The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1889-07-19

is The b"ne OF Mr.. William ~.
morton, proprietor 0i the m,'
iqne AID remuneratlve
Georgia. II Is The Linn a.
Postum Farm 0fc|
On The crest ri a well.wo
hill i a comfortable cortnra
rounded by beautiful sha,Is J.. Y
Al the foot Of The hill is 4 wv, ne
branch, running through thu
centre Of a Ten acre persim'a
grove inclosed within 4 Ligb b''
fence. The persimmon trees SVal
lnIerSpersed with a quantity of
hollow trees and hollow loss IL.
ed in HE ground. This is Ihap s'
sum farm. W
1t was in The early after,o,
when we arrived, and to The nnia
tiated the farm appeared 10 ia |.
immense fruit orchard bearinc :
0blong wliiiSh sort Of fruit hsa
ing from the dead limbs Of tra'
by a long, black STEM. But anne,
amces We're deceptive. II wax !,
fruit, but bel ween seven and oin'
hundred 'possumS taking their
ternoon slesta. Our party wa,
somewhat unacquaint Ell with N
habits oi the Georgia 'possum M
Consequently Piled question AMI
question to our highly amused lln'
| now consider myself an exDe,
on the 'pORsum, anc here is wlal
learned and saw:
The 'possnm, when desiring
lake u nap, simply climb the mn|
convenient tree, walks ont ON
limb, wraps his tail one.and.aha
times around and swings his bod
out into space. His legs and nj
are drawn close into his body AMI
his head drawn up between NJ
shoulders until it forms an almo,|
perfect ball and appears to be
pear covered with white G1
The sun was slowly setting b4
the distant pine mountains AMI
we were still gazing at the qlpp
oljects in amused wonder when
d0ze; little 'pOssHlns emerge
from the pocket of their mo!hrl
ran up her tail and commence
on The limb above. In
few minutes thus marsupial stretch
ed her head and then her fore fed
Dul. She swung herself once d
twice, grabbed her tail with he
fore paws and climb up it 10 lid
limb, which she caught with he'd
univ listed her tail and puIle|
up. Hardly had she balanced he'd
elf when The half dozen yourl
mes climbed into her pockelan
we're hid from view. SheriheI
down the tree. While lhi|
vas going on more than seyeI
hundred others had awaked and
we're coming down from the Trees
Reaching The ground each onI
made for the creek, drank and lheI|
un NJ the hill to a pen in Which
hey were 10 be fed.
They were of all sizes. SDmd
would barely weigh a halt pound
Others would lip The scale d
The 'possum when hungry|
a sound which is a cross bel
ween a new AMI moan. Owed
even hundred 'possums were lo
81 thick that the ground
onld moi be seen between them
nd The small ones had been forced
Ipnn The backs of The larger. All
Ierc uitering this peculiar sound
one Of nm army Of soil
lers moaning over The death d
general, when through a gaie
negro pushed a wheelbarrOv
Gaping full of all kinds OF trash
nd slops-cOn>isiing OF fruit peal
igs, vegetables, meats, bOEes and
As he hove in sight the|
Gene among the 'possums reSpm'
led one Of feeding time in a mel
agerie. The little ugly animals
.reamed and scratched aud BIZ al
ne anOi her until the negro had
ALTERED the contents of ibI|
heelbarrOw over the ground
hen, although il was well scat
sred, all wanted 10 eat in Gne place
Isl like hogs and there was con
derahle more scratching ;Rnd Bit
e. But this did mol last long for
Re ratiOns were soon consumed BY
le great drove Of 'p0ssums, and
ley commenced 10 dIsperse seem
Igly conlented, and This time
iInbed The persimmOn trees.
During The perSlmmon season
lie 'p0ssums are not fed at all, lGf
is on this fruit they become roll
g fat and ready for market.
MIR. ThrOckmorton will probably
five hundred 10 eastern poinls
'd the cities throughout Georgia
Is winter. They will average
m one dollar each, and he makes
Iite a good thing out of IL, as they
e practically no expense 10 him
shipping to Atlanta and Other
sergia points they are generally
'essed, but the most 60 to Wash
gion and are shipped there alive
Ie large shipments to Washington
Q perhaps due 10 the Southern
'~ngressman's fondness for "bak'
'possum and 'taters.1
Congressman Stewart, who comes