Year: 1870

May b, 1871.


EDITOR NEws:-We crossed the
Red River at Colbert's ferry, 40 miles
west of Jefferson, the head of naviga-.
ton on this stream, on the 21st day
of April, and were in reconstructed"
Texas. We camped that night near
a Cotton field, and for the first time
saw them planting that great staple of
the Southern States. They prepare
the ground as they would to plant
corn, marking it off in furrows, and
then plant in drills, an inch or two
apart, to insure a sufficient number of
plants to make what they call ''good
stand" Then when it is up two or
three inches above ground, they thin
it out until the stalks stand about 18
inches apart. We conversed with sew
eral of the planters, who told us the
average crop here was from eight to
twelve hundred pounds to the acre,
and that a good hand would cultivate
and pick about eight acres, and it sells
on the ground -baled-at Is cents per
pound in specie. So you win readily
see that it is very a profitable crop,
even if we allow a liberal margin for
Overestimates.a and contingencies. They
claim here that the fibre of the Texas
Cotton is larger and consequently
makes a finer fabric than the Cotton of
the other Southern States. 1t is only
very recently that the cultivation of
Cotton has been attempted here, but
now almost every farmer plants more
or less oft.


Sherman, which is a town Of about
1000 inhabitants and the county seat
of Grayson county, appeared to us,
with its white frame houses, and neat
Iy kept yards, almost a Paradise, after
the poverty and wretchedness of the
Indian Territory, but since then we
have travelled through eight or ten
counties of the northwestern portion of
the State, and we do not find that the
white people here live much better
than the Indians do. Everthing seems
neglected and going to decay. The
houses are log, with stick or rough
stone chimneys, the roofs often so open
as to be but little obstruction to sun or
rain doors off the hinges, windows
with neither sash nor glass, but with
quilts or blankets hung up instead;
no barns or stables, and about as mis-
erabIe looking a class of people as can
be imagined. They seem Independent
y poor, and well cOntented to remain
so, apparently without ambition or as
piration of any kind, except to exc out
a wretched existence.


The old curse of slavery still remains
over this country, and will for many
years to come, unless the leaven of
Northern Iiberality, intelligence, ener-
gy and industry, is mixed with the
dough of Southern Incidence, ignor-
ance, bigotry and prejudice, and 'Ieav-
eneth the whole lump" They are still
very sore on the subject of the "Lost
Cause" and the peculiar Institu-
tion," but as we did not come to
preach against principles dead and
buried beyond the hope of resurrec-
ton, we touch on those subjects very
lightly, and then only for the purpose
of hearing their opinions, but they do
not permit their prejudices to stand in
the way of their interests, for the land
holders will rent their farms to North
ern men, when they will not let their
noighbors have them on any terms.
They know the thrift and energy of
the one, and the Incidence and shift
Iessness Of the other, and Nothern men
are just as safe in the portions of Texas
through which we have travelled as
they are in Ohio or Indiana. AT least
that is our impression, and we have
talked with great numbers of the peo-
pie, and have taken considerable pains
to obtain all the information we could,
some of which we will give you in our
next. Yours respectfully,


n g 81 ENN