The Opelousas courier., 1886-02-06

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Bird's.eye Viep By James McCabs, sOho
Nth J, E. Hiu, both Of Page Co., haze
been spending the past Month in Persona
Investigations.
from the shenandoah, Iowa, Post
opELoUsAs, La, Dec. IS, 1885
EDITOR PosT:-I have now visited a con.
siderable portion of southwestern Louisiana,
much of it by buggy, and have carefully
studied the people, their characters, DISPOSE
tons, and Institutions, as we'll as the soil, eli
mate, products, and transportation facilities OF
the country.
For a varying distance west Of the Missis.
sippi river the country is
wATERED BIT NUMEROUS STREAMS
and bayous, navigable and -interconuecting
and which, where leveed to protect from the
overflow of high waters, make unsurpassed
sugar and rice plantations. But in this region
there is a good deal of malaria and ] would
advise no northern man to settle there, This
region is bounded on the west by Bayou
Teche, a sluggish stream whose general course
is north and south, connected on the north
with the Atchafalaya river, and etnptying into
Berwicks Bay, through which access is given
to ocean steamers to the Gulf of Mezico. II
was along this bayou that those Acadian peas.
ants, who in l755 were expatriated by the
English. settled, and a beautiful description is
given Of it by Longfellow in his Eyangeline.
Down this bayou and its connecting water
ways, the produce of that region can be car.
ried either into the Mississippi or the Gulf of
Mexico, and thence to the markets of the
world, the inhabitants being favored at all
seasons of the year with choice Of transporta.
ton between water and rail.
Here, bordering this beautiful stream, are
plantations of unsurpassed fertility, upor
which can be grown almost every agricultural
product of Iowa, besides the staples of that
country, sugar, cotton, tobacco and rice to.
gether with a great variety of fruits At this
season of the year, the orchards are yellow
with oranges.
Lands here range in price from $40 90 TO
$4,000 per acre. Intrinsically they are
WORTH Two HUNDRED DOLLARS
per acre, and in the hands OF Northern people
would command that figure. For 90 miles
the railroad closely follows the Teche, but at
branch running north through Opelousas and
Washington, (st. Landry parish), to conaect
with the Texas Pacific E. R. at CheneyvilIe.
on the Red river-the other running west to
Houston, Texas. The Teehe waters nearly
the whole Of the eastern part of St. Landry
parish, and is n~avigabfe that distance.
Washington, in the northeastern part of st.
Landry parish, is a town of 1900 people.
Near il, and running south and west to the
Gulf, and bordering the Teche lands on the
west, is a very gently
U~NDULATING PRAIRIE REGION,
some IS or 80 miles in width, called the Cote
Gelee, the soil of which is "bluf Deposit
identical with that Of the counties bordering
the Missouri river in Iowa. This region, ex-
through the parishes Cor counties), of
ST. Landry, Lafayette, Iberia and Vermilion,
scarcely. if at all, less fertile than the lands
bordering the Teche. This soil is
deep, and very easily worked. The surface is
sufficiently undulating to secure good drain.
age, but there are no hills, consequently no
wash OF soil. Generally the prairies are not
than seven to ten miles in width between
he creeks that water and drain them. Those
streams are heavily wooded with live oak,
white oak and other varieties of that species,
with ash. hickory, walnut, pecan, and, where
vet, with cypress. These
TREES OF NOBLE STATURE
IRE draped with Spanish moss, and d more
and picturesque scene than these
present as you ride through them,
:annot be conceived. Every product OF the
Feche region ID raised here equally well and
With less labor, as the soil is more friable.
This region I deem the most attractive to the
farmer, resembling very closely the
most favored prairies Of Illinois and Iowa, and
being more heaithfal than the land
further east. Farming here can be carried on
Is IN Iowa. Going west from this Cote Gelee
the soil changes in appearance slight
y, assuming . grayish cast. The country re.
mains beautiful as before, and the grass equal
luxuriank, the native grass producing three
tons OF excellent hay per acre; fruit and other
,rees doing equally well when planted, though
'orne elements of plant food seem to be want.
ng and TO secure good crops of potatoes; corn,
cotton or sugar, it is necessary 10 ~fertilize to
extent, but it is admitted by all that
he
LAND RESPONDS READILY
d fertilizers, retains them with tenacisy and
improves greatly under cultivation. Those
ACQUAINTED with it believe that thorough
cultivation, even without fertiIizing, will make
his section as fertile, or nearly so, as that of
he bluff deposit" This region of which |
speak, embraces the western part of ST.
and Of Verrnilion, and the southern
of Calcasieu. In the northwestern part
f st. Landry and the western and northern
Of Calcasieu begin those extensive, long,
eaved pine forests that extend far northward, |
ifording most
EXCELLENT AND CHEAP LUMBER
the development Of the country, and shield
az it effectnally from those ssnorthers'' that
OCCASIONALLY sweep over the most favored por-
ions of Texas and this forest protection in.
ures southwestern Louisiana as q reliable fruit
ountry. Like the Cote Gelee country, this
j well Watered, though in Calcasieu the prairie
i wider and wood is not SO convenient to some
of II. Along the Teche there is no
'overnment land, and there Is little, If any. in
Bio s.bluf deposit district, but Id the prairie
thore is still considerable The State
ands were acquired by louisiana under the
warnp land grant, and most Of them have
cen taken up by spectators. Throughout
Louisiana Iong-leaved, hard.pine
amber is very cheap, probably averaging $I2
d $I4 per / 200. Cypress, which is nearly
ndastructibls and lis very highly priced, is d
0uple of dollars higher. Oak fencing posts
IN be had for 2 Or 8 cents apiece cypress
osts-they will last for so years-for 5 or
cts.
THE WATER Is GOOD
nd is obtained in abundance al a depth Of
Is 10 rs feet, though most Of the natives
be cistern water, The cigtarns being huge
ypress tanks and above ground, and most *
such water is. About all of the north.
m men ] saw had wells During the months
+ December and January there is a rainy
sasons generally, Of about six weeks. dura.
on, and q storm sometimes lasts three or four
avs, Through the remainder Of the season
ae rainfall ID sufficient fur the crons. which