Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-06-22
CHTyESE LABOI!

\ friend has kindly placed at our
disposal a letter from Col. T. c.
FuoURNOY, a prominent and enter
prising planter on the Arkansas river,
from which we make the following
extract: "On this river, from Pine
"Bluff TO the mouth, at least twenty
" five per cent. of the labor left the
"river last winter, and in addition TO
"this nearly all the women who
" worked here last year have quit. On
"this place last season l employed
{" one hundred and twenty-five hands,
/" fifty or more of whom were women.
"This year, although the same wo-
81 men remain on the place, but ten or
eleven work, and l have a larger
=" per centage of women at work than
/" amy other planter l know of. That
81 clement OF labor in cotton produc-
=" ton Is no more to be depended on.
If we propose 10 keep up the stan
"dard Of production-to work our
/" plantations TO anything like their
" capacity-a remedy must be applied
and the application must be prompt.
"That remedy in my opinion, is to
% introduce other labor, and that
"other labor must be the Chinese.
H* s. g Have you any informOtiOn
" rs to when the Cinnamon on the
Pacific road will be discharged, and
"doyou think there would be any
" chance for me to obtain two hun
" dred or more?" 1t is probable that
| Col. FLoURNOY gives not only the
experience Of his own district, but
that of every other part of the South
ern States. More labor and better
labor" is the cry from the whole
farming community. Mr.. DICKSON,
the great Georgia planter, gave his
experience in the Ctdtirat0r some
months since to the effect, that by the
use Of thirty dollars worth of manure
to the acre, he had been able to pro-
duce ten bales of cotton on four acres
of land, and by a smaller expenditure,
did last year produce thirty-twO bales
of cotton from twenty acres. Yet,
when he came TO show the balance
sheet for his whole place he had made
but little. a large amount of cotton
rOted ia tie feld, and his losses in
stock killed and disabled by vicious
or inattentive negroes, coupled with
slovenly culture of the crops, quite
equalled the good effects of his fer
tilizers.
The material prosperity of this cOun-
try is at present entirely dependent
upon its agriculture. We have no
manufactures, no mines-our only
hope is in our broad fields, and shall
we allow them TO stand idle for lack
of hands TO work them? Go to work
ourselves! We are at work. Every
white man in the land is straining his
muscles in the great race for IN
dependence. But how Inadequate the
numbers to the task. Look at our
cities and behold them finished, abso-
lutely standing still. Examine the re-
ports of our railroad companies, and
learn that they are merely existing.
Go to our rivers and see one steamboat
where many should be. Why all
this? Our lands are fertile, our eli
mate genial, our mining and manu-
featuring resources unequalled. The
answer is that there are not willing
hands enough in our vast fields to de-
velop their wonderful resources. The
Valley of the Mississippi from Mem
'phis to New Orleans, would, if re-
claimed, employ a population twice
or thrice as great as that Of the entire
South at present, 1t is now a howl
ing wilderness, andis likelyto remain
50 unless men can be found TO build
levees and handle the pillow, hoe and
AK. 7e
Some thirty years ago a party OF
Tennesseeans Travelled on horseback
from Nashville to Middle Missouri.
In t~raversing the State of Illinois they
found it difficult to c
food and lodging, so sparSely was the
country settled. Were the same
party to travel the same route today
what changes would they note! And