The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-17
Letter From Florida,

suficent importance as to make mention
OF it in the columns OF the 1HTELLIGEN.
GER, will be glad il you will publish n
the same columns my impressions of the
Gland Of aligators, snakes" &c, as you
are pleased to call this State. And
will ray al the outset that will not in.
dulge in fancica, but state facts just as
f2l them, as they are stated to me by
persons whose veracity can not be Gucs-
toned.
! have so many friends in Anderson
who are anxious to learn something Of
this country, and who wish me to give
them my impressions Of it, that it will
be impossible for me to write to each and
every one Of them, and if you will pub
lish this, and few others ! may scId
you, you will assist me in complying
with my promises.
shall have nothing to say Of Florida
in general, but of Columbia County in
particular; for have seen none Of The
State, except this County, save that !
passed through in coming here. So wha,
may be said OF this County cannot be
truly said Of other portions Of the State,
and wish my friends to remember that
speak Of Columbia County alone.
came here with some fear and ,rem-
bling. | came fearing that might not
find it the country it was represented to
be. am glad to report thA. it far ex-
ceeds in beauty. in fertility, in the NOR
ality Of the people and general intclli-
gence, my most confident expectations.
Here every thing aeems to be abundant
Corn is plentiful, selling at 60 cents per
bushel. see as fne pork hogs here as
/ am accustomed TO see in Anderson !;
meat is worth six cents gross. Cotton is
aslling at 40 cents per pound. Don't
this appear to your readers an extrava-
CANT assertion? The best Of your cotton
in Anderson has not been sold this Fall
for more than ten cents ."perhaps and
yet here it is selling for four times that
amount. But il il Sea Island cotton, and
tho crop mas short this year. az! told
by reliable men that it always sells for
two and half and three times rs much
as the short staple. So while the people
here cannot raise as much cotton to the
acre as We can in Anderson, yet they get
three times, and sometiu,es four times
as much for it.
The average yield Of cotton is bale
to five acres, and hand ordinarily makes
three bales, and let it he remembered no
fertilizers are used.
The average yield Of corn is ten bush.
els to the acre. An acre we'll fertilized
and worked sometimes yields 40 bushels,
but the average yield is only ten. This,
| think, is good comparison. The
prices of land here in Columbia County
range from $500 to $1,000, according to
improvements. A Northern man said 10
me yesterday, and he has been living
here for il years, "If the people here
worked like the people in Illinois, it
would be the best country in the world.
See here, all you have to do is to deadcn
those pine trees, enclose it under fence
and put your plow in it,"
This is true. You see no underground
no grubbing is to he done; deaden the
trees, aud it is ready for the plow
When look at these tall gigantic trees,
clear of limb or knots for perhaps 70
feet, if of no use here to the planter
l often think what fortune it would be
to the people, and especially to the saw
mill men Of Anderson.
zee here large bodies of the best red
pue timber in the world leadened, rot.
ting and Of no value here, but would be
of great value to other portions of the
country. What pity it should thus be
destroyed when it is so much needed and
of 90 much value elsewhere.
This part Of the country 10 not low
and fat as great part Of Florida is
The country is gently rolling, sufficiently
40 for the water 10 run of.
The plows can move an hour or two
after the hardest rain falls, and that, too
with no injury to the land. The country
is not one perpetual sand-bed, as many
people imagine. 1t is true in some
places the sand is deep and heavy, but
generally the ground is hard and the
roads, except here and there, arc simply
splendid. almost as firm as the clay roads
in Anderson. In my next letter l will
tell your readers something abou, the
fruits in Florida.
| w. d, HATTOS.