New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-27

,ocpvcr ,,NnER THE BOUNTY All
,vn,,cr,c.pu1rY OF DESTROYING
GREAT INDUSTRY wI1ho0' ana"
TERIAL LOSS TO me
COUNTRY
,,,,.roxpExr OF TIE rRiDuSr.l
-, way between the mouth OF
Masho"a "e' ord New-Orleans. and 1t is
'he .,., Is Familiarity known as the
reao"eu ~ railway. 1t is lovely spot. With
orange p'o' ,",as Of river and fertile level. and
pictureSqu. .shioned plantation house. where
win al ..,comed with charming, UNAFFECTED
the vis..' ends the climate within doors
no'p,'a 80 II is outside under the bluest OF
40 49," .res and in the balmiest OF airs. Mag
an old-tme sugar plantation has It's ira
io," N .,d "reminiscences OF slavery and civil
vnt far away are deep indentations OF the
',. ,,sst. where slaves were sent ashore from
,.''. sh,ns on the darkest nights long after the
.S-csn trade had been prohibited; and on the
.,,.r q is only short reach to the forts which
-..r. nassed by Farraguts fleet. Among the
-,.r,at,on records is a curious journal. or day
.or kept by the overseer. whose entries and
.,.moranda during time were grotesquely
ysrIed with mprecatory prayers against the
v.,tse, Magnolia, however. is not interesting
,art or Its "reminiscences Of the downfall OF
lew an much as from it's relations to the sugar
,,.,-,, ~ the Southwest. While not one OF the
80, 4, IL perhaps the best organized and most
.,s.,ecauv conducted sugar plantation in Lousl-
ana.
The railway leading TO Magnolia and Buras
,,os onened in 1890 as a sugar planters line, with
incidental protection to orange-growers ana rice
and truck farmers. Governor Warmoth aston
ished his household one morning by announcing
that he was thinking seriously OF building rail-
NAV "a New Orleans. Within few weeks every
hoav on the river was talking about the project,
the sugar planters were subscribing to the stock,
and the bonds were foated. The projectors set
ont with the determination of having the railway
huut and managed economically. The line was
we'll constructed, and there was fuii equiVaieht
for every dollar expended. The president OF the
company pays his fare like an ordinary passen-
ser and the stockholders and directors are not
allowed any official privileges. only two free
masses having been issued since the road was
opened In this respect il is unique corpora
ton.
With a line sixty miles from Algiers TO Buras
ON the western bank of the Mississippi, its owners
ore chiefly sugar planters and orange and truck
farmers, who are interested in the development
~ the rich country which !! traverses. Because II
is mainly an Industrial railway operated for the
common welfare Of the planters Of the lower river
the Orange Blossom route has not received credit
for its scenic attractions. The lower coast az
caught glimpses Of ii from the car WINDOWS was
crowned with the radiance OF midwinter glory
the sky had those soft tones OF luminous due
which battle the painters art; verdaht sweep"
OF meadow alternated with bare caneheios'
patches of rice and orange clumps sparkling WIN
golden lights; the tawny flood of the MISSISSIPPI
rolling seward with swollen current was IKE
q sylvan lake rather than river; ana every
mile of the way there were the humanizing ei'
fects of orderly plantation life. the beat ana
throb of systematzed industry. and the evil
dences OF hishly;organized scientific processes Oh
manufacture.
A theorist who accepts as incontroveruDie the
Golden principle that every community ought 70
ratse its CHEAPEST product and ought not to COM
nete with countries having superior natural ad-
vantaees will derive little satisfaction from
tourney through Plaquemines Parish In com
parison with the Spanish and British west indies
the lower OF Louisiana is on the cage Oh inc
sugar belt of the American continent Cahe-ra's
ing in this quarter Is a forced Industry from oe
ginning TO end. II is the most intensive culture
imaginable The richest land Is selected Tor cane
and then underaid and overlaid with the ihos'
potent fertilizers; the fields are pioughed mar
rowed and cultivated with an energy ana persist
ence unknown in the West Indies anu every
thing Is done to stimulate growth and TO quicken
to maturity the processes Of nature. lor elghteeh
months work must be completed prematurely In
nine. It is an amending struggle against nature
carried on under unfavorable conditions. the
Plaauemines sugar plantations bear evidences OF
this intensive culture The planters have TO WORK
more ,aboriously for their crop than their rivals
In Cuba and II they succeed. as they do. In pro-
ducing the finest qualities Of sugar economically,
they are entitled to full credit for their pluck and
energy.
Governor Fishback, Of Arkansas, in talking with
me- has compared the cane industry OF LOUISIANA
to the enterprise Of experimental FARMER
who raised lemons under glass near Fort smith,
In a country where the most luscious apples grew
in the sunshine outdoors. But surely II ive-cent
cotton has a plain moral for the Southern plant
er 1t points TO the necessity for the Investigation
Of agricultural industries. Even II Louisiana
cane culture were like lemon-rasing In Arkansas
land the comparison Is forced one-this Is
most unfortunate time, with overproduction In |
the cotton belt. for the abandonment OF an asri-
cultural Industry established a century ago and
now showing signs OF vastly increased resources
The Plaquemines district. like Ascension. As |
sumption. Lafourche, West Baton Rouge and |
other sugar parishes has revolutionized Its proc
esses Of manufacture during the last four years. |
The open kettle sugar works have been discon-
tnued to a large extent, and the business OF |
sugar-making Is now in the hands OF producers |
having the most modern and improved machin-
cry. Hardly plantation in Louisiana OF any |
pre,ensons has not been enlarged and It's me-
chancal equipment greatly increased since 1890
New machinery has been in motion In hundreds
OF factories during the grinding season recently |
Drought to close The rolling stock on the
plantation railways has been renewed ana
large acreage OF sugar lands has been opened