Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1865-09-12
from the New Orleans rieayune]
STOCK RAISING IN THE SOUTH

STOCK RAISING IN THE SOUTH
what will be done with MI the corn
which will be grown and gathered ~ Che
gouth this season7 There must be u urge
anrnlua. Even during the late years Oh
VA and constant Interruption o. iabor
and cultivation, and tho great demand LOT
tho armies Of the Confedoracy, and Inc
enormous waste in the eoileetloh m"
characterization Of corn, there was sull
surplus In tho productive soctions on ene
country. This surplus must be iefReiy ~
oraaaed by the crop Of this season. Inc
way closed too fate 90 permit many OF our
nlantnrs TO divert their lands from corn 10
cotton The vast area which before tho
war WINS devoted TO cotton, had been gwen
III dnrinr the war 10 corn II the whole
prodnet. of cotton in the South tor the
rrtacn ~ season reaches three huhafsa
thousand bales, it will surprise the most
cnrefnl and inaniring observers OF the con-
dition and prospects of the country What
IL to be done with the surplus Of our corn
ana other productst They will not Keep
well nor bear transportation 10 loreiEn
ports, nor, after paying costs, eotnpete SUI
6essfnlIy with tho product OF the herene'n
States.
Wo see no other more practicable or rp-
,nnneratiye employment OF our corn sur
plup. than il the raising and tattoniEg OF
stock. Tho South In peculiarly favored
for this business, in the great abundance
of fne grnzinr lands, and IN the longer
period when these lands afford green food,
af the rnost nutritious character. Cattle
can be kept fat in our piny woods pastures
from tho middle Of April until the first OF
November with no other food but the rieh
grass Of these lands, of which there are
millions of acres, stretching 10 . oeit Oh
from one to two hundred miles Wlao, rom
the Miasissgppi River TO tho Virginia iino'
These lands are generally open, hhoecu-
n;ad unclaimed. constituting commons,
where any and everybody can Craze their
cattle with safety. Ia tho summer and
,A,rinp the cattle that Craze In these WOODS
nre In tip-top condition, but In the winter
tbev got very poor and die oil in great
numbers for the want Of food. The land
i too poor and the population too sparse
tn produce corn or other food enough TO
keep them alive through tho winter.
Hitherto the cattle owners in this region
have relied chiefly upon the wild cane,
which used TO be very abundant, 10 feeo
their cattle and even keep them tat IN
Tho winter. But this resource Is rapidly
falling. One of the calamities which fell
mon tho people OF the piny woods during
the Into war, was the seeding Of the cane
which marks its decay and entire disap-
pearance. 10 keep alive their cattle fof
5,he future, during the winter, their owners
vnuat have corn. They cannot raise IL on
their lands, and must buy and transport II
trnm the more northern sections OF theli
States. where it abouutlg. But TO do thit
iva things arc NODDED which do not nov
exist. to-wit money to bay with and roads
To transport on. These obstacles ean b
onsily stirmouuted by energy and enter
nrise. Let our corn producers sell theu
corn to cattle raiHers on shares, or OK
change the came for cattle. II cattle car
be driven from Arkansas and Iexas V
Illinois, and sheep from the kio Srande u
New Orleans, certainly they can 20 hfiVel
from tho piny woods along the Cult U
the rich corn producing sections of Cen
traI and Northern Mississippi, Alaban
and Georria, This arrangement woul'
dispense with the transportation OF TN
corn for winter use. Those and other mr.
rnngetnenta which are found eaay an
nraetieable in the North and West, onl
reouire population and enterprise TO carr
them ont, In tho South with even NOR
brilliant results
The great needs OF tho South, then, on
people and labor. Let the country De
denseIy peopled as the North, and we be
Leve ii would prove more ftouucuNp "h
prosperous. 1t is idle TO talk about natnrt
obstaelos-those of climate, position, etc
our great and serious wants are populatio
and industry. Look nj those pine forests
the land Of which may be got for the OK
ponso of surveying and iocatlngi ho'
enormously valuable they would be &c
thoir resinous production alone at I'd
North. or in any European country Her
they 'iwaste their sweetness on the dosei
air," because there are no people to max
them available for the important and va
uabla uses TO which they are applied else
where. Besides the value OF tho reslnou
exudations aud of the lumber OF the'
forests, the lands are equal TO any IN u
country for pasturage during nine month
Of the year. And yet this region has, %
an inhabtant for every ten square mile
and the population has not Increased i
twenty years. Il is the most healthf'
portion Of the South, and produces fruit
Vegetables, and small crops enough
subsist a large population most comforts
Div. We repeat that all that this oountr
needs to render it valuable and prosper
ous. il an energetic and industrious popt
Iation. One Of the results of the recei
revolution in our industrial system, v
hope. will be the realization OF the tru'
of these observations.
--z.ne-s-Sp-Sem=~------
s1y- The Chattanooga Gazette speaks