New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-09-22
LETTER FROM oUAcHITA.


MONROE, La, Sept. Is, 1866.
NV object in dropping this note is to give you
reliable information in regard to the present con
Such information from accurate sources, being a
matter of consequence to the commercial as well as
agricultural interests Of the country, if desired,
you may publish the same your journal.
1t has been too much the case with correspond
ents to take for granted what they have heard in
relation to crops-of this section particularly, and,
/ dare say it has been the case elseWhere-and to
many who know better, it has been q source of
some amusement. They have gone to both ex-
tremes-some for the fancied purpose of sustaining
the credit of the section, and others, no doubt,
with the view of affecting the cotton market in
favor of the planters.
Heretofore, in old times, in determining the
good or bad character of crop, comparison was
made between the amount of labor employed and
the quantity of land cultivated Thus, the planter
who worked forty hands, with four hundred acres
in cotton, would have been considered fortunate
to have made four hundred bales. This, now,
from the ineffciency of the free-labor system, is
lost sight Of, and nothing is considered but the
general appearance Of the crop, withoutreference
to anything else, the amount of labor being IN
derstood to be out of all comparison with what
was formerly required. The inference, from this
state Of facts, must have an important bearing in
the calculations of those who attempt to fOretel1
the extent Of the crop
] know of no man in this country except, per-
haps, Capt G, W. Phillips, whose cropis in any
thing like the old ratio to the amount of labor en-
ployed, and no crop, at the most favorable season
Of the year. which would have been considered
really good. What is the situation Of things now,
the 10Th of September, q time at which usually one
third or at least one-fourth of the crop was
housed? Picking has not fairly commenced, and
the cotton, so far which has been gathered is Of
very ordinary character, rendered so by the con-
tinuous storms.
We have had almost constant rain for the last
month, commencing at time when the crops
were suffering from an excessive drought This
caused the FORMS which would otherwise have
matured, to fall and now, after this continuation
Of stormy weather, the bolls, and the very cotton
itself are rotttng to an alarming extent To cap
the climax, the army worms, or cotton caterpil-
lars are making thread-work of every field. AS
write, look out upon field of four hundred
acres, and from this distance it has the appearance
of dea Of spiderwebs
More of the crop is younger than have everbe-
fore known, owing to the extremely wet spring
and the consequent difficulty of procuring stands.
The worm is particularly destructive to this the
old cotton has been injured more by the continu
Gus wet weather than it will be by the worm.
All calculations as to the crop here, (for can
speak knowingly of none others,) have fallen
down one half from what they were six weeks
ago.
was in the parish Of Morehouse on yesterday. I
saw but few small crops. The worm was there
doing his work. I saw several gentlemen from
the swamp, the cotton region of that parish. They
all assured me that the worm was at work.
1t is impossible to calculate the amount Of dis
tress which will be occasioned to the people in
the country, and to great extent to those of your
city from failure of the crops. Thousands
who had saved little from the wreck Of their
fortunes, embarked it all in this 81 Dorado vision
of becoming rich in one year. In many, many
cases, it had as well been thrown into the Misss-
sippi river There is, however, one class who is
| benefited, at all events-the freedmen, who have
been clothed and tenanted, well fed and taken
care of in sickness, and who will end the year
with money in their pockets, if they have been
frugal. Yours truly