
quality. Georgia grapes and peaches bring a higher price in all the
leading markets than the same fruits from any other State in the
Union, and with each season their popularity is increased.
The future outlook is very encouraging. The prices to be obtained
now are not so large as heretofore, but with increased production
came better methods of growing and hauling and better shipping
facilities, and the profits to be derived are much the same, and far
more satisfactory than any other crops that can be grown. This
industry has been largely fostered by Northern men, who have
always been with the foremost in progress. Their efforts have been
crowned with success, and they may now look with pleasure not
only on the handsome properties they have amassed but also on this
splendid new industry in the development of which they have been
pioneers.

A Northern Man’s Observation of Southern

People.
L. S. Packard, Pine Bluff, Moore county, N. C., formerly of
Warrensburg, N. Y.—Few persons realize from passing through the
South what the soil is capable of producing under careful cultivation.
After a stay of several years among Southern people I have learned
much about them and their modes of work, the care the lands ought
to have and the yields that can be expected under good cultivation. I
give in brief my observations:
Southern men and women are justly entitled to the credit they get
for being the most hospitable people in the United States. The
majority of them live easy, enjoy life and are contented to go
forward in the quiet ways of their fathers. Some, however, are
branching out, learning to make money and are accumulating
fortunes on the farms and in the factories. It is the general belief of
the Northern people that Southern people cannot succeed.
To show an instance where a Southern born man has succeeded I
shall confine my article to one man and to one farm, and in my
future letters give the names of Northern men who have come
South. Within a mile of the Seaboard Air Line in the county of Clark
and State of Georgia, Mr. John Smith has a farm of several hundred
acres. He started with small means but has improved, buying more
land and stock, building larger barns and better houses each year
until he has one of the finest and best equipped and regulated farms
in the United States. His grain, clover and grass fields are as fine as
any in Pennsylvania or New York. His stock is well kept and
creditable in number and quality; they will compare favorably with
the best in Ohio, Michigan or any part of the Northwest. His cotton
fields are beautiful beyond description. He has every convenience in
the way of modern machinery. He has built and equipped a railroad
from his farm to Athens, Ga., and has erected a cottonseed oil mill,
fertilizer factory and conducts a general mercantile business to
supply tenants and employees.
Mr. Smith’s farming operations were enough to convince me that
all the soil needed was careful cultivation and constant attention to
yield three times the profit of any in the Northern or New England
States.
Recently I met Mr. J. T. Patrick, of Southern Pines, N. C., who is a
noted worker for Southern development and perhaps one of the best
posted men in the South in regard to the developments going on in
that section. I spoke to him about Mr. Smith. Mr. Patrick said: “I have
seen his farm and it is a credit to Mr. Smith and the South, but there
are many more Southerners who are doing as well as he, but I
suppose you have not seen their farms. Major R. S. Tucker, of Wake
county, Dr. W. R. Capehart, of Bertie county, and thousands of others
scattered over the South are owners and managers of as fine farms
as you can find in any part of the United States. You Northern
people do not get out from the line of railroad to see what our
people are doing, and we are generally judged, condemned and
sentenced by people who ride through our country at the rate of
forty miles an hour on a Pullman palace car and don’t know the
difference between a cotton plant and a stalk of buckwheat.”
 There is a great deal of truth in what Mr. Patrick said. Northern
men who come South to learn ought to come down prepared to stay
long enough to go into the country and see the farms and not judge
the South from a poorly conducted farm, but from those managed
with intelligence.

Political Opinions Not Counted.

James M. Dickey, Superintendent National Cemetery, Corinth, Miss.
—In 1881 I was a resident of Lamed-Pawnee county, Kansas. From
March 1, 1882, to March, 1884, was stationed at Barrancas, Fla.,
near Pensacola. From April, 1884, to the present time have been a
resident of Corinth, Miss.
My observations during this time have been somewhat limited, but
in the material progress the agricultural classes have made
considerable advance. The old-time theory that cotton was the only
crop to be raised with profit has been discarded. Corn, potatoes,
tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, fruits, etc., and nearly all classes of
products that the truck gardener can raise will find remunerative
sale. Climate and healthfulness are exceptionally good. I have not
been under the care of a physician during the period of nine years.
Churches are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Christian.
Schools of Corinth are public, graded into primary, intermediate,
grammar and high school. Seven months, with two months
additional of pay school, to such patrons as may elect to send.
The one great and all important question that has been asked of
me by visitors to this place is: “How do the people treat you? Are
you ostracized from society?” etc. My answer has been, and I have
no reason to change it, that a person’s habits and deportment are
his or her passport or entree to society. It makes no difference in
North Mississippi whether a person came from Georgia or Michigan;
the social reception is the same.
 The political liberality of the citizens is as good as anywhere. While
having their own honest convictions, they respect the convictions of
others. My political views are in a minority, but during all this time no
one has questioned or impugned my motives or convictions or
hindered the rights of suffrage.

Middle Georgia as Compared with the North

and West.
G. N. Barker, Longstreet, Ga.—As one who has been a resident
two years in Middle Georgia after ten years residence in the West
and Northwest, occupied in stock raising, etc., I may be able to point
out a few advantages and differences relative to these parts. What
will strike the farmer most on arriving in this section is the total
absence of grass meadows or any visible facilities for the pasturing
of stock, but curiously enough, an abundance of fairly nutritious hay
may be cut during summer, of sufficient nutritive value with the
assistance of a little grain for stock. The corn crop is light per acre to
one used to the West; oats, however, yield well when well cultivated,
and are off the ground in May, the same ground making also a good
hay crop the same year. Bermuda grass makes an inexhaustible
supply of pasture for all stock, except three winter months when
green rye, barley or oats will take its place. Italian rye grass I have
found grows luxuriantly during winter and spring, and it makes more
milk than almost any herb. Red top grass also succeeds well. During
summer there is an abundance of forage crops for all classes of
stock, and of good nutritious quality. Stock is healthy here, provided
it is kept clean and not overfed with too highly fattening foodstuffs.
My health has vastly improved in this climate and I have recovered
from the exposures of the Northwest. The land here is poor and run
down, but good cultivation and moderate manuring soon restore a
fertility that is astonishing to anyone seeing only what is done
without fertilizer. The greatest drawbacks in this section are the total
inability of the laborer, merchant and business man to comprehend
or encourage anything but cotton. All kinds of fruits flourish with
good care bestowed upon them.
Farmers coming from other parts will have to either do or closely
superintend the minute details of their business; nothing can be left
to the colored labor and they have not yet had any practice with the
better methods or implements. Lumber is cheap; also carpenters
very; to one accustomed to Western prices, so many comforts may
be had unattainable out there. The heat is no drawback, not being
anything like the maximum attained in North Dakota and Montana,
but the summer is long and debilitating to the newcomer, who must
use discretion in taking too much sun the first season. Good
foundation stock of all kinds can be bought here at moderate prices.
Living is very cheap and work not hard, if cotton is let alone, as
there is more time all-the-year-round to work than in colder regions.
Roads are moderate and railroads numerous, obviating the distances
to be traveled out West to and from one’s station and postoffice. As
a place of residence for comfort, absence of great atmospheric
changes, cheapness of living and land, and other things necessary to
the comfort of a farmer, I consider the South has many and varied
advantages over the North and West.

From New Hampshire to North Carolina.

R. M. Couch, Southern Pines, N. C.—The statement of facts I shall
make in this letter will lean to the conservative in all cases, as after a
residence of eight years and an extensive correspondence with
inquirers after facts, I have learned that the truth is good enough
and exaggeration folly. By the advice of my physician I left New
Hampshire and located here, and have not been North even on a
visit since, and as the climate was the first consideration with me, let
me say unqualifiedly that I believe it as near perfect all the year
round as can be found in any part of the world. I am confirmed in
this conclusion by the testimony of scores who have sought this
haven of health after trying such places as Colorado, California, New
Mexico, Arizona, and even the South of France and Italy. The
healthfulness of this section being established, the next question
which confronted me was the means of support, and as we make no
claim that this soil (a light sandy loam) is adapted to general
farming, we were compelled to look to the fruit industry as the most
likely to help us out, and well are we repaid for the venture. It is
proved that a dry atmosphere and porous soil produces very fine
flavored fruit and that in this climate, also, the fruit “colors” up
better and makes a much better appearance than that grown in a
colder and less sunny climate. But one strong hold on the fruit
industry lies in our geographical position as regards the ripening
season, which brings our fruit into market, out of competition with
any other section. This fact was proved by our shipments last
season.
Within five years there have been planted in this immediate
section 1500 acres in fruit, and in order that your readers may have
the advantage of direct correspondence with any or all the growers
of fruit, I will give the names from memory: C. J. Eaglesfield was the
pioneer on a small scale; S. N. Whipple, extensive peach, plum,
grape and nut farm; Van Lindly Orchard Co., 350 acres peach, pear,
plum and blackberry; Niagara Grape Co., 107 acres in grapes;
Southern Pines Fruit-Growing Co., eighty acres in grapes; Benjamin
Douglas, Jr., of Orange, N. J.; Tarbell & Carlton, H. P. Bilyeu, Dr. C.
W. Weaver, C. D. Tarbell, Thomas Carlton, Fred Oberhouserheur,
James H. Murray, S. W. Thomas, Charles H. Thompson, Edwin
Newton, Doctors Boynton, Stevens and R. M. Couch, Rev. A. A.
Newhall, B. Van Herff, J. T. Wilson, Dr. W. P. Swett, H. P. Stebbins, J.
A. Morriss, R. S. Marks, L. S. Johnson, C. C. Mitchell, John
Huttonhomer, F. J. Folley, Rev. J. W. Johnston, Mrs. L. A. Raymond,
Mrs. Louisa Young, P. Pond, Fred Dixon and others. There were
shipped from this point last season 150 tons, being the first bearing
year of the oldest vineyards of much size. The bearing vineyards and
orchards the coming season will more than double the shipments,
and in two years all the vineyard trees mentioned will come to
bearing.
 The prices in Washington and New York last July were six and
seven cents per pound for black grapes, and thirteen and fourteen
cents per pound for Delaware and Niagara, and $3.50 to $4.50 per
bushel crate for peaches and plums. The demand was as good at
the close of the season as at first. Write to Dr. C. W. Weaver, S. N.
Whipple, H. P. Bilyeu, C. D. Tarbell, C. B. Mabore for prices obtained
for their own shipments. Dr. Weaver realized from three acres of his
best Delaware grapes $150 per acre net.
I have thus, in a rambling way, given your readers an idea of the
climate and agricultural resources of the sand hills of Moore county,
N. C.
Southern Pines is a town eight years old, in the midst of the
turpentine region of North Carolina, sixty-eight miles southwest from
Raleigh, on the Raleigh & Augusta Railroad (part of the Seaboard Air
Line), fifteen hours from New York, and is six hundred feet above
sea level, the highest point in the whole turpentine belt. The soil is a
sandy loam and has a perfect drainage. Malaria is unknown. The
presence of the long-leafed pine in large quantities causes the
generation of ozone to such a degree as to make this locality almost
a specific for throat and lung difficulties. Many physicians and a large
number of the cured and benefited testify to its wonderful effects.
The town is filled mainly with Northern people, and has four hotels,
a good school, and church services every Sabbath. There are three
stores, and railroad, telegraph and express offices. There are many
fine residences and a large hotel 300 feet long and four stories is
being built with modern improvements.

Fruit-Growing in Texas.
R. T. Wheeler, Hitchcock, Galveston county, Texas.—I have
examined and am very much pleased with your magazine, and
particularly the department of agricultural correspondence. This is an
exceedingly interesting and important feature, well calculated to
accomplish much in the settlement and development of the South.
Your journal has a high mission and is on the right road.
Unlike most of your correspondents I am a native of this State,
and a lifetime resident of this section, and therefore naturally biased
in favor of this country, climate and people, free, however, from any
prejudice against any other portion of the country. While I am not in
the strict sense a farmer, and have no skilled acquaintance with any
branch of horticulture or agriculture, I have had ten years’ practical
acquaintance with the cultivation of this soil, and my ten years’
residence at this station, fourteen miles from Galveston City, has
given me the opportunity of observing its rapid progress and
development within the past five or six years, from a purely stock
country, a naked prairie, in which lands were worth not exceeding
fifty cents per acre, devoted exclusively to raising ordinary Texas
cattle, it requiring at a low estimate ten acres to support one cow of
the value of about $6, to a prosperous and independent fruit and
truck farming community, having over 150,000 pear trees set to
orchard, over 100 acres in strawberries now ripening and ready for
market, yielding from $300 to $600 per acre; some 300 acres more
in cultivation in general vegetables, a church, good public schools,
with an average attendance of over fifty scholars daily, good stores,
about twenty artesian wells flowing good, pure, wholesome water in
the greatest abundance, from a depth of about 600 feet, nurseries
and rose gardens with several hundred varieties of roses now in full
bloom in the open air, without a poor man or woman, and not one
that is not making a good living, a community whose reputation is
co-extensive with horticulture within the States and Canada, whose
products are well-known in Chicago and other markets, and whose
strawberries have sold as far West as Salt Lake City.
Very much of the wonderful development of this country is due
Col. H. M. Stringfellow, who some nine years since introduced the Le
Conte and Kiefer pears, and whose orchard, in the language of an
ex-governor of Texas, is “simply a world-beater.” Last year, as we all
know, was both a drouth and a panic year, and yet on his thirteen-
acre orchard Mr. Stringfellow cleared considerably over $5000 on
pear fruit alone, and much more on the sale of rooted pear cuttings,
these pears being propagated by cuttings. I could write a book
about this country and then be in the same trouble as the Queen of
Sheba, but I fear that this letter is beyond reasonable length.
Notwithstanding this extraordinary development, lands are still
comparatively cheap; the best can be had from $20 to $50 per acre.

An Opinion of Arkansas After Three Years’

Trial.
J. M. Sowle, Dryden, Ark.—I came here from Michigan in June,
1890. Located at a place now called Dryden, just west of Gilkerson
on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, with seventeen families and
a few single men; seventy in all. The B. & S. W. Railroad now runs
through our town.
Two families returned to stay; three more got lonesome here in
the woods and went back expecting to stay, and before they were
back two months acknowledged that they were homesick to come
back and did come back, as they liked the society here, as well as
the fine weather and good health. Everyone here now are here to
stay, and most of them have bought land.
We have such nice warm sunshine and weather in the winter.
Health best of any place we were ever located. Out of the seventy
people in the three years and eight months, have had eight persons
sick enough to go to bed. One two-year-old girl died; another three-
months-old babe died; she was well at midnight, found dead in bed
in the morning; and one woman fifty years old died with
consumption, think hereditary, as her father, mother and five
brothers and sisters died with the same disease. The three who died
are counted in the eight sick, except the babe.
The soil here is good and never fails to raise crops on account of
drouth or any other cause. We have raised fifty bushels shelled corn
to the acre on our poorest land, and a bushel of potatoes to twenty-
four hills, and in fact nearly all kind of crops are extra good. The
county is naturally suited to peaches, plums and grapes. General
good crops are corn, cotton, wheat, oats, timothy, clover, red top,
blue grass, blackberries, raspberries, apples, pears and quince.
Society is good; more church members in proportion to population
than any place I ever was in. Laws are enforced here better than
any place I ever lived.
This county is a peaceful and safe county to live in, as we have
the best of accommodating neighbors, as well as law-abiding
citizens.

A General Answer to Many Letters of Inquiry.

A. K. Fisher, Abbeville, Ga.—My letter published some time ago in
your magazine brought me so many letters of inquiry concerning this
section, our mode of farming, cost of getting land ready for
cultivation, etc., that it required a long letter to each, and I have
been unable to comply. I write this letter now to cover all the ground
of inquiries.
Abbeville has about 2000 inhabitants, is county seat of Wilcox
county, Ga., is on the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery Railroad,
sixty-five miles east of Americus, where the railroad crosses the
Ocmulgee river. This river is navigable; Brunswick is near its mouth.
Abbeville has two churches—Methodist and Baptist; Presbyterians
also have service there. Schools generally are not as good as in most
of Northern States, but are gradually improving; have some teachers
from the North.
Heretofore the products from this section have been lumber, spirits
turpentine, rosin, cotton, some beef cattle and wool.
A few years ago fortunes were made in a short time in lumber and
turpentine business when properly managed, but most of the
operators increased their business, bought large tracts of land,
borrowed money, etc. Now the prices of those products have
declined to or below cost of production, and for the past two years
our banks have not been loaning money, so those parties are obliged
to sacrifice their lands. Although this section has been settling up
rapidly, lands can be bought for less than two years ago.
In past twenty years cotton has declined from twenty to seven
cents per pound. When cotton brought from fifteen to twenty cents
per pound the cotton planter had all the money he required and
raised nothing else for market. As a class they spent their money
freely; if more money were required before the crop was made they
could readily get advances on cotton crop; now the staple is below
cost of production, still many are obliged to grow cotton, as it is the
only crop on which they can get advances. To change requires an
expenditure for farming implements and machinery for putting in
and harvesting the crop, stumps are to be gotten out of the way,
etc. To grow fruit requires several years to realize. Most of the
planters own large tracts of land, and are anxious to dispose of a
part; some are hoping each year the acreage in cotton will be
reduced (by many putting their lands in other crops), thereby
enhancing the price of cotton and they be benefited. They prefer to
grow cotton, having never done anything else. Some who tried hay
failed on first trial, as they did not have proper implements, and they
exposed it to dews and rain after it was cured or partly so.
The timber in this locality is long leaf pine, excepting along the
river, where is abundance of hardwoods, viz: different varieties oak,
hickory, ash, gum, cypress and some elm. The pines are not thick on
the land; the principal roots go straight down; the surface soil is
sandy, intermixed with dark pebbles and clay subsoil. The mode of
clearing land is to deaden by girdling the trees, burn the logs and
trash on the ground, fence and put in the plough. To one not
accustomed to it, this looks very slovenly, but I believe it is the best
plan, as in a few years the trees rot and fall to the ground. The trees
are no more in the way than the stumps; the dead hearts can much
more readily be split into rails or burned than when green. The heart
rails will last fifteen years; it costs about $10.00 per thousand to put
rails into fences; rails are ten feet long. I am building board fences;
lumber costs me at mill $5.00 per thousand feet. There are plenty of
mills. I have my posts split from dead hearts and faced with axe;
they cost me about three cents each at fence. When the ground is
wet a man can dig seventy holes in a day; when dry the clay subsoil
becomes very hard and one half above number would be good work.
I have taken stumps from 200 acres land at a cost of about $2.00
per acre; generally would cost from $2.00 to $6.00 per acre,
according to length of time land had been cleared. I have not tried
dynamite; some have, but cannot state whether it gave satisfactory
results; I believe it would, especially in new land. We plant our corn
in rows, generally six feet apart and from two to three feet apart in a
row, one stalk in a place. At last working of corn we put in one or
two rows of peas to every row of corn; the peas and corn mature at
same time. When corn is gathered we gather peas enough for seed,
then put in the hogs and they fatten from the peas. Some varieties
of those peas will remain on the ground all winter and grow the next
summer. The pea crop is worth as much as the corn crop.
Corn grown here is worth seventy cents per bushel. From sixty
acres I got over 1200 bushels of corn. I used on the sixty acres two
tons of phosphate that cost here $16.00 per ton mixed with the
manure from four mules and 200 bushels cottonseed worth fifteen
cents per bushel. Some make more, some less, according to
cultivation and amount of fertilizers used. One of my neighbors for
several years past has been making forty bushels of corn to the
acre.
From 100 acres in oats I got 2000 bushels; these are rust proof
and always in demand for seed; I sold all for sixty cents per bushel.
I used no fertilizers under the oats; I generally cut two crops of hay
same season from same land after I cut my oats. I plough, harrow
and roll the ground in June. I use under the hay guano worth about
$6.00 to every acre and get two tons of hay per acre worth here
$18.00 per ton. This grass comes spontaneously after the land is
cultivated a few years and makes excellent hay. It does not grow
North. This year one of my neighbors cut from twelve acres 600
bushels of oats; put no fertilizers under the oats, but had the year
previous oats on same land, and after the oats were cut, in June, he
planted it in peas; when the peas matured he turned his hogs in; by
October the hogs had gathered the peas, then he ploughed under
the pea vines and sowed in the oats. This is the most economical
way of improving our lands. The crop of peas pays for all the
expense. We feed but little corn to our hogs.
Wheat is grown but little in this section. When cotton was worth
twenty cents per pound no one would raise wheat, so the mills were
either torn or rotted down, but in a short time there will be a mill to
grind wheat in the vicinity. There are plenty of mills to grind corn.
Nearly all the vegetables grown North do well here, and come into
the market much earlier, and many that do not grow there do well
here. Cabbage and Irish potatoes do well here, but when planted in
spring mature early in summer and do not keep longer than a couple
of months; when planted in July they mature in fall and keep
tolerably well, but sometimes it is difficult to get a stand of plants in
July.
This is about 32° north latitude; peaches, pears, plums, grapes
and some varieties of apples do well here, and all begin bearing at
much younger age than North; perhaps are not as long-lived, but
heretofore no care has been taken of them.
In the woods the grass grows during summer from one to one and
one-half feet high, and makes a splendid pasture, especially for six
months, commencing in April. The cattle, sheep and hogs are never
fed. At this time of the year all are poor, but in May both cattle and
sheep are in good order. By having some winter pastures to keep the
cattle fat for winter market the beeves would bring fancy prices in
the home market. There is plenty of good beef here in summer; in
winter our beef comes from the West (cold storage) and costs by the
quarter eight cents per pound.
We sow oats from September to February; I pasture mine some in
winter, but there are a number of grasses that make here a good
winter pasture. Alfalfa is being grown with success in some portions
of this State; no doubt would do well here. These cattle, sheep and
hogs on the range have never been improved by crossing with
improved breeds; the rule has been to leave every tenth male for
breeding purposes. By crossing the native ewes with some of the
improved breeds, and feeding some on pasturing in winter, lambs
could be put into Northern markets much earlier than from the
States farther North. These cattle and sheep are all gotten up at a
certain time for shearing and marking, when those for market are
sold to buyers who ship them to the cities to sell to butchers. Some
of the stock is never seen by the owners. The young are marked
with the mark of its mother, the fleece of wool tied up and marked,
the owner notified, he pays for sheering and gets it. All land not
fenced is range and free to all. One might own 1000 head of cattle
and not own an acre of land. Hogs live and grow on range but do
much better when fed some; those near river get fat from acorns.
Building material is cheap. Kiln-dried and dressed flooring and
ceiling from $8.00 to $12.00 per M feet; No. 1 Brick at kiln $5.00 per
M.
Butter is worth thirty cents per pound, eggs fifteen cents per
dozen, sweet milk ten cents per quart, buttermilk five cents per
quart.
A number of parties from Ohio came to this section last February;
some bought when they came, others bought this winter; all
remained. They say they do not feel the heat any more than in Ohio,
as we have more breeze and the nights are pleasant. Sunstrokes are
unknown. A few days ago a party from Ohio bought 300 acres of
land one and one-half miles from Abbeville, thirty acres of which is
cleared, all salable timber cut from the balance, but enough for farm
purposes on the land; buildings worth $150; no orchard; 250 acres
fair pine lands, fifty acres of but little value, price paid $1600; $1150
cash, $450 in twelve months. The buyer intends going into the dairy
business; also fruit and improved stock. Lands can be bought at
from $2.00 to $10.00 per acre, according to distance from railway,
improvements, etc., and my experience is a better profit can be
made farming from an acre here than from an acre in the Northern
States, where their lands are valued at from $50.00 to $75.00 per
acre. Taxes are about fifty cents on values of $100. Near rivers,
ponds, etc., are subject to some fevers. I have lived here for past
twelve years; have not had case of fever among my family or hands
on the place.
We have no sand flies nor mosquitoes, except near ponds and
water courses there are mosquitoes. We are not subject to
tornadoes or cyclones as in some parts of the West. Our labor is
mixed, mostly negroes. Farm hands are paid from $8.00 to $12.00
per month and rations. A ration consists of four pounds of bacon and
one peck meal for six day’s work. Where it is white labor they are
boarded in the family of the farmers. The negroes here are strong
competitors in many of the trades, especially carpenters, blacksmiths
and painters; also masons. Our climate is so mild that it is not
necessary for comfort for a house to be plastered or ceiled inside;
very few farmers’ houses are; neither is so expensive clothing
required as in the North. On the nights of the fifth and sixth instant
we had very little ice on shallow water on the ground; those were
the coldest nights this winter. I have seen snow a few times in last
twelve years; have seen none this winter. Ploughs can run all winter.
A few peach trees are in bloom now (February 14th). There are no
government or State land to homestead or for sale in this State, but
plenty of lands for sale either unimproved or improved. We cultivate
too much land here; we should cultivate less and work and fertilize
better.
The people are anxious for Northern farmers to come and settle
here and will render home seekers any service in their power, furnish
them stock to ride or drive and take care of them whilst they are
procuring locations, etc. I would not advise anyone without some
capital to come; anyone coming should come with the expectation of
working for himself and not for others. I notice that the Big Four and
St. Louis Railway are selling round-trip tickets to points in Georgia,
good for twenty days, for one fare. These tickets are issued for
March 8th and April 9th.
 ITEMS ABOUT FARMS AND
FARMERS
Small Farms In Florida.
It seems strange that farmers of the North will purchase land for
farming purposes at $100 or more per acre when in the South there
is an abundance of land at from $5 to $25 an acre, from which, acre
for acre, a larger revenue can be derived. Because of the variety of
products raised in the North no farm of less than forty acres is
regarded as sufficiently large to maintain a family.
The tendency in the North is towards larger farms, and many
farmers are not satisfied with a farm of less than 160 acres. Make
the acreage only forty, and the farm is worth $4000. On twenty
acres of land in Florida that can be bought at $25 per acre, one can
get a larger annual return in dollars than he can from the $4000
farm in the North.
This statement needs no proof. It is being demonstrated year by
year all over the State, and only needs to be understood by the
great army of home-seekers of the country to bring such an influx of
them as will make Florida one of the most populous portions of the
country. Thousands of people in the North want just such homes as
are within their reach here. They have not money enough to pay for
a satisfactory home at the high prices of the North, but they possess
enough property to be able to secure a good home in Florida. If they
could only be enlightened as to what awaits them here, they would
come in force.—The Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.

Improved Methods of the Southern Farmer.

 The Savannah Morning News sees cause for favorable comment in
the improved methods of the Southern farmer. It says: “Contrasted
with the average Southern farm of fifteen years ago, the average
Southern farm of today presents a striking object lesson of the New
South’s progress. Plows, hoes and other agricultural implements are
no longer left in the fields, or without shelter in the barnyards,
overnight, or for weeks at a time, according to the whim of the user.
Wagons and carts are not left standing, covered with mud, at the
most convenient place to drop them. Harnesses are not thrown on a
fence, or a peg, or a hitching post, exposed to the weather, until
wanted. These things now have their orderly places under shelter
and are properly looked after. Rainy days are no longer spent in
loafing about the kitchen, but employer and hired man put in the
time of the rainy day in the barn mending harness, oiling machinery,
tightening wagon bolts, etc.”
All of this goes to show thrift and economy, and partly explains
why many a Georgia farmer has surplus funds to loan at interest.

Condition of Georgia Farmers.

At a meeting of the Georgia State Agricultural Society, held at
Brunswick, Ga., February 14, Col. Waddell, the president of the
society, said, in an address:
“The condition of the farmers of Georgia is not really understood.
The view entertained by the optimist being too rosy, that of the
pessimist too depressing. They are nearer out of debt than they
have ever been, they have more home-raised supplies than for many
years, and they are managing their affairs with more judgment and
prudence than ever before. But they experienced the pinching
scarcity of money, and some of them are burdened with debts which
would have been cancelled but for the shrinkage in the value of their
lands and the products of their farms. You who are practical farmers
know there is no money in raising cotton at seven or eight cents a
pound, and that our only hope of success is in producing every
possible article of necessity at home. Fortunately, we are not
dependent on the cotton crop, for in variety and diversity of
products, and in soil and climate, Georgia produces unequalled
advantages, and these advantages are being recognized and utilized
more and more every year.”

Texas Tobacco Growers Organize.

The tobacco growers have formed an association for mutual
benefit and for the promotion of this branch of crop cultivation. It is
to be called the Cigar Leaf Tobacco Growers’ Association, and
intends publishing a paper in the interests of Texas tobacco.
O. A. Smith, of Willis, is president; H. F. Malone, of Willis, vice-
president, and J. F. Irvine, secretary and treasurer. The executive
committee is composed of the following: Clark Arnold, of Galveston;
J. M. Buckley, of Willis; T. G. Wools, of Hondo; J. H. Bruning, of
Galveston; J. J. Strozier, of Willis; C. F. Rhode, of Galveston; O. A.
Smith, of Willis, and H. S. Elders, of Willis.
The by-laws of the National Tobacco Growers’ Association, as
adopted at Washington, are adopted by this association.

Profitable Rice Culture.

The New York Journal of Commerce, in an article on rice growing
in Southwestern Louisiana, says: A couple of years ago the crop was
excessive, but the last crop is well sold up, and there is little doubt
that the consumption of rice will vastly increase in this country.
Scientifically and practically it is one of the best of foods, and the
taste for it is growing. Portions of this section of Louisiana are
sufficiently watered by natural overflow, but a good deal of it is
artificially irrigated. Some of the farmers say that it is a little more
work to cultivate rice than wheat or corn, but most of them think it
is less; there is no great difference in the cost. The general
testimony is that it costs $5 or $6 an acre to cultivate it, exclusive of
irrigation, which, as already said, is not always necessary. A dollar
for seed, two for cultivation and two for harvesting is the estimate of
many farmers, though a few put the cost at a dollar or two more,
and some go as high as $10 or $12. Ten barrels in the rough is
regarded by many cultivators as a fair average crop, but yields of
twelve and fifteen barrels are common. The farmers generally get
from $2 to $3 a barrel, and sometimes a little more. A rice cultivator
at Lake Author, La., writes: “I can say honestly and positively that a
man can make a big fortune in four or five years raising rice.... I
know a number of farmers that have for the past three years
averaged fifteen barrels per acre, and their net average price per
barrel for the three years was $2.85.” These figures give gross
receipts of $42.75 per acre.

Fruit Growing in Louisiana.

At the recent annual meeting of the Louisiana State Agricultural
Society, F. H. Burnette, the horticulturist of the State Experiment
Station at Baton Rouge, read an interesting paper upon Southern
fruits.
Prof. Burnette has given much time to the development of the fruit
industry of Louisiana, experimenting upon the different varieties of
fruit indigenous to the climate, utilizing his knowledge of foreign
horticulturing and experimenting at the station. He gave a full report
of these experiments. The paper was of especial interest to small
fruit growers, dwelling upon the varieties of peach, pear and orange
which can be grown with success in Louisiana, and of the new
variety of Japanese and Chinese plums and persimmons which he
has grown at Baton Rouge with success.
At the same meeting Judge Lewis, of Opelousas, spoke of the
cultivation of figs as a marketable crop and one which has never
failed of producing remunerative results by close attention to the
cultivation of the trees. He also spoke of the preserves made in
Opelousas of the rind of the sour orange and also of figs, which are
sold in the stores of Opelousas. The fig tree is self-supporting, and
as an orchard which produces and supplies itself, being free from
climatic influences. He spoke at length upon the possibilities of
canning the fruits of Louisiana and shipping them to Northern
markets.

The farmers of Sumter county, Georgia, the county in which

Americus is located, are more and more abandoning the all cotton
business and turning to the growing of fruits.

Mr. J. B. Dubose of Ridge Spring, Edgefield county, S. C., has

experimented with great success in the growing of celery. It is
claimed that the product of his farm is equal in every way to the
best Kalamazoo celery.

The business of truck gardening around Weldon, N. C., has

undergone great development in the last year or two. To
accommodate this growing industry the Wilmington & Weldon
railroad is putting in additional side track facilities.

The State of Georgia has one of the agricultural experiment

stations established by the United States Government, which has
been in existence about four years. Its purpose is to aid the farmers
of the State by experiments in the preparation, fertilization and
cultivation of the soil, etc. It is maintained by an annual
appropriation of $15,000 by the United States government. The
property used for the purposes of the station belongs to the State.
This property consists of 130 acres of land with buildings, including
dairy, ginnery, greenhouse, tobacco barn, laboratory, etc.
A bulletin of results is published once a quarter and is sent free to
any citizen of Georgia engaged in any branch of farming. The station
is located at Experiment, near Griffin. Its organization is as follows:
R. J. Redding, director; H. C. White, Ph. D., vice-director and
chemist; H. N. Starnes, horticulturist; James M. Kimbrough,
Agriculturist; H. J. Wing, dairyman.

A number of Germans living near Axtell, Texas, have recently

engaged in the apiary business with much success. Mr. L. J. Miller
who lives in that neighborhood produced 1187 pounds of honey last
year, and 165 pounds of beeswax. The honey brought twelve and a
half cents and the wax seventeen and a half cents.

A recent bulletin issued from the Texas Experimental Station gives

some interesting comparisons of the four leading crops in the State.
The cotton crop of Texas covers 4,520,310 acres, and is worth
$69,439,476; the corn crop covers 3,166,353 acres and is worth
$28,429,125; the wheat crop covers 442,337 acres and is worth
$5,244,303; the sweet potato crop covers 29,928 acres and is worth
$1,503,764. According to the above statistics the value of each crop
per acre is: Cotton, $15.36; corn, $8.94; wheat, $11.88; sweet
potatoes, $50.24. The cost of growing an acre of either is not
materially different. Here is a big difference in favor of sweet
potatoes.

Mr. Jere Mabry, of Belton, Texas, reports as the result of his work
for 1893, on a rented farm of eighty acres, cash receipts aggregating
$1,974.91. Besides what he sold he raised, for the most part his
food supplies. His total cash expenses were $506.85, leaving
$964.06 as the net cash profit of the year’s work.

An intelligent farmer of Rowan county, N. C., said the other day:

“The farmers in my county were never better off. They have plenty