The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-01-23

a plentiful supply of fresh of garden
~vegetables-an advantage of no mean con-
sideration for a family.
Another advantage of equal Importance,
although probably not so highly apprecia-
ted bv YOU, but which would soon be re-
marked upon and felt by those engaged in
stock raising: No seven long months in
which to feed up to your stock the proceeds
of the labor of the other five. 1t is true
stock require a little feeding during the
winter months, but when compared with
the labor and expense attendant On 1ceclng
at the North, it is tritling indeed.
The fertility of the soil on the coast and
along the water courses, and its adaptablll-
ty to he growth of almost any crop, is a
matter Of no controversy ; yet IN speaking
Of lose extensive prairics in the western
portion ofthc parish, have almost Invariably
been told, "oh, they are too poor, nothing
| will grow on them.' Now | have been
over those very p~rairics, also those of the
adjoining parish Of Calcasieu, and, III Vie"
of what had been told me, took a little cs-
pecial pains to examine them, and | nnhes-
i~talingly pronounce them MT pG"r. The
prai1ie Lids of St. Landry, especially those
situated between the }ayous Ncpiqucz and
Cane, are equal in natural fertility to those
sources Of vast wealth that have so RAPIDLY
developed the state Of Illinois, and vastly
superior to most Of the "hi5h rcailics' Of
kaD>as, that is to-day filling up rapidly
With a class of industrious and entcrrrISlnS
! farmers who have no noubt as to their abil-
;ty to enrich themselves from it, frequently
doubling and Trolling it in value in the
space of one year. There are thousands,
YES, | may say, millions Of acres of prairie
lands, that need only to be thoroughly bro
ken up, when the first year after they will
produce any crop that may be planted.
when | say 'broken up" | mean thor
oughly plowed at lcastj four inches deep,
the sward all inverted not cut and covered,
or "gutted', as is a common term among
prairie brakers. 1t will then rot sufficient
Iy so that the next year 1t may be plowed
eight or ten inches in depth, and then If
properly prepared and planted, will insure
a crop, not of the sickly y%ellowahue that
now characterizes all the fields of those
p~rairies, but from IS to 100 bushels of good
sound corn per acre. And this land, lam told,
is in market, or much of it at least, at less
than 81 per acre. Think of that, ye immi-
grants to Kansas, who are paying from $40
to $40 per acre for unimproved prairie, and
$40 for timber.
With the exception of wheat, and | believe
that will vet be raised, there is not a single
product of the North that cannot be sue
cessfully cultivated and made to yield e.
qually, while the more tropical productions
may be added, and the great wealth giving
staples, sugar and cotton.
The cultivation of fruit is sadly neglected,
not that it will not grow here-poor, scrag-
!, gy peach trees, that look as if they had
never been touched with a knife, or assisted
by the spade or pillow, bear in abundance
and ripen their fruit in June and July-twc
and three months earlier than in Ohio
What might they not be made to do with {
little care land cultivation? Apples will
grow in abundance, all that is necessary il
to introduce and cultivate the best varieties
of engraftcd trees.
If the industrious poor man that is to-day
renting land or working it onthe shares a
the North, giving one half his crop for the
use of inferior land, would come to St
Landry, where offers are made every year tt
furnish land, team, implements, house to liv'
l in, and fuel free, and half he makes onl,
required, he could place himself at the en'
t of the second year in such a position as t.
be able to buy and pay for the very lant
7 he worked. at the present price of almos
, any plantation in the parish. Let hin
bring with him some samples Of improved
: utensils and improved stock. cattle horse
. and hogs. Sheep will not be profitable
except for mutton, as a fine quality fwoo
+ cannot be produced where there are no
a cold winters Some of the best milk COW
would be good, so the intelligent people G
Y St. Landry may not be obliged to expires
: sentiments of i~ncreduiity at a story Of thre
COWS giving eighteen gallons of milk in
= day-brlng along a few of -those 40 guar
8 kind.
But my letter is growing long and tedi
Gus. [ will simply add that, after fou
years experience in the state and 81
months in the parish, the opportunitie
= offered to persons willing to labor and de
r string to procure for themselves a home
t are one hundred per cent. greater in ives
r tern Louisiana to-day, than in souther
d Kansas. Very respectfully,