Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1880-08-25

RED LAND, Dssgser psrtah, |
Aususs Soud, Ire.

d0ea not for thst rtaoOo 0eoeo enoesly the
whereabouts Of the writer. Just two
miles east Of that 6oarisbssg httle village
lives the dear father and mother ws have
not sen for half year, and asAss the ps-
rsut.l roof have taken ~ sssrtsrs fos
few dsys Of rest.
From Homer 70 CollsasbosG the diseaocs
10 any miles BY the rssd, . little lsss In
direct ios. Our jossnsy hes bsea thirty.
elk niles through . region Of country Of
. moss divsrsiAsd nature, and pressutiag
fair tdea, II we had gone on 70 Red river, Of
the whole Of that portion Of the State
known - North West Louisiana. In 9th.
o. wosds, Que In travelling from Homer to
CS,Ansburg. on Red river, will no some.
thipg Of all the Different kinds Of coll,
t,mL~r, water. &C, that help to make up
North. Wsstern Louisiana. Al Homer, and
for several miles West, We have the high
sandy land, the rocky and grAvelly soil,
tho rich creek aud branch bottoms. Al
Sam Kirkpstrick's, twelve n,iles away, We
have the walnut lands, very frrtile. With
In fsw miles Of Skies Ferry We have the
high piny wo.ds that will produce nothing,
seemingly. Then there IL DOrehese swamp.
and after that bayou 10 crssed We travel
for miles aud miles through . level coun-
Try, covered with post-Oak and black Jack.
In some place. there src thousands of
mounds that were perhaps bubbles 10 an
early perioi when all the earth wss .
mass Of mud. This idea 10 suggested BY
. friend with . scisnti6e turn Of mind.
Thor regularity In sire, and their equal
distance from each other, and the fact
thst they sre fouud on . "trip Of lsnd run
ming North ard South for many miles,
make them Que Of the peculisrtti~s Of the
region for which geologists can doubtless
account. This chAi sstsr Of land 70 called
iu the ordinary verSscular, bog. wsllo~
Oats. But to return to our nstsoas. o..
casionally the monotouy Of these Oats 10
interrupted by strip Of higher aud more
productive land, very like the higher lands
Of Claiborne. Here there 10 usually .
settlement, aud this strip, not more than
. mile wide, 10 In cultivation. Al Mar.
tins Ferry, our usual crossing on the Bod.
ceau, this charactss Of land juts right on
the bayou, aud the swamp IL On the West
ern side. Leaving this swamp, which 10
not cultivated ut this crossing because Of
the frequent overfows, We strike second
ottom, or species Of hammock .lsnd, which
seems less fertile than hammock -land usu-
ally 10. Three miles from the ferry we
strike the secoud elevation from the bayou
and 6nd the most fertile soil on the road,
except the red loan In Red river swamp.
Here there are fields that have bsen in cul.
tivation for thirty years, and to-day will
yield bale Of cotton or thirty bushels Of
coru TO the acre. Still further on We ell
ter upon the rich red hill lands, which are
alwsys very productive, and are specially
adapted TO the smaller grains. This re-
gion has it's counterpart in many portions
Of ClSiborne-st Capt. Austin Payne's and
other points, and in Lincoln, Col. Alien
Greene's farm is simils4. Thence West to
Collinsburg and Red river where We find
the richest soil in the world, and we have
passed over ffty miles Of country that, a
We said in tho beginning, furnishes q fair
idea Of the whole of North. West Louisi-
ana.
In our occasional Journeys to Red Land
We have been impressed with the advant.
Agus that this country offev to the indus
trions -mgrant. The occasionsl strips Of
high land running through or lying ada
cent to the fat lands arc unusually pro-
ductive. With = email farm located 10
sncb locality the hAts could be utilized for
pssturag~, aud there 10, next to the prai.
ries. no hotter country for rsisiug cattle
and sheep. The timber would have a
tendency to protect the grsss in the win
ter. TINS giving the settler an advantage
over the man who livcs on the plains. We
have passed through the country At every
s-sson Of the year, and have observed
that the cattle are always in fine order.
But there sr- thousands Of acres Of every
kind Of land open TO purchase at woder-
Ate prices, The settler has only to aay
what he wants and be will 6nd It,
We have wandered into . dissertation
upon the general appearance Of the conn
try through which We have passed to the
exclusion of the incidents of our Journey.
In our next We hops to have somc itema Of
internal for the hunters, for be IL known