The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1884-07-05

gan City IS not affected by tne over
flow Of the Mississippi found al
Of our Delaware county people at Jen
nings well, happy and contented. Tn
most of them said they never wantet
to come back to Iowa to live. fount
there many families from Howard
county, who were equally as wei
pleased with the country as the Della
ware county folks. Jennings Is Of
tho G.. II. n st. A. R. r., about 1s(
miles west from New Orleans and OF
straight line is about $50 miles souti
of Waterloo, in this State. II Is or
the east side Of Calcasieu parish neal
the Mermentau river, and on a gently
undulating prairie. This prairie eoun
try Of Western Louisiana Is quite ex
tensiye, running from Bayou Techt
to the Sabine, and from the 30th te
the 3lst parallel, comprising about
5000 square miles, is gently undu-
lating, and covered with thick
growth Of wild grasses which are very
nutritious for cattle, vast herds oi
which have fed upon them for the
last hundred years. In fact, this prai-
rie region was first settled by the eS-
lied Acadians, who after their banish-
ment from Nova Scotia, in 1855, be-
| gan slowly to find their way to these
pastoral fields. and commenced the
rearing Of cattle, which business,
though less than formerly, is still kept
| up by them. The descendants o. the
original Acadians are still there, and
comprise the greater part of the ori-
ginal settlers around Jennings, They
Espeak English well, but IN their homes
use the French language exclusively,
This prairie is all delta land, and
hence alluvial, and the most Of ii
naturally rich. It produces a dense
growth of grass, and trees grow 10 ii
with astonishing rapidity This shows
that the soil contains the necessary
elements for plant growth, but when
it is first plowed, it does not readily
yield good crops. Sweet potatoes and
rice will grow well from the first, but
before corn, Irish potatoes and other
crops will grow we'll in il. the ground
must be frequently plowed and stirred,
and crop Of COW peas should be grown
on 1t and plowed under, Then it will
begin to yield good crops, and con
tinue so for years. The raising Of COW
peas in this way the natives call fer
tilizing, but does It not serve another
purpose as well The soil is naturally
closely packed together This may
arise from SO many cattle treading
upon it, and from the fact that the
soil is fine, being sediment depos-
tied in water, and before it can yield
cultivated crops well, il must be made
mellow and friable. Here in the North,
freezing in winter answers this pur-
pose. Il slacks the soil and makes it
porous, mellow and light, Cow peas
have large and numerous roots, and
when plowed under, the vines keep the
land loose, and the Fotting of the tops
and the roots makes the land porous
and friable, and believe this as bon
eticial as any fsrtilizing which the
peas can give the land, for sure it is
that the longer the land is worked the
better crops it raises. / visited one
homestead which was entered six years
ago. there saw as fine corn, Irish
and sweet potatoes, rice, oats, aud gar
den vegetables as can be grown any
where. The Irish potatoes we're as
fine as We raise, and the corn in the
field looked as we'll and thrifty as Iowa
raises. But 1t does not yield much,
25 bushels per acre being good crop,
the average is much less, but for feed
or profit, one acre will go farther than
one acre here, Il is worth about one
dollar per bnshel, and as their winters
are so very slSrt and mild, one bashel
will go farther IN feeding stock there
than five bushels will here. They
never feed anything but work stock
and cows The main industry in that
section has for years been stock-rais-
ing, the only care given them Is to
round them up once year, cut out
the becRes and other salable stock,
from the cattle, brand the calves, and
the ponies are branded, and then let
run to the next season without eyer
looking after them.
When cattle or ponies Of different
herds run together they are separated
at general round ups. In this way of
raising stock, they claim that three
year old steer or pony costs less than
two dollars. AT this time Of year stock
Of all kinds looks we'll, in size and
general looks the stock will compare
fayorably with ouF common stock,
They can doubtless be considerably
improved BY feeding 4 little hay ii
winter and providing sheds to protect
them against cold rains with such I
care, believe the native stock can be
made good enough for sncecssful cat
tle raising there, Sheep also do well +
and receive no lAere care than do
other stock, but where care has been
given them they pay well forit. Since
Tie advent of Northefners moro di-
VeEsifed agricultural industries are
growing up. Rice y being raised u d
Considerable extent, and every farmer
around Jepaipgs is trying q raise i
few aeraa, baE as there are no marsh
ar swamp lands there, their success
nnst depend upon the rainfall. Where
ever there IL 3 Aatufal depression or
drain ille farmer viii throw i Iegee
across she drain p eateh she Fqlpfail,
and 40 or 30 rods aboge another, ana
50 on IL long A. thag can get al acre
or more 81 lagd by legeeias h this
WaY Many wall Qet from hye II 20
acres fer rice, 9ile Lana Il pesfeetlF
dks hefe2e Aneasas ana = PIT svnd a4a
palserixsa . fRf Eaept. iae rec is
soFaa ana hersQNa ia aA n II
about 81 inches biaA slie 8ee Il
E2aRed Nsa * IS ssaNF TN kiAe Fret I