Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-09-10
FOR THE ABBEvILLE PRESS.
ALABAMA CORRESPONDENTS,
Prairie Country Of Alabama-Crons-
Erskine College - Attractive
Farms, &c.
WHITE PLAINS, Calhour Co. J

WHITE PLAINS, Calhour Co.. J
August 81, 1863.
Mn. EDITOR :-&'hcn | wrote to
you last, l was in the Prairie Lands
!o1 Dallas County, about fourteen
miles towards DcmopoIis. Some oil
your readers would doubtless like TO
hcar something about these wonder
'uliy productive Lands. TO the I'M
initiated they arc natural wonder.
They arc divided into the to!!owinr
classes: The Black Pr;,ilio which pro
u'ces either corn or cotton to pcrltc-
ton; the Bald Prairie, which has
never had any timber upon it, and
produces corn sp!cndidly, but will not
produce cotton; and tho MuIatto Or
Hog Bed, which produces cotton fine.
s., but will not make corn. The
crops this year, in all this country arc
marvellous; bat the bollworn and
caterpillar have each played sad
havock in some sections. ! think the
crop is injured fi'l!y onc-halC leaving
though quite as much as the freed
men will save under the present sys-
tenn OF labor. The labor in this coun-
try IS nevertheless. quite superior to
the labor in Abbcvillc. You would
&c surprised TO see !hc freedmen at lo.
Dor here. You would almost IMAGINE
yourself living in days long since
past. They begin at Daylight and
quit at dark. They don't consider
themselves dissraccd if caugh. in the
iici1 before sunrise or after shutdown.
as they DO i'll AJbrvilc. The almost
universal rule here is, to give the
freedmen one third Of the crop, and
they iind themselves and families. Cat
klc and stock arc more abundant here
than any place / have visited, and
they seem TO be on much brtta r. terms
with the freedmen than they dare Ec
i'll Carolina. The oorn crop is now
ready for the crib, tho farmers havin..
realized from thirty to forty bushels
per acre, according so the work ~iycn
to it. The cotton picking season is
now fairly upon the farmer, and Ii"
VIII have no spare time until it is
houscd. The land; in this country
arc comparatively cheap, being held
at about fifteen dollars per acre. The
most Of the farms arc badly poisoned
up with mongrcl sorghum corn, and
Johnston grass, which grass was i,.-
troduccd here by Mr.. Johnston, who
) presented the Telescope to Ersl,inc
College. The grass was obtained from
Gov. Means, of South Carolina, and
Is, in the opinion Of the farmers. he
greatest drawback they have to con,
tend with in tho entire county.
ilcasc excuse the di:srcs>;inn, bccnn:;c,
Just here, / woul! say q word about
Er*tinc College, which, by tho way
has been and is still :,ing IT'S mach tc
tlVi!lzc the world as any other insti
tuition OF her age. You can s;;,rceIv
go into any section, without mcct;nu
, u CHacher physician, lawyer, or minis,
ter who was educated at Er.:s:nc
Long may AbJevillo be proud Of har
temple OF learning, at whose Pieriar
toTnt, the youths Of many States hav,
4uatltd knowledge, and whose sors
' rarely prove to be droncs in society,"
y but are men who have done much tc
~ roll back the tide Of superstition and
ignorance, which once shrou,icu The
land, and place the sunny South hisl
y upon the emincnce of Literature. But
10 return: The society here is us goud
as any State can boast Of. THE entire
section III which l have been stayino
y arc Associate Reformed Presbytc.
D rIans, having for their pastor the Rev
i James Lowry, very excellent minis,
ter. The health here is superior to
: amy place l have yet visited and the
! morality greatly in the asecadcnay
| have been in Alabama over month
and have seen only one man the least
j under tho influence of liquor, and
have not seen q drop Of liquor myself
The wealth Of these people is far
ahead of us, and they arc certainly
enjoying it. cannot imagine more
cnticing home than somo l have seen
here. Fancy lot Of six hundred
t acres Of land OF tho most productive
soil and as level as the surface of the
mighty ocean when resting at case,
= hedgcd around by the osagc orange,
which supersedes tho necessity Of u
fence; in the centre a clump of oaks,
fringcd with long moss and under
their onticing shades an elegant man.
sion, from the summit of which Won
can sec three hundred acres of cotton
most beautiful, and an equal quantity
Of corn better than the fresh bottoms
in Abbevlllc will produce: then an
artosian well spouting forth contin-
: ually water from the depth of from
five hundred to a thousand feot, and