Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-08-27
lAlabama Correspondence
Notes Iy the Ways;de-CroDs, &c.
FORTS, DMLIs COUNTY, ALA.

August IL, lS60.
Air. EDlToE: have been thinking
for several days; past that, Il 5lic."h OF
what has como under my obscr> alton
'durlnS i travel from Abbcvilo to tEi,
point, might provo entertaining to
yo"r :c@d,rs. The l:.rlnin. interests
III tho Emriro State, contiguous to
the Ra:lro.d, over which we travelled
arc III . dclIor;,blc condition. The
area planted i'll gotten and corn seem
Cd to be alout equal, but with few cx,
ccptIons the grass had hrll the su-
pr'mac;' 20 long, that think lalr a
crop = full estimate. and in some por-
ticns thc drought added to halt. cu}.
turc: has caused an almost entire fail.
arc Of both corn AMI cotton.
The freedmen in Georgia have bc-
come q great travelling people, to the
utter neglect of their crops. The
trains the day | passed up wcrc
crowded with tic sable SONS CT Amer
ican Liberty. l scarcely believed
si'at there were l;alf so many n, ~rocS
i'll &c SeGth as l saw vonsr>ya.cL at
every station aioEI the entire ier~t}.
ot the i;o%''. Auan!a the grra; cen,
trail metropolis or The South i; G;s:
recovering lcr former dine..;:o.:s
Houses have risen up almost as If out
OF the ground. She spreads as if by
magic. | Mas tu!d by - friend who
Travelled with lac from Atlanta To
Rome: tAa; rra! estate had more t,,:,,
doubled il, value within tic lasttwclvc
months. Every man there seemed t..
be doing something, ci;hcr for Lin
self or some omc else.
The country travelled over from
Atlanta to Oxford, Ala, was passed il,
the night and consequently | could
not toria mach idea Of it. At Oxford
we halted !"r ten lays. The VILLAGE
Is situated in the Chocko!ocko valley
on the road from Selma to Rene. and
IS by far, thc most cntcrprising little
viH"Se have seen. The valley is cx
cecdimgiy rich, and Ill Of its inhab;
tants, who are land-hol'lcrs, arc oui:c
wealthy. The valley lands yield casi
~ fly bushels OF ezra to the acre and
IS also also adapted to tho culture ..
,,cotton. Some Of the farmers. an
using this year, fertilizers, ami | find
That it pays even npon their land
! These people have recently Lccn st,tr
rc" up 70 TIC necessity Of cIucation
and in every little village you will find
4 fine school
At Oxford, they have a fine college
just completed. This is the first wear
o! its existence, and the president
tol' me that he had one hundred and
Fifty students upon tho college roll
From that point l. Travelled TO Selma
through L country not noted for farm
ing ii;cres:, Eat ahon:aing in mine
rails, which are being rapidly explored.
Cpoa this road arc situated thA SLcl.
by Springs which has long been the
resort tor inva!it!s from ti.a extreme
southern portions OF the State. Th,
water is sulphur. On rcacl.:n" Sci.
ma, l met with some old co,Ic~c
friends: who kindly showed lis Owe!
tic city. / WAS much pleased with
the width CT the street,; end the beau
titul shades. This is the CITY that
Wilson and his raiders expended their
hate upon during the late war.
They destroyed the city, but now
you can scarcely detect their foot
prints. Some magnificent bui!.line4
arc going up i'll the vacant places
s:Hinia IS q great cotton market. !
thence look the road to Demopolis
and have stopped at this place, Forts
which is about twelve miles distant
from Selma, just entering the prairie
lands. The corn is magnificent. The
cotton fine, bnt the worm is here. I
went over this morning farm where
thought the cotton would make :,
bale and 4 half Of cotton to tic acre,
if the worm would only quit his dep
rcdations, but there is no tcl!inc
where he will stop. The farmer can
make all lie wishes TO have, if sea-
sons favor. I have never seen better
lands. The sullycy p!ow can be used
to great advantage here. I met one
man in this State who cultivated with
one of these plows and two horses
one hundred acres Of corn, and + vcr
lily believe that he will make forty or
fifty bushels Of corn to the acre.
Think of it, one man makes four or
five thousand bushels of corn himself.
will close for the present, but will
probably writo again before L return
from this State.
RETSOF.
FOR TIE ABBEvILLE PRESS.
TO the Public.