The Opelousas courier., 1894-06-16

immunity from the excessive
of Western Texas and portions of the
arid districts Of the northwest. 1t
falls in showers during summer, and
though we sometimes have protracted
spells of showery weather, it hardly
vel falls in such volumes as to infict
much injury, aud in winter it seldom
becomes too wet to prevent the prose
%cution, in some manner, of the ordina-
nv labor demanded on the farm at that
season of the year.
Soil, Etc.
The soil of this section in most ill.,
stances is extremely fertile, and though
varied 10 lis general appearance, and
character as to constituent elements, it
produces good crops with results gene
rally satisfactory to those engaged in
it's cultivation. In the alluvial lands
are to be found several varieties of
soil, the sandy loan, the clay loan,
consisting of red, black or gray clay
and the mixed soil of sand and clay
loam!e All of these soils are extremely
fertile, but the pure clay is not adapt
ed to the production of all kinds OF
crops 1t is fine for rice, cotton, corn,
COW peas, etc, but will not turn out
the quantity of sugar yielded by the
less tenacious soils.
The soil in u prairies is in some
places a black, sandy soil, and ranges
in color from a black to a greyish soil,
and is generally underlaid by a good
clay subsoil which is very tenacious of
manure, and for this reason is snscep-
t;hlo &c -opdorf,1 mprovomopf Alamo
the eastern belt of this prairie section
the land is extremely fertile and pro-
duces in profusion all the vegetables
and staple crops grown in this latitude.
Further west the soil is not SO fertile
and the principal and most profitable
crops grown is rice, but in the hands
of the intelligent and systematic agri-
culturist, who would introduce and
employ the improved methods of agri-
culture and pay some attention to sup
plying the wants of his land, it could
be. made extremely productive and
wonld produce any of the crops grown
by it's naturally more favored and con-
tiguous sections of country. The Ian |
contains a good and tenacious clay
subsoil, and a judicious use of the cow
pea, the clover of the South, would
soon enrich this soil, supplying it with
the elements of plant food, and make
it produce far beyond the expectations
of it's most sanguine Inhabitants.
Our pine lands, covering the western
and northwestern regions of this ter
ritory present about such an appear
ance as the pine forests of other sec
tions of the South. They are gene
rally we'll timbered and watered and
possess a variety of hill, bottom or
hammock lands. The upland or hill
lands are not profitable for agriculture,
bnt are good grazing lands and the
time will come when, apart from the
value Of the timber they contain, they
will be made remunerative to their
owners, as furnishing ranges for vast
focks of sheep. The hammock or
bottom lands of this section produce
well, not only vegetables and the sta
pie crops, but some day, when they
become accessible to lines of transpor-
%tation, which must in the future ira
verse this country, they must con-
tribute to the worlds supply an i'm
mense quota of fruit of such varietis as
the fig, peach, pear, ounce, several va
rieties of the apple, plums straWber-
ries and grapes, all of which do we'll
here under intelligent management.
The prices of these lands are to-day al
most nominal, but we opine that it will
not be far in the distant future when
they will rival those of California as a
grape-produciDg district.
~
Products.
The staple field products are cotton,
corn, rice, sugar cane, oats, and pota-
toes, both Irish and sweet, though 9TH
er things might be proftably raised.
iute and ramie and barley and tobac-
co grow we'll here, as we'll as such va
rieties of the domestic grasses as clo-
yer, red-top, millet alfalfa, l%espedeza
or Japan clover, and no doubt in the
future will be cultivated to a consider
able extent, when the people Of this
country recognize more fully the ne
cessity for diversified agriculture. All
of the esculents grow here to perfec-
ton, and could be raised with
profit, if enough people would engage
in trnck farming to justify the railroads
in making special preparations, as is
done on the Illinois Central railroad,
for handling that species of traffic, and
thereby enable them to offer q freight
rate that would stimulate and ncour
age investment in this line of business.
Cotton, sugar-cane and rice are our
most important money producing crops,
which can be disposed to as great an
advantage to the producer as will be
found at almost any other interior par
ish. Opelousas presents a ready mar
ket for the purchase of all these staples
and has as great facilities for handling
them as are offered at other places.
We have here a rice mill and a rice
elevator and n a here sell his rice
in the rough directly to the mill or he
can have it milled for toll; thus en-
abling him to choose between spot sale
and shipment of rice for sale.
VIZ also have a cotton compress
which is of material advantage to the
town. It has attracted the attention
of the outside world to this parish as a
cotton market, and the result is that
we have had located here during it's
first season of business two cotton buy
ing offices, with a prospect of two
more the coming season. Selling cot
ton at home directly to the buyer gives
the farmer a decided advantage over
the old system of shipping to commits
sion honses or permitting the local
merchant to ship your cotton and then
wait for returns. It is of advantage in
several ways: Ist. 1t means a cash