St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1866-03-22


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{ COLD FIELDS OF THE SOUTH TfHIN- :
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From tie Northuesterp GAristian Advocate. 5
But few have ever had . just conception
lof the natural wealth of the country lately
in rebellion. This section, by reason of. it's
extent Of territory, fertility Of soil, yarie-
ty of Climate; diversity and valIs 81 pIrro-
ductions, q mineral riches, facilities for
and fcomperce,,is ono rofs the
most valuable portions of the earth. 81
i Louisiana is divided BY the Mississippi
River-the larger portion being, on the
west side, The eastern. division extends
into the. .'...Pine, aWoods'' country, which
reaches along The Gulf coast through Mis-
sissippi, Alabama and Florida, q country
of poor soil but valuable for its timber.
Between this and the Mississippi is an ele-
sated country. with q surface, generally
level heavily tinbered r1i'h beech, oak,
poplar, gum, magnolia and other trees. trees.
There are dense jpngles. Of cane, briar.s
and underground, though in some lLalrts
the woods ore are, open. Conspicions among mons
the many climbers is the, Southern slus,c,a2
dine, purpling the tops Of tho .treescwith
grapes as large as common plums. There
too, is the hclly tree with its bright red
berries and winter foliage, and the, great
Towering Magnolia, with its glisfening
green il winter and glory Of summer
bio m. y All this, region Is but ,sparsely
settled. The soil is not 50 rich as The; low
lands, though it produces corn and good
cotton, and is well adapted to stock rais-
ing-the cane furnishing abundant winte
pastIrage. <j5z'i tszf = .>'.s.<9S' - - l
The sDelta' Of the mississippi, though
less extensive than is sometimes supposed,
is something near one fourth of the state.
East of the river it extends from Baton
Rouge to Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf,
on the west to sAtchafalaya and WasfIita
Rivers This has alle been formed at a
comparatively recent period and is liable
to overflow. Where j, is uncleared the
cane is cften twenty feet high and the tail
forest trees are heavily draped with Span
ish moss p 52i;t;- ~2HTtEl-t 9:.lf1 t;itS'l: so
The soil formed Of fine mud and decom-
posed vegetation is perhaps as nearly in
exhaustible as soil can be: But d small
fraction of this has ever been cleared !;
though by q, good system cf leyees and
draining machines worked by steam power
it is possible to put nearly; all this low land
in condition to be cultivated, at an ex-
pense insignificant compared with the val
ue of its product ons.. ..,. s,---------- &. a..
In the southwestern part of the state are
-
age all the year On Red River and north
of it ia another plnery, and billy, upland
country in the northwestern, part of the
state. ;..: ~ ..-....-.5 ,-r...5 .,~.z -..,.e.-~l
II. In the alluvial, lands, from the Gulf to
Red River and, some distance up that
stream, is the sugar-grow1ng district. OF
this from five. to eight millions of acres
would, if drained and protected from over
flow, be good sugar-land- 1t is safe to
assume that one million of acres could be
cultivated in this crop without any serious
natural difficulties, The crop has been
from one TO three hogsheaas Of sugar and
three times as many barrels IF molasses,
per acre. At the moderate estimate Of one
hogshead (lUOO pounds) of sugar and three
barrels of molasses, per acre, the crop at
pressnt prices would be worth two hundred
dollars per acre or two hundred millions
of dollars for the crop OF the state. The
area Of the state is about 3O,U0O, 900 acres.
OF the 29.UOU, 900 not accounted for we
will suppose 5,tOO,OOO cultivated in cotton:
that the yield is 800 pounds per acre, and
the price twenty five cents per pound
this would give = cotton crop worth three
hundred anl seventy-6ve millions Of dol
lars and with the sugar crop as above es-
timated worth five hundred and seventy
five millions OF dollars and this from one
fifth of tile land of the state. a,r @a5..r.:
Besides this, except wheat, most Of the
food required by the Inhabitants could be
produced here. The extensive forests Of
pine and other valuable timber would
give mployment to a large number of men
The grazing facilities might add much to
the productions, for horses, cattle and
sheep require but little feeding, and live
without any. = -. ~s2~ ~ :..at...g 7s.,ty ~
The rice crop of the lower part of the
state is of considerable Importance
Vegetables Of nearly all kinds known IN
the country can be raised easily aud will
grow nearly all the year. Apples will
grow but not very we'll oranges are plenty
on the Gulf cost; peaches and figs in all
parts. The pine woods and hills are said
! to be good lands for grapes =; of blackber-
ries there were millions of bushels the past
summer. Dewberries were plenty in April
|-blackberries met them aud lasted till
peaches came. For the lover of trees and
flowers there are many attractions. Vio-
let's bloomed in February, and roses and
other flowers are abundant in the yards of
this. city to day. ~ .f... .*@r>sI 51.&f:
In addition to the advantages above
named, there are within this state, besides
the Gulf coast with its Gays and lakes, over
one thousand miles of navigable waters -
These are so disposed that no part Of the
state is far from navigation, The farmer
in the Northwest has. to give two bushels
Of wheat to have the third one taken to
market, but here the producer is near the
sea and the rivers are never closed by ice.
Of mineral wealth Louisiana has but little
1t is said that there is a hill of very pure
rock salt on island in the southwestern
part Of the state. sz9&s8& S3
To cultivate the crops of sugar and cot
ton above estimated would employ work
ing force of Ut least half million. Lrlm-
bering, grazing, mechanical pursuits, trade
ard professional Ceilings. would employ at
least one hundred thousand men in the rur al
districts making SIX hundred Thousand m6I,
which with the usual proportion Of fAmi
lies would give q population Of At least
two millions exclusive of New Orleans
and its dependencies. The last named city
must ever be very important part Of the
state. Perhaps no other city has such
natural advantages for commerce. sae 1t is
here that varied climates can most conve-
S;an4lu axahnnno tho nend dncfinnn* fnx