New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-09-22
Sian Orleans 9ailg Qreatent.
SATURDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER p, 1865.
Crops ON Game River
CANE RIyER, Sept. 10, 1866.

U = CANE RIVER, Sept. 10, 1866,
To the Editor of the New Orleans Crescent
Si,-In q note | addressed you short time
since promised to write again in few days
but did not do So from the fact that desired to
give you correct information in regard to the
workings of the caterpillar. Up to within less
than week the worms have been only menacing
not destroying cotton, but as it were, all in
night, they commenced their ravages, and ere this
reaches you, I doubt if leaf or a young cotton
boil can be found on Cane River. 1t is remark
able that they have been with us for over month
without doing the least injury to the cotton, con-
irming the theory, long since established among
the planters that it is absolutely necessary for the
cotton weed to arrive at certain stage of matu-
rity before it is attacked by the worm.
In 1858, planted in cotton piece of land
which had been inundated. About the 10th of
September the worm appeared, destroyed all OF
the old cotton, and did not touch leaf of that
planted month later, nor was it touched by them
after it reached maturity, though ! account for
that from the fact that it was too late in the
season.
What will be the loss by the rayages of the
worms in this region, it is difficult to estimate, for
the cotton crop, from an extremely unfaVor-
able spring was at least a month later
than usual, and the large quantity Of cotton
planted after the devastating overflow in May
Some place the loss at one fourth, others at one
third, whilst others putt at the low estimate of one
half. Now, so far as the young cotton is con-
cerned, | am convinced that there will not be
more than One-third or one-fourth of crop
made, and as the quantity of old cotton that
escaped the high water is so small the entire crop
we may safely say, of the parish, will not reach
an ordinary half crop. To this, let us add, or de,
ductif you will the labor producing the crop, and
if Natchitoches parish makes half crop of cotton
the writer will be most egregrously deceived, and
he is one of the oldest planters of the parish.
If the ravages of the worm have been as great
throughput the cotton region as along Red river,
then indeed was the writer in the New York Ex-
press within bounds when he wrote to that jour
nal, that the crop would not reach 100000. My
estimate is between eight hundred thousand and a
million and not bale over it, and the probability
is that it will be under that number of bales.
Those who pretend to calculate the extent of
the approaching crop do not appear to take into
the calculation that the freedmen do but about
two-thirds of the work they did anterior to eman-
cipation, and that as general rule they go to
work about sunrise and cease their labors at sun
set, which in every five days they lose days
work. Again, in large majority of cases they
claim and receive the half of every Saturday,
which is loss to the planter during the year, Of
one entire working month Neither is it taken
into the calculation the fact that there is not
half of the land usually planted in cotton now in
cultivation; nor is there half of the laborers
in tile fields that we had anterior to the war.
What, then, is the legitimate result? Why, that
much less than a half crop, under the most favor
able circumstances can possibly be made. Taking,
then, the above facts together, which is the true
basis for a calculation--pa particularly the late
spring, overflow and caterpilar-and the entire
crop of cotton cannot possibly reach million OF
bales PLANTER.