The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-01-30
A Prospecting Tour, No. 2, by Our
Special Correspondent.
PULLMAN PALACE CAR.

PULLMAN GALACE OAR'
Editor OF THE ENrERPRlsE:-
The whistle blew, bell rang, all aboard
was said, and we we're off Tor the Sunny
South, rolling over the prairies at the rate
of thirty miles an hour, away from Ice and
snow to the land Of sugar.cane and cot
ton, fruits and flowers, where the night
ingales sing in labyrinth of palms, pal
mettos and magnolias, wnere the spread
ing branches Of grand old live oaks are
festooned with mistletoe and yelled with
Spanish moss that swings to and fro in the
balmy south winds,
We are passing through the great prairie
gardens of Illinois, country rich in ev-
cry branch of agriculture. Milk trains
are on their way to the city with the pro-
ducts of the dairy districts. The dairies
here contain from 75 to 100 cows; the
price of milk is one dollar and twent
cents per can of eight gallons. Farms
vary in price, from seventy-five TO one
hundred dollars per acre; near the city
they are worth much more, being used for
market gardening. Proximity to market
regulates the value of land, not richness
of soil. Land near some Of our eastern
cities rents readily for one hundred dol
lars per acre to skillful gardeners, who
quite frequently make one thousand dol
lars clear. One acre there is worth ons
hundred acres far away from market.
Horticulture is much more profitable than
agriculture, and more certain Of success.
The soil is kept rich by fertilizers, moist
by irrigation, dry by undertaking, and
the growing crops eau be protected from
anything which would deyour or destroy.
Fruits and flowers are usually cultivated
in connection, and prove quite as profit
able, notwithstanding all that is said
against specialists; they are the money
makers now. But we surmise the fact
that one must be fitted for their specially
by nature and education. Fannie Field
clears fifteen hundred dollars annually on
her poultry farm Of sixty acres. A horli-
culturist, with Chicago as his market,
made twenty thousand dollars last season
from one hundred acres OF straw berries,
or two hundred dollars an acre; his garden
is in the State OF Mississippi. Durham,
at Wayne, ILL.,, one Of the largest import
crs and breeders Of Perchron horses in
America, lives In castle and Is repuied
70 be worth million dollars He started
in small way twenty years ago and made
horses his specially.
The State OF Illinois is one of the lead.
ing corn. growing States, and we are pass
ing through fields that stretch away as far
MS the eye can reach. The soil Is dark
and very productive, but the country is
bare OF scenic interest at this season Of
the year. And so we fell to studying hu.
man nature around us. This Is often a
profitable study, II one is able 10 read
character and put in practice the lessons
learned. Here are people from all parts
Of our country. Conservative New Eng.
land Is represented by several specimens.
earnest and upright in character and OF
sterling integrity, traits Of character much
to be admired. Here are northern cap
italists, seeking for paying investments In
the new South, or to restore their health,
more valued than gold. Here also are the
bold cavaliers oi the South with their
brave and beautiful ladies, typical types OF
female loveiness. A little twoyear.old
boy handed the conductor his mothers
ticket and said she wanted to 60 to grand
papas." This is about as indefinite as the
old lady taking her first ride on a rail.
road. The conductor asked her where she
wished to 70. "0h," said she, "do not
go out Of your way on my account; am
not particular, Just drive along any.
where"
We crossed Mason and Dixon's Line at
Cairo, and had ride on one Of the attrac.
tive river steamers. From the decks we
saw the meeting OF the waters Of the
Ohio and Mississippi.
The hrst we saw Of cotton, king of The
South" was soon after passing from Ken.
lucky into Tennessee. The picking is not
all done Some Of the plantations afforded
typical southern scenes Of the great in
dusty. The soil is red in color, and Il
looks very singular to northern eyes to see
black men picking white cotton on red
soil under blue sky. The present price
Of cotton is 0 cents. II is pressed into
bales Of 800 lbs each. 1t is now raised by
colored people at halves principally. One
bale Of 500 lbs. is good average yield
per acre It's pressed on the plantation
into cubes about four feet square, and is
compressed by the cotton broker into one
half this size, so as TO economize space In
shipping. Most Of Il is shipped to the
eastern factories.
-