St. Landry democrat., 1889-04-20
The Great Parish of st. Landry
Its Solf, Climate and Varied Industries.

Its Soll, Climate and Varied Industries.
iTs BEAUTIFUL AND PROGRESSIVE TOWNS.
\. q. City Item.
There is no parish in the State more
highly favored by nature than st. Ian
dry. The climate is delightful and s:-
luxurious, aud the soil of wonderful fer.
tility. The beautiful prairies or the
lands along the streams arc all highly
productive, yielding bale of cotton to
the acre with fair cultivation. The
yield of corn is from 25 to 40 bushels to
the acre, but this could be easily increas-
ed by fertilizing with pea vines, cotton
seed or commercial fertilizers.
In the neighborhood of Opelousas the
country is gradually filling up, aud the
prairie, that a few years ago supported
only rowing herds of cattle, is now most
" fenced in and dotted with residences
Of thrifty farmers. Az the parish be-
cnmes more thickly settled. there is a
growing tendency to the diversification
Of farming interests. Fruit culture
especially is receiving attention and
promises to be ono of the great indus
tries of that section.
Apple, plum, peach and pear trees
and grape vines were observed by The
ITEM growing vigorously on many
farms in different portions of the Eear-
i-El. The Leconte and Keiffer prars
seemed to be the favorites among fruit
trees, and to judge by the heavy fruit
age on trees only fonr or five years old
in Mr.. T. jay Lacy's Mount Hope nur-
sery, near Washington, these trees are
excelleDtly adapted to the soil and eli
mate.
Chickens and eggs are very impor-
tant products of st. Landry. The ship
ment OF eggs from Opelousas alone 10
the month of March amounted to 1000
cases of thirty dozen each.
Rice has within the past few years
become IL considerable crop. Low land
that was thought to DC worthless HIS
been levaed in, planted in rice, and ir-
rigated from adjacent ponds. This is
said to be one of the most profitable.
crop~i in the parish. The shipment from
Opelousas last season was 10000 sacks.
Opelonsas. inwever, ships only about
one f"nrth of the products of the parish,
other prominent shipping points being
Washington, Garland, Bellevue and
Grand Coteau.
ST. Landry has been always noted for
its large herds of cattle, which, make as
good beef as any in the world. There
JIG now q good deal of attention paid to
improving the stock, and the parish
will no doubt soon become celebrated
for its dairy products. Shpep raising is
by no means an unimportant industry,
the ANIMAL clipping of wool being very
considerable.
notwithstanding the increase in pop-
ulation, thousands of acres Of tho finest
land are yet untouched by the pillow,
aad may he purchased at reasonable
,r4feS. This parish offers an interesting
Has TO the immigrant, and will be rap
ids Settled as soon rs its advantag
&re &nown.
W4,ile.tle most of this parish is open
land, it has in the western portion pine
FORESTS, and along the bayous such fine
timber as cypress. magnolia, poplar,
oak. ash, hickory and gum. 1t possess
es fine advantages for starting barrel
and furniture factories, and the qHes
tion of establishing these industries is
now under discussion.
The educational facilities are among
the best in the State There are church
es OF every REORGANIZATION, and the
moral tone of the communities is high.
Opel0usas, tho county seat, is town
of over 1000 inhabitants. 1t is beauti-
fully situated and its streets are vistas
of spreading oaks. It's people are re-
tined and cultivated, and. display the
hospitality of the oiden time. while they
exibit the enterprise Of the modern ago.
The merchants Of Opel0usas are solid
and public spirited, and pull together
in any movement TO advance the inter-
ests of the city.
Washington has superb location On
the south bank of bayou Courtableau,
and has communication by rail and riy.
er with the rest of the world. The town
is well laid out, has number of capa.
cions business houses and handsome
residences and has boiler making
shop, All oil factory, several sawmills
and other manufacturing establish
ments. Its people arc hospitable, and
like tho citizens of st. Landry, give
hearty welcome to the stranger within
their gates.
These two cities are admirably l0cat-
cd, aud with their fine natural advant-
ages give promise of prosperous
growth. The Item considers that one
of the snrest signs of an early and c-r-
tain development is the intense Pride
the people Ut Opelousas and Washing
ton feel ID their respective cities. They
are isrond Of their climate, their soil,
their enterprise, their llospitalitias, their
men. thsir women aud their children,
aud they have right to be. With
consciousness of their power to make
the future glorious, they will bend their
to the task and press forward
to that place 10 the front rank to which
they know they are entitled.
En- this progressive movement the /
people of Opelousas, Washington aud
Of oil st. Landry, will have the sympa-
thy and assistance of the Item.
Electric Bitters.