The Caucasian. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1874-1875, 1874-04-25
Turf, Field ;aras, Fas'tsa.
PROSPECTS IN THE
SOUTH "A FEW WORDS TO SOUTH.
IRN FARMERS AND PLANTERS.

Your whole system Of aglicnlttlre
has been retolutionized. In the an.
tibellnm days you Ead at your dis
posal the best possible labor-be-
carse it was ameneble to discipline,
aid, like a regular army, ever ready
to obey the orders Of the command
chief. You have now lost BY
the arbitrament Of the sword the,
control Of the forces which made
your broad fields laugh with annu-
al haryests, aeId nov you find your
selves burdenGd with an enormous
unproluctiFe landed property
which is more heavily taxed than
when it filed your store houses, and
granarics and barns, and furnished
niue:tentlls Of the foreign exchange
OF the whole Union. What, under
these circumstances, are You to do2
Your labor isocolnparatively worth
less, aud your land without labor
I'LL st inevitably, sooner Or later
come under the hammer OF the
sheriff. We fancy the solution OF
the problem is to be found in one
word, and that is grdss.
Get your fields i'll Sod-and pas
tnre upon them every grazing ami
nal that has money value. De
pend less upon the plough and the
still moro expensive hoe, and have
recourse to the mower. If you have
not the capital in labor, horses, i'm
piements and mauure-natural and
artfiicial--to get You land in Etfa1S
in the specdiest way, be not imnal
tiant OF discouraged, have recourse
10 sheepe2n time tho very poorest
land will put on a GOOD SOD o. MT
tritious grasses under the iructify-
ING tread Of q flock Of sheep. It
may be objected that vagrant ne
erUes and yagganb ours viii eprc-
vent sheep breeding i'll The South.
This objection has some Weight
but is noo insurerable. On the con
trary, we may pluck safety from
this danger, and be compelled g
fold our sheep, part Of their man
agen1ent too often omitted,@ ,@ob; g
which should never be 2eglected
,un;ler any circumstances.
Dy means OF the fold you efecta-
ally protect your liooks from night
proWIin& dogs and their masters
and the briar patches and CALLED
spots iii your fields will soon be
cleaned Or enriched by oleir tramp
ing and their dGoppiu.s.
Again, it may be objected that
but % small portion OF the cleared
Hands Of tlse ,5outl, are adapted to
GRASS, and some Of thHm neb even
tn clover. 10 o certain eAtant this
is true, but the fact is tilat oSutll-
sorn planters, abso9bol in the cult
9qation Of tobacco. eOttonetnd sugar,
have never given sufficient thought
to ather agricultural products quite
IS Indispensable in tleil- way as the
three aboye-named staples. In the
paImy days Of cotton culture in
Mississippi the planter who raised
his oSsn bread and meat WAS the ex-
ception. Most Of them were corn
buyers, and none OF them raised
pork. Most of them had cotton on
the brain, and they all dreaded
GRASS as they would cholera, the
boil worm and the caterpillar.
Under the new dispenaationsyou
mnst Of necessity giyS moro atten
tio:. to other possible farm products
and chief among these are grass
ano other forage plants. Iii is gen
er59lIy believed that except on stiff
clays grass caallot be grown witt
nr0ft on the tilo-water lands Of thf
s5uthern States. but hes it ever
been attempted 2 Until the at
vem.t IS made and' fails We must re
fuse to st subscribe to TIE general be
lief. Where is the grass whici
| makes finer oc closer sod than tht