American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-01-04

CltSN tfu CNSi sittSl az US StsA'
be moved or pulled. and which,
some day, not far distant, will be
baIed extensively, as our hay is
done, and sent off to distant mark
cts, thereby adding much to the
prosperity of the people. Where
the fields were not cultivated they
are covered with a luXuriant crop
of sedge grass-cOarse, dry and still
in some places so high and com
pact that it looks like ripened fields
of grain. lfthis grass were cut IL
would answer as straw for bedding
of horses and for manure. If plOw-
increase of crops. This is often done
or it is burned off. 1t is the first
grass that sprouts in spring, and
may be used for early spring pas
ture. There is another grass called
Bermuda. This is the finest and
best of all. 1t propagates itself,
and in the course of time spreads
over the whole country. Persons
who wish to introduce it upon their
land get TIE sod and cut it up into
very small pieces, planting it here
and there, and in this way it will
spread in a short time over a large
space of ground. The cattle are
very fond of it, and will select it in
preference to any other. 1t is also
very nutritious, and it's quality can
not be excelled. Although the larg
est portion of the land is cleared,
yet the supply of wood is abundant
for every want. Each plantation
has reserve of forest, where grow
white oak, post oak, hickory, black
lack, cypress, etc. Locust are plant
ed and thrive well. The dead stocks
of corn and cotton, which remains
in the fields, attest by their large
growth the fertile nature of the soil.
Stalks of corn were seen, the lowest
ears of which were at Least six feet
from tile ground, and which grow az
high as fifteen feet, though of course
these specimens are rare, and pro-
badly owe their gigantic proportions
to having grown upon some unusu-
ally fertile spot. The cotton crop
was a large one, and perhaps owing
to the favorable season, the plants
were largo and vigorous, and the
yield of cotton in proportion to their
size. A considerable quantity of
cotton remained in the fields I'M
picked. This was the aspect Of the
fields which we're cultivated, and it
looked encoura gingly, for it beto
kened that it was gOodly land and
the husbandman was richly repaid
fer his toll. But it was a sad sight
to pass plantation after plantation,
some of them with almost palatial
residences, all of them surrounded
with several outbCildings, large and
small, and see the air of desOlatiGn
that hung over everything. The
most desirable fields upon which
the human eye ever rested, whose
fertility is inexhaustible, lying idle
and deserted, the Wild grasses TAX
ing the place of the rich crops of
former days; the houses tenantless,
or if occupied, by some cOlored fam
lily, living in room or two, and all
seemingly going rapidly into decay
the gin houses rOtting away, the
briar fences all gone, which the dry
grass, catching fire, consumed or
killed. Thus in this whole county
whose character is unknown by our
people, not more than One-tenth OF
the land is cultivated, the remaining
nineteen desolatiOn, the sight of
which is enough to make the heart
bleed, the ruin being SO complete, so
universal to which this once highly
favored land has been brought. A
better time surely awaits it.
Now the present owners of the
land are impoverished. They lost
their slaves who labored for them.
Since the surrender they have con-
sumed whatever remained, and all
they have left is their land; this
many of them have to mortgage to
enable them to pay their taxes.
They have the land, and might sell
the whole or a portion of it, and
convert it into money, but there
are no purchasers. According to
an explanation made by Il gentle
man at Livingston, ''mOney is nigh
ty scarce" and so it is. The7people
have become poor and it will be on
ly when others come among them
with capital and begin to purchase
lands and have enough means left
to properly cultivate them that this
highly favored section will come up
again. The object of this article is
to tell our people who know moth
ing of thewOnderful resources of the
of the south what fine country it
is, and to describe one single coun-
ty to them. When once the char
acter of the lands of the south are
known and its people there will
arise tide of emigration and of
settlement there that will make the
south the most desirable portion of
the Union, not only to reside in On
account of its delightful climate,
but where the soil, yielding its in
crease so generously, will bring up
the value of the land to almost fab
ulous prices. AS long as slave la
Dor existed planters could manage a
large plantation of 500 to 5000 acres
easily. But now such large tracts
are no longer valuable in the hands
of one individual. No man, with
out extraordinary resources, is able
10 cultivate such large areas. One
or two hundred acres are as much
as he can conveniently, skiIIfully
and proiitably handle. The part of
wisdom then would be to divide those
large farms into several smaller