Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-04-22
you will then SEQ wonderfully pros
porous country.
Chicago Letter .

1
AZ per requost give You an ac-
count Of my dying trip, and present
prospects OF fruits aud vegetables
South: -
left Chicago March 10th. with
snow gone aud but little frost In
the ground, while ut the same date
last year, the ground was frozen hard
and snow deep. Perishablc goods
were being received by express OF
freight In frozen condition.
The first green grass or flowers
saw OH my road down, was Mt Jack
son, Tenn, March 18th, when the
country began to look as II spring had
set in. / made most Of my stops "a
look up the prospects on my way back.
New Orleans has suffered much from
the past severe winter. The early
cabbage crop Ia n failure; the same
may ne said of bcets, tnrnips, carrots
and peas. The land these vegetables
had occupied before the freeze has
been rcplanted mostly In potatoes,
making IL one OF the largest potato
crops New Orleans gardeners have
undertaken. The tops Of the plants
are all from 8 TO 6 inches high, some
vines having potatoes as large ms gni,
nea eggs. Tomato plants, poor aud
few. Beane, fine, some In bloom;
crop OF these will he the saiIic rs In
'85, but earlier by fourteen days.
Cucumber crop II doublcd---looks
wcak-weathcr to cool and grlibs 10
plenty.
The next points OF competition COM
ing In with crops, interesting your
readers Us well as ourselves. are -lia.
zlcllr.t. Crystal Springs. Terry,
Jackson, Madison AMI Canton. at
all these points found II large III
crease Of vegetables. especially tonla-
toes. The first two named towns arc
principal shipping points for vescta-
bles. The acreage, ~ near as l Gun
learn, will he doubled. The tomato
plants are from . TO 6 inches high.
Some are transplantcd into the fields,
and the balance, the weather proving
favorable, ready to set. Beans are
planted, but not all up; peas from j
TO D inches high. There are few
other vegetables raised, but not
enough to mention,
The berries looked fine aud most
forward ut Crystal Springs, OF any
point in Mississippi. They anticipate
shipping Oh or about tie 10th OF April.
Madison will have tile largest amount,
rs well ~ acreage. in the State. Du.
rant j. pushing forward as n small
fruit station, 50 far with good success.
II the South had u few more such
men as You find mt Crystal Springs and
Madison, and whom have PERSONAL
~ met. It's waste lands would soon be
occupied. Thrift and enterprise draw
emigration. find, where the pro-
prictors, rs In the above station. take
hold in person and lead. not in theory
but practice, the colorcd labor soon
follow, and tho result is success.
At Hazlchurst there l. a very succss-
ful community OF Italians. who went
there few years since poor, row
some Of them have largo places, line
orchards and money ut interest.
From these points went to .TcnncG-
see. Here Illinois growers will find
competition, especially in strawberries
which look well, bat few In bloom.
The amount to be- shipped will be
about onc-third irrs thah Inst.f ~ I
number OF growers have made ar
rapgcmcn.s to forward part OF their
crop to other markets, 10 relieve or
market Of gluts, bu! II t,.cy do not
take more care in picking andpacking,
they will have the same trouble IN
any markct-.Ow prices. With favor
able weather they may ship berries lst
Of May or before.
Cow peas The acrcag. IL double,
vines are mp > tn 5 inches high aud
looking well. Cabbage crop will be
one third more and stand, fine.
find decrease IN acreage OF po;a-
toes in West Tennessee. Variey
mostly raised is Triumph. They in.
tend tho crop Of sweet potatoes shall
be four times as great a. last year,
which means about I 200 acres.
Prices have bc.n good in Memphis all
season, selling for not less than S2.O0
per barrel, not including package.
At Cairo. my next point, heard
complaint Of hard times and low prices
but for all that they IRE going ahead
planting little Of everything. ant
things look to be very near as forward
a. West Tennessee.
At Villa Ridge lind them full o.
pluck and cntcrprisc--not discouraged
with last years poor prices--but anlbi-
tious to produce crops at poor prices
and run chances Of higher markets.
This season their berries may come
in about the 9th or 10th Of May. The
o,..,,,. 90 ,>ooo aud lao m. ,oo,,, IN hc
somewhat lighter than tho past season.
The peas are fully rs forward In
growth as In 1885.
At Golden found most OF the
growers preparing their cold frame
beds, in which they IRE trans planting
their plants prior to setting out in the
fields, which they expect to do about
the last Of April, or first Of May.
These plants are almost US early In
Mississippl; II they have the Same
warm weather as now and with their
energy, they would como In about the
same time. There docs not seem to
DO much difference in acreage from
the past season. As to berries there |
seems to he difference OF opinion;
some claimed cold weather Killed largo |
numbers, others that many were lost
by rust. In nay opinion the crop will
be one-third as largo as last year, but
q little earlier, provided they have no
frosts. r.,
Peaches In Illinois are about all
killed, In West Tennessee about two
thirds killed. Mississippi will have a
heavy crop.
Pears, apples, plnms and grapes II
they should escape frostfrom now ont
promise very heavy yield iulall sec.
tons. !,