The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-08
NEGRUS RIVAL IN SOUTH.
EUROPE STEPPING ~ TO SOLVE
THE OLD PRONE EN-.

dttious la Louisiana aDd Othor States
Important Bearing of This New Cons
petition Upon the Future IT tho Blacks.
ALEXANDRIA, La. April A glance al tho
plAntaions OF many Of tho central parishes, a'
hey lie black or dark brown, and striped With
the nrst tender green Of tho year, in the warm
Aphl sun, will carry " the behOldot, with tho
force and directness OF an object lesson. thechango
that has been wrought In the farm and farm
iue lifo Of much OF Tho South since the old labor
conditions were altered. Formerly n planter
vas distinguished from a farmer by the number
II his cultivated acres and the number Of slaves
Who cultivated them. A man who lived In tho
pins woods and gathered cotton and corn from
le0 or $50 acres was q farmer. II he came W
de lowlands and seeded an high as BOO acres
h became q planter. This did not mean neocs'
sahiy that no and his daughters were " be adj
uitted 10 tho planters social circle. Most often
II meant nothing ot the Kind. The man from
the pine woods might be Of straight English
descent for 800 years back and his iorebears may
have been Of and from tho soil, but there chung
70 him q suspicion Of "po' white trash because
he came from tho Pine woods and II took him
many years W live Il down. Now many OF tho
planters are getting into the farmer class as
thair individual civilizations are gradually restricted
and The word 10 describe a man who grows things
u coming into general use.
The change il being worked through diversified
Drops and small holdings sold ~ European I'm
migrants In many instances plantations whose
5000 acres stretched unbrokcnly from the big
road" to the NV amp at the back. which had 100
cabins In the negro quarters and were
planted year after year, 1900 acres In cane, 700
acres In corn, are broken into 6fty small farms,
still leaving To the original owner q 1000 acres
for his own uses. There never was any better
land than the Louisiana land. II Is aliuvial soil.
eight feet deep In places, and apparently IN
exhAusube. 1t Is only Of recent years that those
who own Il have TAKEN 10 tearing up the dirt with
blows which get at the subsuil. In past times
II has not been necessary 10 stir up the under
lying richness. This fertility has been recog
ni,ed readily enough by the immigrants and
they have bought freely, a little at a time unu'
nov they own a good part OF the country IN scat
tered fashion. They have given high prices,
sometimes $50 an acre for land al q distance
from Q railroad OF river, but they have made 1t
nay. What with garden truck and what With
changing crops they have produced from their
acres money In bundles. II u planter plants an
acre In cotton, he will get possibly $40 off IT, II
he plants IL in cane, he should get $50 of II
II be plan Is II In corn he gets of II only the partia,
sustcnance OF 80 many mules and wofkmen;
h ASyer thinks Of selling corn. These Sums are
Shs acre returns in gross, From them must be
deducted the expenses OF the crop. The belgian
considers himself abused if he fails ~ get 800
from an acre, Often this return will run as high
a. $500. In the case u such crops as strawberries
% melons, rushed to an early market, 500 an
acre Is not an uncommon return. The Europeans
came 10 louisiana with an instant understanding
Of t0 advantages Of location. temperature and
fertility. The louisianian, having been born
here, took his opportunities as a matter Of course
and steadily failed n improve them, The i'm.
migrants had been used 10 u country wherein
the farming season Is cut by cold to less than six
months. They were used 10 filling land that re
quired to be MANFRED and remanured in order
10 produce fairly. They gashed and clipped
. soil formed for fathoms deep Of The dust Of dead
generations Of crops and men, Strictes' economy
Vas their heritage an economy that in Louisiana
eyes was the grossest Of parsimony, 1t is not
70 be wondered that they have done well and are
doing better in a climate which permits Of almost
an endless rotation Of crops.
The Belgian, German, Dutchman or French
man, settled here on thirty acres, for which he
has paid $4,000. a little al a time, is always plant
Ing something and always reapins something,
The boats which puff up and down the rivers
are laden with his early produce. The refngera-
Tor cars are stuffed with his berries and fruits.
Around him rolls a dark green SEQ Of sugar cane,
grown by the man up at the Zig house." who has
sold him his thirty acres and chuckled at the
long price he has raid, but he does not mind
H. He knows in his stolid soul that one acre
~ his Il unVth any Ave halonpinD In tina lord pf
the manor. and he pursues the noiseless tenor
Of his way content, lie rays cash for such things
q he cannot make or produce. he does not
eve the commission merchant In New Orleans
Q dollar. The commission merchant owes him
dollars The bank in the parish seat holds his
dsposit and It steadily WAKES, Each year no
puts some money away and adds al acre or two
70 his small holding lie will continue 10 do
This until he has reached the limit " hich the planter
has set for him. He has proved the falsity Of
The saying that 4 ioreign- born white man can
He does more work than the negro, does it better,
works harder and for longer hours and is gener-
ally In better health, In time his daughters
shs many. All through central and slbcentIal
Louisiana these FOLKS Of differing naliOIallties
ere settled. They do not mix, save rarely,
SEES q larger number of them coming over, tempted
By letters from relatives and friends, 1t is not
81 all difficult or uncertain 10 predict that fifty
years from now the better part Of the State win
b. . vast truck garden and small crop area, in
which every tongue oi southern and middle Eu-
rops will b. growled, coughed, clicked. clacted
az puTred. The plantation, IN the old meaning
Of the word, will survive only In scattered in
stances, or will have bcoTns u memory.
The cause Of the South's industrial and imam
dA back wa!dness Today is not the 100000
u the war between the States. Ii Is due solely
70 large areas planted in unchanging,. unyay-
Ing crops Of cotton and corn, Naturally 1t Is
~ the Universal Maker for a land Of quickly
rotating growths. II has been nothing Of the kind.
Year alter year its ow ners have persisted in grow.
web that Il cost FIVE and u half cents to produce
and gather it, Year after year they have put
thousands and thousands Of acres into corn,
SossS 20 cents a bushel, when farmers in Kansas,
Eehraska, Iowa and other States Of the Middle
Esa were gathering fifty bushels To the acre
end getting 70 . batter market with 1t al a less
cost. This has been KEEP, UP until in many sec
tons progress has become merely q sound, agni
tying nothing. That the people have been able
y make q living and 10 hold their own measurably
V only another proof Of the wonderful fertility
Of the ground, it's inexhaustible character and
closed. he planters Of Me Old South had realized
their huge holdings, sowed and planted the hun
dSed things which the South will grow profit
sbiy. planted one-ith as much cotton and fed
Union would be to-day, as /, was In the past, one
Of the richest sections OF the world.
The Belgian, Flooding, strong, economical
And with lots OF farming sense, Is giving to The
not, do him some good. At any rate. II Is doing
the Belgian good and Is increasing the taxable
wealth a. a great rate. 1t is moi, believed here
that the South will ever become, OF can become,
2 manufacturing country, In the sense that the
are against y, lack of the proper labor, lack Of
AANl ahA initial .Aat 90 lAa 1 80.