Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-07
AN oIn-rrnIE PLANTATION.
A Day and Night in Southwest Georgia
The Buzzard Dance-An 5000 Acre
Farrn-Artesfan Wells.

A Day and Night in Southwest Georgia
The Buzxard Dance--An 5000 Acre
Farm-Artesian Wells.
Telegraph and Messenger Letter.
would you like to see the Buzzard
Dancer said the gentleman whose lavish
hospitality / was enjoying.
ssWhat the deuce is thatr' said /.
ssWait a minute and I'll show you" be
replied.
we were seated on the broad veranda
of Southern country house, built some
fifty wears ago. In front of us a row OF
giant magnolias, large as oaks. seemed in
the dim starlight freighted with balls OF
perfumed snow. To our right vast grove
Of pines were softly soughing in the
summer breeze. and beyond them the glare
of the blazing knots, which lit halt hun
pred cabins, proclaimed the presence OF
the ssnegro quarter We were on the
Huguenin plantation, in Sumter county,
a modest farm of 5000 acres, at present
owned by Mr.. j. NJ. Johnston and man.
aged entirely by Mr.. @. G. Clay. Ere the
minute had elapsed, Mr.. Clay walked to
the end of the YeFanda and gave whoOp
which would have invoked the envy Of a
Comanche Indian and the prompt attend
ance of a Macon policeman. An answer
ing shout was heard, and in few minutes
a long line of dusky forms came stealing
through the shadows of the pines and
ranged themselves in @ront Of where we
sat. The song began and the musicians
commenced to pat. Suddenly into the
centre of the open ring leaped the SABLE
dancer who was to pers0nate the buzz
zard. Though dancing in perfect time to
the wild but musical accompaniment, be
yet managed to initiate with marvellous
eXactness every movement OF the uncouth
bird he had chosen for his model. Its tot
tering, tip-toeing gait was faithfully de-
lineated, as was also its sudden springs
from right to left, its timid approach, It's
rayenous peck and sudden retreat from
the craved but dreaded carcass, which,
in this homely drama, was represented by
a hat that looked indeed like the buzzards
had been after it.
After the dance a debate was held.
Sides were chosen and the relative value
to the world of the farmer and the me-
chanic were discussed with shrewdness
and a wit uneXcelled by the tariff debate
in Congress. There are as many as five
hundred negroes on this plantation. They
constitute a society in themselves, and
their number satisfies that instructive
gregariousness which, from smaller
places. have drawn the negroes to town.
Whilethe dance and songwere progressing,
a quarter of mile away there were from a
church on the same plantation the prayers
and anthems of those who found their
pleasure in religion. And as l listened to
the mingling echoes of the sacred and sec
ular songs, thought that the sold plan
tatiOn,o dear to Southern memory,
had not vanished from the earth. The
marvellous management of Mr.. Clay has
preserved the same implicit obedience,
the same light-hearted reliance upon a
common master, which characterized the
days of slavery. / was curious to see
the results of free labor managed as in
the days of yore. The next day l looked
from the window of a lofty gin house
and saw them. Before me in one I'M
broken body lay four thousand acres in a
high state of cultivation. Leagues of
cotton and miles Of corn, green and grass
less. The bare spots which ever and
anon appeared in this broad panorama
told whence had come the four thousand
bushels of oats, which, even in
this pluvian year, had been cut and
housed without drop of rain. l saw one
acre of corn planted for the premium at
the State fair. 1t is so luXuriant that at
a distance of twenty steps a man on
horseback is completely hidden from
sight. The great bulk of this farm is run
upon the tenant system, all the tenants,
however, being subject to the complete
control of the manager. A twelve-mule
farm only is run by hired labor. With
these twelve mules there has been vir-
tually made this year, for it is all in
roasting ear, 5000 bushels of corn,
and a cotton crop which, al
ready standing waist high over 300
acres, give promise of at least $50 bales.
Everything on this mammoth plantation
is perfectly systemized, and works with
the precision of clock-work. Yet Mr..
Clay manages it all with the apparent
ease and with far greater success than
the average farmer runs four-mule farm.
He has a muscular eloquence which car
ries conviction to the negro mind, an I'M
tagging energy which wrests success
from unpropitious seasons, and quick
and comprehensive judgment equal to all
the emergencies of his position.