Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-02-14

The Staples Houseboat Party
Continuing Their journey
.s5 Down TING Mississippi.

AT Memphis the cOttnnbelt practi-
cally commences. although quite q
large amount of it is raised above.
Yet us Il good and sure crop it is not
a Success north OF that point. Cot
ton III he corner stone Of the south
and cuts AIN important figure III the
commerce Of the world. Twas cot
ton that in the sixties furnished the
south with the munitions Of war.
What W heat, oats, aud corn are to
the north, cotton is to the south.
One can Judge of the growth Of this
industry, when history tells us that
the first Shipment OF that article
was made in 17s4 and. consisted OF
only eight bales. Now the south
plants in round numbers 10000. 900
acres. the crop of 1894 reaching the
enormous total of lO,OOO,OO0 bales.
Each bale weighs from 400. to 800
pounds Planting commences about
April l. picking, about August Is and
frequently lasts two or three
months. It is gathered into bags
suspended to the shoulders Of the
picker after which it is spread out
and dried and then separated from
the seed. The invention Of the cot
ton-ein may well be termed an In
portant event in history. Every
plantation of Importance has one
where cotton is ginned or: passed
#through REVOLVING saws separating
1T ON the seed and is then pressed
and baled for the market. Before
the war the cotton seed was thrown
away and was considered entirely
useless. Now 1T is almost AS i'm
portant an article of production as
"King Cotton" It's oil is used as a
substitute for many other oils
when refined is sweet and whole
some and is preferred to lard by
many for cooking purposes, also a
large proportion of toilet soaps are
made from this oil. Judging from
observation I should say that the
sweet potato crop is next in value to
the cotton Observation-Disclosures
varitics for home consumption, for
shipments, as a food for hogs, max
ing it an important factor, of agri-
culture. The plant is prOpagated
by means OF slips or sprouts from
the pOtatoe the raising simple and
with little labor. and the yield enor-
mons-2OO to 500 bushels per acre.
The crop is often left in the ground
where the hogs dig them up and
without the expense OF a harvest
get as good results therefrOm as II
the crop had been gathered and fed
to them. +
Judging from information promis-
cuons and inquiry from parties who
should know, find that corn in
stead of the sweet potato ia consid-
cred the secondary crop of the
country. 1t may be planted from
Feb. ~ until June and even July,
yield Fl ON 20 to so bushels per acre.
As an article of home consumption
it is very prominent and the dishes
therefrOm are numberless. The corn
crop may be partly responsible for
the great amount OF hogs raised.
The main expense of raising swine
here is the fattening of the animal.
the winter being mild, fat hog can
be put on the market at little
more than one-half the outlay re-
quired of the northern farmer. Hog
raising is by no means confined to
the agriculturist: one could almost
say that everyone raises hogs.
Special ordinances to cover hogs
running at large are passed in the
cities Of any size. ... ~*:' ...' 4,
Taking into considera ton the easy
going, merry-mak1ng, noisy, singing
nature of tie negro with his ideal
coon-girl dance, and his general ex-
huberant appearance, his connection
/. with the corn and hog industry, one
feels like coming three more associ-
ated initial letters, to wit: H. H. H.,
hogs, hominy and hilarity. The ma
tive nut tree of the south il the
pecan. and often constitutes the prin-
cipal part OF q forest. All nature
seems to tempt the native to raise
hogs. These nuts are IL valuable
food for them, and as Il hog delights
in mud and nuts, at seasons he must
fairly effervesce. -.
II the cline was all it is advertised
to be,-was Respondent with fields
ever fresh, and groves ever green,
if the social treatment of the North
erDer was genial and hospitable, it
would still have many drawbacks.
Where labor is degraded, and a man
has to perform manual labor at
from five to ten dollars per month,
making it entirely impossible for
him, be he either white or black, to
support and raise an honest family;
xx.tnro 41o irto11irort. man l,n hA