Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-01-22

ono OF lts angles, and towards this an
gle most of tho streams flow, though
they empty into the two rivers which
bounding our Eastern and Western
: sides, are over forty miles apart. Tho
Southeastern half of the District i:
less undulating than the North west
crn, and hence tho two small rivers
situated in the latter, have moro rapit
currents, greater falls, and consequent
, ly better adapted to manufactures
than the creeks above mentioned
which flow through the Southeastern
, section of tho District. At various
: points, along our Eastern and West
ern confines, Saluda and Savannah
Rivers, have fall enough to afford wa
ter power to run all the spindles in
Manchester, and arc, perhaps, more
controllablc than our minor streams.
Ninthly, agriculture. On this sub
Jcct l am sometimes thought to be an
enthusiast, and hence must speak con-
clsely, for fear of saying too much.
Our virgin soil is admirably adapted
to the growth of all the varieties of
vegetation peculiar to the temperate
zone. Our system of agriculture is
destitute Of science, and our labor
muscular, unimprovcd, and rough
hcwn. Improved machinery has
heretofore boon seldom used, and vet
moro fortunes have been made and
fewer lost by strict attention to plant
ing than by any other avocation in
lie. Our peculiar staple, of COURSE is
cotton, which, at present prices boun-
titully rcmuneratcs the systematic.
provident planter: and though the
average yield per acre, throughout the
District, is perhaps not more than one
hundred pounds of lint cotton, 1 feel
assured, with scientific culture and n
liberal application of commercial
manurcs, that average could be easily
Increased to a four hundred pound
bale. Corn, too, is profitably grown
upon all of our low lands and all of
the cereals, to which Europeans arc
particularly accustomed, repay the
sower handsomely in almost every
portion of the District I have known
scventy-five bushels of barley, fifty
bushels of oats, thirty five bushels of
wheat. and thirty bushels of rye, har-
vested from caoh OF several acres, to-
gether, upon thoroughly prepared
ground. OF ftiie fruits Of the country,
scarcely need speak as their variety
is almost endless, though the late
frosts of Spring often destroy our an
tic'pations of many a luscious bait,
during the following summer.
But little attention has heretofore
been given to raising improved breeds
OF stock, OF, indeed, to the raising of !
stock of any kind but amongst the
few fortunate results of the late war
this one appears,.viz, tho scrub stock
OF the county is rapidly Disappearing
and highly improved breeds are ovcry-
where being introduced. This de-
partmcnt of agriculture, too, ia highly !
profitable when it receives the mas
tcr's immediate supervision, which, in
future, must be given to prevent the
continued and increased development
Of that peculiar disposition of some
portion Of our population, "to rcsn
what they have not sown." From
the superabuudance Of pasture lands,
and tho necessity of feeding only four
months in the year, regular stock
farms could advantagcously be con-
Quoted in our midst, requiring less
outlay and returning larger net in
come than any other kind of farming.
All that we need is the introduction of
that class of population who have been
reared to this kind of life. A success
tul cotton planter never makes a good
stock raiser,
In some portions of our District
considerable attention is now bcinr
bestowed upon the cultivation of clo-
yer, which seems to grow luxuriantly
upon all of our red lands, when once
set properly by the aid of deep plow.
ing and liberal manuring. Could this
or any other grass be grow with su c
cess. it would secure to US handsome
profits at but: little costs from the
herds of cattle, tlocks of sheep, and
droves of hogs, that could and would
IN a few years be raised here.
But, my dear sir, I am wearyipg
you by my long epistle, and must
hasten to close. To sum up all in a
tew words, I venture the opinion that
the Intelligent European laborer can
lind on this. continent no more inv;
ting field Of labor than in our own
State, Our population is sparse, Ia
porers are'few, land. abundant. and Of
no real marketable value, varvino
perhaps from three to ten dollars nsr q,
acre. The Planters means Of annrsort