The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1866-04-14


clear, running mountain streams, ant
q large number OfmOst excellent free
stone springs, with large number o
Americans already settled here. Blu
those who settle in this valley hereafter
will have to make their own arrange
ments with private parties for lands
and my advice to those who wish to dc
50, is for ten or twenty families tt
unite, send an agent with authority ant
the means to purchase lands for them
or to examine the lands owned by th(
Government in other localities, and
determine where the colony is to set
tie, and make all necessary arrange
ments preparatory to the coming o1
the families. The purchaser of fprivatt
property is entitled to all the benefits
of the DEGREES for the encouragement
Of colonization. aNoIl ,".'"-
The year is divided here into the
rainy and the dry season, the former
beginning in May and ending in Octo
bcr We generally have bright ant
beautiful mornings during the rainy
season, though about one, two, three
or four o'clock in the evening you may
calculate with certainty upon shower
if not a heavy rain. During the dry
season we have occasional light show,
crs, but not often.
The best time for planting nearly all
crops here is May, June, and July.
Tobacco is planted in September, Oc-
tober, November, and December. The
best time for families to move to this
country is in the dry season, and the
earlier in that season the better. 1t
gives time to prepare shelter before
the rainy season and get ready for a
crop. 2''i' az a. .'7 ,'Dn ~ ..'
Families moving here should bring
with them their bed clothing and a few
Collins axes. Farming implements
can be procured here with less trouble
and as chcaply as they can be trans
ported ftom that country. 10 |.H
Good Spanish mules and horses mot
equal in size and form to the American,
yet very hardy and serviceable, can be
bought here at from fifty to one hun
dred dollars inferior at from fifteen to
fifty dollars well broke oxen, and as
fine as ! have ever seen anywhere, at
one hundred dollars a yoke. In the
market ut Cordova beef is worth ten
to twelve cents libra (Which is a
little more than the American pound) ;
corn one dollar per bushel flour eight
to ten dollars hundred; sugar twelve
to twenty cents coffee twelve to twenty
cents lard twenty-five to thirty y-seven
and half cents; eggs thirty seven and
q half cents dozen. Fruits and veg
etablcs always abundant and very low.
Dry goods and hardware, of almost
every description, abundant at about
double what they would have cost in
the United States before the war.
Vegetation is always green here, and
stock does very well through the
whole year without being fed, though
the higher attitudes generally produce
better grass and less brush, hence is q
better stock country. 4. .p
This soil and climatB offers better
living and larger rewards to agricultu-
raj labor than any that | have ever
seen, and it presents u harvest equally
rich to the enterprise Of the industri-
Gus manufacturer or mechanic but the
man who is not willing to work should
not come to Mexico. ..
There is an ample suflciency of good
timber here for building purposes, but
very few miles hence, lumber is worth
from six to eight dollars hundred
feet. Most of the Spanish houses are
built of rough stone and mortar, COW
cred with tile. The Indians live in
little bamboo huts covered, with long
grass. l don't remember to have seen
a brick house in any part of Mexico,
though brick are as easily made here as
elsewhere. The fences here are gen
orally stone or hedge. The woods are
filled with deer, squirrels, pheasants,
and, regret to add, wild cats and pan
thers; and Colonel White Zone of the
suryivcrs), tells me the monkeys
evinced a disposition to take his camp
a few evenings since. The wild parrot
is seen in the forrest every day. You
may assure the ladies' that have seen
but one snake, only two or three taran-
tulas, and no centipede in all my tray-
els through Mexico, and the flies and
are not half so abundant
here as they are in the United States /;
but don't choose to say anything
about fleas. ,'..r- .N'|'|
We have to rely upon the native In
dian chiefly for labor. They are ca
pable of making excellent.laborers, but
they have great aversion to work.
We pay them fifty cents day, they
finding themselves, and work by the
task. Labor can be obtained more
cheaply in other portions Of Mexico,
and is generally obtained here at low
er rates, but at this time the construc.
ton of the railroad in this immediate
vicinity has caused such demand for,
labor that it cannot be obtained for
less. " ...
Having taxed you with this rather
lengthy, though plain and unvarnished,
statement of the leading features ofthis
valley, l will not prOlong it to tell you
Of the intimate variety Of delicious
fruits, gaudy and fragrant flowers, or
the beauties or profits of coAe planta-
ton. Visit me few years hence and
you shall see and enjoy them.
Very respectfully, your friend,
N..' ,Nl ISHAM G.. HARRIS.
About sixteen hundred divorces have
been decreed in Massachusetts in six
,,oora of which h2A wpra for decarfiou