Arkansas democratic banner., 1851-07-15
lFrOn the BoSsea Journal. SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.


 1t is related
 We have been for some time aware that Geor- gia IS full of activity and enterprise and that she r IS rapidly outStripping in wealth and popula5on every other southern State. With such citizens the writer of this letter, no other result can b. looked for. Examples like this have wonderful etfect they stimulate enterprise in all the pursuits of life, and those who set them are public bene- factors:
 "The subscriber has a plantation of several thousand acres, fifty miles below Augusta on the Georgia side of the Savannah river Nearly in the centre of this body of land IS Moby's pond, fl large and m ScTiyen county celebrated sheet Of water seven miles round and eight feet deep, heretofore fruitful source of disease to the neigh borhood and of revenue to the doctors The up- per half was an open plain of more than thou s0nd acres, where a hundred steamboats could ride in safety, and where, from any point, bird could be distinctly seen. The lower section IS covered with cypress, whose rich foliage and droop ing moss, Intecepting the suns rays and overshad owing the waters, presented to the view a dismal canopy above and horrible landscape beneath Here millions of noxious veunin lived and Aouneed and died. Here the horned owl chanted his mel ancholy dittleS. Here the white crane gathered her food, bulith nest and reared her young, and when congregated by thousands on the branches of this magnificent tree, resembled vast shrub bery of seringoes ln bloom. The open parts were the resort Of innumerable wild fowls and were covered with countless iockS of ducks. This To- quaclous bird, during the long winter nights, kept up an eternal row; his earousals and iollifcation plenics ranscended everything of record In the achievements of Venus and Bacchus, and were almost a match for the uproarous frolics of John Bull and Brother Jonathan on the anniversary birth days of majesty and independence.
 l" The alligator was the king beast of this pom tne marSh armed with a formidable tail aud pair of more formidable jaws he was the terror of the women and boys and negroes. Compared to him Tn bodily appearance, the ourang -outang was a beauty and the jackaSs tOUeiy. His most interest Ing position was recumbent posture, with his upper jaw elevated at right angles, and his teeth shining m the sun. When lying in ambush for his prey, he could flourish an eye that would shame catamount, and trunk the like of which never founeed Ill the waters of Phlegethon or CocytuS. This redoubtable animal was frequently to be seen prowlng upon the banks with the agl- fly of the hippopotamuS, and floating upon the waters with the stiffness of a serpent. l strongly suspect that his reputation for manlineSs had it's origin in the writings of the zoologis who, instead of manipulating him gently as lap-dog, peeped at him through Spygiass from most respectful dis tance. Although soldier among calves, and pigs, and lambs, his courage and ferocity are evidently overrated ii IS seldom that full grown hog reali- zes the honor of being digested in, his capacions nav.
 "The teuapin could be counted by thousands, and the finest trout in Georgla were here. To this horde of yermin the draining of Mobiys pond was an epoch The fish, left by the receiing wa terS in the weeds and grass, fell an easy prey to the vultureS, The teTapin, unambtious of dis tincton among men, plunged into the ditch, and hurried himself into the SwampS of Savannah The duck, with heavy heart, mounted into the ar, and like skinner of the seas,' hade final farewell to this memorable scene of his festivities The al- llgator with melancholy steps and slow no doubt reached some land of promise where, free from danger and the worlds malice, he could en- joy m summer his nad hole, and in winter his light tcoog Knots.
 Having stated somewhat prolixly, and perhaps with too much levity, what Mobly's pond tcds now proceed to state what Mobly's pond Is. Seven years ago, solitary and alone,' undertook to dram this body of water, and, although out of pocket some Sl0,000, do not regret the result The landed estate (pond includedl cost $50, 600, and am vain enough sometimes to think that inc spade has doubled Its value Originally this pond was loint property, but, from want of concord among the proprietorS, was seemingly destined to remain nuisance to the end of time. Eventual ly 1t fell into my hands, and now, in this year of our Lord lo49, so prolific of pr0dlgles, and so memorable 10 monatchs-with a natural atnos- phere full of oiSon and political full of re- putIc1R.sM-wlth the lower ten thousand dying with .kah and the upper ten thousand with tlrighf-with despotlsln standing on uoieano, and freedom upon a rock, Mobly'S pond (what a ha- thos} IS ss dry as an aShbank, or the throat of loafer m the honey moon of his temperance pledge.
 '' In the frst place, caused to be eScavated a centre dltch iouT miles long, and on some points from sixteen to twenty feet deep beginning at the savannah swamp and passing entirely through the pond. secondly were dug spring dItches of sever al miles m length, m all suitable places and, last F. parallel dttehes leading from the eentre-to the spring drains: these lateral dtches were placed at intervals of 40 yards. The cypress part. formerly visited only by canoe, IS now easily accessible, and furnishes abundant and durable timber for building and fencing. The open uncutivated part IS covered with grass averaging 1000 pounds to the acre, palatable and nutritious to horses and other stock. Last year sixty acres yielded sixty heavy bales of cotton, and the best acres of the - corn land Seventy-sIx bushels.
 ''Thls work was accomplished by Irish ditchers Negroes, It IS said could have done it cheaper; but, governed by the maxim Re sHtOr ultra ere pGian,' confined the black man to the cultivation oi the staple commodities
 "in the open uncultivated part of Mobly's pond there are several hundred acres of peat from twelve to thirty-six inches deep, resting on bed of blue clay; at first had great misgivngs in re- gard to this peat iand, and thought of using 1t ex- eiHsiseiy for pasture and mature. This year planted seventy acres of t in eorn, With a knife plough, similar to the blade of coulter, cut the land both ways every twelve inches to the | cane grass roots followed the same furrow with Q full tongue, and bursted np in every direction X square blocks of peat After being exposed 10 tile sun anal made dry, these were fired and burnt g By thiS means the formidable roots of the cane grass we're eradlcated and coat of ashes secured. . In tae spring, ridges were thrown up the corn d planted, and, up to this time, very much ques- - uoa whether m all Georgia there IS better field of grain.
 l. " Several hundred acres Of this pond are appro- . priaied to pasture. This grass in many places is breast high, and the mowers pronounce it equal to e any specimens in New England. To me. ii Is z panorama to use big word, uanScendently beauti- c iul. Unfortunately, do not reside on my planta- ton; bat when go there (which is often) and d look around on that piatin of velvet, l become dreamy and imaginative, and fancy 1t to be the T finest medow east of the buffalo pralres When behold the cattle browsing on the rank grass, and [; cotton and corn spfinging from soil which for ' ages generated malaria and monsters, enjoy the d landscape with as much gasto as ever Archimedes