The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-05-30
COME SOUTH YOUNG MAN!
The Best and Cheapest Lands
and the "Best Shipping
Point in AmeriCa.o
Finest Location for Fruit and
Vegetable Raisers i'm the
Southern States.

! Lne Cldle west VI L 1eHueoSee TlNer, uti'
an area of about 10000 square miles
In 1870 Gibson county, had out o.
her population of 1866, 6865 ne
groes. In 1870, this county had 132,
$50 acres of improved land. and al
though there were fourteen countie;
in the State with larger quantities,
she ranked second in value of all farm
productions; havings3, 327, ,523 worth,
against 81, 1882 in Shelby. The
value of our farms at that time was
s4, ,S90,576. Thus it will be seen
that our lands produce nearly two
thirds of their value every year, not.
withstanding the imperfect manner OF
cultivation. The county in 1870 pro-
duce 1859 bushels of wheat, l.
067,77 bushels of corn, 12,11S bush
els of oats, 81, 800 pounds of tobacco,
9,S15 bales of cotton, 1857 pounds
of wool and 60,275 bushels of sweet
potatoes thus ranking sixth in the
production of corn, fifth in cotton, and
second in sweet potatoes.
Carroll county, adjoining us on the
east, has I27, ,515 acres of improved
land, worth s3,077, ,511, and the value
of her farm products in 1870 was ST.
791, 796. Her population that year was
19, 447, of which 4799 were negroes.
The western and southern portions of
this county are especially fertile, there
being some of the best farms in the
State in these sections, all of which are
tributary to Milan. There are num-
Der of large farms in this part of the
county which the owners are willing
to cut up and sell to good farmers on
good terms.
Milan is about FIVE miles from the
Carroll county line, and the following
description embraces the eastern por-
ton of Gibson and the western part
of Carroll counties; and in order that
our report of the lands lying around
Milan may be correct, We have con-
suited some of our most intelligent
and reliable farmers, and on their
statement predicate the facts here fur
nished. The land is generally level
or gently undulating. Out west of
town there is some hilly country, but
not too much so to be good farming
land when well cared for. The
soil upon the surface is loan, which
is of color from mulatto to black,
and varies in depth from six inches to
two feet. Immediately below this
loan is a reddish subsoil, which is
very retentive of moisture, and below
this in most places are found strata of
sand of different colors. The soil is
mellow and easily titled. Our billy
or rolling lands, in the hands of care>
less Indifferent farmers, constantly de-
crease in value; while the very same
kind of land, in the hands of intelli-
gent and energetic farmers, who un-
derstand hillside ditching and drain
age, will not only retain its fertility,
but will become more productive.
Fertilizers, which are only beginning
to be used here, produce astonishing
results. AS to the level land, it will
remain good always in the honds of
intelligent farmers, without the use of
any fertilizers, by proper rotation of
crops and occasionally seeding it
down in small grains. As evidence of
its durability, there is a great deal of
such land here. owned by men who,
not living on it, haye rented it from
year to year to men who, having no
interest IN it, have plowed shallow
and otherwise abused it, that still pro-
duces good crops. Our land, when
properly cultivated, stands a drouth
better than any land we have ever
seen. You rarely ever see a rock of
any hind, except small gravel in run-
ming streams.
Our land produces anything grow
ing in the Northwestern States, besides
cotton, which cannot be grown there !;
in fact, anything that is grown any
where in the United States does well
here, except the tropical fruits. Our
farmers heretofore have confined
themselves to corn and cotton, to the
neglect of everything else. They are
changing their system (and wisely,
too, we think), and are more inclined
to test the various capacities of their
soil. The few who have turned their
attention to other crops find it pays.
We have an abundance of timber
for building purposes, fencing, DC.
There are several perennial streams
within few miles of town, on one of
which is situated several grist mills.
For domestic purposes, most people
have wells, varying in depth from 6f-
teen to seventy-fve feet The water
is the very best of freestone, cool and
clear. There are several wells of
mineral water In the county, which
afford a fine resort for invalids and
pleasure seekers.
The health of this county is good.
Ch.lls and fevers, which were COM
mon here in the early settling, have
almost disappeared. We have some
typhoid fever and pneumonia, but in
nearly every case it is attributed to
foolish and unnecessary exposure. As
for cholera, yellow fever and. other
epidemics, we are free from them all,
never having been visited by any of
them. .s i,
Our stock is never damaged any by
buffalo gnats or any of the pests that
are common nearer larger water
courses. This county has good
natural advantages for stock raising,
and the few enpaped in II find ii a