Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-03-12
70 TEE oRmannrr nlrr.
Notes OF she Scenery and @kiftless
Cultivation Along the Route.


Cultivation along fhe Route.
Special Correspondence OF Gasstte and journal.
NEW ORLEANS, Feb H. Many Of your
resders who will not be able TO visit the
New Orleans Exposition may be pleased
to see II through our eyes, imperfect as
necessarily will be our Vision. For suoh
It will be our pleasure to relate what
seems 10 us the most interesting circum-
stances and scenes Of our experience,
though Il must be remembered that we
write hastily, and in the crowd and bustle
and noise Of an overorowded city.
Ore week since We left Wilmington
bound In snow aud Toe, with 14o above
zero. Ga the way through Lancaster
and Harrisburg the sleigh bells were
ringing merrily, and the snow lay several
inches deep all the way through Penn
sylvsnia and Maryland and was quite
three inches through Virginia and Ken.
lucky. Not until We had passed half way
through Tennessee did We lose sight OF
snow, and all through AlsbAmR and we'll
into Mississippi there were Ice and frost,
aud even In LouisianiE many OF the fine
tropical plants hung limp aud lifsless,
stricken with frost OF few days since
In New Orleans, fnrs and wraps are uni
versally worn, and the people here look
as though they were longing for the
Sweet breath of the Sunny South.
The traveller is painfully impressed
with the wholesale waste Of land that lies
In continuous stretches OF hundreds OF
miles along the route. The tobacco crop
has exhausted the fertility Of the part Of
Kentucky through which we passed, and
Nlat la M hoat al A..
who goes TO work to restore fertility by
forest growth mostly Of pine timber. Iu
from 10 TO 20 years the timber is OFT OF
and sold at from % to "a per cord, and
tobacco 10 planted among the
stumps. The preparation for the
crop Ia done by mAttook and
hos. This plsniins is continued SO long
as the tobacco crop 10 profitable, cay two
or mere years, when IL Is cropped in corn
for another short period until reduced
again to stsrility, when 1t Ia again
"turntd cut" to nature. The same may
be said Of nearly all the lands In the
Soathern stsies, except that in Tennessee
aud Alabama cotton takes the place,
ohlefiy, Of tobacco. The orange growth
does not begin until we are pretty we'll
through Mississippi, and indeed few tress
are planted nor of the Louisiana border.
The general character Of Il land Ia a
light, sandy top soil, underlaid by an
simixsure Of red clay and ssnd, jnst the
perfect soil for peaches, melons, fss,
sweet potatoes and general truck. All
through Tennessee limestone Abounds,
but we never ace lime kiln. So far a.
We could learn by Inquiry, fertilizers are
rarely used, and no mar ure is made, lie.
osl'e p. ~ ~, esI IIs. animals run AZ Mrge
sao ses .ae.l ny.ns - pesI thei may
800 aie i0ss useu snan mu'es IN Men
j s.u s.muss uissppear except ID
sne iss so4ns suo onies IN miasiesipri
anu nouislans.
l @ p,ae lolsss ere osAutitul the
tess s " eo oloae ana running up to
r n,sns VI ~ ,ees or more Wi'hout branch
1 anu suaishs As Arrows. In many plRoei
I wneie ~ - desirable 70 prepare hurriedlJ
n krAin crop, tne Trees are eirdled and
i. le' ssapalng teAness iike an army o
n spears, whist miserabls crop o
'ooaooo o. oosson struggles for existence
a Anopg 'ne loo,s' The secoud crop, how
esel' Ietuiizeo py deoaying wood anC
pine nseoles ana warmed BY the sun tina
!, NOW peneIfa'es 70 the plants, Ia general,
Satisfactory: After the second yea
nre 10 kindlsd near the roo
? me Standing trunk which /
nl'e1 wnn reslnous mstter; the tire
9aioky ,sls ana IS wholly consume'
WneIe ~ nes, leaving tne ground In tn
noss Per,eos STATE Tor the third and bes
Y oroP, SUI clear ior cultivation thereafte
81 ions Hs image WILL pay. The curse {
.he iAnd, In an agricultural point Of view
II rs tne immense size OF the plantation
I, Wnicn are now without adequate hand
y nno toois tor cultivation. The Negro
u hke tne mule, can live on starvstio
y rAtions. On every plantation the MOI
II prominent objects are the elRv
a nuts OF cabins, which form q vi
laRe IN proximity to the planter
r residence AND indicate, by the number I
/, cnpins, tne SIZE OF the plantation. Nesrl
l. All o. these slave villages are NO,
partially abandoned, and present s SIS
n commentary on she shiftlessnsss OF th
r free negro. Although there srs exoey
y tions to the general rule, the garde
I, patches about the still inhabited cabin
d are ovsrgrown with weeds and bushe
ID .ne ohly sign OF cultivation being th
" ueAa Pumpkin, squash or oalsbssh win
r sns' over afones the door, supported b
Ii W. loikeo suoks STUCK In the ground o
3, enner siae.
" tenncssee We observe, at interval
IL a1nR 'ns RAILROAD, large blocks Of beaut
lui marble awaiting shipment. Sue
4, quarIies ~ we could see from the road di
" nos seem 70 be vigorously worked. an
= were generally wanting In the mechanics
eppnAhoeb considered essential for sue