Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-12-03
WOOL PRoDUcrIoN I'm THE SOUTH.


WOOL PRODUCTION I'm THE SOUTH.
In the address of the Jefferson coun-
ty, Arkansas, Grange to the Subordl-
nate Oranges, we find some statements
of general interest to agricultural
readers. There is wisdom In the sug-
gestion that planters, even In the su-
perior cotton districts of Arkansas,
should diversity their agriculture, by
devoting more land to corn, Igrass
and hay, and less to cotton. Jefferson
county lies on both sides of the Arkan-
sas river, and Its capital is forty-fve
miles below Little Rock, and sixty
above the Mississippi. In the county
are about eight hundred and fifty sec
tions of land; one hundred and thirty
five miles of which lie on the river and
fifty miles on sundry lakes. Pine
Bluff, the. county seat, is a handsome,
fourishing town, which contains some
forty stores and three thousand inhab-
itants, and stands on a high
bluff near the river, not far
from the center of the county. This
contains fifteen thousand inhabitants,
who would be glad to receive immi-
grants enough to double their popula-
ton. The address says they need
more field hands, and that Tennessee,
Mississippi and Georgia can supply sew
eral thousand
If colored people were wise, they
might, by their honesty and industry,
command high wages. There are mil
lions of acres of the best swamp lands
where the white race cannot labor in
summer season on account Of sick
ness, while the African race can Guilt
vate corn, cotton and sugar cane, on
these rich soils with perfect immunity.
Considering the value of Southern sta
pies, iincluding rice and sea-island
cotton, nature gives the negro great
sndpecuiar advantages as an opera
tive planter; but what his offspring
viii be worth for planting purposes
forty years hence, is a very uncertain
quantity. By that time the United
States viii contain between eighty and
one hundred million of the most ener-
getie and industrious of the Caucasian
family; many pestilential river bottoms
will be drained, cleared, and made
healthy to the white man. Millions of
the latter viii become acclimated like
Texas cattle, which, while infected so
as to impart fatal disease toother stock
raised in different and healthy eli
mate, do not themselves suffer In flesh
or soundness of constitution.
Southern farmers should consider the
fact that the civilized world is begin
ming to prefer light wooden goods for
summer wear to cotton, such as worsted
and delaine fabrics, and, consequently,
combing-wool and t.'otswold sheep
should be raised In the South to meet
this growing demand. White men can
easily raise during the six healthy
months in all the South every plant re-
quired by indefinite millions of sheep.
1t is cowardly to fear any harm that
dogs or negroes may do to hocks which
belong to an earnest race Of good
farmers.
What better farming can be done
than to give more attention to wool
production, if not less attention to cot
ton3 We have high opinion Of the
agricultural resources of the South in
this respect, and see how sheep hus-
bandry, taken up by all Changers as a
profitable industry, might be made a
grand success. 1t viii take some time
to get the business fairly under way,
but In the end the reward would be
great. Wool is as much a product of
the soil as cotton, and rightly managed,
it will cost less labor per pound, and
not exhaust, but improve the land.