New-York tribune., 1879-04-12

rl,, yorl, in nrocress was removing the last hatCh
of sugar from the watts to hogsheads pac9u on ', f
drinninp floor where the molasses - draintu on
into tanks from whence IT is pumped INTO the pal-
rcls that take IT to market. y number 1i p~egi"rs ~
were engaged under the orders Oh orafh n Se av
to The planters house, handsome DITCH s.luo
tnrc. with broad verandas on all siueS'
f5@nd"s @ 1SS to %d'S southern % home said
the planter. who met me on the front paHI'i VII Vii
an unaffected cordiality. He insisted that shoIu
mass the night with him, and dispatched negro
servant to the village for my yallse. ms SiStUI
young lady Of remarkable intelligence ana culture;
who Is the mistress of the house in the absence on
their mother, soon appeared, ana rehe"eu 'no
hospitable greeting and invitation. -, 49,.
Our conversation never once fagged uhtli In Ia.o
bedtime IT ran mainly on current topics o1 istoa
tnre and politics on which my host ana hostess
were as well informed though they had sRent
their lives in some intellectual centre of the East
instead of i'll the midst of Louisiana swamp, put
il rc turned now and then IN answer To glesu1s W
local topcs of special interest TO me- Inc pahtti
said that only about one-thlrd o1 hls iIia1t
land was under cultivation, ana ne 'npousIh'
tbis nronortion held good throughout the Pallsh;
There are two good reasons why so lnuch goo'ff
land is allowed to lie idlc-want OF labor anu anu VI
capital. 4 thousand additional SUGAR Iao9'IIi S Iis
could find steady employment A number 9I Oh n.S m
hands left him recently and he was oIliteu 10 ~
to Mississippi to get men To heip mdhU ni,,itr Tr'
cTop. none being Obtainablc in the vicinity.
Field hands get $13 per month. weekly
ration of five pounds of bacon ana pech oi
corn meal house and garden patch rent iI9t' @ a,,d
the privilege OF cutting hItWo'"l OH III,
using teams TO haul IT, They have a haf-hohday
every Saturday to cultivate their gardens III Ihey
are industrious they can 1--we comlorlanS or ol tn'it
wages, and saye m ntI' omtA fu and are in
debt at the years end. Half of the
wages are paid in cash and the otHer
half settled on the 1st of January. Each piahta-
tion has a store which furnishes such articles a.
tbe negroes need on credit 10 the amount OF ihe re-
famed wages In the grinding season, when Depins
late in October and lasts until January, wages go
a day "A
and children are employed at 30 or 40 cents.
Work on sugar plantation lasts the year rount.
In January the leaves and tops of the last year
crop, called the uIsh." are burned where they lie
i'm the fields making brilliant blaze ana q uellSe
smoke. Ploughiug between the roots oI inc ciIic
begins at once. One-thrd of the area cutlNateu u
u>ually planted every year. he stalks ol sctu
cane which have been left in the furrows, parity
covered with leaves, are taken no and lad IN
SSNGIgT VOWS and covered with dirt The interval
before the cane sprouts is employed Ill preparing
the corn land and planting; then the PIOushliS
and hoeing OF the cane begin ana ,,,iS so h,a "n
iii August by which time the ground mas
been thrown up in ridges about the roofs
and the stalks are so high AS to snade
the Garth and prevent the growth OF weeds NoW
The whole working force repairs to the swamps
with mules and carts and spends nearly two InOnIls
chopping wood and hauling II to the NIL for
cvcIy hOgshcad OF sugar expected 10 De maui !ol @
cords of wood must be provided to feed me ires
undcr the kettles After the woOd-chOpplig
is over the corn Is gathered, the cqW-peaj
raised for fodder, is cut and cured, and
grass grows are movn. Then the cane harvest be
gins Everybody who can work Is in demand Inc
mills run night and day and from early dawntl dark
the men in the fields WELD their long knives,
and the carts, loaded by the women and BOYS
with the iuicy stalks, come grOanlng and creaklng
TO the sheds, where the cane Is placed upon an
endless band and carried up to the crushing ma
chine. After the boiling season Is over the hands
are employed clearing ont and deepening the
ditches that drain the fields and repairing the
levees until 1t Is time 10 begin work on the new
crop ., 8
conservative LOuisianians, who were Wings before
the war Union men when secession took place,
and decline TO be called Democrats now, though
usually voting the Democratic ticket. He says lie
is n Republican as far most National issues are
concerned but he objects to being ruled by an in
ferIor race. Good local and State government
is ont of the question with a negro party in
power he thinks. and long as the
color line divides parties, the white men of prop
ertv who are YItally interested in having moderate
taxation and economical administration, must act
together He Is greatly dissatisfied however, with
the course of the politicians who run the Demo
cratic party in this State, aud evidently
servatve planters will control the negro
vote and form new party In conjunction with the
best business classes of the city, which VIII drive
the RECKLESS Bourbon element from power, restore
the State credit and afford liberal and progressive
government. He Is warm admirer of Governor
Nichols whom he.regards a good representative
of the Conservative sentiment ot the state ana q
man of the Li CHEST integrity. L. V. s.