The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-08-09
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Resources of the South.
WHAT THE SOUTHERN STATES HAVE TIC
SHOW.
baltimore Sun

WHAT THE SOUTHERN STATES HAVE T
SHOW.
baltimore Sun.
The Southern Exposition, which opene
at Louisville on the LIST of August, Will
containing exhibits from all parts of tn
: United States, as well as from many fol
eign countries. will, as it's name implies
be primarily devoted to displaying the re
sources of the South. The sixteen States
stretching from Delaware to Texas an
from Florida to Missouri, with their 900
600 square miles of surface and nearl
2O,0O00O0 people, contain almost One-hal
OF the settled area of the country and well
nigh tw0-fifths of it's population. Slavery
} the war and the political disorders of tn
reconstruction period all retarded the de
yelopment of the magnificent natural re
sources of these States. Carrying sucl
! weights as these, it is no wonder that tn
South fell behind in the race for wealth
and 1t Is not surprising that in proportion
z to its population it can show but two dol
). lars for every five in the N orth and West
, that the average resident of Massachu
sets is fouritimes as rich as his country
man in Virginia, and that, man for man
Ohio can quadruple the wealth of Geor
gia. The bonds that have so long restricted
the free expansion of the capacities of thu
lSouth are at last broken, and in the paSt
five years there has been throughout all it.
borders wonderful. movement in almost
every branch of industrial activity. II
knows that it has lost ground to make up
land it is earnestly addressing itself to the
/ task. The cotton exposition at Atlanta il
1881 was revelation to the world of the
power that lay in the new South, and it is
confidently predicted that the exhibition
about to open at Louisville will have even
more surprises for those who have been
brought up in.the belief that to the south
of Mason and Dixon s line there was a
commercial Nazareth, out of which could
come no good thing.
Inany display of the resources of the South
its agricultural products..and its agricul-
tnral. Systems aresentitled to the place of
4 honor. Nearly two hirds;of her employed
population find their..bread in the filling of
the fields. Inithe last census year.the pro-
duets Of her farms amountedatomore than
$3.50, OOO,O an average of .Eabout forty
dollars for every -inhabitant. OF this ag-
gregate more than one-third was repre-
scented by the value of the cotton crop. In
he oreldistinctlNC Cotton States ,gsuch as
South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas,
more than half the value of all the produce
of their soil .waslin cotton. In her cotton
lands the South has perennial source of
wealth. In cotton.she controls the markets
of the world.
No foreign competition has as yet been
able to even seriously threaten her supre-
macy. While her crop Of the great staple
gets larger and larger, with increasing pop
ulation here and elsewhere, her farmers
and planters are beginning tossraise in ad-
dition many things which they were for
merly in the habit of buying from their
neighbors. Food supplies of all sorts are
now being raised:on the farms of the pro-
gressive men of the South. In places con-
venient to means of rapid transportation
landowners are availing themselves of the
advantages offered by their more advanced
seasons to raise early fruits andivegetables
| for the Northern market. Every resident
of Baltimore knows that tomatoes, peas,
| potatoes, Strawberries and so on make their
appearance in considerable quantities in
our markets some weeks if not months
earlier than was the case ten or twelve
years ago. The industry, now in its in
fancy, is capable of almost indefinite ex-
pansion. The steadily growing city popu-
lations of the South will continually in
| crease their demand for early.produce and
the improvement in the means of trans
portation willsreducesthe cost of bringing
the garden truck of Georgia and Carolina
to.the tables of New York and Philadal-
phia. The.crowded towns.that will spring
up around the already forming manufac-
turing centres of the South will afford an
even more certain and profitable. home
market.
In Florida the raising of tropical fruits
has become an important and. extremely
lucrative industry. So well has it paid
that unimproved lands in the orange belt
now command prices that would buy ten
times the number of acres in any of the
neighboring States. Three years ago the
value Of the tropical fruits raised in FlOri-
da was nearly three-quarters Of million,
and it must since have greatly increased.
With the extension of railroad facilities
the business must assume still larger pro-
portions, and it is, perhaps, not too much
to expect that the products of Florida
orchards will drive out of our markets the
foreign fruits, which now cost us some
thing like eighteen millions year.
The reduction of the tax on tobacco can
hardly fail to stimulate the cultivation of
that great Southern product. The cattle
raising industries of Texas bid fair to be-
come every day more lucrative and more
valuable. Hostile legislation abroad can
be but temporary. The demands Of the
poorer classes in European cities for flesh
food must in the end prove too strong for
the protectionist interest Of the agricultu-
raj population. The wool product of
Texas has increased more than fivefold in
the, last ten years, and between 1870 and
1880 the wool clip of the South had adj
vanced from 100000 pounds to more
than 3O,0OO,O0O.
1t would be useless to go through the
long line of the products of Southern farm
and labor and dwell upon their present con-
ditions and their future prospects. But
there are some changes in the general sys-
tenn of agriculture that call for a passing
mention. Wherever close cultivation and
varied crops will pay, the best results are
likely to be gained on small tracts of land,
worked by their owners or renters, and
the great increase in the number of the
farms of the South, and the accompany
ing decrease in their acreage, are among
the most promising features in the pres
ent condition of that section. The 100000
Southern farms of 1860 had become l.740,-
600 in number in 1880. while their average
size had fallen from 800 acres to 154. A
large part of the old Southern farm, as a
rule. remained uncultivated in this re-
sspect there has been a decided advance, the
proportion of improved land in farms hav-
ing risen from 80 per cent. in 1860 to 81
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