The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-10-12
HAPPY Times IN DIXIE.
Recent Census Returns Draw Atten-
ton of tie World to Prosperous
and Wonderful Southland.

Baltimore.-''Everybody will listen
to stories about the South today"
sad Albert Phenis, staff correspon-
dent of the Manufacturers Record,
who is just in from a trip through
the South, extending to the coast OF
Texas. "Since the census returns
have begun to come in, and the coun-
try has begun to see what a mar
velous increase in population and
business the South has shown In re-
cent years, people all over the country
are curious to learn Of conditions IN
the South and are eager for informa-
ton on which they can rely. Any
man from the South or who knows the
South will accumulate evidence of this
fact whenever he takes a ride on a
train anywher. in the country.
"This is going to be a factor in the
contest between New Orleans and San
Francisco as the site for an exposi-
ton in 1915 to celebrate the compile
ton of the Panama Canal. Califor-
mia has been advertised sc long and
so well-thanks to a liberality on the
part Of the railroads and the commu-
mites there hardly parralleled on
earth-that it is no novelty. The
South is terre incognito to a vast
number of otherwise w%ell-informed
people of the North. I am certain
that the aroused interest in the South
will be reflected in Congress, and the
desire of large numbers Of people to
visit this section will be one of the
deciding considerations that will give
Congressional approval to New Or
leans" .
"The whole South will be enormous
" benefited by the increased ac-
quaintance the country in general will
have of it by the time the exposition
is over, and as 'the development of
the South means the enrichment Of
the nation the selection Of New Or
leans becomes a matter Of national
Importance.
"Not the least significant among
the benefits to be- derived will! be the
inevitable development Of the millions
of acres of wet lands-miscalled
swamps-which the South contains.
"The entire matter of Southern wet
land drainage or reclamation is a
subject of great interest, vast poten-
TALLY for individual profit and ma
tion-wide benefit"
"In Florida the State is retaining
an area nearly as large as the State
Of MARYLAND. 1t is estimated that
the $4,000 900 acres Of reclaimable
land in the South, worth at the out
side not more than $500,000,000 to-
day and, in reality, not an asset but
a liability, because it retards develop
ment, will be worth when : drained
more than $4,000, 600, 900 and become
not only one of the great assets of the
South but one of the greatest of the
nation's assets.
"The entire corn crop Of the Unit
ed States, which will this year be
about 5000, OOO,O 900 bushels, could be
produced upon the reelaimable lands
of the South not now in cultivation,
Just as soon as they are fully drain
ed; and the work of drainage in
Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana,
Texas and Arkansas is being push
ed with great vigor, in some cases by
the State. in some by drainage dis
tricts, and in some, especially In
Louisiana, by individual enterprises of
home people and of large Western
land operators and corn growers.
IA number of Western men who
have for years been leaders in corn
growing in the West are becoming
individually interested in corn. They
are enthusiastic about the possible
ties of corn-growing here, for drained
lands will yield from 80 to 100 bushels
of corr to the acre, producing a net
that would give them a value
of $500 an acre, if computed as are
land values in Iowa and Illinois,