The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1909-10-02

There must be sufficient comm cree uI
and down these streams to justify the
move. Mr.. Bowers got busy; he col.
lected minute statistics, and his bill
carrying many thousands of dollars
| (stO, 900 alone for this work. was passed
The charcoal industry did it. There
were sufficient number of charcoal
bearing vessels to justify Uncle Sam
going down his jeans.
THE SOIL AN ASSET OF IMPORTANCE.
Where the sunlight kisses the wave
caressed shores, the soil is sandy and
Immediately white; and little far
ther back the soil grows black and
loamy, righteousness its chief charac-
teristic. In this soil and climate, it
might we'll be said, "anything grows.
While the fructifying properties of
the soil here are not such as to oblige
local railroads to employ iron rails for
telegraph poles, as VIM. E. Curtis, the
travelling correspondent of the Chicago
Record Herald, said the Mexican Gen.
tral r. r. was forced to resort to through
Mexico, to prevent it's poles growing in
to great trees and impeding traffic, yet
anything thrust into the earth will grow.
| With the aid of fertilizers the results
are wonderful.
HERE WE GROW ALL THAT WILL GROW.
Vegetation thrives well. From the
Mississippi Gulf Coast the Northern
market is supplied with the early radish
and lettuce, beans and potatoes. Long
Beach is called the radish town. The
early radish built up this agricultural
community, and prosperity smiles upon
this we'll l-built-up town, with its thrifty
and enterprising citizens from the North
and West, who haye invested both their
money and Drawn in the soil.
The pecan industry is one OF no small
proportions. The tree planted, it will
yield in seven years from the time of
planting, and no further care is re-
quired. The pecan sells at 20 cents
pound, and thousands of pounds are
gathered and shipped annually. Many
resident pays his taxes alone from the
product of few pecan trees in his back
yard. This is common and not matter
of incident. The pecan grows as we'll
from one end of the Coast to the other,
but
THE GREAT PECAN ORCHARDS
abound in east Harrison County and,
principally, in Jackson County, in and
around Ocean Springs and Scranton.
Fruit trees do equally as we'll as in
California. Here the orange, fig, peach,
pear, plum, grape and scuppernong are
at home. The Satsuma orange, Injured
to cold, thrives and yields handsomely
to the owner. The sandy soil is adapted
to the rapid growth of the trees, and
the fruit is large and its properties are
developed to high point of perfection.
The Celeste fig thrives best, and its pro-
duct is prolific. Canning factories buy
all of the surplus product, and Missis-
sippi Gulf Coast figs find their way to
all the civilized marts of the world.
The canning season is short, but many
hands find employment during this time,
and many dollars are given in exchange
for the product. The scuppernong was
manufactured into champagne wine and
used for medicinal purposes and the
table as well-before the ban was put on
alcoholic products by the State.
While volumes could be written on
the subject of "The Mississippi Gulf
Coast Valuable Asset, the confines
of such paper as this must necessarily
limit the scope of treatment; hence it
will be we'll to dwell a while. on the asset
furnished by the water-the
PRODUCTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND.
Here is wealth, and an active one at
that. The oyster industry Canning the
biyalves) is extensive, and there are mill
lions of dollars of capital employed both
on land and on water, in the handling
of this product. The Mississippi oyster
is the finest in the world and rivals the
famous Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay
product. Manufacturers from Balti-
more, in fact, have come South, and We
find them with thousands of dollars in
vested in canning plants and shipping
the Mississippi oyster to all parts of the
civilized world. 1t was the oyster that
built Biloxi, and this city, with its many
plants, is one of the different Gulf Coast
points where the oyster is canned dur
ing all the season-from September to
May. The State of Mississippi, too, is
large gamer from its oysters; for the
wisdom of the Legislature was mani
tested scme few years since, when it
| assumed control Of the beds for protec-
| tion and further propagation. A tax Of
two cents is placed on every barrel
'6shed''. and this reverts to separ-
md of the State treasury.
"'e ~ too, are caught in large guam
oinp' came canning plants pre-
a@'' an1 'ne 'ps and ship them
away -deed. a