New-York tribune., 1869-06-21
ORR CORRESPONDENT
ON THE WAY TO TENNESSEE.
onrroN AM OTHER CROPo-IHL I'D AAND OF
COIlON N-,---.-.,. -, mn III OK nELT.
'io,5 GEoEId nre 40 olTS = e coRREsPoypESrI

W. cFORGIA-THE BLACK BELI'
tFRoM OUR owS CORRESPONDENT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. June 7.-HaNlng BOno Hoii
Savannah TO Augusta, and to several places III "eoi
ola 10 Atlanta and thence to this point lair eS'i
So of cotton and other crops can be given. Every
- tl season is late by nearly four weeks, ana
- 20 within ten days it had been unusually cold.
s oonsenuence. cotton is small; much Oh the seeu
Sa;,od 20 GROW. when replanting was done; but now
1bt there have been ten days OF warm weather. anu
drrinO the past week showers, which nave preNaieu
ever a wide extent the plant has pushed forward at
rapid rate. ....,,;.;o,, ord in
tbe cotton region proper it has had Two WoiAis' -,
while this side Of Dalton, which is near 'ne I'n
nessee line it has been worked but once anu ~
makes n small show. Here, for the hrst tine' nave
seen il planted in checks; elsewhere IL Is pian'eu
o,Iv one ,av and hence can be worked only one way
r., washington to Augusta, 1 had seen four
rieces of wheat promising much; the average could
,o+ o1ceed seven bushels to the acre, and in large
stratcbes through North Carolina not so much; DuV
near Aucusta and on the bottoms of the savannah
River. saw many large fields which probably woulu
average twenty bushels to the acre. On the olsV VI
MAY new wheat was ground in the mill Oh MessIS'
Clark g. Sons and two days after Shipment was
made TO New-York by express OF the oat crop, may
sav that il is everywhere so insignificant as haruy
worthy Of being named "
From Augusta to Atlanta, saw many fine fields OF
wheat particularly after reaching the red OF muatto
soil At Athens some ten gentlemen are STRIVING
for the prize of o silver pitcher which is to be
oorded 70 him who shall produce the best acre Of
wheat and saw several of the fields which are es-
timated to yield from IS to As bushels to the acre.
That of Dr. Hamilton's is the best wheat ever saw
and he thought his acre would yield d bushels and
agreed with him. l may remark that he applied,
last wear fertilizers to the value of So AS wheat Is
worth 81 25 bushel the investment is profitable,
saving nothing of the value of his land, which will
Weld heavily for several years with little additional
outlay.
The red land of Georgia is reached some 40 miles
west of Augusta; its southern line runs In south-
western direction and it includes nearly the whoie
of the nothern half of the State The same soil ex
tends Also into Alabama and Mississippi, ana hOrtl-
ward into East and Middle Tennessee. Inc re-
mainder of Georgia is known as the Plney NOous
land, which is sandy and thln but IL Drlngs sOO99
cotton and properly, it is in the cotton region ana
fbis region is known ALSO as the Black Belt mas
much as a majority of the inhabitants are freedmen
This Black Belt extends westward tMOugh al 'ne
Gulf States to the Rio Grande. 50
seem in thrifty condition. also hrst saw chestnut
maple and other trees common to Northern 1oresIs,
and having taken occasion to penetrate the country
by means of private conveyance, found farming
region most favorable nor is il of limited extent for
IL reaches to the Blue Ridge; water power Is aOund-
ant and the advantages for Northern men are many
made special journey to the plantation OF DI
James near Penfed, to a clover field, and found
ii as heavy as any in the North. 1t was bottom
field of some ten acres and beside he has an upland
field much larger which he pastures. AS he is almost
the only man in Georgia who has demonstrated that
clover can be grown in this warm climate he has done
q great service to the State, and the fame theIeoI
has gone abroad to such extent that there are Vs
itors almost every day and when l arrived L found
four men from the North On tins same farm c0toh is
growing finely. and the owner told me that he mas
frequently raised two bales to the acre
Thence onward to Atlanta found wheat fields ire
opent and the yield must be large. There are few
States in the North where wheat is grown SO extern
siyely and the only disease to which 1T is subject IS
the rust Cotton also looks we'll and apple orchards
were not sights. Atlanta is the most busy town
have seen since leaving New-fork, and there
are crowds of people from so many quar-
ters, and there are so many cOlored people
living as best they can that was reminded of those
on the Pacific Railroad which successiyely were at
the end of the track. For this reason no one WILL
wish to remain long at Atlanta.
Going toward Knoxville, cotton culture declines
and wheat culture increases and after reaching Ten
nessee / more cotton fields, but instead
thereof wheat, and in first rate condition on
every hand Here clover is grown on most eXten-
sve scale, and evidently "a preliminary to wheat
In short may say thatthe farfamed region of East
Atlanta and Knoxville But only to q limited extent
are the grasses which make hay grown, and the cat
Eyerywhere the colored people are working we'll
md have seldom white men in the fields; but
will speak more at length of the freedmen, and OF
points most suited to Northern emigraDts, and the
conditions be observed, in other letters. The sub
ject is vast, and of national Importance, and wish
TO see the whole ground and gather all the facts at
tainabe before make statements which su bsequent
investigation may prove in some respects incorrect
When first entering the South, thought that re-
lation of isolated facts, they might be Observed
would secure the object of the journey but after
time found condition of things altogether differ
ent from what had expected Important ideas, and
in particular ideas connected with races OF men, are
acquired by slow and painful steps, and conclusions
which should not mislead demand careful eonsldera-
ton N O. N.