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                                  THE
                           SOUTHERN STATES.

                             MARCH, 1894.

                [Illustration: THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER.]




SKY-LAND!

_By James R. Randall._


The late Judge William D. Kelley was an intensely practical man, and
so not given to rhapsody, but he has left on record that Western
North Carolina was the most beautiful country upon which his feet
or eyes ever rested. He had visited many lands and gazed upon many
transcendent panoramas unrolled by the Master of the Universe. He was
a loyal and devoted son of Pennsylvania, and enthusiastically loved
and admired her noble scenery, but when he beheld the unrivalled
majesty and picturesqueness of Western North Carolina, his honest
soul expanded with the prospect, and, in a burst of genuine candor,
he declared that never before had he looked upon a region at once so
sublime and entrancing. What Judge Kelley uttered has been, by many
other enthusiasts, repeated in varying phrase and similar tenor. It
is not called the Land of the Sky because of its altitude. There are
numerous localities that surpass it in this particular, but rather,
I think, because of a peculiar phenomenon of the region, where the
azure atmosphere that we call the skies descends, or seems to do so,
actually and magically upon the tree tops and mountain sides, so that
the dazzled spectator almost instinctively puts forth his hand to grasp
the mysterious panoply. When a child of earth is thus moved, as it
were, by heaven, with the blue ether glorified by sunlight, and the
alpine groups transformed in shape by fugitive clouds, no wonder his
mind becomes blissfully inebriated, his soul uplifted, and his senses
plumed to take wing from the solid globe that imprisons his feet. The
dullest fancy cannot resist the spell.

The ardent, poetic temperament has a conditional foretaste of what
it is to escape the flesh envelope and assume spiritual alertness.
But it is not always thus that this gorgeous land presents itself. It
has moods of tremendous energy, and to make returning mildness more
alluring, as the cunning master of music intersperses rude chords in
his glorious melody, it veils the comely perfection of its face in a
storm of frowns, but only such as triumphant beauty can assume betimes.
Then the alpine cliffs are garmented with mist, while the Hyder Ali of
Cloud Land poises on the declivities, concentrated with black wrath,
before rushing down in fragmentary battalions upon the plains below.
But there is no ravage. The little hut of the inhabitant remains
unscathed, still emitting from its rough chimney a curling smoke, and
the lordly mansion, perched on some aspiring peak, stands steadfast,
while the fairy maiden shrined there playfully dabbles her white
fingers in the foam of the upper deep. From the dark canopy of the
great giant of the Smoky range leaps the live lightning, and a thunder
roll bellows or crackles or mutters in a myriad strange defiles, but
we know that behind this lowering front, hinting of God’s smile behind
the tempest, our winsome Lady of the Sky is laughing still, with the
spring in her brilliant eyes, and the wild flowers, smitten by sunshine
in her golden hair. Anon, as the seasons are made mutable, another
phase is disclosed. The air grows cold as if in the clutch of some
Siberian intruder, and feathery flakes pour down their “snow storm of
stars,” and the mighty monsters of the mountain world yield placidly
to their chill, pallid cerements, but we feel that this is one of our
enchanter’s displays of infinite variety, and that our spirits are held
in thrall for another transformation. And what a valiant exaltation
the chill breath of the ozone-ladened breeze fixes in our blood, and
what roses in our cheeks! How we dominate with resistless stride the
pedestrian paths, or how we credit the fable of the Centaur, when, in
the fervor of environment, we partake of the joy and very existence of
the nimble steed we have bestrode adventurously! In other climes and
with other surroundings we have felt languor, or dullness, or restive
incapacity, but here, with the potent inspiration of the panorama
and the atmosphere, our whole being bounds with daring briskness and
mastering activity. In the overwhelming sense of powerful forces put
in play, we do not ask if life be worth living, but thank God that we
are alive and filled with the alchemy of Sky Land. When these agencies
react and demand the unbent bow, we lounge, it may be on the porches
of the grand hotel, with eyes restful upon Pisgah and the enormous
petrifaction of the rat that never budges from its lair. Perchance,
with appetite made robust and undeniable, we attack the toothsome
repast provided, but ever and anon we glance through the big windows
at the splendid pictures beyond, as if we were afraid that some stray
expression of the amphitheatre would escape us unaware. We stroll,
happy and satisfied, to the piazza, and loll in an easy chair, puffing
at pipe or cigar, but never ceasing to confront admiringly the scenes
that intoxicated us from the first. The sun has driven its fiery,
glowing chariot beyond the vast barrier of loam and basalt, but left
a sparkling, glowing, radiant wake behind. The clouds are blushing
like traditional brides, and the sorcerer of the sky has grouped them
among shining lakes and islands and the watching perspective that
this inimitable artist alone can fashion and dissolve. You presently
understand how the poet merely revealed what he had seen when Night
dropped her crimson mantle and pinned it with a star. And it was no
exaggeration when the grim Carlyle bade us witness how Bootes drags his
reluctant dogs in a leash of sidereal fire, or how mailed Orion flames
his plumes ’mid bright-battalioned planets. As the mystic dusk robes
the familiar scenery with a pall, we hear the insect world, if it be
the proper season, conversing in a thousand tongues, startled anon by
the shrill cry of a night bird, and possibly we wonder if the momentary
shadow on the orb of the moon was the vagrant pinion of Minerva’s
bird, or the flashing stroke of the eagle, put to flight from his
eyry slumber. Then the vision fades, and some drowsy sprite, circling
in the atmosphere, infects us with somnolency. We cannot resist it,
unless perchance strong coffee or some such insidious decoction has
violated, for a time, the blessed ministering of sleep that men, who
have betrayed or lost it, would give millions to enjoy. We move to our
apartment in amiable indolence, and hardly has our head touched the
inviting pillow when we reach that condition wherein, as Lew Wallace
says, even the wicked cease to sin. And if we have scientifically and
rationally allowed the wholesome air to enter a little at the top and
a little at the bottom of our window, what slumber we enjoy, unless we
have deliberately assailed and violated every law conducive to repose!
We know that while we rest no noxious thing can enter our lungs, but
the pure, sweet, invigorating wind from the heights is visiting our
whole system and repairing what other atmospheres may have put in
peril. What a blessing, after such refreshment, to rise in the earlier
morning and prayerfully go to the window for another glance at the
wonderland that has made us a willing prisoner to its enticements! We
salute the mountains as loyal friends, and they, after a vogue of their
own, appear to reciprocate our salute. They, too, appear renovated
with the dews of night, and their variegated vestments glitter with
adornment. The fascinating curves of the French Broad river cleave
the landscape, and the swift, clear tide laves the feet of the giant
peaks, whose fertile valleys, smiling it may be with agricultural
abundance, betoken that this is a fertile as well as a grand and
attractive region. How that fine farm called Tahkeostee projects itself
like an immense backbone upon the undulating piedmont, and how you
scheme about the happiness of a proprietor who holds the title to such
a domain! But you need a nearer view, and, as all manner of vehicles
or horses are at disposal, you take an excursion there, crossing the
railway track and handsome bridge to emerge upon a firm country road.
You look back, and the prospect is brave with splendid hotels, villas
of all manner of architecture, and the city of Asheville, which,
because chiefly of the tourist travel, is rapidly taking rank with the
first cities of the State, by manufacturing, by drainage and by the
discovery that all of the pure air on earth cannot make amends for
water contamination. And so, with generous, innocent fountain sources
everywhere at the bidding of man, Asheville and all Western Carolina
have nothing to crave for in the way of physical health and happiness.

[Illustration: VIEWS NEAR ASHEVILLE.]

Wooed by the spirit of adventure, you spur your horse higher and
higher up the ascent, and find that some rich man has fixed his abode
in more or less of grandeur atop the alpine plateau, and you look
down upon humbler mountains and far away into the vista, where the
locomotive is pushing its path from Henderson, or it may be Hickory
Gap. Descending the road you follow along the bright, rippling stream,
passing habitations of various kinds, now rude or humble, and now
comfortable or charming. At last you reach a spot that the poet Moore
would have raved about in undying song, for it is worthy of any singer,
who, however tuneful, might well despair of bringing justice to the
realm of so much beauty. The dwelling there is not a palace, but
evidently the abode of taste and wealth. The garden is what you have
dreamed about, when young and addicted to Lalla Rookh. What a wealth
of flowers and how artistically displayed! The air is perfumed all
about this fairy kingdom and you instinctively look askance for the
apparition of Prince Charming, or the Fair One with the Golden Locks.
The Prince I have not seen, but the Fair One was visible and, with her
guidance, I am permitted, in a luxurious nook, to scan the surrounding
glories. There is no other just such site for perfect habitation, for
it is at the meeting of the waters, which glisten far below. Here the
impetuous French Broad rushes to the embrace of the gentle Swannanoa,
and here their mingled tides laughingly and pellucidly hasten to kiss
the awaiting and absorbing sea. The mountains are marshalled on dress
parade in one mighty ring around this centre of loveliness, and the
dream you have fallen voluntarily into is only dissolved, and not
unpleasantly, by the matter-of-fact tracks of steel that glisten at the
base of the hill, and the snorting or clanging or whistling engine that
plunges, with its train, toward the station, which is now, by local
significance, well known as the place where our modern Kubla Khan, Mr.
George Vanderbilt, must alight to visit the matchless pleasure dome
he has decreed on the heights beyond the summer lodge of the Fair One
with the Golden Locks, where, in imagination, we are now spectator.
It is needless to repeat how much Mr. Vanderbilt has spent or will
continue to spend upon what fame heralds as the most complete and
magnificent estate owned by any private gentlemen, and one that few
royal personages could obtain. Without summing up the oft-repeated and
dry statistics of the dimension of his residence, out-houses, stables,
barns and acres, it is enough to understand that, after the method of
another marvelous man who has metamorphosed St. Augustine, unstinted
opulence and modern art have met for material transformation. No
amount of money could reproduce the natural splendor of the location,
but science and skill and Aladdin’s lamp, which is ready money and a
superabundance of it, can rear castles and improve grounds in a way to
be worthy of such scenes of Arcadian majesty and beauty all around.
It speaks well for the rich young man, who is highly educated, most
accomplished, and a lover of literature in all of its development,
while kind and gentle and benignant, that he should have determined
upon this place of all the places in the world to rear his incomparable
home and be a veritable monarch of much that he surveyed, though not
all. And yet, having once had vision of this alluring sphere, it would
be indeed a source of astonishment if it failed to exercise upon him
the sorcery I so feebly portray. The fancy takes flight and pictures
to itself what may be the result of such a scheme. Will he, when
the palace is completed and everything exhausted to fashion it as
he aspired, be any more content than he was before? Will he abandon
the mighty Babylon of the East and abide at his gorgeous Southern
hermitage, with its imperial setting? Will he simply flit there, from
time to time, and, at other seasons, leave his domain, like a haunted
palace, a stupendous show-place or proverbial folly? Will he settle
there, and perchance wed the Fair One with the Golden Locks, becoming
racy of the soil of the Old North State, dispensing joy, hospitality,
munificence and rational bounty? Will he, having more than emulated the
author of Vathek in construction, live, like Beckford, to behold the
ruin of his aspiration? But what is the use of tossing these gilded
juggler balls in the air of imagination, and making inquiries of that
future which does not belong to any mortal? Suffice it practically,
that young Mr. Vanderbilt has appreciated the South, yielded homage to
her natural magnetism, and made his deeds speak louder than words of
praise. Let us take for granted that he will never weary of his designs
and that Providence has in store for him and his surroundings special
and exceptional benedictions.

Adjacent to Mr. Vanderbilt’s principality are the grounds of the
Kenilworth Inn, which would have delighted Amy Robsart and disarmed
her enemies. Never did British beauty of any country preceding this
command, even at the hands of royalty, so many comforts as the
Kenilworth lavishly displays for the delectation of the most exacting
creature. When this is said, what need of multiplying words or
measuring with yard-sticks the magnificence of the various compartments
of the house or its broad baronial park? Unless you are impervious to
all enticement, you will be impelled to see these marvels through your
own eyes and then compare your impressions with mine.

Perhaps you who visit Western North Carolina find instinct within you
some of the fiery blood of Orion or Nimrod or Buffalo Bill, and wish
to exercise it in the slaughter of beasts and birds. Well, with your
improved weapon, with all modern lethal devices, in dear old clothes
that are already creased in the seams and baggy at the knees, you
may, with the rugged father of Esmeralda, or one of her tough, nimble
brothers, follow the black bear to his cave or track partridges,
grouse or squirrels to their leafy haunts, and make them acquainted
with death or anguish. You may, even without having conned the pages
of Isaak Walton, be impassioned for snaring diplomatic and pugnacious
trout, with an insect engendered by the artificer or with the native
minnow; and, if so, your selection of streams will be easy and your
game-bag should be bulging with trophies when you homeward wend your
way, with appetite of a ploughman for the fare of a French chef who has
been beguiled by Col. Coxe as the presiding genius of his kitchen and
larder. And the Colonel will, after supper, make merry with you, as
becomes an elegant gentleman, who has carried his accomplishments all
over the world, and who laughingly declares that he is “the only man
extant who was killed on both sides during the war.” He had possessions
at the North and South, and his respective substitutes were among the
unreturning brave. So, by proxy, he was slain twice, and yet is still
alive to the gratification of a host of friends and admirers. You will
be sure to get an invitation from him to drive, with a jocund company
of both sexes, in his tally-ho-coach, which is as well appointed as
any in the land, and it is a memorable thing to see him handle the
ribbons over four thoroughbreds that were nurtured on bluest and most
succulent of Kentucky grass. A drive with Colonel Coxe and such ladies
and gentlemen as he groups around him is an experience that you will
fondle, some day, when business or a kindred commonplace tie fetters
you to a dull or smoky town. You will then comprehend that poor girl, a
rustic heroine and living martyr, when she could forgive the miserable
man who had repaid her with ingratitude and desertion, but could not
divine how, though he left her, he could leave “The Mountings.”

[Illustration: MOUNT MITCHELL--6700 FEET ABOVE THE SEA.]

In a rollicking mood you may venture to pay a pop-call on Bill Nye,
who, though he pokes perfunctory, periodical fun at the Sky Land,
clings to it, when he can, like a fellow does to his skin, and, in
serious interludes, loves even its occasionally disreputable roads,
which are, at any rate, picturesque and informal. He may escort you
to a friend’s place of concealment, the den of “the chemist,” the
alchemist of moonshine whiskey, warranted, no doubt, to kill at three
hundred yards. I have always pitied these proscribed brethren, the
victims of our internal, or what no less a person than Thomas Jefferson
is credited with denominating “infernal” law. The moonshiner naturally
has as much right to boil his fruit or grain into spirits as the farmer
has to put hominy hot in the caldron, but the law places a negative
upon his claim, and fosters and pampers the trusts that so much trouble
the Democratic conscience, but are ingeniously utilized to pay pensions
or run the government. So the mountain chemist is given to hiding and,
at times, when hunted too persistently, to shooting his pursuers. This
is all wrong, because unlawful, but it is hard to instruct the grey
matter of his brain on such subjects. It is grewsome to see these
lank, leathery, unkempt, semi-barbarous brethren brought into court
with manacles on their limbs and summarily consigned to doleful exile
in distant dungeons. You will, when you see them and their wives and
their progeny, wonder how such a country can produce such specimens
of humanity, but it is easily understood when explanation is at hand.
In that region are reared the best of cattle, sheep, poultry and
fruits, but the moonshiner disdains them. He prefers, or habit and
poverty compel him to prefer, soggy, hot biscuit, excessive coffee,
cadaverous, greasy bacon, assassinated in a frying pan. He drinks too
much of his own fiery decoction and too little of the salubrious water
that leaps, gushes and sparkles on every hand. If one could capture
young moonshiner girls and boys, feed them on civilized diet, girdle
them with proper comfort, garment them decently, treat them amiably
and educate them wholesomely, the transformation would be thorough,
startling and supreme. It would be an object lesson conveying its own
moral, and this would be the evolution of many Esmeraldas off the mimic
stage, and many a sturdy, comely, valiant, intellectual man, who might
succeed in the Senate such typical Carolinians as Vance and Ransom.

Speaking of Vance, if you loitered in Sky Land, in midsummer, you
might make your way to Gombroon, his highland roost, and be sure of an
old-fashioned welcome. No man has a heartier nature and no man is more
of an adorer, so to speak, of Western North Carolina. He would tell
you characteristic anecdotes of his wonderful career and hold you, as
the ancient mariner did the wedding guests, with wit and wisdom, such
as Master Coleridge never “dreamt of in his philosophy.” So you would
understand from him what potent possibilities this clime possesses, and
how from the very elements there is distilled a subtle essence that
holds in solution the formation of noble men and beautiful women.

If, for instance, you had an agreeable, harmonious company of friends
and acquaintances at Battery Park Hotel, and longed for an ideal trip,
not too long, and which would entertainingly add to your stock of
enchantment, I doubt not that Mr. McKissick, who is young and genial
and intelligent, as becomes a cavalier South Carolinian and manager of
a great caravanserai, would suggest a trip to the Hot Springs, which,
by rail, is not many miles away. If you could prevail upon McKissick
to join your party, it would be an accentuated treat, for he has been
an ardent, expert, accomplished newspaper man, and is bubbling over
with high health and fresh humor. This maroon is altogether delicious.
From the car window you get rapid but incessantly changing views of the
French Broad, which, crossed and recrossed and paralleled, is never
out of sight. It is mild and clear flowing; it is turbulent, swift
and vocal; it is free from impediment; it is vexed with rapids and
frustrated with boulders as if a battle of Titans had been contested
to stormy demolition; it is always charming. The time consumed in the
passage has never for an instant tormented you, and even the most
voluble talker is content to let his tongue “keep Sunday”--as an old
darkey said--in the presence of this water course which descends in
glory through the mountain defiles. These mountains enclose you, but
they are not like their Swiss family bare and bleak and tawny, but
lush with emerald foliage or cultivated to their very brows. The
Mountain Park Hotel at Hot Springs, like all first-class establishments
hereabout, is equipped sumptuously. It has miles of piazzas. It nestles
in a happy valley. The river runs hard by, and, at this point, is
narrow but energetic. It is a cold stream, but here, a few feet from
the surface, hot fountains are latent, and any positive disturbance
of the earth-crust is followed by vaporous exhalations. The baths are
seductive, the more so, perhaps, because you are immersed in dazzling
marble tanks and the liquid purrs you like velvet in motion. You can
drink vast quantities of this fluid for it has amazing lightness and
makes a delicate stomach feel “like a gentleman.” Wondrous tales are
told of its curative faculties, and I take for granted that a rheumatic
or dyspeptic man or woman soon gets ashamed, in such ablution and
bibulation, of racking muscles and azure imps. By what volcanic agency
this phenomenon occurs we can only conjecture. The probability is that
the central fires are nearer than usual to the surface, or that the
boiling waters that can ordinarily be reached by hard, pertinacious
mining toil, thousands of feet deep, find here some propulsion and
channel of their own and need only a touch to make them disclose their
virtues. If they do not “create a spirit under the ribs of death,”
they spur on an appetite that may have lost all zest, and when a man is
impatient for his meals and partakes of them with satisfaction, disease
has small hold upon him.

[Illustration: THE SWANNANOA.]

One of the weird sights of this region is a mountain fire. On a dark
night such conflagrations are, of course, more spectacular, and when
belts of flame cover large areas and are detached fiercely from one
another, the resemblance to Kilauea, the burning lake of the Sandwich
Island, is startling. In these days of Hawaiian perturbation and
discussion one could easily imagine that he was in the Eden Isle of the
Pacific ocean, and might look for dusky maidens darting by on horseback
with red hybiscus flowers blushing in their lustrous black hair.

This enchanted region is reached by the Richmond & Danville railroad,
whose lines furnish approach also to many other places in the alpine
location of South Carolina and Georgia that merit equal attention
with these scenes so imperfectly described or sketched from memory.
Cæsar’s Head, near Greenville, is a genuine curiosity, and even the
old European or Rocky Mountain traveller admits that the prospect from
this precipitous elevation is awesome and inspirational. At the old
town of Clarksville, in North Georgia, the scenery is transcendent.
Once you have seen Mount Yonah you will never forget it, and when will
ever fade from your recollection the prodigious carving, by witchery in
distant perspective, of the Cherokee chief stretched gigantically upon
his sky-line bier? From the porches of Roseneath villa you best discern
this strange conformation. There he extends, in tremendous dimensions,
graven on the horizon, a distinct and spectral Indian shape, with
drooping plumes. The people thereabout know him familiarly as
Skiahjagustah. You may, in quest of gold, for the region is full of it,
seek to penetrate this mysterious personage, but he will vanish as you
approach him, transformed to common rock and tree and shrub, and yet
reappear by enchantment when you go back to Roseneath and summon him
from beyond the Soquee river. Here asthma has no clutch and rheumatism
ceases to torment. A German workman came here crippled from New Jersey,
and presently grew perfectly well in this climate. He is busily at work
in wood and iron in a shop of his own, and happy in possession of a
little farm, which has a famous vineyard like unto those which gem the
banks of the Rhine or Moselle.

Just beyond Clarksville is one of the most beautiful valleys in all
this world--the Vale of Nacoochee--with Yonah dominating the fertile
plain, and the upper Chattahoochee river purling around it. Here the
mound builders of the continent had cherished habitation, and here
they left monumental signs of their existence. Here the Cherokee
loved to dwell, and just on the banks of the river and circumjacent
to the mound, where clover and corn attain exceptional proportions,
is a cemetery fat with Indian death. From Clarksville to Toccoa and
Tallulah Falls is a mere jaunt of an hour or so. But why attempt to
portray the graceful cascade and the terrible torrent? Ben Perley
Poore, who had roamed in many lands and had adoration of all sights
of nature of a high and exceptional kind, once told me that after all
of his wanderings the scenes that lingered longest and fondest in his
memory were those around Clarksville and Tallulah. Oh, you must see for
yourself the unrivalled Georgia waterfall, with its tremendous chasm
and precipitous descent, not in one roar of waters, but by successive
leaps and bounds and plunges, alternately divided in swirling pools
before dashing headlong down to the palpitating plain. Each fall is
distinct in itself and of varied fury, as you will perceive either
from the brink of the abyss or in touch with the vital torrent. This,
too, is the Sky Land--glorious land--and here, in the coming time, as
elsewhere in the alpine region of the South, many thousands will come
ecstatically. St. Augustine waited long for a Flagler and Asheville
for a Coxe, but they came in the ripeness of time and amazingly well
did they perform the work appointed for them. If some men like these
should, in their opulence, propose to magnify Clarksville, Nacoochee
and Tallulah, what new splendors will come to the Land of the Sky, and
what blessings will be lavished upon thousands of human beings who only
need to know the South to love it, and who are beckoned back to health
and strength and happiness where

    “Far, vague and dim,
    The mountains swim.”




THE SOUTH BEFORE THE WAR.

_By Richard H. Edmonds._


I.

In order to understand and appreciate the progress made by the South
during the last ten years it is necessary to know something of its
condition prior to the war and immediately after that disastrous
struggle. “The New South,” a term which is so popular everywhere
except in the South, is supposed to represent a country of different
ideas and different business methods from those which prevailed in
the old ante-bellum days. The origin of the term has been a subject
of much discussion, but the writer has rarely seen it ascribed to
what he believes to have been the first use of it. During the war the
harbor and town of Port Royal, S. C., were in the possession of the
Northern forces, and while they were stationed there a paper called
“The New South” was established by Mr. Adam Badeau, who was afterwards
General Grant’s secretary. This was probably the first time that the
term was applied to the Southern States. Its use now, as intended to
convey the meaning that the progress of the South of late years is
something entirely new and foreign to this section, something which
has been brought about by an infusion of outside energy and money
is wholly unjust to the South of the past and present. It needs but
little investigation to show that prior to the war the South was
fully abreast of the times in all business interests, and that the
wonderful industrial growth which it has made since 1880 has been
mainly due to Southern men and Southern money. The South heartily
welcomes the investment of outside capital and the immigration of
all good people, regardless of their political predilections, but it
insists that it shall receive from the world the measure of credit
to which it is entitled for the accomplishments of its own people.
In the rehabilitation of the South after the war Southern men led
the way. Out of the darkness that enveloped this section until 1876
they blazed the path to prosperity. They built cotton mills and iron
furnaces and demonstrated the profitableness of these enterprises.
Southern men founded and built up Birmingham, which first opened the
eyes of the world to the marvellous mineral resources of that section,
and to Southern men is due the wonderful progress of Atlanta, one of
the busiest and most thriving cities in the United States. When the
people of the South had done this then Northern capitalists, seeing the
opportunities for money-making, turned their attention to that favored
land.

The Southern people do not lack in energy or enterprise, nor did
they prior to 1860. Since the formation of this government they
have demonstrated in every line of action, in political life, on
the battlefield, in literature, in science and in great business
undertakings, that in any sphere of life they are the peers of the
most progressive men in the world. From the settlement of the colonies
until 1860 the business record proves this. After 1865 the conditions
had been so completely changed that the masses lacked opportunity, and
to that alone was due their seeming want of energy. The population was
largely in excess of the number required to do all of the work that
was to be done. At least one-half of the whole population was without
employment, for the war had destroyed nearly all the manufacturing
interests that had been in existence; agriculture was almost the only
source of work for the masses. With no consumers for diversified farm
products it would have been folly to raise them. Cotton and cotton
alone was the only crop for which a ready market could be found, and it
was also the only crop which could be mortgaged in advance of raising
for the money needed for its cultivation.

The Northern farmer is enterprising. He raises fruits and vegetables
and engages in dairying and kindred enterprises because he has a home
market for these things. The Southern farmer had none and could not
create one. He might deplore his enforced idleness when he saw his
family in want, but that would not bring him buyers for his eggs or
chickens or fruit when there was no one in his section to consume
them. The almost unlimited amount of work for the mechanics and day
laborers generally at the North enabled every man to find something to
do. In the South there was almost an entire absence of work of this
character. Men hung around the village stores because there was no work
to be had which would yield them any returns. With the development of
manufactures there came a great change. The opportunity for work had
come, and the way in which the people who had hitherto been idlers
rushed to the factories, the furnaces, and wherever employment could be
secured demonstrated that they only needed the chance to prove their
energy.

The greatest blessing that industrial activity has brought to the South
is that it is daily creating new work for thousands of hitherto idle
hands, and creating a home market wherever a furnace or a factory is
started for the diversified products of the farm. The latent energy of
the people has been stimulated into activity, and the whole South is at
work.

But to fully understand the South in its relation to business matters,
it is necessary to study its business history before the war had
brought about a degree of poverty which has no equal in modern history.

In the early part of this century, and even before then, the South led
the country in industrial progress. Iron making became an important
industry in Virginia, in the Carolinas and in Georgia, and Richmond,
Lynchburg and other cities were noted for the extent and variety of
their manufactures. Washington’s father was extensively interested
in iron making, and Thomas Jefferson employed a number of his slaves
in the manufacture of nails. South Carolina was so imbued with the
industrial spirit that, about the beginning of the Revolution, the
State government offered liberal premiums to all who would establish
iron works. By the census of 1810 the manufactured products of the
Carolinas and Georgia exceeded in value and variety those of all
New England combined. The South Carolina Railway, from Charleston
to Hamburg, built by the people of South Carolina, was the leading
engineering accomplishment of its day, not only in this country, but of
the world. Greater than this, however, was the road projected by Robert
Y. Hayne, of Charleston, to connect Charleston and Cincinnati, and thus
make the former city the exporting and importing port for the great
West. Unfortunately for the South Hayne was sent to the United States
Senate, and the growing sectional bitterness, because of slavery, so
completely absorbed his attention that his great railroad undertaking
had to be abandoned.

The stimulation given to the cultivation of cotton by the introduction
of the gin and the extension of slavery, with the liberal profits in
cotton cultivation, as prices ruled high for most of the time from 1800
on to 1840, caused a concentration of capital and energy in planting.
But between 1840 and 1850 there were several years of low prices, and
attention was once more directed to industrial pursuits. The decade
ending with 1860 witnessed a very marked growth in Southern railroad
and manufacturing interests, but there was no decline in the steady
advance that was making the South one of the richest agricultural
sections of the world. During this time railroad building was very
actively pushed, and the South constructed 7562 miles of new road,
against 4712 by the New England and Middle States combined. In 1850
the South had 2335 miles of railroad, and the New England and Middle
States 4798 miles; by 1860 the South had increased its mileage to 9897
miles, a quadrupling of that of 1850, while the New England and Middle
States had increased to 9510 miles, or a gain of only about 100 per
cent. In 1850 the mileage of the two Northern sections exceeded that
of the South by 2463 miles. The conditions were reversed by 1860,
and the South then led by 387 miles. In the decade under review the
South expended, according to official figures, over $220,000,000 in
the extension of its railroads, the great bulk of this having been
local capital. This activity was not confined to any one State, but
covered the whole South, and every State made a rapid increase in its
mileage. In Virginia there was an increase from 515 to 1771 miles; the
two Carolinas gained from 537 to 1876 miles; Georgia from 643 to 1404;
Florida from 21 to 401; Alabama from 132 to 743; Mississippi from 75
to 872; Louisiana from 79 to 334, and Kentucky from 78 to 569. Neither
Texas, Arkansas nor Tennessee had a single mile of railroad in 1850,
but in 1860 Tennessee had 1197 miles, showing remarkable activity in
construction during the decade, while Texas had 306 miles, and Arkansas
38.

The percentage of increase in population in the South from 1850 to
1860, even including the slaves, was 24 per cent., while in the rest
of the country, the gain due largely to immigration, of which the
South received none, was 42 per cent. Yet from 1850 to 1860 the South
increased its railroad mileage 319 per cent., while in the rest of the
country the gain was only 234 per cent. The South had one mile of road
in 1860 to every 700 white inhabitants; the other sections all combined
had one mile to every 1000 inhabitants. Thus counting the whites only,
the South led the country in its railroad mileage per capita, and if
the slaves be included, the South still stood on a par with the country
at large in per capita railroad mileage.

While devoting great attention to the building of railroads, the
South also made rapid progress during the decade ending with 1860 in
the development of its diversified manufactures. The census of 1860
shows that in 1850 the flour and meal made by Southern mills was worth
$24,773,000, and that by 1860 this had increased to $45,006,000, a
gain of $20,000,000, or nearly one-fourth of the gain in the entire
country, and a much greater percentage of gain than in the country
at large, notwithstanding the enormous immigration into the Western
grain-producing States during that period. The South’s sawed and planed
lumber product of 1860 was $20,890,000 against $10,900,000 in 1850,
this gain of $10,000,000 being largely more than one-third as much as
the gain in all other sections combined, although even counting in the
slaves the South had less than one-third of the country’s population.

The advance in iron founding was from $2,300,000 in 1850, to $4,100,000
in 1860, a gain of $1,800,000, a very much larger percentage of
increase than in the whole country. In the manufacture of steam engines
and machinery the gain in all of the country except the South was
$15,000,000, while the gain in the South was $4,200,000, the increase
in one case being less than 40 per cent, and in the other over 200
per cent. Cotton manufacturing had commenced to attract increased
attention, and nearly $12,000,000 were invested in Southern cotton
mills. In Georgia especially this industry was thriving, and between
1850 and 1860 the capital so invested in that State nearly doubled.
It is true that most of the Southern manufacturing enterprises were
comparatively small, but so were those of New England in their
early stages. The South’s were blotted out of existence by the war;
New England’s were made enormously prosperous, justifying a steady
expansion in size, by the same war. In the aggregate, however, the
number of Southern factories swelled to very respectable proportions,
the total number in 1860 having been 24,590, with an aggregate capital
invested of $175,100,000.

A study of the facts which have been presented should convince anyone
that the South in its early days gave close attention to manufacturing
development, and that while later on the great profits in cotton
cultivation caused a concentration of the capital and energy of that
section in farming operations, yet, after 1850, there came renewed
interest in industrial matters, resulting in an astonishing advance in
railroad construction and in manufactures. But this is only a small
part of the evidence available to conclusively prove the great energy
and enterprise of the six and a half million white people who inhabited
the South.

(_To be Continued._)

[Illustration]




AN AMERICAN ITALY.

_By Erwin Ledyard._


The Southern States of the Union have received only a small proportion
of the tide of immigration that has flowed into this country during
the last half century, and especially during the last twenty-five
years, swelling the population of new commonwealths, causing towns to
spring up, like Aladdin’s palace, in a night, and giving to cities a
growth phenomenal and marvelous. It is not the purpose of this article
to inquire why this has been the case; it is sufficient to state a
fact that is indisputable. During the past decade the people of these
Southern States have turned their attention seriously to the question
of attracting immigration, and thus increasing their industrial
importance and utilizing some portion of the immense tracts of land
now lying idle. Books and pamphlets descriptive of the climate, soil,
products, and resources of the different States have been published,
conventions have been held, and agents have been appointed. The
results of these efforts are now beginning to be seen. The number of
foreign settlers in the South is steadily increasing, and the class
of immigrants coming into the section is, generally speaking, a most
desirable one. They are men of sufficient intelligence to think and act
for themselves, and to leave the beaten paths that have been followed
by most of their compatriots.

For a number of years the Irish were the most numerous class of
immigrants that came to the South. They settled for the most part in
the cities, and, as they have done elsewhere, early exhibited great
aptitude for politics, and much inclination for municipal offices. For
the most part they were useful and patriotic citizens, taking a deep
interest in public affairs and thriving in their various vocations.
Then came the Germans, also industrious, and more thrifty than
their Celtic predecessors. They also, with few exceptions, became
inhabitants of cities. Caring less for the machinery and minutiæ of
politics than either Americans or Irish, they devoted a large portion
of their leisure time to social relaxation, and to musical and dramatic
societies, and taught native as well as foreign born citizens the
useful lesson that a moderate use of wine and beer would give much more
rational enjoyment than an immoderate use of spirits, and would leave
no headache afterwards.

During all this time, extending to some eight or ten years ago, few
immigrants coming into the South settled in the country. Some may
have realized that “God made the country but man made the town,” but
few felt like venturing into what was _terra incognita_ to them, a
region where, in their opinion, the negroes were the only people that
ploughed, hoed and planted, and where they would be compelled to
compete with that class of labor. More is now known about the South,
and the fact that white men in that section have for years been working
small farms by their own individual labor is now fully recognized,
and in Texas and other Southern States citizens of foreign birth have
turned their attention to tilling the soil. The tide of immigration no
longer spends itself when it reaches the cities.

This fact is especially apparent in the large counties of Mobile and
Baldwin in the southern part of the State of Alabama. Some years ago
a settlement of Italians was located near Daphne in Baldwin county,
close to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. The colony has thrived
and prospered, engaging in fruit and grape culture and agricultural
pursuits. A short walk brings its members to the town of Daphne, where
they can look out upon a sheet of water thirty miles long and from
twelve to fifteen miles wide, which, though not so beautiful as Naples’
famous bay, is still fair to look upon, and glows sometimes with as
gorgeous sunsets as those that are reflected by the blue waters of the
Mediterranean, while the smoke that rises from its shores is not that
of a slumbering volcano threatening devastation and destruction, but of
industry and commerce, promising peace, prosperity and happiness.

The success of this colony is attracting other Italians to Baldwin
county, and also to its neighbor across the bay, Mobile county. Quite a
number have bought lands along the line of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad,
on a plateau or table land that begins some twenty miles from the city
of Mobile, and which extends to the northern limit of the county.
This plateau is from 350 to 380 feet above the level of the sea, and
from five to ten miles in width. The Italians who have settled on it
have cleared their land for cultivation and have built themselves
comfortable houses. They are all putting out fruit trees, principally
pears and plums, and grape cuttings of various kinds. The pear trees
are mostly what are known as “Le Conte” and “Bartlett,” while the
grapes are “Delaware,” “Concord,” “Catawba” and some other varieties.
They will probably in time turn their attention to winemaking, and can
then make use of the “Scuppernong” grape that grows almost wild in the
section of country in which they have located and rarely fails to bear
abundantly.

These Italians are a very different class of people from those one
meets in the purlieus of the fruit quarters or in the slums of large
cities. They are mostly from the north of Italy, although some of
them hail from Naples and its neighborhood. They are intelligent,
industrious, orderly and law-abiding, and they are so polite and cheery
in their manners and demeanor that it is a pleasure to meet them. They
seem to regard people of property and position, near whose places they
reside, in the light of friends and advisers, entitled to deference
and respect. Many good people in this country have formed their ideas
of Italians from what they have read of the lazzaroni of Naples or
the vendetta-loving inhabitants of Sicily. Others have an undefined
notion, gathered from operas and melodramas, that most Italians who are
not proprietors of hand-organs and monkeys wear either red nightcaps
and striped shirts or tall hats shaped like the old time sugar-loaf,
jackets or coats with metal buttons and short coat tails, and leggins
composed to a large extent of particolored ribbons. This costume they
accentuate with a sash or belt containing a stiletto and a pair of
villainous looking horsepistols, and an old-fashioned muzzle-loading
gun with a crooked stock. These simple folks would be much surprised
if they could see the sons of Italy who have brought their lares and
penates to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. They dress as the average
American citizen dresses and the only vendettas that they swear are
against those birds and animals that injure their crops. Their hope
is soon to sit under their own vine and fig-tree in a land truly
flowing with milk and honey, and to make their lives bright with the
light-hearted gaiety and peaceful content that made existence pleasant
even amidst the exactions and privations of sunny, but overtaxed and
overcrowded Italy. Already the sounds of music are borne on the evening
air as these pioneers in a great movement of their race rest at the
close of day from their labors, and rejoice over their freedom from
heavy burdens, and in that feeling of independence that the ownership
of land gives to foreigners of small or moderate means.

These settlers can truly be regarded as to the advance guard of a
race movement that will eventually make of Southern Alabama, Southern
Mississippi and a portion of Western Florida an American Italy. The
coming of Italians to Alabama can no longer be considered as an
experiment. As has been previously stated, the settlement in Baldwin
county was made some six or eight years ago. These people can live on
less than either Americans or negroes, for they have been accustomed
to the strictest economy at home. The great fault of the colored
race, and to a large extend of their white employers in the South, is
wastefulness. When negroes can make a living on land in the section of
country under consideration, Italians will surely be able to do so.
They have the utmost confidence in their ability to do so. The negro
is not satisfied unless he has meat to eat every day in the year. The
workers on farms and in orchards and vineyards in Italy are accustomed
to live on bread, fruit and vegetables for weeks at a time. Their
repasts often consist of a piece of bread and a bunch of grapes, or a
piece of bread and an onion.

That this class of immigrants will greatly benefit the section to which
it has been attracted, to use a Gallicism, goes without saying. They
will make good citizens, for they would not seek rural life if they
were the adherents of any special political propaganda. Experience
has fully demonstrated the fact that all foreigners holding extreme
opinions in regard to government and social order that come to this
country, Russian Nihilists, German Socialists, French Anarchists,
Irish Dynamiters, and Italian Red Republicans, make their homes in
cities, and generally in large ones. The quiet of country life is
distasteful to them. They must live in the midst of agitation and
turmoil, and constantly attend gatherings where they deliver or listen
to incendiary or socialistic harangues, or existence becomes almost
unendurable to them. These settlers in South Alabama, on the contrary,
are well satisfied with the institutions of the country to which they
have come in search of homes, appreciate the safety and security that
are caused by the supremacy of law and order, and look forward to
prosperous and happy lives in a land where war is unknown, where the
balance of power does not trouble the souls of statesmen, and where
no immense armaments are maintained by imposing heavy and grievous
burdens on the people. They have come to stay, and many will follow in
their footsteps. The region to which they have betaken themselves has
for years been a market garden for the West. It will now also become
an orchard and a vineyard. We are living in an age of progress, and
wonderful changes and developments are ahead of us.




LETTERS FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN FARMERS, GIVING THEIR EXPERIENCE IN
THE SOUTH--VI.

[The letters published in this issue form the sixth instalment in
the series commenced in the October number of this magazine. These
communications are published in response to numerous inquiries from
Northern people who desire to know more about agricultural conditions
in the South, and what is being accomplished by settlers from other
sections of the country. These letters were written by practical
farmers and fruit-growers, chiefly Northern and Western people who
have made their homes in the South. The actual experiences of these
settlers, as set forth in these letters, are both interesting and
instructive to those whose minds are turned Southward.--EDITOR.]


Fruit-Growing in Middle Georgia.

CHARLES T. SMITH, Concord, Ga.--Concord is located in the fruit belt
of Middle Georgia. The country is slightly rolling and well watered.
The soil is productive and can easily be brought to a very high state
of fertility. For years cotton has been the staple crop, but King
Cotton has a powerful rival now in peaches and grapes. Fruit-growing
was introduced into Middle Georgia about twelve years ago. The first
plantings were small and there were many scoffers. The industry proved
to be very remunerative, and each year showed an increased acreage
until fruit farms of 100 to 500 acres are now not uncommon, and
hundreds of carloads of grapes and peaches are shipped annually and
are known far and wide for their superior quality. Georgia grapes and
peaches bring a higher price in all the leading markets than the same
fruits from any other State in the Union, and with each season their
popularity is increased.

The future outlook is very encouraging. The prices to be obtained now
are not so large as heretofore, but with increased production came
better methods of growing and hauling and better shipping facilities,
and the profits to be derived are much the same, and far more
satisfactory than any other crops that can be grown. This industry has
been largely fostered by Northern men, who have always been with the
foremost in progress. Their efforts have been crowned with success, and
they may now look with pleasure not only on the handsome properties
they have amassed but also on this splendid new industry in the
development of which they have been pioneers.


A Northern Man’s Observation of Southern People.

L. S. PACKARD, Pine Bluff, Moore county, N. C., formerly of
Warrensburg, N. Y.--Few persons realize from passing through the South
what the soil is capable of producing under careful cultivation. After
a stay of several years among Southern people I have learned much about
them and their modes of work, the care the lands ought to have and the
yields that can be expected under good cultivation. I give in brief my
observations:

Southern men and women are justly entitled to the credit they get for
being the most hospitable people in the United States. The majority
of them live easy, enjoy life and are contented to go forward in
the quiet ways of their fathers. Some, however, are branching out,
learning to make money and are accumulating fortunes on the farms and
in the factories. It is the general belief of the Northern people that
Southern people cannot succeed.

To show an instance where a Southern born man has succeeded I shall
confine my article to one man and to one farm, and in my future
letters give the names of Northern men who have come South. Within
a mile of the Seaboard Air Line in the county of Clark and State of
Georgia, Mr. John Smith has a farm of several hundred acres. He started
with small means but has improved, buying more land and stock, building
larger barns and better houses each year until he has one of the
finest and best equipped and regulated farms in the United States. His
grain, clover and grass fields are as fine as any in Pennsylvania or
New York. His stock is well kept and creditable in number and quality;
they will compare favorably with the best in Ohio, Michigan or any part
of the Northwest. His cotton fields are beautiful beyond description.
He has every convenience in the way of modern machinery. He has built
and equipped a railroad from his farm to Athens, Ga., and has erected
a cottonseed oil mill, fertilizer factory and conducts a general
mercantile business to supply tenants and employees.

Mr. Smith’s farming operations were enough to convince me that all the
soil needed was careful cultivation and constant attention to yield
three times the profit of any in the Northern or New England States.

Recently I met Mr. J. T. Patrick, of Southern Pines, N. C., who is
a noted worker for Southern development and perhaps one of the best
posted men in the South in regard to the developments going on in that
section. I spoke to him about Mr. Smith. Mr. Patrick said: “I have seen
his farm and it is a credit to Mr. Smith and the South, but there are
many more Southerners who are doing as well as he, but I suppose you
have not seen their farms. Major R. S. Tucker, of Wake county, Dr. W.
R. Capehart, of Bertie county, and thousands of others scattered over
the South are owners and managers of as fine farms as you can find
in any part of the United States. You Northern people do not get out
from the line of railroad to see what our people are doing, and we are
generally judged, condemned and sentenced by people who ride through
our country at the rate of forty miles an hour on a Pullman palace car
and don’t know the difference between a cotton plant and a stalk of
buckwheat.”

There is a great deal of truth in what Mr. Patrick said. Northern men
who come South to learn ought to come down prepared to stay long enough
to go into the country and see the farms and not judge the South from a
poorly conducted farm, but from those managed with intelligence.


Political Opinions Not Counted.

JAMES M. DICKEY, Superintendent National Cemetery, Corinth, Miss.--In
1881 I was a resident of Lamed-Pawnee county, Kansas. From March 1,
1882, to March, 1884, was stationed at Barrancas, Fla., near Pensacola.
From April, 1884, to the present time have been a resident of Corinth,
Miss.

My observations during this time have been somewhat limited, but in
the material progress the agricultural classes have made considerable
advance. The old-time theory that cotton was the only crop to be raised
with profit has been discarded. Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries,
grapes, fruits, etc., and nearly all classes of products that the
truck gardener can raise will find remunerative sale. Climate and
healthfulness are exceptionally good. I have not been under the care of
a physician during the period of nine years.

Churches are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Christian. Schools of
Corinth are public, graded into primary, intermediate, grammar and high
school. Seven months, with two months additional of pay school, to such
patrons as may elect to send.

The one great and all important question that has been asked of me
by visitors to this place is: “How do the people treat you? Are you
ostracized from society?” etc. My answer has been, and I have no
reason to change it, that a person’s habits and deportment are his or
her passport or entree to society. It makes no difference in North
Mississippi whether a person came from Georgia or Michigan; the social
reception is the same.

The political liberality of the citizens is as good as anywhere. While
having their own honest convictions, they respect the convictions of
others. My political views are in a minority, but during all this time
no one has questioned or impugned my motives or convictions or hindered
the rights of suffrage.


Middle Georgia as Compared with the North and West.

G. N. BARKER, Longstreet, Ga.--As one who has been a resident two years
in Middle Georgia after ten years residence in the West and Northwest,
occupied in stock raising, etc., I may be able to point out a few
advantages and differences relative to these parts. What will strike
the farmer most on arriving in this section is the total absence of
grass meadows or any visible facilities for the pasturing of stock,
but curiously enough, an abundance of fairly nutritious hay may be cut
during summer, of sufficient nutritive value with the assistance of a
little grain for stock. The corn crop is light per acre to one used to
the West; oats, however, yield well when well cultivated, and are off
the ground in May, the same ground making also a good hay crop the same
year. Bermuda grass makes an inexhaustible supply of pasture for all
stock, except three winter months when green rye, barley or oats will
take its place. Italian rye grass I have found grows luxuriantly during
winter and spring, and it makes more milk than almost any herb. Red
top grass also succeeds well. During summer there is an abundance of
forage crops for all classes of stock, and of good nutritious quality.
Stock is healthy here, provided it is kept clean and not overfed with
too highly fattening foodstuffs. My health has vastly improved in this
climate and I have recovered from the exposures of the Northwest. The
land here is poor and run down, but good cultivation and moderate
manuring soon restore a fertility that is astonishing to anyone seeing
only what is done without fertilizer. The greatest drawbacks in this
section are the total inability of the laborer, merchant and business
man to comprehend or encourage anything but cotton. All kinds of fruits
flourish with good care bestowed upon them.

Farmers coming from other parts will have to either do or closely
superintend the minute details of their business; nothing can be left
to the colored labor and they have not yet had any practice with the
better methods or implements. Lumber is cheap; also carpenters very;
to one accustomed to Western prices, so many comforts may be had
unattainable out there. The heat is no drawback, not being anything
like the maximum attained in North Dakota and Montana, but the summer
is long and debilitating to the newcomer, who must use discretion in
taking too much sun the first season. Good foundation stock of all
kinds can be bought here at moderate prices. Living is very cheap
and work not hard, if cotton is let alone, as there is more time
all-the-year-round to work than in colder regions. Roads are moderate
and railroads numerous, obviating the distances to be traveled out West
to and from one’s station and postoffice. As a place of residence for
comfort, absence of great atmospheric changes, cheapness of living and
land, and other things necessary to the comfort of a farmer, I consider
the South has many and varied advantages over the North and West.


From New Hampshire to North Carolina.

R. M. COUCH, Southern Pines, N. C.--The statement of facts I shall
make in this letter will lean to the conservative in all cases, as
after a residence of eight years and an extensive correspondence with
inquirers after facts, I have learned that the truth is good enough
and exaggeration folly. By the advice of my physician I left New
Hampshire and located here, and have not been North even on a visit
since, and as the climate was the first consideration with me, let
me say unqualifiedly that I believe it as near perfect all the year
round as can be found in any part of the world. I am confirmed in this
conclusion by the testimony of scores who have sought this haven of
health after trying such places as Colorado, California, New Mexico,
Arizona, and even the South of France and Italy. The healthfulness of
this section being established, the next question which confronted me
was the means of support, and as we make no claim that this soil (a
light sandy loam) is adapted to general farming, we were compelled to
look to the fruit industry as the most likely to help us out, and well
are we repaid for the venture. It is proved that a dry atmosphere and
porous soil produces very fine flavored fruit and that in this climate,
also, the fruit “colors” up better and makes a much better appearance
than that grown in a colder and less sunny climate. But one strong hold
on the fruit industry lies in our geographical position as regards the
ripening season, which brings our fruit into market, out of competition
with any other section. This fact was proved by our shipments last
season.

Within five years there have been planted in this immediate section
1500 acres in fruit, and in order that your readers may have the
advantage of direct correspondence with any or all the growers of
fruit, I will give the names from memory: C. J. Eaglesfield was the
pioneer on a small scale; S. N. Whipple, extensive peach, plum, grape
and nut farm; Van Lindly Orchard Co., 350 acres peach, pear, plum and
blackberry; Niagara Grape Co., 107 acres in grapes; Southern Pines
Fruit-Growing Co., eighty acres in grapes; Benjamin Douglas, Jr., of
Orange, N. J.; Tarbell & Carlton, H. P. Bilyeu, Dr. C. W. Weaver, C.
D. Tarbell, Thomas Carlton, Fred Oberhouserheur, James H. Murray, S.
W. Thomas, Charles H. Thompson, Edwin Newton, Doctors Boynton, Stevens
and R. M. Couch, Rev. A. A. Newhall, B. Van Herff, J. T. Wilson, Dr. W.
P. Swett, H. P. Stebbins, J. A. Morriss, R. S. Marks, L. S. Johnson,
C. C. Mitchell, John Huttonhomer, F. J. Folley, Rev. J. W. Johnston,
Mrs. L. A. Raymond, Mrs. Louisa Young, P. Pond, Fred Dixon and others.
There were shipped from this point last season 150 tons, being the
first bearing year of the oldest vineyards of much size. The bearing
vineyards and orchards the coming season will more than double the
shipments, and in two years all the vineyard trees mentioned will come
to bearing.

The prices in Washington and New York last July were six and seven
cents per pound for black grapes, and thirteen and fourteen cents per
pound for Delaware and Niagara, and $3.50 to $4.50 per bushel crate for
peaches and plums. The demand was as good at the close of the season as
at first. Write to Dr. C. W. Weaver, S. N. Whipple, H. P. Bilyeu, C. D.
Tarbell, C. B. Mabore for prices obtained for their own shipments. Dr.
Weaver realized from three acres of his best Delaware grapes $150 per
acre net.

I have thus, in a rambling way, given your readers an idea of the
climate and agricultural resources of the sand hills of Moore county,
N. C.

Southern Pines is a town eight years old, in the midst of the
turpentine region of North Carolina, sixty-eight miles southwest from
Raleigh, on the Raleigh & Augusta Railroad (part of the Seaboard Air
Line), fifteen hours from New York, and is six hundred feet above sea
level, the highest point in the whole turpentine belt. The soil is a
sandy loam and has a perfect drainage. Malaria is unknown. The presence
of the long-leafed pine in large quantities causes the generation of
ozone to such a degree as to make this locality almost a specific for
throat and lung difficulties. Many physicians and a large number of
the cured and benefited testify to its wonderful effects. The town
is filled mainly with Northern people, and has four hotels, a good
school, and church services every Sabbath. There are three stores, and
railroad, telegraph and express offices. There are many fine residences
and a large hotel 300 feet long and four stories is being built with
modern improvements.


Fruit-Growing in Texas.

R. T. WHEELER, Hitchcock, Galveston county, Texas.--I have examined
and am very much pleased with your magazine, and particularly the
department of agricultural correspondence. This is an exceedingly
interesting and important feature, well calculated to accomplish much
in the settlement and development of the South. Your journal has a high
mission and is on the right road.

Unlike most of your correspondents I am a native of this State, and
a lifetime resident of this section, and therefore naturally biased
in favor of this country, climate and people, free, however, from
any prejudice against any other portion of the country. While I am
not in the strict sense a farmer, and have no skilled acquaintance
with any branch of horticulture or agriculture, I have had ten years’
practical acquaintance with the cultivation of this soil, and my ten
years’ residence at this station, fourteen miles from Galveston City,
has given me the opportunity of observing its rapid progress and
development within the past five or six years, from a purely stock
country, a naked prairie, in which lands were worth not exceeding fifty
cents per acre, devoted exclusively to raising ordinary Texas cattle,
it requiring at a low estimate ten acres to support one cow of the
value of about $6, to a prosperous and independent fruit and truck
farming community, having over 150,000 pear trees set to orchard, over
100 acres in strawberries now ripening and ready for market, yielding
from $300 to $600 per acre; some 300 acres more in cultivation in
general vegetables, a church, good public schools, with an average
attendance of over fifty scholars daily, good stores, about twenty
artesian wells flowing good, pure, wholesome water in the greatest
abundance, from a depth of about 600 feet, nurseries and rose gardens
with several hundred varieties of roses now in full bloom in the open
air, without a poor man or woman, and not one that is not making a good
living, a community whose reputation is co-extensive with horticulture
within the States and Canada, whose products are well-known in Chicago
and other markets, and whose strawberries have sold as far West as Salt
Lake City.

Very much of the wonderful development of this country is due Col. H.
M. Stringfellow, who some nine years since introduced the Le Conte and
Kiefer pears, and whose orchard, in the language of an ex-governor
of Texas, is “simply a world-beater.” Last year, as we all know, was
both a drouth and a panic year, and yet on his thirteen-acre orchard
Mr. Stringfellow cleared considerably over $5000 on pear fruit alone,
and much more on the sale of rooted pear cuttings, these pears being
propagated by cuttings. I could write a book about this country and
then be in the same trouble as the Queen of Sheba, but I fear that this
letter is beyond reasonable length. Notwithstanding this extraordinary
development, lands are still comparatively cheap; the best can be had
from $20 to $50 per acre.


An Opinion of Arkansas After Three Years’ Trial.

J. M. SOWLE, Dryden, Ark.--I came here from Michigan in June, 1890.
Located at a place now called Dryden, just west of Gilkerson on the St.
Louis Southwestern Railway, with seventeen families and a few single
men; seventy in all. The B. & S. W. Railroad now runs through our town.

Two families returned to stay; three more got lonesome here in the
woods and went back expecting to stay, and before they were back two
months acknowledged that they were homesick to come back and did come
back, as they liked the society here, as well as the fine weather and
good health. Everyone here now are here to stay, and most of them have
bought land.

We have such nice warm sunshine and weather in the winter. Health best
of any place we were ever located. Out of the seventy people in the
three years and eight months, have had eight persons sick enough to
go to bed. One two-year-old girl died; another three-months-old babe
died; she was well at midnight, found dead in bed in the morning; and
one woman fifty years old died with consumption, think hereditary, as
her father, mother and five brothers and sisters died with the same
disease. The three who died are counted in the eight sick, except the
babe.

The soil here is good and never fails to raise crops on account of
drouth or any other cause. We have raised fifty bushels shelled corn to
the acre on our poorest land, and a bushel of potatoes to twenty-four
hills, and in fact nearly all kind of crops are extra good. The county
is naturally suited to peaches, plums and grapes. General good crops
are corn, cotton, wheat, oats, timothy, clover, red top, blue grass,
blackberries, raspberries, apples, pears and quince.

Society is good; more church members in proportion to population than
any place I ever was in. Laws are enforced here better than any place I
ever lived.

This county is a peaceful and safe county to live in, as we have the
best of accommodating neighbors, as well as law-abiding citizens.


A General Answer to Many Letters of Inquiry.

A. K. FISHER, Abbeville, Ga.--My letter published some time ago in your
magazine brought me so many letters of inquiry concerning this section,
our mode of farming, cost of getting land ready for cultivation, etc.,
that it required a long letter to each, and I have been unable to
comply. I write this letter now to cover all the ground of inquiries.

Abbeville has about 2000 inhabitants, is county seat of Wilcox county,
Ga., is on the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery Railroad, sixty-five
miles east of Americus, where the railroad crosses the Ocmulgee river.
This river is navigable; Brunswick is near its mouth.

Abbeville has two churches--Methodist and Baptist; Presbyterians also
have service there. Schools generally are not as good as in most of
Northern States, but are gradually improving; have some teachers from
the North.

Heretofore the products from this section have been lumber, spirits
turpentine, rosin, cotton, some beef cattle and wool.

A few years ago fortunes were made in a short time in lumber and
turpentine business when properly managed, but most of the operators
increased their business, bought large tracts of land, borrowed money,
etc. Now the prices of those products have declined to or below cost of
production, and for the past two years our banks have not been loaning
money, so those parties are obliged to sacrifice their lands. Although
this section has been settling up rapidly, lands can be bought for less
than two years ago.

In past twenty years cotton has declined from twenty to seven cents per
pound. When cotton brought from fifteen to twenty cents per pound the
cotton planter had all the money he required and raised nothing else
for market. As a class they spent their money freely; if more money
were required before the crop was made they could readily get advances
on cotton crop; now the staple is below cost of production, still many
are obliged to grow cotton, as it is the only crop on which they can
get advances. To change requires an expenditure for farming implements
and machinery for putting in and harvesting the crop, stumps are to be
gotten out of the way, etc. To grow fruit requires several years to
realize. Most of the planters own large tracts of land, and are anxious
to dispose of a part; some are hoping each year the acreage in cotton
will be reduced (by many putting their lands in other crops), thereby
enhancing the price of cotton and they be benefited. They prefer to
grow cotton, having never done anything else. Some who tried hay failed
on first trial, as they did not have proper implements, and they
exposed it to dews and rain after it was cured or partly so.

The timber in this locality is long leaf pine, excepting along the
river, where is abundance of hardwoods, viz: different varieties oak,
hickory, ash, gum, cypress and some elm. The pines are not thick on the
land; the principal roots go straight down; the surface soil is sandy,
intermixed with dark pebbles and clay subsoil. The mode of clearing
land is to deaden by girdling the trees, burn the logs and trash on the
ground, fence and put in the plough. To one not accustomed to it, this
looks very slovenly, but I believe it is the best plan, as in a few
years the trees rot and fall to the ground. The trees are no more in
the way than the stumps; the dead hearts can much more readily be split
into rails or burned than when green. The heart rails will last fifteen
years; it costs about $10.00 per thousand to put rails into fences;
rails are ten feet long. I am building board fences; lumber costs me
at mill $5.00 per thousand feet. There are plenty of mills. I have my
posts split from dead hearts and faced with axe; they cost me about
three cents each at fence. When the ground is wet a man can dig seventy
holes in a day; when dry the clay subsoil becomes very hard and one
half above number would be good work.

I have taken stumps from 200 acres land at a cost of about $2.00 per
acre; generally would cost from $2.00 to $6.00 per acre, according to
length of time land had been cleared. I have not tried dynamite; some
have, but cannot state whether it gave satisfactory results; I believe
it would, especially in new land. We plant our corn in rows, generally
six feet apart and from two to three feet apart in a row, one stalk in
a place. At last working of corn we put in one or two rows of peas to
every row of corn; the peas and corn mature at same time. When corn is
gathered we gather peas enough for seed, then put in the hogs and they
fatten from the peas. Some varieties of those peas will remain on the
ground all winter and grow the next summer. The pea crop is worth as
much as the corn crop.

Corn grown here is worth seventy cents per bushel. From sixty acres
I got over 1200 bushels of corn. I used on the sixty acres two tons
of phosphate that cost here $16.00 per ton mixed with the manure from
four mules and 200 bushels cottonseed worth fifteen cents per bushel.
Some make more, some less, according to cultivation and amount of
fertilizers used. One of my neighbors for several years past has been
making forty bushels of corn to the acre.

From 100 acres in oats I got 2000 bushels; these are rust proof and
always in demand for seed; I sold all for sixty cents per bushel. I
used no fertilizers under the oats; I generally cut two crops of hay
same season from same land after I cut my oats. I plough, harrow and
roll the ground in June. I use under the hay guano worth about $6.00
to every acre and get two tons of hay per acre worth here $18.00 per
ton. This grass comes spontaneously after the land is cultivated a
few years and makes excellent hay. It does not grow North. This year
one of my neighbors cut from twelve acres 600 bushels of oats; put
no fertilizers under the oats, but had the year previous oats on same
land, and after the oats were cut, in June, he planted it in peas;
when the peas matured he turned his hogs in; by October the hogs had
gathered the peas, then he ploughed under the pea vines and sowed in
the oats. This is the most economical way of improving our lands. The
crop of peas pays for all the expense. We feed but little corn to our
hogs.

Wheat is grown but little in this section. When cotton was worth twenty
cents per pound no one would raise wheat, so the mills were either
torn or rotted down, but in a short time there will be a mill to grind
wheat in the vicinity. There are plenty of mills to grind corn. Nearly
all the vegetables grown North do well here, and come into the market
much earlier, and many that do not grow there do well here. Cabbage and
Irish potatoes do well here, but when planted in spring mature early in
summer and do not keep longer than a couple of months; when planted in
July they mature in fall and keep tolerably well, but sometimes it is
difficult to get a stand of plants in July.

This is about 32° north latitude; peaches, pears, plums, grapes and
some varieties of apples do well here, and all begin bearing at much
younger age than North; perhaps are not as long-lived, but heretofore
no care has been taken of them.

In the woods the grass grows during summer from one to one and one-half
feet high, and makes a splendid pasture, especially for six months,
commencing in April. The cattle, sheep and hogs are never fed. At this
time of the year all are poor, but in May both cattle and sheep are in
good order. By having some winter pastures to keep the cattle fat for
winter market the beeves would bring fancy prices in the home market.
There is plenty of good beef here in summer; in winter our beef comes
from the West (cold storage) and costs by the quarter eight cents per
pound.

We sow oats from September to February; I pasture mine some in winter,
but there are a number of grasses that make here a good winter
pasture. Alfalfa is being grown with success in some portions of this
State; no doubt would do well here. These cattle, sheep and hogs on
the range have never been improved by crossing with improved breeds;
the rule has been to leave every tenth male for breeding purposes. By
crossing the native ewes with some of the improved breeds, and feeding
some on pasturing in winter, lambs could be put into Northern markets
much earlier than from the States farther North. These cattle and sheep
are all gotten up at a certain time for shearing and marking, when
those for market are sold to buyers who ship them to the cities to sell
to butchers. Some of the stock is never seen by the owners. The young
are marked with the mark of its mother, the fleece of wool tied up and
marked, the owner notified, he pays for sheering and gets it. All land
not fenced is range and free to all. One might own 1000 head of cattle
and not own an acre of land. Hogs live and grow on range but do much
better when fed some; those near river get fat from acorns.

Building material is cheap. Kiln-dried and dressed flooring and ceiling
from $8.00 to $12.00 per M feet; No. 1 Brick at kiln $5.00 per M.

Butter is worth thirty cents per pound, eggs fifteen cents per dozen,
sweet milk ten cents per quart, buttermilk five cents per quart.

A number of parties from Ohio came to this section last February; some
bought when they came, others bought this winter; all remained. They
say they do not feel the heat any more than in Ohio, as we have more
breeze and the nights are pleasant. Sunstrokes are unknown. A few
days ago a party from Ohio bought 300 acres of land one and one-half
miles from Abbeville, thirty acres of which is cleared, all salable
timber cut from the balance, but enough for farm purposes on the land;
buildings worth $150; no orchard; 250 acres fair pine lands, fifty
acres of but little value, price paid $1600; $1150 cash, $450 in twelve
months. The buyer intends going into the dairy business; also fruit
and improved stock. Lands can be bought at from $2.00 to $10.00 per
acre, according to distance from railway, improvements, etc., and my
experience is a better profit can be made farming from an acre here
than from an acre in the Northern States, where their lands are valued
at from $50.00 to $75.00 per acre. Taxes are about fifty cents on
values of $100. Near rivers, ponds, etc., are subject to some fevers. I
have lived here for past twelve years; have not had case of fever among
my family or hands on the place.

We have no sand flies nor mosquitoes, except near ponds and water
courses there are mosquitoes. We are not subject to tornadoes or
cyclones as in some parts of the West. Our labor is mixed, mostly
negroes. Farm hands are paid from $8.00 to $12.00 per month and
rations. A ration consists of four pounds of bacon and one peck meal
for six day’s work. Where it is white labor they are boarded in the
family of the farmers. The negroes here are strong competitors in many
of the trades, especially carpenters, blacksmiths and painters; also
masons. Our climate is so mild that it is not necessary for comfort
for a house to be plastered or ceiled inside; very few farmers’ houses
are; neither is so expensive clothing required as in the North. On
the nights of the fifth and sixth instant we had very little ice on
shallow water on the ground; those were the coldest nights this winter.
I have seen snow a few times in last twelve years; have seen none this
winter. Ploughs can run all winter. A few peach trees are in bloom now
(February 14th). There are no government or State land to homestead or
for sale in this State, but plenty of lands for sale either unimproved
or improved. We cultivate too much land here; we should cultivate less
and work and fertilize better.

The people are anxious for Northern farmers to come and settle here
and will render home seekers any service in their power, furnish them
stock to ride or drive and take care of them whilst they are procuring
locations, etc. I would not advise anyone without some capital to come;
anyone coming should come with the expectation of working for himself
and not for others. I notice that the Big Four and St. Louis Railway
are selling round-trip tickets to points in Georgia, good for twenty
days, for one fare. These tickets are issued for March 8th and April
9th.




ITEMS ABOUT FARMS AND FARMERS


Small Farms In Florida.

It seems strange that farmers of the North will purchase land for
farming purposes at $100 or more per acre when in the South there is an
abundance of land at from $5 to $25 an acre, from which, acre for acre,
a larger revenue can be derived. Because of the variety of products
raised in the North no farm of less than forty acres is regarded as
sufficiently large to maintain a family.

The tendency in the North is towards larger farms, and many farmers are
not satisfied with a farm of less than 160 acres. Make the acreage only
forty, and the farm is worth $4000. On twenty acres of land in Florida
that can be bought at $25 per acre, one can get a larger annual return
in dollars than he can from the $4000 farm in the North.

This statement needs no proof. It is being demonstrated year by year
all over the State, and only needs to be understood by the great army
of home-seekers of the country to bring such an influx of them as
will make Florida one of the most populous portions of the country.
Thousands of people in the North want just such homes as are within
their reach here. They have not money enough to pay for a satisfactory
home at the high prices of the North, but they possess enough property
to be able to secure a good home in Florida. If they could only be
enlightened as to what awaits them here, they would come in force.--The
Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.


Improved Methods of the Southern Farmer.

The Savannah Morning News sees cause for favorable comment in the
improved methods of the Southern farmer. It says: “Contrasted with
the average Southern farm of fifteen years ago, the average Southern
farm of today presents a striking object lesson of the New South’s
progress. Plows, hoes and other agricultural implements are no longer
left in the fields, or without shelter in the barnyards, overnight,
or for weeks at a time, according to the whim of the user. Wagons and
carts are not left standing, covered with mud, at the most convenient
place to drop them. Harnesses are not thrown on a fence, or a peg, or
a hitching post, exposed to the weather, until wanted. These things
now have their orderly places under shelter and are properly looked
after. Rainy days are no longer spent in loafing about the kitchen, but
employer and hired man put in the time of the rainy day in the barn
mending harness, oiling machinery, tightening wagon bolts, etc.”

All of this goes to show thrift and economy, and partly explains why
many a Georgia farmer has surplus funds to loan at interest.


Condition of Georgia Farmers.

At a meeting of the Georgia State Agricultural Society, held at
Brunswick, Ga., February 14, Col. Waddell, the president of the
society, said, in an address:

“The condition of the farmers of Georgia is not really understood. The
view entertained by the optimist being too rosy, that of the pessimist
too depressing. They are nearer out of debt than they have ever been,
they have more home-raised supplies than for many years, and they
are managing their affairs with more judgment and prudence than ever
before. But they experienced the pinching scarcity of money, and some
of them are burdened with debts which would have been cancelled but
for the shrinkage in the value of their lands and the products of
their farms. You who are practical farmers know there is no money in
raising cotton at seven or eight cents a pound, and that our only hope
of success is in producing every possible article of necessity at home.
Fortunately, we are not dependent on the cotton crop, for in variety
and diversity of products, and in soil and climate, Georgia produces
unequalled advantages, and these advantages are being recognized and
utilized more and more every year.”


Texas Tobacco Growers Organize.

The tobacco growers have formed an association for mutual benefit
and for the promotion of this branch of crop cultivation. It is to
be called the Cigar Leaf Tobacco Growers’ Association, and intends
publishing a paper in the interests of Texas tobacco.

O. A. Smith, of Willis, is president; H. F. Malone, of Willis,
vice-president, and J. F. Irvine, secretary and treasurer. The
executive committee is composed of the following: Clark Arnold, of
Galveston; J. M. Buckley, of Willis; T. G. Wools, of Hondo; J. H.
Bruning, of Galveston; J. J. Strozier, of Willis; C. F. Rhode, of
Galveston; O. A. Smith, of Willis, and H. S. Elders, of Willis.

The by-laws of the National Tobacco Growers’ Association, as adopted at
Washington, are adopted by this association.


Profitable Rice Culture.

The New York Journal of Commerce, in an article on rice growing in
Southwestern Louisiana, says: A couple of years ago the crop was
excessive, but the last crop is well sold up, and there is little doubt
that the consumption of rice will vastly increase in this country.
Scientifically and practically it is one of the best of foods, and the
taste for it is growing. Portions of this section of Louisiana are
sufficiently watered by natural overflow, but a good deal of it is
artificially irrigated. Some of the farmers say that it is a little
more work to cultivate rice than wheat or corn, but most of them think
it is less; there is no great difference in the cost. The general
testimony is that it costs $5 or $6 an acre to cultivate it, exclusive
of irrigation, which, as already said, is not always necessary. A
dollar for seed, two for cultivation and two for harvesting is the
estimate of many farmers, though a few put the cost at a dollar or
two more, and some go as high as $10 or $12. Ten barrels in the rough
is regarded by many cultivators as a fair average crop, but yields of
twelve and fifteen barrels are common. The farmers generally get from
$2 to $3 a barrel, and sometimes a little more. A rice cultivator at
Lake Author, La., writes: “I can say honestly and positively that a man
can make a big fortune in four or five years raising rice.... I know a
number of farmers that have for the past three years averaged fifteen
barrels per acre, and their net average price per barrel for the three
years was $2.85.” These figures give gross receipts of $42.75 per acre.


Fruit Growing in Louisiana.

At the recent annual meeting of the Louisiana State Agricultural
Society, F. H. Burnette, the horticulturist of the State Experiment
Station at Baton Rouge, read an interesting paper upon Southern fruits.

Prof. Burnette has given much time to the development of the fruit
industry of Louisiana, experimenting upon the different varieties of
fruit indigenous to the climate, utilizing his knowledge of foreign
horticulturing and experimenting at the station. He gave a full report
of these experiments. The paper was of especial interest to small fruit
growers, dwelling upon the varieties of peach, pear and orange which
can be grown with success in Louisiana, and of the new variety of
Japanese and Chinese plums and persimmons which he has grown at Baton
Rouge with success.

At the same meeting Judge Lewis, of Opelousas, spoke of the cultivation
of figs as a marketable crop and one which has never failed of
producing remunerative results by close attention to the cultivation
of the trees. He also spoke of the preserves made in Opelousas of the
rind of the sour orange and also of figs, which are sold in the stores
of Opelousas. The fig tree is self-supporting, and as an orchard which
produces and supplies itself, being free from climatic influences.
He spoke at length upon the possibilities of canning the fruits of
Louisiana and shipping them to Northern markets.

       *       *       *       *       *

The farmers of Sumter county, Georgia, the county in which Americus
is located, are more and more abandoning the all cotton business and
turning to the growing of fruits.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. J. B. Dubose of Ridge Spring, Edgefield county, S. C., has
experimented with great success in the growing of celery. It is
claimed that the product of his farm is equal in every way to the best
Kalamazoo celery.

       *       *       *       *       *

The business of truck gardening around Weldon, N. C., has undergone
great development in the last year or two. To accommodate this growing
industry the Wilmington & Weldon railroad is putting in additional side
track facilities.

       *       *       *       *       *

The State of Georgia has one of the agricultural experiment stations
established by the United States Government, which has been in
existence about four years. Its purpose is to aid the farmers of the
State by experiments in the preparation, fertilization and cultivation
of the soil, etc. It is maintained by an annual appropriation of
$15,000 by the United States government. The property used for the
purposes of the station belongs to the State. This property consists of
130 acres of land with buildings, including dairy, ginnery, greenhouse,
tobacco barn, laboratory, etc.

A bulletin of results is published once a quarter and is sent free to
any citizen of Georgia engaged in any branch of farming. The station is
located at Experiment, near Griffin. Its organization is as follows: R.
J. Redding, director; H. C. White, Ph. D., vice-director and chemist;
H. N. Starnes, horticulturist; James M. Kimbrough, Agriculturist; H. J.
Wing, dairyman.

       *       *       *       *       *

A number of Germans living near Axtell, Texas, have recently engaged
in the apiary business with much success. Mr. L. J. Miller who lives
in that neighborhood produced 1187 pounds of honey last year, and 165
pounds of beeswax. The honey brought twelve and a half cents and the
wax seventeen and a half cents.

       *       *       *       *       *

A recent bulletin issued from the Texas Experimental Station gives some
interesting comparisons of the four leading crops in the State. The
cotton crop of Texas covers 4,520,310 acres, and is worth $69,439,476;
the corn crop covers 3,166,353 acres and is worth $28,429,125; the
wheat crop covers 442,337 acres and is worth $5,244,303; the sweet
potato crop covers 29,928 acres and is worth $1,503,764. According
to the above statistics the value of each crop per acre is: Cotton,
$15.36; corn, $8.94; wheat, $11.88; sweet potatoes, $50.24. The cost of
growing an acre of either is not materially different. Here is a big
difference in favor of sweet potatoes.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Jere Mabry, of Belton, Texas, reports as the result of his work
for 1893, on a rented farm of eighty acres, cash receipts aggregating
$1,974.91. Besides what he sold he raised, for the most part his food
supplies. His total cash expenses were $506.85, leaving $964.06 as the
net cash profit of the year’s work.

       *       *       *       *       *

An intelligent farmer of Rowan county, N. C., said the other day: “The
farmers in my county were never better off. They have plenty of corn,
wheat, meat and other produce, and many of them have a bale or so of
cotton stored away. There is no necessity for the cry of hard times
among the farmers of Rowan. True, they have little money, but they do
not need it, they have all at home that they can consume. Why, many of
the farmers are raising everything they need on the farm. I know of men
who now have plenty of meat who a few years ago did not raise a hog, so
you see they are growing wiser and are prospering as all good farmers
should. True, a few of Rowan’s farms are mortgaged and badly in debt,
but they are generally of that sort that lounge around town in idleness
the greater portion of the time and let their crops go, trusting to a
mortgage for the next year.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The “Southern Pines Orchard Co.” purchased in 1890 1200 acres of wooded
land near Southern Pines, and 360 acres of this has been cleared and
planted as follows: 51,000 peach trees, 5000 pears, 1000 plums, 16,000
blackberry. In that section the peach crop never fails. Last year
the new trees bore a few peaches and this year they are expected to
bear freely. The president of the company is Mr. J. Van Lindley, of
Greensboro, N. C., who is also proprietor of the Pomona Nurseries at
Greensboro.

       *       *       *       *       *

During the last few weeks there has been much activity among the
farmers in the vicinity of Oglethorpe, Ga., and from all parts of the
county as well. The time has again rolled round when they must plant
their crops, and right energetically are they going at this duty. Not
near so much fertilizer is being used as in previous years, and the
farmers of Macon county, Ga., are reported by the Macon News to be
in better condition than in a long time. Nearly all have more than a
sufficiency of home-raised meat to supply them during the year. Few
complaints are heard of hard times.

       *       *       *       *       *

Some advanced tobacco growers in Texas have been experimenting with the
object of growing a fine quality of Cuban cigar leaf, and the results,
it is said, have been entirely satisfactory. The reports from Brazos,
Paris, Calhoun, Nueces, Liberty, Grimes, Walker, Montgomery and other
counties show that a very fine quality of Cuban tobacco can be grown in
Southern and Southeastern Texas.

       *       *       *       *       *

The rice acreage in Orange county, Texas, will be materially increased
this year, and there will be almost a corresponding increase in fruit
farming, for which that section is eminently adapted.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. G. W. Duncan, of Greenville, Ala., has fattened thirty-nine hogs
this season on twenty acres of ground peas, and says there are enough
peas in the ground now to fatten as many more hogs and to keep them fat
for a month yet.




FRUIT-GROWING POSSIBILITIES OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SEABOARD.

_By Clark Bell._


I am asked to contribute a paper to the SOUTHERN STATES, giving my
impressions of my first trip South. I will reply as I have done to
my friend Mr. Clark Howell, of Atlanta, Ga., for the columns of his
paper, from the stand-point of a business man and farmer, and not in
my relation to the party who recently visited the seaboard States,
composed in the main of medical editors, their wives and friends.

Too much praise cannot be awarded Dr. W. C. Wile, of Danbury, Conn.,
for promoting and organizing the party of Northern medical editors and
their friends, thus bringing to their attention the unusual advantages
of the Piedmont section of the Southern seaboard States to Northern
emigration.

These distinguished gentlemen will shortly communicate their views
through their respective journals, but what I shall say now will be
quite free from all professional considerations.

Either North Carolina or Georgia must be regarded as the paradise
of the fruit grower. I have had a large experience in vine growing
and wine making in Western New York, having planted one of the first
vineyards on the shores of Lake Keuka, and being one of the promoters
of the Urbana Wine Co., and I am familiar in a practical way with that
most remunerative culture of the black raspberry, in Yates county, New
York, which furnishes the evaporated dried fruit so much now in demand,
and may fairly be classed as one qualified to speak, in a practical
way, as to the general features of fruit growing. The wine-growing
industry, yet in its infancy in North Carolina, has gone far enough
to demonstrate an assured success in a lucrative way, to those who
carry on its productions on business methods. The experiments made at
Southern Pines, N. C., have gone far enough to leave no manner of doubt
of splendid results in the near future.

The difficulty with which the Northern grower has to contend are the
high price of land and labor and the early frost. Labor in both Georgia
and North Carolina is abundant and cheap. Eight dollars per month will
cover the wages of men with rations, which can be computed at $2.50
per month. Frost is quite out of the question. The cost of land in
desirable locations is as low as $3 to $10 per acre, and if unimproved
land is taken a net of $10 would be ample to put good land ready to
plant the vine. The plow can run in both the States every month in the
year.

By way of Norfolk, the markets of New York and Philadelphia are as
accessible to the fruit growers of these States as to Western New York,
in both time and rate. North Carolina seems to have been chary of the
immigration of foreigners. Of that great flood of European blood that
has for the past twenty-five years poured into the ports of New York,
neither North Carolina nor Georgia has received anything worth naming.
It has swept like an enormous wave over the West, but not on the South
Atlantic seaboard. You would secure those who are desirable and by
proper work could do so.

The citizens of Northern States do not correctly understand your
section. They should visit and carefully look into the capacities
of your States. Nothing dispels illusions like contact and personal
examination. The North is full of active, energetic, industrious men
inured to labor, who do not know what advantages you offer or they
would flood into and buy up your unoccupied lands and form a splendid
factor in the New South now forming. Would the Northern settlers be
hospitably received? At the North this would be a controlling question.
General Manager Winder, of the Seaboard Air Line, assures me that in
his State the Northern settler would be most welcome. Ex-Governor
Jarvis, of North Carolina, in a recent conversation, assured me that
the Southern welcome would be whole-souled, full and free from the
slightest danger of interference. I have equally high authority in
Georgia of a similar state of public sentiment. Northern settlers
would, strange as it may sound to you, need to be assured in these
respects.

The present depressed state of financial affairs is not against such an
immigration now. Your splendid railways should give especial facilities
in reduced freights to actual settlers. Austin Corbin, one of our
greatest railroad workers, transports free over his railways every
pound of material an actual settler puts on his land in improvements.
I would advocate free transportation of the household goods of every
actual Northern settler by your great railway lines.

I do not dare to state what I think of the future of North Carolina
and Georgia within the next fifty years. Yes, twenty-five years. No
Georgian or Carolinian would believe as much as I see coming in the
next generation. With a climate that not only rivals, but excels
that of Italy, I say to Georgians and North Carolinians if you will
yourselves open to Northern eyes the enormous advantages of your grand
States, you will witness a spectacle within the next thirty years as
marvelous as that we saw in Atlanta, where a magnificent city has
arisen, phœnix-like, from the ashes made by Sherman’s army. And the new
States of Georgia and North Carolina will come into a new and grander
life, which will be as much a wonder to the next generation as Atlanta
is to this.




THE SOUTHERN STATES.

                                  THE
                           SOUTHERN STATES.

                    AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE
                         DEVOTED TO THE SOUTH.

                           Published by the
                 Manufacturers’ Record Publishing Co.
                    Manufacturers’ Record Building,
                            BALTIMORE, MD.

             SUBSCRIPTION: $1.50 a Year; $1 for Six Months

                          WILLIAM H. EDMONDS,
                          Editor and Manager.

                        BALTIMORE, MARCH, 1894.


The SOUTHERN STATES is an exponent of the Immigration and Real Estate
Interests and general advancement of the South, and a journal of
accurate and comprehensive information about Southern resources and
progress.

Its purpose is to set forth accurately and conservatively from month to
month the reasons why the South is, for the farmer, the settler, the
home seeker, the investor, incomparably the most attractive section of
this country.


An Opportunity for Capital.

In the general discussion of the various agencies to be depended on to
bring about an enlarged and accelerated Southern immigration movement,
there seems to have been little thought given to private enterprises as
one of them.

A great deal has been said about the duty and self interest of
railroads in the matter, and much has been spoken and written in
advocacy of aggressive measures on the part of the States. It is quite
true that the railroads should pursue the most liberal policy in
fostering and developing immigration. Every farmer who settles in the
territory of any road becomes a permanent producer of traffic for that
road, and whether the railroad company be the owner of lands or not,
the most profitable expenditures it can make are such as will help to
populate and build up the country tributary to its lines. It is also
true that every Southern State should have an immigration department
or bureau, conducted not by small politicians, but by the most capable
men to be had, and not supported by niggardly appropriations, but amply
supplied with sufficient money to make possible the most progressive
and comprehensive methods.

But, unfortunately, the ideal is not going to be reached as to either
the railroads or the States. Both will in the aggregate come very far
short of what ought to be done, and this will be more pronouncedly and
lamentably true of the State governments.

Outside of these agencies, then, how is the cause of immigration to be
advanced? The question and the conditions giving rise to it suggest
an opportunity for capital and enterprise. In almost any part of the
South very large areas of land may be gotten together at very low
prices. With money enough to buy and properly develop farm lands, and
with judicious management, there is hardly any limit to the profitable
business that could be done by immigration or colonization companies.
For example, a company that could buy say 10,000 to 20,000 or more
acres of land in a body, or make up this acreage by consolidating a
number of farms bought from different owners, and then divide this up
into small farms of twenty, forty, eighty or more acres, construct
roads throughout the entire area, drain the whole of it, put it all in
the best shape for the most advanced farming or gardening operations,
building houses, &c., and then direct themselves to the work of
colonizing it or selling to individual settlers, such a company, with
sufficient capital and properly managed, could quickly settle up almost
any area of land and make enormous profits for its stockholders.
Besides the tracts sold as small farms, there would necessarily be one
or more centrally located village sites which would become immediately
valuable as town property. There is nothing easier than getting
Northern farmers to go South. The conditions of farming and of life at
the South are so incomparably superior to those at the North that they
need only to be pressed upon the attention of Northern farmers to be
availed of. In its millions of acres of cheap lands the South has the
advantage of an entirely new and undeveloped country, and has with this
all the advantages and comforts and attractions of an established and
advanced civilization. The South is in the main more healthful than any
other part of the United States, its range of farm and garden products
is greater, it offers better opportunities for profitable agriculture,
and it is in all respects a section where life can be lived in greater
comfort than at the North. Convinced of these facts, hundreds of
thousands of substantial and well-to-do farmers in other parts of the
country would quickly move to the South. In fact, there is even now,
all over the North and Northwest a disposition to go South. As was
stated in a letter published in the January number of the SOUTHERN
STATES, “there are thousands who would move South if somebody would
start the ball rolling.” These are the conditions. Properly utilized,
they can be made to furnish a wide and rich field for some of the
millions now lying idle and non-productive in the financial centres.


The Virginia Legislature and Immigration.

The legislature of Virginia, in its very proper and commendable desire
to promote immigration to the State, is discussing the enactment of
some extraordinary legislation. A bill now before the senate provides
for the appointment of a commissioner of immigration, who shall keep
on file in his office a description of any lands submitted to him by
any owner or real-estate agent, and shall receive a commission of
not more than 5 per cent. upon the sale of any such lands in lieu of
salary. Evidently, to the mind of the author of this bill, the benefits
of an increase in the population of the State terminate with the sale
of lands, and are confined to owners of such lands. The narrowness of
a measure that would impose upon any one class of people the expense
of an immigration department is manifest. The innumerable and widely
ramifying benefits resulting from judicious immigration effort are
shared by everybody, and the expense should be borne by everybody.

Aside from this inequity, there are many objections to the plan of
giving the proposed commissioner an interest in the sale of lands. As
an officer of the State he should be free from any possibility of bias
as to any part of the State or any specific properties.

Let a commissioner of immigration be appointed by all means, and let
an adequate fund be set apart for the expenses of his department, but
let this come out of the receipts from taxes, and thus be equitably
apportioned among all classes.


Florida’s Obligation to Mr. Disston.

To say that no other State owes as much to any one man as Florida owes
to Hamilton Disston, of Philadelphia, is a comprehensive statement, but
it is probably true. About fifteen years ago some Northern capitalists
were induced to consider the idea of building railroads in Florida.
It was found on investigation that the State could not grant any of
its lands to railroad companies, since all the lands of the State were
covered by a general mortgage which had been made to secure the State
bonds. Without this inducement nobody was willing to put a dollar into
railroad building in Florida, for the reason that the early returns
from traffic could not be expected to be such as would justify it. In
this emergency Mr. Disston came to the rescue of the State. He bought
4,000,000 acres of Florida land, paying for it enough to discharge the
entire State debt, thereby releasing the lands owned by the State,
and placing it in a position to make grants to railroads. Immediately
following this, contracts were made with New York capitalists,
and Florida entered upon an era of railroad building and general
development.

Of course it is beyond question that the enormous resources and
capabilities of Florida would in time have brought railroads, with the
development that accompanies them, but it is also true that but for
this timely intervention and help from Mr. Disston, the beginning of
this period of growth and prosperity would have been delayed, possibly
many years.

Following this timely succor, Mr. Disston has now put the State under
further obligation to him for one of the most stupendous and one of the
most successful works of general improvement ever undertaken in this
country. As was briefly told in the February number of the SOUTHERN
STATES, he has reclaimed for the State many millions of acres of land
that but for his enterprise would have been permanently a waste. True,
he has himself reaped large rewards, as it is proper that he should
have done, but this does not lessen the benefits the State receives,
and moreover, the risk has been all his own, since the only return
the State was to make to him for the millions of dollars spent in his
drainage works was a share of the lands reclaimed from overflow.

The value of the services that Mr. Disston has rendered Florida are
beyond estimate.


How to Do It.

The News, of Birmingham, Ala., very correctly maintains that reduced
railroad rates will not accomplish much in the way of inducing
immigration, unless the measure be accompanied by liberal advertising.
The News says:

    Ten good settlers can be brought down from the effects of good
    advertising, without any half rates, where one can be brought
    down from the mere effects of half rates, and as a rule those
    who come solely on account of low rates never become settlers,
    but combined, the two do good service, reaching the better
    class.

The SOUTHERN STATES is the channel through which to reach the attention
of the North and Northwest. It is the only Southern immigration
journal; the only publication that can be looked to for information
about the soil, climate, agricultural capabilities, etc., of the whole
South. It is alone in this field. There has never been a time when
there was such eagerness for facts about the South. From New England,
the Middle States, the West, and notably from the Northwest, requests
for sample copies and letters of inquiry about the South are pouring in
upon us.

Advertisements in the SOUTHERN STATES will be read every month by many
thousands of people all over the North and Northwest, who are eagerly
seeking such information as will enable them to determine what part of
the South is most likely to suit them.


No Such Danger.

The Boston Herald, in an editorial on the work of the SOUTHERN STATES,
says: “The reports are extremely favorable in regard to richness
and variety of crops, and the chief danger seems to be that the
speculators in Southern lands, as well as many of the railroads, hold
their lands at such prices as to dissuade the poorer but industrious
class of immigrants from taking them up.” The danger apprehended by
the Herald does not at all exist. There are many millions of acres of
the best land in the South that can be had for prices that are merely
nominal. The trouble is not that there is any fault to be found with
the land, but there are not people enough in the South to cultivate
more than a small part of the land, and the surplus is, therefore, in
a sense valueless, no matter how rich and productive it may be. There
are a good many millions of acres of railroad land, and in some of
the States State land, that can be had for such prices and upon such
terms as nobody can find fault with. And as to the private holdings of
individuals, there is too much land in every part of the South unused,
and therefore too many owners anxious to sell a part of what they own,
to make possible any speculative putting up of prices.


How to Reach Prospective Immigrants.

    That North Carolina needs immigrants of the right kind is too
    universally admitted to call for proof; and that all efforts
    heretofore made in this direction have been practically
    a failure seems also clear. It seems equally clear that
    circulars, handbooks and the State press fail of their purpose
    in this respect, because they never reach the class we desire
    to influence.--The Gazette, Washington, N. C.

The Gazette is right. Many thousands of dollars are wasted in printing
books and pamphlets that nobody ever reads. There is a way, however, to
reach the class it is desired to influence. It can be done through the
SOUTHERN STATES. The SOUTHERN STATES is a journal of information about
the South. It is engaged in the work of making known the resources in
soil, climate and agricultural capabilities, of the Southern States.
And such is the desire for accurate and comprehensive information about
this section that although the magazine has been in existence only
a year it goes into every part of New England, the Middle States,
the West and the Northwest, and is read by thousands of farmers and
business men who are seeking to inform themselves as to the most
attractive localities in the South.

The SOUTHERN STATES furnishes a channel through which to reach
effectively the class of possible immigrants needed in the South.


Work of Southern Railroads in Promoting Immigration.

In the general and very proper demand for railroad aid to the cause
of Southern immigration, it should not be forgotten that many of the
Southern roads have been for years giving conspicuous and liberal
attention to this work. Through the efforts of such roads, for
example, as the Mobile & Ohio, the Illinois Central, the Baltimore &
Ohio, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, the Missouri, Kansas &
Texas, the St. Louis Southwestern and others, hundreds of thousands
of substantial farmers, artisans and business men have been induced
to move to the South, and all of those roads are constantly enlarging
their immigration work. A notable instance of broad and progressive
management in furtherance of immigration is furnished by the Georgia
Southern & Florida road, whose methods were made the subject of an
article published in the January number of the SOUTHERN STATES.

Other Southern roads are becoming roused on this subject. The Seaboard
Air Line system, which has a management as progressive and liberal as
any road in the country, is preparing to inaugurate a comprehensive
immigration policy, and the Richmond & Danville road is also adopting
measures to induce Northern farmers to settle along its lines. The
Louisville & Nashville and the Central Railroad of Georgia systems are
also taking advanced steps in the same direction.

       *       *       *       *       *

The introduction of artesian water in some of the Southern towns,
notably Albany and Brunswick, Ga., has revolutionized the health of
those places; the two localities named, which were formerly noted for
the prevalence of malarial and other disorders, being now equally noted
as health resorts. The last Georgia town to enter the artesian well
procession is Quitman, Ga. The April number of the SOUTHERN STATES will
contain an exhaustive article by Mr. James R. Randall, on drinking
water. Mr. Randall has for many years been making investigations on
this subject, and his article will be a revelation, not only to the
general public, but to most physicians and hygienists as well.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Augusta Chronicle, quoting the sage remark of a man who had amassed
much wealth, who when asked how he had made his money, said that he
always bought when everybody wanted to sell, and sold when everybody
wanted to buy, urges that the present is the time for people with money
to make investments. Prices of every sort have reached a minimum, and
in view of the assured early reaction and the inevitable rebound to
very high prices that will follow the long term of depression, this
would seem to be as the Chronicle suggests, the time to buy things.

       *       *       *       *       *

No sooner is Atlanta well under way with its great International
Exposition project for 1895 than Macon comes to the front with an
exposition enterprise of its own. A movement has been started to hold
an exposition in the fall of 1894. These Georgia towns are great
hustlers.

       *       *       *       *       *

In Mr. Clark Bell’s article, published elsewhere, there is this
statement:

    “Austin Corbin, one of our greatest railroad workers,
    transports free over his railways every pound of material
    an actual settler puts on his land in improvements. I would
    advocate free transportation of the household goods of every
    actual Northern settler by your great railway lines.”

This is commended to the attention of Southern railroad managers.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Legislature of Virginia seems to have some spite against real
estate agents. Not satisfied with the present burdensome and wholly
unjust tax imposed upon real estate dealers in the State, it is
proposed now to make the real estate agents bear the expense of a State
immigration commission.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. John T. Patrick, of Southern Pines, N. C., secretary of the
Southern Bureau of Information, deserves much commendation for his
enterprise and public spirit in having arranged for an excursion
through the South of the editors of a number of leading Northern
medical journals. This undertaking of Mr. Patrick’s is in furtherance
of an effort to correct the impression that still exists in the minds
of a great many Northern people that the South is an unhealthful
section.

       *       *       *       *       *

At the last meeting of the Commercial & Industrial association, of
Montgomery, Ala., the president said in his monthly report: “The
association should advertise the city and hold forth its advantages in
every way possible which will attract capital and cause enterprising
citizens to locate here. A new era of growth and enterprise will come
apace and Montgomery should be prepared to reap the rewards that
flow from it.” This admonishment may be heeded with profit by every
community in the South.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Clark Bell, the writer of the article on the fruit growing
possibilities of the South Atlantic seaboard, is a New York lawyer,
and editor of the Medico-Legal journal of New York. He has had a quite
extensive practical experience in fruit growing, and his judgment as to
the capabilities of the South for this branch of agriculture is that of
a competent expert. Mr. Bell was one of the party of editors of medical
journals who recently made a tour of the South Atlantic States under
the auspices of the Southern Bureau of Information, located at Southern
Pines, N. C.

       *       *       *       *       *

It seems incomprehensible to a Southern man that there should be any
doubt in the minds of Northern people as to whether Northern settlers
will be well received in the South or not. Mr. Clark Bell, in an
article in this number, says: “Northern settlers would, strange as it
may sound to you, need to be assured in these respects,” and he thinks
it necessary to quote the assurances on this point that he had from
distinguished Southern gentlemen. Not only will Northern farmers and
business men be well received in the South, but they will find awaiting
them a most eager welcome. The newspaper utterances all over the South,
the statements of public men, the personal letters to the newspapers
from farmers and merchants, the actions of commercial bodies, indicate
not only a welcome to the Northern settler, but a keen appreciation of
the value to the South of immigration from the North, and a most eager
desire for this immigration. No Northern man, who is respectable enough
to have standing in his own community at home, need have any fear but
that he will find in the South the utmost consideration and good will.

       *       *       *       *       *

The superior train service on the Chesapeake & Ohio is well known to
all patrons of that system. During the month of January train No. 1
made the run between Washington, D. C., and Cincinnati, twenty-nine
days, exactly on time, and on the other two days lost but twenty
minutes. Train No. 2 made every trip between the cities on time, and
the “Fast Flying Virginian,” one of the finest express trains in the
country, reached Cincinnati thirty out of thirty-one trips on time,
although it was an hour late out of Washington on seven trips, caused
by waiting for connections. This is a month’s record that the operating
department can be proud of.




Immigration News.


The Yazoo Delta.

The assistant land commissioner of the Illinois Central Railroad, Major
G. W. McGinnis, in a recent interview on the subject of immigration to
the Yazoo Delta, spoke as follows:

“I believe that the time has now come for the introduction of white
labor. Our road, besides having agents all over the Northwest, have men
in Germany and also in Holland, gathering families together to settle
up our land. There are many residents of Dakota and other Northwestern
States who want a milder and a better climate, with a soil more fertile
than that of the Northwest. All these advantages are possessed by the
Delta.

“The greatest interest is manifested in the movement. Scarcely a day
passes but what we receive from fifty to seventy-five letters of
inquiry.

“The colonists who have already taken advantage of our offers and
settled along the Delta, are making money hand over fist. They are
raising cotton, corn, vegetables, stock and fruit. The largest peaches
I ever saw in my life came from the Delta.

“When our work is done we will see every man his own landlord, and by
the way, these foreigners are apt to steer clear of that condition, so
prevalent in the South, of being land poor. They want no more land than
they can cultivate with the aid of their families, say forty acres. In
fact, some of them buy no more than twenty. They make up the greatest
population for agricultural districts possible to imagine. They have
made the Northwest what it is.

“When the movement is once fairly started there will be no stopping the
rush of immigration. Northern people all move in bodies. When one comes
all come.”


Alabama Farmers Invite Settlers From the North.

The following resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the State
Agricultural Society of Alabama, held at Birmingham, February 23:

_Resolved_, By the State Agricultural Society of Alabama, that we
invite to Alabama all honest and industrious farmers that should be
desirous of changing their home, and extend to them a cordial welcome,
assuring them that the right hand of fellowship will be extended to
them, and that feeling that is always accorded one good citizen from
another will be extended to them by the farmers of the State.

_Resolved_ (2), That we will cordially indorse and sustain our
honorable commissioner of agriculture and his excellency, the governor
of Alabama, in a vigorous and continuous effort for immigration made
through the Department of Agriculture under existing law. At the same
meeting, Mr. Chappell Cory, editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald, read
by invitation a paper in advocacy of efforts to induce immigration from
the North.


The Railroads and Immigration.

The organization of land companies for the purpose of inducing
immigration to West Tennessee is most commendable, especially when
these companies are conducted upon the plan of that one which proposes
to open up the territory along the line of the Paducah, Tennessee &
Alabama railroad. The capital of the company is very small, and there
is little profit in the enterprise for those who have formed the
company. They intend merely to direct the attention of immigrants to
the advantages which this heaven-blest region holds for the thrifty
and hard-working farmer. The road is a new one, but it runs through a
most fertile region, especially adapted to small farming. The Illinois
Central railroad has done much to attract settlers to Mississippi, and
every railroad in this section should be equally alert. It was the
railroad agent who made States out of Territories in the Northwest,
and it is a most assuring sign that he is now taking hold of the
Southern country. The railroad company is the best of all immigration
or colonization societies. It can accomplish more at less expense
than any other. The example set, therefore, by the officials of the
Paducah, Tennessee & Alabama, is commendable in the highest degree. The
prosperity of a railroad depends upon the population of the country
through which it runs, and the more rapidly the country is built up the
sooner will the stockholders realize upon their investment. The public
has a profound interest in such enterprises. The Appeal-Avalanche has
no support to give to purely speculative and boom schemes, but it is
in favor of all enterprises the object of which is to put forward the
advantages of soil, climate and distributing facilities which Tennessee
and other Southern States enjoy to such an exceptional degree.--Memphis
Appeal-Avalanche.


The Louisville & Nashville is Pushing Immigration Work.

Col. C. P. Atmore, the general passenger agent of the Louisville &
Nashville railroad, is pushing the matter of immigration to the South
with great vigor. When approached on the subject recently he said that
the Louisville & Nashville road had several agents in the Northwest and
in Europe, who were sending families down rapidly. It is the intention
of the road to put between 200 and 300 families on its line between
Paris and Memphis.

The Louisville & Nashville is now running home-seekers’ excursions
from points at a rate of one fare for the round trip, with a view to
encouraging the movement. It owns many thousand acres of land between
New Orleans and Flomaton, Ala., and also between Pensacola and River
Junction.

On the Nashville, Sheffield and Florence branch of the line in question
there is a Norwegian colony of about 200 families. This colony has done
remarkably well, and the road is much pleased with its venture.


The Texas Coast Section Filling Up.

At Velasco, Texas, recently several carloads of fine draft stock
belonging to newly arrived farmers from Nebraska were received, and the
next day several carloads of household goods for another colony from
Kansas, who had bought farms in Brazoria county, were unloading. M. M.
Miller, of the Velasco National Bank, and others have received letters
from parties who are coming with families and stock from both of these
States and from New Mexico, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.

At the present rate Brazoria county’s population, it is said, will
be doubled by the end of the present year; at least 90 per cent. of
increase began coming in less than two years ago.


Colonization Plans for Florida.

Mr. O. J. Johnson, excursion, land and colonization agent, of
Minneapolis, has been prospecting in Florida for a site for settling
immigrants from the North and Northwest.

Mr. Johnson will take a good many hundred people South, he says, if
he has the right encouragement. He was the immigration agent of the
Northern Pacific railroad for nine years.

Four business men of Minneapolis are interested with Mr. Johnson. They
are Mr. N. C. Westerfield, Dr. William E. Wheelock, Messrs. P. S. McKay
and C. E. Channel. Their idea is to purchase a tract of land of from
10,000 acres upward, divide it into smaller farms and lots and then
sell these lots to such settlers as they want.

“I’ve had a deal of experience in this line,” said Mr. Johnson, “and
know what is to be done. I am well satisfied with Florida’s climate and
attractions, and know that we can settle many hundreds of good people.
We have a large number of inquiries already, and I am satisfied we can
place all the people we want to handle. The farmers of Dakota and other
points in the Northwest are dissatisfied, and hundreds and hundreds of
them will come the moment they are assured that this State promises
them a fair living with the work they have to devote now to a mere
existence.”


A Fruit-Growing Association to Locate in Texas.

Officers of the Rock Island Fruit Growers’ and Improvement Association
are in Texas inspecting lands. It is the purpose of the association to
acquire a large tract of land in the Gulf coast region of Texas, in
the centre of which to lay out a town site, giving to each member of
the association a town lot. A maximum and minimum ownership of land is
restricted by the by-laws of the association. Reservations are made for
school, church, town hall, park and cemetery purposes. No lands can be
held in unimproved state for speculation; a certain portion of each
owner’s land must be improved during the first year by planting fruit,
vegetables or other horticultural products, and at least two acres
additional each succeeding year until each owner’s lands are under
cultivation. When the products are ready to ship the shipments will be
made in car lots to the most advantageous markets of the country.

The association expects to number 100 families, composed of persons
who will go into the Texas coast region and make their homes, their
previous occupations having been fruit growers, gardeners, mechanics
from the government works on the island of Rock Island, clerks,
artisans, etc. While their fruit trees are developing the members of
the association will raise garden truck for shipment. The officers of
the association propose visiting the most advantageous sections of
the Gulf coast, from Houston to Corpus Christi, and will devote about
four weeks time to that purpose. The originator of the enterprise is
Mr. I. E. Whistler, whose attention was directed to Texas as a fruit
growing country by seeing and testing some fine specimens of peaches
shipped from Tyler, Texas, last June to New York City, which rivaled
the best California peaches in size, and far surpassed them in flavor.
The officers of the association making this tour are I. E. Whistler,
president; J. O. Logan, vice-president, and W. E. Hilton, trustee.


The Great Work of the Mobile & Ohio.

Although the Mobile & Ohio Railroad only traverses a few miles
of Alabama, yet it has done probably more in the way of inducing
immigration to the State since 1890 than any other line, through
extensive advertising, combined with excellent folders and maps, which
have been extensively distributed through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, etc. They also pursue the
same liberal policy with local land agents and all engaged in promoting
immigration along their road, distributing their advertising matter,
and granting to them courtesies which are necessary to insure local
parties to endeavor to give them the benefit of their work in securing
immigrants. Alabama wants 10,000 families from the North to settle
within her borders in the next twelve months, and only by hard combined
work of the people and railways can it be accomplished, and now is the
time to organize and keep the ball rolling. Let us get a move on us in
this matter, and we can accomplish our object.--The News, Birmingham,
Ala.


Farmers to Organise an Immigration Society.

The farmers around Augusta, Ga., are becoming interested in a proposed
plan to organize an immigration society, and many have expressed a
desire to take an active part in perfecting a permanent organization
of that kind.

A prominent merchant farmer from Wilkes county stated recently that the
people of his section of the country were very much enthused over the
organization of an immigration society in Augusta.

“You would be greatly surprised,” he said, “to know how many of our
merchants and planters have taken up the idea, and how anxious they
are to see such an organization established at Augusta. Our people are
willing to help in every way possible, for they realize that they are
to reap the benefits, and consequently are desirous of sharing the
labors.

“You see, the farmers are generally land poor throughout the entire
country, and what they want to do is to get some one who will work, and
take some of it off their hands.”


Immigration Bill Before the Virginia Legislature.

The legislature of Virginia is trying to devise some method to promote
immigration to the State. A bill has been introduced in the Senate,
creating the office of Commissioner of Immigration of Virginia, and
providing for the election of such an officer, who shall properly
advertise the advantages of the State and shall, at the request of any
real estate agent or owner of land, keep on file a list of lands for
sale and shall refer all contemplating purchasers impartially to the
various sections of the State, according to their requirements.

It is provided that the commissioner shall receive a commission of
not more than 5 per cent. upon the sale of any lands sold through his
department. Any owner of land situate in Virginia shall have the right
to list for sale the same with the Commissioner of Immigration, who
shall advertise, without cost to the owner, the fact that such lands
are offered for sale.

The bill concludes by providing that the expenses attached to such
an office shall be paid out of the fund arising from the tax on
manufacturers of fertilizers.

       *       *       *       *       *

Colonel E. S. Jemison, president; M. G. Howe, general manager; Major
Tom Cronin, superintendent, and General John M. Claiborne, immigration
agent of the Houston East and West Texas railway, are trying to
interest the people along their line in some plan whereby immigration
can be brought to that section of the State.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. J. T. Merry, of Harlem county, Nebraska, writes from Velasco,
Texas, to his home paper as follows:

“Here we are in Velasco, Texas, the land of sunshine and flowers.
Surely this is destined to be a large city; within three miles of the
mouth of the Brazos river, and a large, deep harbor, where ships come
and go at pleasure, and load right here in this city heavier than
at any point on the Gulf coast. Of course the country is new, but
vegetables and fruit trees of all kinds are growing nicely. Good fruit
and vegetable land can be bought from $4 to $12 per acre. The country
all around, except on the Gulf side, is a gentle undulated plain, which
is being settled with people from the Northern part of the State and
from the Dakotas and Nebraska in the main, and Iowa, though some are
from Missouri and other points.”

       *       *       *       *       *

A Swedish gentleman who has had considerable experience in establishing
colonies of his countrymen in the United States, has been conferring
with Mr. John M. Lee, of Shreveport, La., representing the land
department of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Co., and
looking over the ground, and says he can locate several hundred
families if the conditions are favorable.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. W. E. Pabor, founder of the Pabor Lake colony, near Fort Meade,
Fla., has recently been visiting his old home, Denver, Col., and has
induced a number of families to move to Florida.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is more land open to settlement in Arkansas than there was in the
Cherokee Strip. The Little Rock Democrat wisely says: “Counting all
kinds of our public lands in Arkansas, government, State and railroad,
we have nearly 7,000,000 acres. If we could divide these lands into
homestead tracts, advertise them extensively and donate them at stated
periods to actual settlers, what an impetus would be given to the
State. What the State needs is not money for her lands, but active
and enterprising home builders, who would become wealth producers
and tax builders. A liberal land policy on the part of the State and
the railroads would soon result in a vast increase in our wealth and
population.”

       *       *       *       *       *

One of the largest excursion parties of land-seekers that ever went
South over the Mobile & Ohio railroad arrived at Mobile lately in
charge of Mr. F. W. Greene, general agent of the Mobile & Ohio
railroad, at St. Louis. The party consisted of all classes of
home-seekers and investors, who have become interested in that section
of country through the efforts of the passenger department of the
Mobile & Ohio railroad. Over 200 people made up the excursion, some
stopping off at places in Mississippi and Alabama. They went from
Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio.

       *       *       *       *       *

Further developments regarding the steamship line to be established
between Galveston and Denmark indicate that it will be of great
importance to the Southwest. It is intended to use the vessels in
transporting immigrants from Norway, Sweden and Northern Europe direct
to Texas and the West by way of Galveston. Heretofore these passengers
have been sent to New York, and from that point reached their future
home by rail. The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce has become interested
in the project and heartily approves it. Vice-Consul Thygge Sogart, of
Denmark, now located in Kansas City, is a promoter of the line.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Hamilton Disston says that Mr. Schulzen, a prominent Scandinavian,
will establish a Scandinavian colony near Kissimmee. Mr. Disston met
Mr. Schulzen at the Columbian Exposition, and impressed him with the
fertility of the soil of Southern Florida, and advised him to try it.
This he did, and became so satisfied with the prolific growth of sugar
and peaches that arrangements have been made to settle Scandinavians on
the South Florida railway, between Runnymede and Kissimmee, at once.
Mr. Schulzen’s father and brother are now North disposing of their
farms preparatory to settling in Florida.

       *       *       *       *       *

The last monthly report of the president of the Commercial Industrial
Association, of Montgomery, Ala., contained this paragraph:

“There is now a general interest in the subject of immigration to the
South. The marked falling off in railroad earnings, with prospects for
continued small returns, has aroused the great lines in the South to
the necessity of making well directed efforts to induce Northern and
Western people to visit the South and invest along the various roads.
Some of the leading lines have called conventions of their agents to
discuss ways and means to promote an increase of traffic and business.
This association, with the other commercial bodies of the State, will
assist in every laudable effort to induce desirable people to build up
the waste places of the State, increase the population and promote the
general prosperity.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The North Alabama Immigration Company is an organization formed at
Florence, Ala., for the purpose of bringing immigrants to Lauderdale
county and surrounding sections. The officers are J. Overton Ewin,
president; R. G. Banks, general manager; R. T. Simpson, Jr., attorney,
and John Rather Jones, secretary and treasurer. The company expects
to take several excursion parties to that section of Alabama from the
Northwest. Dr. N. A. Nelson is the Northwestern agent at Dawson, Minn.

       *       *       *       *       *

The section of the valley of Virginia around Lexington has attracted
some attention from prospective purchasers from the North, West and
Northwest, who are going to locate at some point in the Shenandoah
Valley. Additional inquiries are being made for homes and farms, and
the prospects are that as soon as the weather opens a number of these
parties will pay that section a visit to look over the country.

       *       *       *       *       *

The immigration movement to Southwest Texas is progressing at a lively
rate. The new settlers are mostly from Kansas and Nebraska.

       *       *       *       *       *

C. R. Camp, a home-seekers’ traveling agent, expects to take an
excursion of Northwestern farmers to points in the South some time
in March. His plan is to inaugurate a series of monthly excursions,
beginning about March 1 and continuing twelve months. He says the class
of people he will bring South are among the best citizens of the North
and Northwest, farmers who are hard working and practical, who want
good farming land, and are making the change on account of the climate.

       *       *       *       *       *

A large number of farmers from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Kansas,
have settled in the neighborhood of Port Lavaca, Texas. It is here that
the Phillips Land Co., of Kansas City, Mo., has bought some 6000 acres
of land, and divided it up into small farms for German colonists.

       *       *       *       *       *

On February 16th a party of sixty persons from Iowa and Nebraska
reached Fort Worth, Texas, on the way to the Gulf Coast to investigate
the fruit-growing capabilities of that region. Most of the party are
descendants of the people who built up Nebraska, and made that State
take a front rank among the wealth-producing States of the Union. While
most of them are doing well at home, they are anxious to live in a more
congenial climate, and have had their eyes on Texas for a long time.

       *       *       *       *       *

In consequence of numerous inquiries from the Northwestern States, Mr.
M. V. Richards, of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., has arranged
a number of special rate land excursions, as they are called, from
Chicago and points west of the Ohio river to Baltimore & Ohio points
in the Shenandoah Valley, in order to induce settlers to come to
this region. Mr. Richards intends to make the most of the reduction
in rates allowed by the Southern Passenger Association on certain
dates in February, March and April for the purpose of aiding Southern
immigration.

       *       *       *       *       *

A large number of land seekers recently visited Crowley, La., and
most of them bought property. Indiana and Nebraska were among the
States represented. The visitors report great dissatisfaction among
the farmers of their States, and say that Louisiana will receive many
immigrants this year.

       *       *       *       *       *

Messrs. Sappington & Howell, Little Rock, Ark., are working on a
plan to combine the State and railway lands in Arkansas, aggregating
7,000,000 acres, and offer them for sale at nominal prices on an
opening day, to be fixed.

       *       *       *       *       *

A dispatch from Rockford, Ill., says that quite a company of Rockford’s
Swedish population are planning to move down to Mississippi this spring.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville, Ala., is in receipt of many
letters from the West asking about farm lands in the neighborhood.
Huntsville is one of the most delightful towns in the South. It is
surrounded by a splendid farming country.

       *       *       *       *       *

Norwegian prospectors are going into Lawrence county, Tenn., every day
and the majority of them buy homes. There are over 100 families here.
They are good farmers and make good citizens.

       *       *       *       *       *

A movement is on foot to locate upon the rich prairie and timbered
lands adjacent to and just west of Charlotte Harbor, Fla., a colony of
Bohemian agriculturists.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is reported that a tract of land aggregating about 12,500 acres, at
Wilson Station, Ala., on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, has been
bought for a German colony. The first settlement will be named “Milton
Grove,” in honor of Mr. Milton H. Smith, president of the Louisville &
Nashville railroad.

       *       *       *       *       *

A recent settler at North LeRoy, Fla., is so much delighted with
the country that he has persuaded seventeen families of his former
neighbors in Missouri to move to Florida.

       *       *       *       *       *

The business men of Baton Rouge, La., are organizing a development
club, to further the interest in securing immigration, etc.

       *       *       *       *       *

A party of twenty Illinois capitalists, including Mr. A. L. Klank, a
nurseryman of Champaign, Ill., has been looking over Arkansas with a
view to making large investments in fruit farms.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railway recently took 200
home-seekers to Texas from Kansas and Nebraska, and 400 more were to
follow.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is said that a transaction is now under way by which 3000 families,
representing a population of 15,000, are to be located in the Yazoo
Delta.

[Illustration]




REAL ESTATE NEWS.


Baltimore’s Suburban Development.

The annual report of the Roland Park Co., of Baltimore, makes a
showing that, considering the extreme business depression of the last
year and a half, is quite remarkable. The Roland Park Co. is engaged
in developing a fine suburban residence park north of Baltimore,
three or four miles from the centre of the city. The first building
operations were begun in October, 1892. The first house was completed
early in the spring of 1893. On the 30th of December, 1893, the date
to which the annual report is brought down, the residences built and
under construction represented a total cost of more than $300,000. In
the space of a year a locality that was in effect nothing more than
farm property has been transformed during a period of unprecedented
financial and business stagnation into a beautiful and rapidly
growing residence suburb, with all the comforts and conveniences and
appurtenances of life in the thickly built up part of the city. Between
thirty and forty families have moved out to the park for permanent
residence, and are living in houses that cost from $4000 to $15,000
each. At the initiation of this enterprise there was not a man in
Baltimore who would have looked for such development as this, even with
favorable business conditions.

Baltimore is an anomaly in this matter of suburban residence. Up to
two or three years ago the city had no rapid transit, and consequently
no suburban development. Its half million people lived in compactly
built rows of brick houses, having neither front nor side yards. The
enterprise of the Roland Park Co. was the first suburban development
undertaking of a high class and on a large scale. Messrs. Jarvis and
Conklin, of Kansas City and New York, who have invested in this country
something over $30,000,000 of English money, bought 500 or 600 acres of
land immediately north of Baltimore, and proceeded to develop it as a
first-class residence suburb. An avenue 120 feet wide was constructed
through the property, and a double track electric road was built
through the property to a resort at Lake Roland, and coming down to
the centre of the city at the City Hall and postoffice. A system of
water works, a complete scientific sewerage system, paved roadways,
asphalt sidewalks, along which shade trees were set out, and electric
lights and other conveniences and accessories to comfort were provided.
Under the management of Mr. Edward H. Bouton, the vice-president and
general manager of the company, the progress that has been made in
the actual building up of the locality has been much beyond what was
expected, and there are many reasons for the assurance that this will
seem small in comparison with the progress that will be made during the
coming spring and summer.

The present high rate of taxation in the city proper, and the recent
large expenditures for public improvements that will necessitate an
early increase in the tax rate are tending to send people into the
suburbs. This and many other potent causes point to a rapid building up
of Baltimore’s suburban territory.


Substantial Improvement at Atlanta.

Real estate is getting active at Atlanta. One firm alone, since January
1st, has sold $128,000 worth of property in the city and vicinity.
Samuel Goode, a realty expert, gives the following opinion of the
outlook in Atlanta:

“The practical certainty that the United States prison will be located
in Atlanta, the direct probability that the Grand Army of the Republic
will hold its next convention here, and the settled fact that the
greatest exposition ever seen in the South will be opened here in
1895--these things combined have given our people hope and confidence
in the continued rapid growth of Atlanta, and the timid have begun to
find courage enough to turn their money loose for loans and direct
investments in real estate. Indeed, the change for the better has
been very perceptible to dealers in the last sixty days. It is not
any particular advance in prices which is so marked, because, in this
respect there has never been any falling off, but it is the fact that
people are beginning to buy at the normal prices. The best prices
realized for property at all have been obtained within the past six
months.

“Another evidence of returning confidence and activity is found in the
desire and willingness of owners to sell their property at auction. We
already have a variety of property to be thus sold early this spring.
There has been a spirit of fairness and liberality manifested by
our citizens, one towards another, in the past year, which is truly
commendable; and the result is that creditors basing their security
upon real estate have not forced property for sale and broken prices
and distressed if not ruined their debtors; but they have exercised a
wise forbearance, and will soon be rewarded by full payment of all that
is due them, and values have been sustained in Atlanta as in no other
city within my knowledge. All signs point to an active spring market,
and to the investing here of much outside capital.”


Suburban Development at New Orleans.

A syndicate of St. Louis people is constructing a suburban residence
park at New Orleans. A body of land recently bought for that purpose
measures about 700 feet frontage on St. Charles street by 8000 feet
deep. The plans call for an ornamental entrance in the middle of the
front, and a graveled driveway through the middle of the plat. As
projected the entrance will be defended by handsome gates, the carriage
opening being about 100 feet wide, and two gates for foot passengers
on either side. Electric lights, prettily arranged, will stud the edge
of the arch leading to the apex, where an ornamental structure of iron
work will support additional bulbs. About 1500 feet of roadway have
been built, leading from the gateway back into the grounds, while equal
distances of Schillinger pavement have been laid on either side. A plat
has been reserved in the middle for shade trees and shrubbery.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Capital City Real Estate and Investment Company, with a capital
stock of $30,000, has been organized at Austin, Texas. H. P. N. Gammel
is president.

       *       *       *       *       *

Daytona, Fla., is rejoicing in much real estate activity.

       *       *       *       *       *

Two of the most noted stock farms in Kentucky, both near Lexington,
have recently been sold. Mr. Jno. T. Hughes, the well-known horseman,
has purchased the Prince George place for a reported sum of $60,000.
J. R. Keene, the Eastern horseman, has bought the Castleton farm, the
property of Colonel Ford, of Virginia. The price is given as $70,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg, Va., has recently sold some
farms to Northern people, and advertises in this issue of the SOUTHERN
STATES a number of very fine properties that can be had at very low
prices. The Southern Farm Agency, by the way, is one of the most
enterprising and progressive real estate concerns in the South.

       *       *       *       *       *

The president of the Commercial and Industrial Association of
Montgomery, Ala., in his last monthly report, says: “The real-estate
market of Montgomery shows some evidences of improvement. From returns
compiled of this city for the month of January it is shown that the
increase of sales is more than 20 per cent. over the corresponding
month of last year. The values of desirable business and residence
property and also of well situated and improved agricultural lands have
remained steady and are firmly held. It is also believed the spring
and summer will show still greater activity, with perhaps an increase
in values. There are comparatively few vacant houses for a city of
Montgomery’s size, but the prospects and building operations will show
some falling off the coming year.”

       *       *       *       *       *

A tract of 1575 acres near Velasco, Texas, has been sold to J. B.
Wagoner and J. T. Gould, of Eureka, Ill., for $19,687.

       *       *       *       *       *

The late S. S. Houghton, a millionaire, and head of the noted Boston
dry-goods house of Houghton & Dutton, built a few years ago a
magnificent winter residence at Homosassa on the gulf coast of Florida.
Mr. Houghton died last spring, and his widow has sold the Homosassa
estate to Mr. J. A. Rowell, vice-president of the Merchants’ National
Bank, Ocala. The building and grounds are said to have cost $100,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

The building occupied for nearly thirty years by the People’s Bank in
Louisville, Ky., has been sold to the Bank of Commerce, and will in a
few weeks be occupied by the last-named institution. The price paid was
$27,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

A delegation of Northern lumbermen, under the charge of E. C. Randall,
a real estate operator of Chicago, recently spent some time inspecting
timber lands in South Arkansas.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Little Rock (Ark.) Gazette publishes lists of recent land transfers
in that city and in the county, from which it appears that the
real-estate business of that locality is not suffering much from the
hard times.

       *       *       *       *       *

The governor of Arkansas and the State Commissioner of mines,
manufactures and agriculture have invited the real-estate dealers of
the State to file with them descriptions of properties for sale in
order that they may have definite information to furnish people who
are seeking homes in Arkansas and write to them for information about
prices and location of lands.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is said at Fort Worth, Texas, that there has not been for years
such demand and inquiry for property as there is now. The influx of
immigration has been unprecedented, especially in North and West Texas,
many of the newcomers having located in Tarrant county, in which Fort
Worth is situated. Renting agents report that the demand for houses
largely exceeds the supply.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Texas land office has leased 375,000 acres of land to J. S.
Daugherty, of Dallas, Texas, for a term of five years. This is said
to be the largest amount of land ever leased to any one person by the
State. The lease will bring a revenue to the public free school fund of
$15,000 annually.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg, Va., has just sold to Mr. A.
E. Miltimore, of Catskill, N. Y., 2000 acres of land in Appomattox
county, on the Norfolk & Western Railroad. Mr. Miltimore has already
taken down several carloads of sheep and horses, and intends making it
a fine stock farm, for which, in many respects, it is said to be most
admirably adapted.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. George H. Zerr, of Reading, Pa., has purchased a fine estate near
Morrisville, Fauquier county, Va., and will reside there.

       *       *       *       *       *

Pittsburg capitalists have bought thirty-two acres of land near
Wheeling, W. Va.

       *       *       *       *       *

Florence, S. C., is having considerable real estate activity.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. W. P. Clyde, of the Clyde Steamship Co., has bought 2000 acres of
land on Hilton Head Island, near Beaufort, S. C., at $3.00 an acre. Mr.
Clyde was already the owner of a farm on the island.

       *       *       *       *       *

The annual statement of the Roanoke Development Co. for 1893, recently
issued, shows a satisfactory state of affairs. Shareholders have
purchased nearly $282,000 worth of the company’s lots, paying for them
partly in stock. In addition to this the company sold $14,258 worth of
lots to outsiders. Thus far the sales have amounted to $340,428, which
is an average price of $2535 per acre. The company still has 1153 acres
unsold. The officers of the company are P. L. Terry, president; Malcolm
W. Bryan, vice-president; S. W. Jamison, treasurer; L. R. Sollenberger,
secretary.

       *       *       *       *       *

George Logan, of Salem, Va., has just bought a farm of 318 acres
adjacent to that town for $9000.

       *       *       *       *       *

E. F. Porter, one of the leading lumbermen of Kansas City, has been
down to inspect with a view to purchasing a tract of 25,000 acres of
pine and oak timber land in South Arkansas owned by the land department
of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway.

       *       *       *       *       *

A large tract of land, known as Cliffbourne, at Rock Creek Park,
near Washington, D. C., was sold recently to Francis G. Newlands for
$185,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

A farm of 265 acres near Staunton, Va., has been sold by J. B. Smith
and H. G. Eichelberger, of Staunton, to a gentleman from Maine, who
will move down with his family.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. O. Van Buskirk, of Mt. Sterling, Ohio, has bought 330 acres of land
near Florence, Ala., and will move there. Several families besides his
own will accompany him.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. R. S. Oglesby, of Lynchburg, Va., recently sold a farm in Bedford
county to James W. Dawson, of the John Shillito Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.

       *       *       *       *       *

The real estate agents in the South who are known in the North and West
are receiving constant inquiries about farm lands. The majority of
inquiries seem to come from Dakota.

       *       *       *       *       *

E. Mallen, of Ironwood, Mich., has purchased a farm near Cloverdale,
Ala., and is interesting some of his fellow countrymen in Lauderdale
county. Mr. Mallen is a Finlander, and has been farming a number of
years in the Northwest. A number of his friends expect to buy farms and
locate in the same county.

       *       *       *       *       *

There has been lately a decided improvement in the demand for stores
and business places in Richmond, Va. Messrs. J. Thompson Brown & Co.
report a number of large leases.

       *       *       *       *       *

The town of Springfield, Fla., is enjoying a building boom. About
thirty dwellings are being erected, and a number of residences and
stores are being planned. Real estate business is brisk.

       *       *       *       *       *

A ranch, in Calhoun Co., Texas, two miles from Port Lavacca, containing
22,000 acres owned by Mr. W. H. Thomas, has been bought by a Northern
syndicate for $132,000. It will be cut up into small tracts and
colonized. The plans for its development also provide for the building
of factories, hotel, &c.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Co. has sold to Otto
Plock, of Paris, France, 7,554 acres of land situated in Ouachita
Parish, La. The consideration was $26,440.68 cash. It is said to be the
purpose of the purchaser to establish a large colony of Swedes on these
lands, selling the lands to them in small lots on easy payments.

       *       *       *       *       *

Real estate continues active at Fort Worth, Texas. There is a great
demand for small houses. “If I had twenty-five such houses today I
could rent them all before night,” said Mr. W. R. Sanner, a real estate
agent. “I do not know a better investment,” he continued, “than to
build such residences, with modern improvements, to cost from $1,000
to $2,500.” Messrs. Huffman & Co. have in hand a trade in adjacent
counties, for Ohio parties, which represent the sum of $20,000.
California parties are negotiating for pasture land held at $16,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

Messrs. J. Thompson Brown & Co., Richmond, Va., received recently a
letter from Callao, Peru, from a gentleman who wishes to purchase real
estate at Richmond. The same firm reports that every mail brings them
from two to five letters from parties in the West and Northwest, who
write they have decided to settle in Virginia, and want information as
to real estate, etc. In the past ten days they have been in negotiation
with one or more parties in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Minnesota,
Chicago, Pennsylvania, Colorado, St. Paul, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska,
Kansas, Wisconsin, and other points who wish to purchase farms,
manufacturing or building sites. From one of the locations named they
are trying to locate a colony of fifty families on a tract of 5000
acres.

       *       *       *       *       *

A dispatch from Rocky Mount, N. C., states that parties from the North
are negotiating to purchase 20,000 acres of land in Nash and Halifax
counties for development and investment.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Island City Abstract Co. has been organized at Galveston, Texas,
with H. M. Truehart, president; I. A. Harrington, secretary, and Joseph
Lobit, treasurer, and $20,000 capital.

       *       *       *       *       *

“The Real Estate, Title and Guarantee Co.,” has been organized at
Newport News, Va., with the following named officers: Carter M.
Braxton, president; L. P. Stearns, vice-president; Charles Sheppard,
secretary; Arthur Lee, treasurer. The capital is $100,000.

       *       *       *       *       *

A New York capitalist has just invested $62,500 in real estate in New
Orleans. The transaction was made through Messrs. Robinson & Underwood,
real estate agents, New Orleans, who state that other purchases will
follow this.

       *       *       *       *       *

Messrs. G. M. Reynolds & Co., of Norfolk, Va., sold recently a number
of lots adjacent to Portsmouth, improved and unimproved, for an
aggregate of $13,000.




NOTES OF SOUTHERN PROGRESS.


Atlanta’s Proposed Exposition.

The people of Atlanta are pushing their proposed exposition with the
same vigor with which they undertook the preliminary organization. The
enthusiasm which has marked every step of progress shows how thoroughly
in earnest Atlanta is, and gives promise of what may be expected from
the exposition. Director-General Palmer is getting his working force
into good shape, and reports that from all sections of the country
the most hearty and enthusiastic commendations are being received.
If carried out on the scope upon which it has been planned, this
exposition will be for the South what the World’s Fair was for Chicago
and the country at large. It will centre in the South an amount of
interest scarcely appreciated now, but which will mean the investment
of many millions and in time of many hundreds of millions of dollars.
It will also mean a stimulation of the Southward trend of population,
and thousands who are thinking of moving South will be determined by
the work of the exposition. Everything indicates that the exposition
will be on a scale far surpassing anything that has ever before been
seen in the South.


Improving the Dismal Swamp Canal.

Preparations are being made by Messrs. Ross & Sanford, of Baltimore, to
begin the work of deepening and otherwise enlarging what is known as
the Dismal Swamp Canal. The canal, which is twenty-two miles long, will
be dredged to an average depth of ten feet and widened to sixty feet.
This will require the removal of 3,000,000 cubic yards of material. As
the capacity of the average dredge is 3000 yards per day, the magnitude
of the work can be appreciated. Another important work will be the
construction of two main and two secondary locks, the main locks to
be 250×40 feet each in the clear. By the lock system the water in
the canal level can be raised to a height of thirteen feet. When the
work is finished vessels with nine feet draught can pass through the
waterway without difficulty. Some of the lumber needed to build the
dredges to be employed has already arrived at the scene of operations.

The amount of money to be expended in this work will be fully
$1,000,000. This passageway is to be used extensively by lumber barges,
fruit and truck steamers and other craft plying between Hampton Roads
and North Carolina waters. The improvements will tend to greatly
increase the trade between Norfolk, Portsmouth and the tidewater
country south of those cities.


Shipping Alabama Coal to Mexico.

The increase in coal business at Pensacola, Fla., is very marked, and
an excellent demand is noted for Alabama coal, which thus far has been
the only kind sent from that city. The Export Coal Co. reports that it
has one contract for 11,000 tons to be delivered at Tampico by March 1,
also another for 60,000 tons to be delivered at Vera Cruz and Tampico
during 1894. The company also has 30,000 tons to be filled on an order
from Galveston by June 1. The exports of Alabama coke are very small as
yet, but the indications are that the amount will be greatly increased
this year.


Newport News Development.

Everything seems to be contributing to the building up of a great
seaport city at Newport News, Va. The business over the fast freight
line established by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and
Chesapeake & Ohio from the West to Newport News is being increased by
grain shipments from along the Chicago & Northwestern. A through rate
has been made on cereals for export to Liverpool, with the result that
the new line is not only securing business from Missouri and Kansas and
the country traversed by the “Big Four” system, but the territory in
Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa for which the Northwestern is an
outlet. As the latter has about 3500 miles of lines in these States,
the great advantage of having the Northwestern as a feeder is apparent.
The people who are forwarding the business have very thoroughly
examined the facilities at Newport News and were so pleased with them
and the way the business has been handled that they intend making more
extensive exports by way of that port.

In this connection it is reported that the Vanderbilts have privately
secured a larger interest in the Chesapeake & Ohio and in Big Four than
they have ever held, and mean to control absolutely that line from
Chicago to the seaboard, with the line of steamers from Newport News.


Southern Coal in Chicago.

President M. H. Smith, of the Louisville & Nashville, has arranged
for a reduction of coal rates from Jellico, which will permit of the
introduction of Jellico coal into Chicago and Illinois and Michigan
points on the same basis as West Virginia coal. This will, it is
reported, also include the Middlesborough district. The reduced rate
will doubtless result in a great increase in the Western shipments
of Kentucky coal, the superior quality of which has created for it a
Western demand, despite high freights.


Opening Texas Coal Mines.

The extensive coal deposits near the Rio Grande, in Presidio county,
Texas, it is stated, are to be opened and mined on an extensive scale
by the San Carlos Coal Co., which controls 53,000 acres of land
containing veins of semi-bituminous coal forty-one inches thick in some
places. President S. A. Johnston, of the company, in a letter to the
Manufacturers’ Record, says that his company has made a contract to
sell at least 115,000 tons yearly to the Southern Pacific Railroad. The
Northern office of the company is at Pittsburg, Pa.


Another Florida Canal.

Work is about to begin on a canal in Florida which will be of great
importance to the lumbering and agricultural interests of the section
through which it is to pass. It will extend from a point in Marion
county, at the head of Ratcliff’s prairie to Mill Creek swamp. It will
be eleven miles long and thirty feet wide at the bottom. The estimated
cost of dredging the canal is $75,000. The object of the canal is to
reclaim thousands of acres of submerged swamp lands, covered with
rich muck from five to ten feet in depth, with a clay bottom, and to
provide transportation for pine and cypress timber.

The syndicate interested has purchased 15,000 acres of land along its
line. When the improvements are completed they expect to engage largely
in the growing of rice and sugar-cane, and hold out inducements to
settlers who desire to buy rich lands cheap. D. D. Rogers, at Ocala, is
engineer. Among the capitalists interested is Christian Ax, of the firm
of G. W. Gail & Ax, Baltimore.


Another Big Enterprise for Norfolk.

Following the announcement that the Chesapeake & Ohio is to enter
Norfolk comes the statement that the United States Cotton Warehouse
& Loan Co. has asked for legislative authority to build wharves,
warehouses, elevators and other buildings; also to construct and
operate a terminal railway not over five miles in length. It is also to
conduct a general wharfage and warehouse business, with a capital of
at least $50,000. The main office is to be in Norfolk or Portsmouth.
The corporators are Edward A. Pierson, of New York; John H. Dingee, of
Philadelphia; J. Andre Mottu, of Norfolk; J. R. McMurran, of St. Paul,
Minn.; Heber Alter, of Philadelphia; James Y. Leigh, of Norfolk; S.
Henry Norris, of Philadelphia; William Burrington, of Philadelphia;
Herman Niemeyer, of Portsmouth; Fergus Reid, of Norfolk; C. W.
Murdaugh, Marcellus Miller, of Berkley; Parke Poindexter, of Berkley;
William Goddin, of Philadelphia; William Schmoele, Jr., of Portsmouth;
John L. Vaughman, O. P. Heath, S. L. Burroughs and Walter S. Taylor. A
number of well-known capitalists appear in the list, and the enterprise
evidently means much for Norfolk and vicinity.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Florence Pump Co., of Florence, Ala., has made a contract with a
Philadelphia firm to supply $40,000 worth of pumps.

       *       *       *       *       *

The water works plant at Yorkville, S. C., has been completed, tested
and accepted by the town council. The plant consists of about three
miles of mains, a stand pipe seventy feet high on a fifty-foot tower,
120 feet in all, with a capacity of 60,000 gallons. The water is
forced into the stand pipe by a pump of 500,000 gallons capacity,
and the stream which furnishes the water will furnish (estimated)
150,000 gallons a day. There are 800 feet of hose, and the total cost,
including hose, was $16,800.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Shea Plating and Manufacturing Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, has entered
into a contract to remove to Macon, Ga., and the work of transferring
the plant has begun.

       *       *       *       *       *

Railroad communication and the building of ice factories on the west
coast of Florida, have resulted in the building up of an important
fishing industry, which is growing rapidly. St. Petersburg, Clearwater,
Dunedin, Ozona, Sea Side and Tarpon Springs are the principal shipping
points, and there was forwarded from these ports for 1893 a total of
7,901 barrels.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Fort Worth Gazette says of Terrell Texas: “Never before in the
history of Terrell and vicinity has there been such demand for homes
and tillable grounds. Many persons having large pastures are cutting
them up in farms, at least a portion, and if the demand increases the
large pastures will have to be given up to farming interests instead
of grass pastures. Several thousand acres of new land will be put in
cultivation this year in this county.”

       *       *       *       *       *

For several weeks Messrs. Rand, McNally & Co., printers and publishers,
have had an agent in the South prospecting for the most suitable place,
in point of business and situation, to establish a distributing house,
their main houses being in New York and Chicago. Charlotte, N. C., has
finally been fixed upon as the most desirable point.

       *       *       *       *       *

Newport News had the honor of constructing the first iron and steel
merchant vessels built in the South, and the largest ever launched in
the United States. El Cid, made famous by being turned into a warship
for the Brazilian government, enjoys the distinction of having broken
all records in the passage between New York and New Orleans. El Norte,
El Rio, and El Sud are not far behind her. Following this distinction
comes the docking for repairs of the big American liner New York, which
was done February 19. The New York is the largest ship ever docked
in America. No other yard on this side the Atlantic could do it. The
Newport News dock has but one rival in point of size--the government
dock, at Brooklyn--and it is doubtful if that is large enough to admit
of her entrance. As soon as the big ship touched the dock a force of
1000 men was put to work upon her.

       *       *       *       *       *

A new manufacturing enterprise of some importance is about to be
inaugurated at Bedford City, Va., by Mr. W. B. Dunn, who has organized
the Bedford Manufacturing Co., with himself as secretary. The
company’s purpose is to manufacture custom-made clothing to be sold
at manufacturers’ prices, making a specialty of trousers, using the
product of all leading Southern woolen mills, as well as other fine
foreign and domestic goods. It is intended to appoint agents in all
towns and cities in the South having 4000 inhabitants or more.

       *       *       *       *       *

The city hall at Richmond, Va., recently completed at a cost of
$1,370,000, is one of the finest municipal buildings in the country.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is announced that the Boston capitalists who have decided to invest
about $300,000 in an office-building in Atlanta, Ga., have secured a
site and are to have plans prepared at once. Mr. H. M. Atkinson, who
is their Atlanta representative, states that the building is to be
fire-proof, ten stories high and will contain all the features of the
modern structure for offices.

       *       *       *       *       *

Hon. Jonathan Norcross, of Atlanta, Ga., is having plans prepared for
a five-story building for offices to cost several hundred thousand
dollars.




GENERAL NOTES.


Small but Vigorous.

The Houston East & West Texas Railroad, running from Houston, Texas, to
Shreveport, La., is not very much of a road as to mileage, but there is
more hustle about it than most roads of ten times the length exhibit.
With only 232 miles of road the company is doing more relatively
towards the development of the country it traverses than almost any
other road in the country. Recently a development department has
been created and put in charge of General John M. Claiborne, an old
newspaper man. Among other methods of building up the territory of
the road, and besides the usual concessions to settlers in the way of
passenger and freight rates, the company has offered to contribute to
a common fund an amount equal to all that can be raised by the people
of the counties through which the road passes, the money to be spent in
getting in settlers. The road promises to locate at least one family
for every two dollars the citizens of these counties will raise. The
country through which this road passes includes some superb farm and
garden lands, and large areas of original forest timber, pine and hard
woods, and with the energy and push of the managers of the road it will
not be long before immigrants will be pouring into their country.

The officers of the road are E. S. Jemison, president; M. G. Howe,
vice-president; M. S. Meldrum, secretary and treasurer, and T. Cronin,
superintendent, all of Houston.


Mr. A. A. Arthur and Middlesborough.

The people of Middlesborough, Ky., and Middlesborough property
owners living elsewhere are making strenuous efforts to induce the
Middlesborough Town Lands Co. to reappoint Mr. A. A. Arthur to the
active management of the company’s affairs. Ever since the termination
of Mr. Arthur’s management the town has been in a state of virtual
stagnation, and it is believed that Mr. Arthur alone can rescue it
from collapse and restore it to its former condition of growth and
prosperity.

Several delegations of citizens and property owners have called on
the company’s present commissioner at Middlesborough, Mr. Lionel H.
Graham, of London, and urged him to bring about the appointment of Mr.
Arthur. On February 17, a mass meeting was held, at which the following
resolutions were adopted:

_Resolved_, By the people of Middlesborough in mass meeting assembled,
that the opportunity presented by Mr. L. H. Graham, who is now in our
midst as the representative of the stockholders of the Town Lands
Co., seeking information and encouragement for the guidance of his
associates, be seized, and that we, the citizens and property owners
of Middlesborough, who have borne the brunt of all the troubles of
past two and one-half years, and have witnessed and studied both
administrations, and who have been with the stockholders in prosperity
and adversity, respectfully but emphatically ask a return to the old
original plan of administering the affairs of the Town Lands Co.

_Resolved_, That we know that all the great and valuable resources upon
which the city was started still exist; we have seen railroads brought
to us and great enterprises created in our midst. The necessities of a
city have been established, all legitimate expenditures have been made
and nothing now remains to be done to re-establish credit, activity and
progress, but the appointment of a leader, a wise and liberal man, one
of intelligence, wide experience, integrity and extended connections,
one in whom we can place great confidence.

_Resolved_, That in Mr. A. A. Arthur, creator and projector of
Middlesborough and all the adjacent territory, we find such a man. None
other has so great an interest. We will stand by him and we believe
and know that he alone can pull you, the stockholders, and us, the
citizens, out of the abject state in which we now are.

_Resolved_, That we most heartily ask for and will most cordially
approve the reappointment of Mr. A. A. Arthur to the active management
of the Middlesborough Town Lands Co.; we believe that he can
rescue this city from ruin, and the sooner the management is placed
in his hands the sooner will confidence be restored and values be
re-established.

_Resolved_, That the interests of the Town Lands Co. are alike the
interests of the city and the citizens thereof; one cannot prosper
without the other, hence the citizens and property owners are
profoundly earnest in their desire to see Mr. Arthur restored to power,
as they believe that his restoration will give new life not only to
Middlesborough but to Southeastern Kentucky as well, and that we will
enter upon a career of unexampled prosperity.


The Annual Fair at New Berne, N. C.

The annual fair of the East Carolina Industrial Association was held in
New Berne on February 19th to 23d, inclusive, and was formally opened
by Gov. Carr with a sterling address, in which he referred to the
tidewater region as the garden spot of the continent, enumerating its
resources and estimating their economic value, present and prospective.
The exhibit, as a whole, was a surprise to home visitors as well as
strangers, especially in marine, agricultural and mechanical products.
Its mineral exhibit was remarkable in respect to native ores and
precious stones. Thirty-one counties in the State are mining gold at
a profit. Nuggets were shown which were valued at $52 and upwards.
Eighty-five varieties of commercial woods were shown. There was a great
variety of building stones. Tomato plants six inches high, garden peas
three inches high, and strawberry blossoms were shown. The department
of ladies’ work was superlative. Dairy products were meagre, only three
samples of butter being shown. There was a great variety of feed in
bales--native grasses, stock peas and corn fodder. Fine samples of
wool and blankets were exhibited. The same blankets took a premium at
Chicago. Some fine Southdown sheep from the Tucker farm near Raleigh
were on view. There were some fine Jersey, Devon and Alderney cattle,
and superior Berkshire and Red Jersey pigs and fat hogs, running up to
600 pounds in weight.

The fish and oyster exhibit, with the nets and apparatus, is always a
prominent feature of the annual expositions, and was well sustained.
Roe shad were remarkably fine.

There was an attractive exhibit of live and dead game and fur-bearing
animals, and two curious hybrids between turkey, guinea fowl and
Plymouth Rock hen. The floral exhibit was simply exquisite, and the
colonial relics and old family plate and curios were very interesting.
There was never such a poultry show seen on earth for quality and
variety. At least two kinds were shown!

In the department of Women’s Work the productions of deft fingers were
astonishing in all fabrics, laces, gold embroidery, feathers, flowers,
etc., rivaling Japanese art, and causing Valenciennes to blush with
jealousy. Altogether, there was a wonderful diversity of industrial
products of which the old North State and all her sisters may be proud.
New Berne herself has earned honors.


An Immigration Bill in the Maryland Legislature.

A bill is to be introduced in the legislature of Maryland, which is
now in session, enlarging the powers of the chief of the bureau of
industrial statistics so as to give him authority to provide for the
settlement of immigrants in Maryland. The bill makes it the duty of the
chief of the bureau to collect reliable information in every county of
the State bearing upon the question of immigration, and authorizes him
to appoint a local immigrant commissioner in each county. The local
commissioners are to receive $2.50 a day for each day of actual service
and personal expenses, the expenses are to be itemized and certified
to before a justice of the peace, and $1.00 for each immigrant sixteen
years of age and over settled by them in their respective counties.
Their duties, under the direction of the chief of the bureau, are to
procure the statistics and information necessary to properly set forth
the facts, advantages and conditions of the counties, to perform such
other duties appertaining to the work of the bureau as may be required
and to procure options on farm lands at such prices and upon such terms
as will be within the means of the immigrants desiring to locate upon
them and to give them such assistance, care and information within
their province as may be necessary.

The owners of lands upon which options have been thus secured shall
upon the sale of the lands through the agency of the bureau, pay to the
chief of the bureau a commission of 5 per cent. upon the gross amount
of the sale, the sum thus obtained to be used in defraying the general
expenses of the bureau and to be accounted for by the chief of the
bureau in the itemized statement of receipts and expenditures which he
is at present required by law to publish in his report and to make to
the State comptroller.

The chief of the bureau is authorized to visit such States and
countries as in his judgment may be necessary, or to send an authorized
agent, for the purpose of securing immigrants, having special regard
to the character and responsibility of the immigrants. He is to adopt
such means of advertising the State’s advantages as may commend
themselves to his judgment, including such maps, charts, &c., as
may be best calculated to illustrate the geographical, geological,
topographical and physical features of the State, and to make contracts
with railroads, steamship and other transportation companies and the
masters of sailing vessels to secure a low rate of transportation for
immigrants and to make the necessary arrangements for their temporary
reception and accommodation upon their arrival until they can be
located.

The bill provides the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, in addition to the present annual appropriation of the
bureau to carry out the provisions of the law.


Packing-Houses in the South.

The people of the South have so long been accustomed to buying
their meat from Northern and Western markets that the suggestion of
packing-houses in the Southern cities is full of novelty and surprise.
Packing-houses distributed over the Southern territory would be the
incentive for farmers to raise more hogs and cattle and a better
quality, and thus create a source of revenue now practically closed to
them.

Are not our people convinced of the folly of selling their marketable
live stock to drovers and buying their meat, thus paying the cost of
transportation both ways, besides the profit each handler obtains?

Pork and beef raised on our own farms and cured in our own
packing-houses would keep at home the large sums of money sent off
annually for the meat supply of the people.

The grocerymen of Jackson purchase every year about $100,000 worth of
meat and lard for consumers in this immediate section, and it is easily
seen that a packing-house in Jackson would be a profitable industry. It
would furnish a home market for hog and cattle-raisers, and stimulate
the production of the best qualities. Every step in this direction is
an important gain, and the subject deserves the earnest attention of
our live and progressive citizens.--The Whig, Jackson, Tenn.


Sponge Fishing in Florida.

The vessels that are used in the business are chiefly schooner-rigged
and vary in size from five to twenty-five tons burden. They carry crews
ranging from five in number to fifteen for the largest vessels, nine
men to the boat being the average number. The odd man in each case is
the cook, who remains aboard to provide for the inner wants of the crew
(generally amazingly large) and sails the craft while the balance are
off in the small boats called dingeys in search of sponge. Each vessel
is provided with poles of various lengths, from fifteen to fifty feet,
to be used according to the depth of water in which they are working,
which have attached to them three pronged hooks shaped like the teeth
of a garden rake, somewhat heavier, with which the sponge are detached
from the objects to which they are adhered and drawn into the dingey.

Two men are necessary to operate a dingey, one, the “hooker,” using
the pole and the sculler keeping the boat in motion, following the
directions of the hooker, where he leans over the side looking through
an ordinary wooden bucket with a glass sealed in its bottom for the
sponge, which, when discovered, is secured with the hooks.

The fisherman are most all former inhabitants of the islands; many of
them have lived in the Bahamas, and there are about equal numbers of
white men and negroes.

They are designated “Conchs” by the people living upon the mainland,
from their making use of that shell animal for edible purposes when
living upon their native islands.

A trip is of eight to ten weeks’ duration, unless it is mutually agreed
by the owner and the crew that it shall end sooner, and a “broken” trip
is one which does not pay expenses incurred, and does not happen often,
except during a period of disaster like that just passed through.

When the trip is finished the catches are carried to market where the
purchaser bids upon them at a certain price per bunch or for the lot,
having previously estimate from his thorough knowledge of the goods
their value in pounds.

Before sending them to the various markets they are first trimmed
neatly and cleaned of all rock and shell, and then packed in bales of
convenient sizes in a compress which reduces them to small bulk and
renders them easily handled.

Owing to the scarcity of the supply the demand is at present very
great, and excellent prices are obtained.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Newnan (Ga.) Cotton Mill (6300 spindles) will put on a night force
to operate its mill, so that it can catch up with the orders with which
it is now overrun.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. L. C. Porter, proprietor of the Windsor hotel of Minneapolis,
Minnesota, has decided to remove with his family to Wilmington, N. C.
He has been in North Carolina since the 28th of December.

“I want to get away from the cold, long winters of the Northwest,” he
said, “and I came here to prospect. I have been traveling North, East,
South and West, and my observation is that you have the finest climate
I have ever seen. If you hadn’t this advantage in climate and your
fine opportunities for investment along with it, you wouldn’t catch me
settling here.”

It is said that Mr. Porter has in hand a plan to establish a colony
of Scandinavians in Eastern North Carolina. He expects to settle from
fifty to 100 thrifty families somewhere near Wilmington. For twenty
years he has been engaged in fostering colonies on the new lands of
Wisconsin and Michigan.

       *       *       *       *       *

A Young Men’s Business Association is to be organized at Knoxville,
Tenn.

       *       *       *       *       *

Savannah is getting up a commercial club.

       *       *       *       *       *

Macon, Ga., expects to be visited about March 10 by a party of
investors and home-seekers from Indiana, who have been induced by the
Macon Bureau of Advertising & Information to go down on a prospecting
trip.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Commercial Club, of Anniston, Ala., is going to have an exhibit
room in which to show the agricultural, mineral and industrial
resources and products of Calhoun county.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Chappell Cory, secretary of the Birmingham Commercial Club, has
taken great interest in the matter of immigration. Recently at a
meeting of the State Agricultural Society, he delivered a very able
address on the subject, which was exceedingly well received by the
farmers before whom it was delivered. In the latter part of February,
at his invitation, a number of the real estate men of Birmingham met
to discuss the subject of immigration. Mr. H. D. Lane, commissioner
of agriculture of the State, was present, and addressed the meeting.
Following his speech there was a general discussion of the subject,
after which the following resolution was adopted:

_Resolved_, That we cordially endorse the movement for immigration as
outlined by Commissioner Lane, and pledge him our hearty co-operation,
both as real estate men and as citizens of Birmingham and of Alabama.

       *       *       *       *       *

At Atlanta, Ga., a $500,000 company has been formed to engage in
establishing country banks wherever good openings are found.

       *       *       *       *       *

A large party of prominent coal operators of Chicago and other Western
cities have been examining Kentucky coal fields with a view to
handling Kentucky coal on a large scale, and also of investing in coal
properties.

       *       *       *       *       *

A new water-power cotton mill will be built in South Carolina on
Penny-Shoals, Tiger river, near Wellford, by a company recently
incorporated as the Tuscapan Mills Co. Mr. C. E. Fleming, of
Spartanburg, is at the head of the enterprise.

       *       *       *       *       *

The public lands in Arkansas, government, State and railroad, aggregate
more than 7,000,000 acres. There are over 4,000,000 acres of government
lands subject to homestead entry. Any male citizen of the United
States who is the head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age,
is entitled to enter 160 acres of land by paying the following fees:
For forty acres, $6; for eighty acres, $7; for 120 acres, $13; for 160
acres, $14. The State has also 1,200,000 acres which it will sell at
$1.25 per acre, or any citizen over the age of twenty-one years, or the
head of a family, can secure a donation of 160 acres by paying a fee
of $10. In addition to this the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern
Railway Co. has over 2,000,000 acres which it will sell on five years’
time at from $2 to $5 per acre, receiving notes in payment therefor,
bearing 6 per cent. interest. During the last two years there have been
donated to settlers 166,940 acres of land, and deeds made to 131,957
acres to settlers who had fulfilled the requirements of the law.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is not generally known that nearly the whole of the extreme western
part of Texas is fenced in and divided up into enormous pastures. There
is one pasture, for instance, traversed by the Fort Worth and Denver
Railroad, that it takes a fast express train four hours and a quarter
to cross. Another, in Dickens, Crosby and Emma counties, belonging
to the Espinella Cattle Co., contains over 1,500,000 acres. If this
pasture were in the shape of a square it would be about fifty miles
each way, requiring therefore, 200 miles of fencing.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Empire Plaid Mill, at High Point, N. C., is crowded with orders.
The plant has been running on double time for some months until very
recently.

       *       *       *       *       *

From the annual report of the Board of Trade of Eufaula, Ala., of which
Mr. C. B. Goetchius is secretary, it is learned that Eufaula has had a
very active business year in spite of the hard times. The residences
and stores that have been built during the year aggregate in cost about
$50,000. As an indication of the comparative business done in 1892
and 1893, it is stated that the cash receipts at the railroad office
were $8500 greater in 1893 than in 1892. During the recent period of
financial and business disasters and failures there was not a single
failure in Eufaula, and not a business house closed with the exception
of one case of temporary embarrassment, which was quickly arranged.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Liberty Woolen Manufacturing Co., of Bedford City, Va., has secured
another contract from the government to make goods for the army. This
time the order calls for 7000 broad yards at a cost of over $8000.

       *       *       *       *       *

The last annual message of the mayor of Augusta, Ga., which has been
printed in pamphlet form, is a very comprehensive review of the city’s
affairs for 1893.

       *       *       *       *       *

Sixty newspaper men from North Dakota are visiting Texas.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Eufaula Cotton Mill Co., at Eufaula, Ala., has just completed an
addition to its plant at a cost of $50,000. At the same place a new
cotton mill is being built by another company--the Chewalla Cotton Mill
Co.

       *       *       *       *       *

The managers of the Seaboard Air Line have become greatly interested
in the matter of immigration. Mr. R. C. Hoffman, of Baltimore, the
president of the line, and Major J. C. Winder, the general manager, at
Wilmington, N. C., are considering plans for procuring the settlement
of Northern farmers in their territory. The Seaboard Air Line
traverses a country suited in the highest degree for farming and stock
raising, and especially for growing early fruits and vegetables.

       *       *       *       *       *

The citizens of Tuskaloosa have organized “The Commercial Association
of Tuskaloosa county.” The officers and directors are: President, A. F.
Prince; Vice-president, George W. Christian; Secretary, Walter Guild.
Board of Directors: Festus Fitts, Victor Friedman, W. C. Jemison, J. C.
Harrison, A. S. Vandegraaff, H. F. Hill, George A. Searcy, Charles R.
Maxwell, T. N. Hays.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Richmond & Danville Railroad has issued a very handsomely
illustrated book, “Snow Balls and Orange Blossoms,” a copy of which
will be sent on application.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga., has published a pamphlet called
“Talks to the Farmers of Dixie.” It is full of valuable advice and
suggestions.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. has in hand contracts
that will keep it busy for two years.

       *       *       *       *       *

Several hundred laborers have been put to work on the Chesapeake Beach
railway, which is to connect Washington, D. C., with a proposed resort
on the Chesapeake bay in Southern Maryland. It seems remarkable that
this superb body of water has been up to this time so little made
use of by the cities of Washington and Baltimore. This new resort at
Chesapeake Beach will be a boon to both cities. It will be within less
than an hour’s ride of Washington, and will be readily and quickly
accessible from Baltimore also.

The Chesapeake Beach railroad passes through a section of country
admirably suited to truck gardening as well as general farming. Mr.
Washington Danenhower, whose office is in the Loan & Trust building,
Washington, has already had some negotiations looking to the locating
of a colony of farmers from the Northwest along the line of the road.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Sibley Manufacturing Co., of Augusta, Ga., has begun an extensive
addition to its cotton mill. The output of the mill will be greatly
increased.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is astonishing to people who are unacquainted with the details of
Florida business life to hear of the amount of business done in the
little towns in the interior and along the coast. Indeed, it surprises
some of those who live here to see the summing up of the annual
business done by individual firms in those towns, and if one didn’t
in some way get at some tangible reason for these figures one would
be disposed to question their correctness. But when one drives out
into the surrounding country and sees the many orange groves and the
many broad acres planted in vegetables a key is found that unlocks the
situation.

In Florida, instead of large areas of land in cultivation, there are
the native growths only dotted here and there with openings, and
planted to fruits and vegetables. It requires but little stock to
cultivate them and but few hands, comparatively speaking, to do the
work. The crop raised on one acre of Florida soil on an average is
equal to that of fifteen to twenty acres in cotton regions, and every
dollar is for export, the grower receiving the cash for his crop, and
then he reinvests it for the necessaries of his household and farm.
There is where the volume of business done by the Florida merchants
comes in.--Jacksonville Times-Union.

       *       *       *       *       *

The cultivation of the castor bean may be attempted in Texas on a
larger scale than heretofore. The United States Consul at Breslau,
Germany, Mr. Frederick Opp, has been making inquiries about the climate
and soil of Texas for Max Strahl, who is thinking of purchasing land in
Bexar county for the purpose of raising the plants mentioned. According
to Mr. Strahl’s statement, the castor plant requires much less rain
than cotton; can be harvested in a much shorter space of time; requires
only one-third of the amount of labor, and yields a much greater profit
to the producer.

In a letter to the San Antonio Express Mr. Opp says: “I have sent a
sample of the beans to the Department of Agriculture at Washington. I
trust that Mr. Strahl will soon positively decide to settle in Texas
and inaugurate the enterprise. He is an expert in castor plant growing
and raises large quantities in India.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Rock Island & Texas Town Co. owns a 300 acre tract of land near
Boyd, Texas, which has been divided into ten acre tracts for small
fruit and vegetable farms.

       *       *       *       *       *

The citizens of Nacogdoches, Texas, have organized a society, the
purpose of which will be to induce immigration to Nacogdoches county
and advance the general interests of that section. Lists of lands for
sale, with prices, &c., and general information about the locality will
be furnished on application. The president of the society is George H.
Davidson.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Guy M. Bryan, a banker of Bryan, Texas, who owns large areas
of property in Brazoria county, near Velasco on the Gulf coast, is
arranging to bore artesian wells to flood a considerable area of
ancient lake beds, which he will convert into extensive rice farms.

       *       *       *       *       *

A report now being prepared by Mr. F. H. Newell, of the United States
Geological Survey, on the condition, amount, and location of the public
land still in the hands of the government, shows that there are about
600,000,000 acres of government lands. The report states, however, that
all the vacant land remaining to the government in the West is either
mountain country or else land which, owing to scanty rainfall or other
conditions, is fit only for grazing.

       *       *       *       *       *

The National Builders’ Association of the United States will hold its
next convention in Baltimore in October, 1895. Mr. Noble H. Greager,
of Baltimore, is president of the association; Mr. Charles A. Rupp,
of Buffalo, first vice-president; Mr. James Meath, of Detroit, Mich.,
second vice-president; Mr. Wm. H. Sayward, of Boston, secretary, and
Mr. George Tapperk, of Chicago, treasurer.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Rock Hill Cotton Factory Co., of Rock Hill, S. C., which has
heretofore made yarns only, is now adding 192 looms to its plant.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. George C. Power, industrial commissioner of the Illinois Central
and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Companies, in an interview
with a reporter of the New Orleans Picayune, said: “I have been down
south of the Ohio river with two or three parties who are desirous
of locating wood-working factories. Those parties have expressed
themselves as being well pleased with the lumber found there and the
facilities for handling it; also the welcome which had been given them
by the Southern people. It is more than likely two of the parties will
locate within the next week or ten days.

“I find that although the banks wherever I visited have plenty of
money, yet they cannot loan it to advantage. At some places the loans
to farmers are being curtailed, but in the majority of places the
applications for loans are fewer than in several previous years. The
hotels are crowded with traveling salesmen, all of whom appear to be
doing good business, selling principally dry goods, clothing, hats,
caps, shoes and articles of similar character, and very few provisions.
Many places are purchasing a better class of dry goods than they had in
twenty years back. The merchants anticipate a very good spring trade.

“To show how small farmers are doing, I will cite one case. In the
Yazoo Delta a farmer has grown all the provisions--corn and seed--for
his new crop, and has sufficient left over to purchase a reaper for his
coming hay crop. He has contracted for the produce of five acres of
potatoes, seven acres of onions, and he will be self-supporting from
this date forward. He is only one of a great many, and it seems to me
that with fewer applications for loans and less demand for money to
carry cotton, capital must seek other sources of employment. A large
portion of it will most probably be invested in sound manufacturing
industries, which will make a market for raw materials that are now to
a great extent valueless.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Charlotte, N. C., has grown tired of its inert Chamber of Commerce and
proposes to organize a more active and progressive Board of Trade.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Chamber of Commerce, of Huntsville, Ala., is receiving many
inquiries from Northern farmers, who want to know about farming
conditions around Huntsville.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is stated that there are not enough houses at Columbia, S. C.,
to accommodate the increasing population, and that an excellent
opportunity is given to erect an office building.

       *       *       *       *       *

The secretary of the Bureau of Information of Newport News, Va., is in
constant receipt of letters asking for information about Newport News
and the adjacent country.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Denison Land & Investment Co., of Denison, Tex., has elected A.
P. Childs, of Bennington, Vt., President; E. H. Hanna, of Denison,
Vice-president, and A. H. Coffin, of Denison, Treasurer.

       *       *       *       *       *

C. S. Durling, of New York, was the originator of the refrigerator
business in Florida, being the first man to run iced cars for the
transportation of fruits and vegetables to New York. Before he began
to do so berries could only be shipped by express, and only then when
the weather was cool and the berries sour. Now Florida berries are sent
North as late as May 1.

A refrigerator company will begin business at Gainesville, Fla., this
week, and for the extra charge of ten cents per package they insure
the arrival of truck at destination in the same condition as when put
aboard the cars here.

       *       *       *       *       *

Some of the cities of Tennessee have become interested in the idea of
having an exposition to celebrate the State’s centennial. At a meeting
of the Nashville Commercial Club a resolution was adopted providing
for a committee of twenty-five members, composed of seven from the
Commercial Club, six from the Board of Trade and three each from the
Southern Engineering Association, the Historical Society and the Art
Association, to make arrangements for a convention to be held in the
city in March to discuss plans for an exposition.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Board of Trade of Nashville, Tenn., is one of the few such concerns
that has life and activity and progressiveness. Major A. W. Wills, the
recently elected secretary, is a man full of zeal and energy, and he
will make the board of trade a power in the advancement of Nashville
and the surrounding country.

       *       *       *       *       *

The stockholders of the Luna Cotton Mills, Fort Mill, S. C., have voted
to extend the plant and add considerable new machinery, including 100
looms.

       *       *       *       *       *

Within the last twelve month taxable values in Texas have increased
$30,000,000.




RAILROADS.


The Richmond & Danville to the Front.

The Richmond & Danville Railroad Co. has issued the following circular
offering special inducements to settlers:

“The Richmond & Danville Railroad adopts this means as one of its many
methods of bringing to the attention of prospectors and home-seekers
the numerous advantages possessed by the territory which it traverses.

“Realizing that each section of this great land of ours is dependent to
a certain extent upon the prosperity of the whole, we have no desire to
depreciate any section, but to make known the possibilities which are
within the reach of those who contemplate a change.

“We have received hundreds of inquiries from parties located in the
North and Northwest who desire information in regard to a milder and
more congenial climate, the character of soil, etc. Those and all
others who may desire information, we invite to visit points upon
our lines which cover the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and to induce immigration
we will make to _bona fide_ prospectors special concessions in rates
from our Eastern junction points.

“The climate and products of the last four States above named are well
known, but Virginia and North Carolina have not been so fortunate in
this respect.

“The climate in these sister States (Virginia and North Carolina)
is about the same, showing an average the year around of about 55°
Fahrenheit, with no extreme heat or cold, which enables farmers to
raise two or more crops upon the same land in one season. The soil is
adapted to any crops which are raised in the Southern or Middle States,
and is especially favorable for trucking, the profits of which are
enhanced by reason of the close proximity to the best Eastern markets,
viz: Lynchburg, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
York. It is also admirably adapted to fruit and grape culture.

“Without discriminating in favor of any portion of either of these
States, we feel at liberty to direct especial attention to the Blue
Ridge section of North Carolina as being excellently adapted to the
culture of fruit and grapes, the mountains and hillsides at many points
being now covered by vineyards and orchards, which yield handsome
revenues to their owners, while the rich valleys are utilized for
cereals and tobacco.

“Considering the productive qualities of these Virginia and North
Carolina lands, they may be had at most reasonable prices and on
accommodating terms.

“In order to protect ourselves against imposition, it is necessary
to throw some safeguard around the issuance of reduced rates for
prospectors, as above indicated, and as all prospectors, before
starting on a trip of this nature, correspond with some land agency or
real estate agent, we will request all applicants for these reduced
rates to obtain identification at the hands of such agent or land
agency as they may have corresponded with.”

Inquiries may be addressed to W. A. Turk, general passenger agent, 1300
Pennsylvania avenue, Washington, D. C.


Another Mississippi Bridge.

The Southern Pacific Railroad Co.’s bridge to be built across the
Mississippi river at New Orleans, La., will, it is believed, be the
largest steel railroad bridge in the world, considering the quantity
of metal used in its construction and its length. It will be a
double-track bridge about 10,500 feet long. The approach spans will
vary from twenty-five to 150 feet in length, according to the height
of the towers. The main river bridge will be built on the cantilever
principle, and will be 1070 feet in length, with spans of 608 feet
on either side. The pier foundations will extend from a point eighty
feet below the bottom of the river, and will be sunk by open dredging.
The estimated weight of metal required is 25,000 tons, or 50,000,000
pounds. The cost will be about $5,000,000.

The bridge will give the Southern Pacific system an all-rail entrance
into New Orleans, and form a most important link in railroad
communication between Texas and the Southwest and the Gulf States east
of the Mississippi river.

The largest railroad bridge completed is over the Firth of Forth in
Scotland. The main structure is 5330 feet long, but the approaches are
said to be shorter than the New Orleans bridge.


A Judicial Decision of Great Interest to Railroads.

In two suits recently brought against the Texas & Pacific road, a New
Orleans judge has rendered a decision that is of very general interest.
The decision in brief is that a railroad is bound by the admissions
contained in the bill of lading just as the shipper is bound by the
terms. Several weeks ago two suits, exactly the same except for the
amounts involved and the complainants’ identity, were filed against the
Texas & Pacific road. In both damages was asked for cotton received
in a damaged condition, which the bill of lading sets forth had been
received by the road in good condition.

In both cases the plaintiffs introduced the bills of lading in
evidence. They showed by the signature of the authorized agents of the
road that the cotton had been received by the road for shipment in good
condition. The road in its defense attempted to prove that the cotton
was received in the same condition as when delivered, and that it had
not been damaged in transportation.

The plaintiffs both proved that upon the receipt of the bills of
lading, specifying that the cotton had been received by the road in
good condition, they had paid for it by sight drafts in favor of the
shippers.

In his decisions, both of which were the same, the judge held that
evidence to disapprove the statements contained in the road’s bill
of lading was inadmissible, and that the bill of lading placed the
responsibility for the condition of the cotton with the road. For these
reasons judgment in both cases was for the plaintiff. The conclusion
of the court was that when the consignee pays by sight draft upon
the averment of the bill of lading evidence that the goods were not
received in good condition is not admissible.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is stated that in furtherance of a plan to shorten the distance
between St. Louis and points in Western Texas and Mexico, a syndicate
has been formed to complete the Red River & Southwestern road, which is
projected from a point on the Rock Island road in the Indian Territory
through Western Texas to San Angelo, to connect with the Southern
Pacific at Spotswood Junction. It is estimated that the new route would
shorten the distance between Mexico and St. Louis fully 600 miles,
while points in Southwestern Texas will be 200 miles nearer the latter
city.

       *       *       *       *       *

C. W. Cheers, formerly assistant general freight agent in Birmingham of
the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham, but who resigned on January 1,
has been appointed general freight and passenger agent of the Savannah,
Americus & Montgomery, with headquarters at Americus.

       *       *       *       *       *

Much interest has been aroused by the bills pending in the Virginia
legislature to incorporate the Richmond & Northern and Richmond &
Manassas roads. The former is claimed to be a projected road from
Richmond to Fredericksburg, and the latter between Richmond and
Manassas. Either would form part of a line from Richmond very nearly
to Washington, and it is intimated that the Baltimore & Ohio may be
interested in one.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is stated that the Baltimore & Ohio is preparing to build its branch
road from a point north of Georgetown, D. C., to Fairfax C. H., Va.,
on which work was begun some time ago, but suspended for some unknown
cause. Fairfax is but a short distance from the Richmond & Danville
road, with which the Baltimore & Ohio has close relations, and it is
evident that the building of this branch means a connection with the
Richmond & Danville.

The Norfolk & Western road is also securing the necessary legislation
to enter Washington.

       *       *       *       *       *

One of the indications of the rapidly-developing trade between the
North and South is the establishment of a fast through freight from
New York to the South by the Atlantic Coast Line. Freight under the
new regulation, no matter how small the consignment, is rushed through
from the North without delay. With each succeeding season this service
has been expanded and improved, keeping pace with the development
of the industries which produced it, until finally it has reached a
point of usefulness and perfection upon which it would be difficult to
improve. Until the present season, however, this special service has
been confined to a northward-going schedule, but lately it has become
apparent that the demand for a similar service from the North to the
South was daily becoming more and more urgent. The Atlantic Coast
Dispatch has also established a line of refrigerator cars out of New
York for Charleston, the service being designed to furnish the safest
and most expeditious transportation for all southward-going perishable
freight. These cars will prove of especial advantage to the large
shippers of apples, butter and other perishable articles.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is believed that the Richmond & Danville’s present management
will soon secure a seaboard outlet at Norfolk or Portsmouth, either
by acquiring the Atlantic & Danville, which, as stated elsewhere, is
to be purchased by the English bondholders at foreclosure sale and
reorganized, or by building a new line. The plans of a new company
which has been formed to build an extension of the Atlantic & Danville
from Danville to Bristol, Tenn., passing through rich and undeveloped
coal and ore lands, are told of elsewhere. The building of the proposed
Virginia Seaboard & Western road, and the control of the Atlantic &
Danville by the Richmond & Danville, would give the latter not only a
new seaboard terminus, but also a large coal, timber and ore traffic
from Tennessee and Virginia, as well as establish a new route from
Tennessee, Kentucky and the Northwest to the Atlantic.

       *       *       *       *       *

The projectors of the Gulf & Interstate Railroad to extend from North
Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico have secured an option on property at Port
Bolivar, on Galveston bay, opposite Galveston, Texas, with a view to
making that the terminus of the road.

       *       *       *       *       *

The New York, Texas & Mexican and the Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific
roads, both parts of the Southern Pacific system, have elected the
following-named officers: President, J. Kruttschnitt; vice-president,
W. S. Hoskins; secretary, B. M. Smith; treasurer, W. J. Craig.

       *       *       *       *       *

A movement is on foot to establish a steamship line between
Jacksonville, Fla., and Providence, R. I.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Baltimore & Ohio is said to be planning to extend its Valley
division from Lexington to Roanoke.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Clyde Steamship Co. is considering an extension of its service to
New Orleans.

       *       *       *       *       *

Business on the Norfolk & Southern is developing to such an extent
in North Carolina that the company has decided to establish six new
stations in that State.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Illinois Central Railroad is exhibiting great energy in the
matter of inducing immigration to the South. Mr. E. P. Skene, land
commissioner of the road, at Chicago, Captain J. F. Merry, Manchester,
Iowa, assistant passenger agent, Mr. J. M. Eberle, of Chicago, land and
immigration agent, Mr. C. W. McGinnes, land commissioner of the Yazoo
& Mississippi Valley Railroad, located at Memphis, Mr. J. T. Savage,
division superintendent of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, at
Greenville, Miss., are all giving active and comprehensive attention to
this work.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. C. J. Haile, the general passenger agent of the Central Railroad,
of Georgia, is taking advantage of the excursion rates offered to
prospectors, by authority of the Southern Passenger Association, to
distribute in the Northwest circulars setting forth the agricultural
attractions of the country tributary to his roads. Mr. Haile is an
enterprising and progressive railroad man, and fully comprehends the
value of having the country traversed by his road thickly populated by
Northern farmers.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. W. C. Rinearson, general passenger agent of the Queen & Crescent
route, is trying to arrange with the Southern Passenger Association
to have tickets for his line, via Chattanooga, carry the privilege of
stopping over at Chattanooga, so that travelers may have an opportunity
of seeing Lookout Mountain, the National Military Park and other
Chattanooga sights.

       *       *       *       *       *

At the request of Col. C. P. Atmore, general passenger agent of the
Louisville & Nashville Road, the passenger agents of roads having
interests at Memphis, Tenn., met in that city February 14, to arrange a
passenger association.

       *       *       *       *       *

At a meeting of the truck farmers, held at Chattanooga, S. C., February
19, to consider the matter of transportation of vegetables and fruits
to New York, a member had this to say in praise of the famous Old
Dominion line of steamers:

“They have fast steamers especially constructed for carrying highly
perishable freights; they have ample tonnage for handling all the
business that comes to them, and their deliveries in New York are not
only convenient to the trade, but are made more rapidly than any other
line with whom we do business.

“In addition to their already large fleet they are about to launch
two splendid new steamers, the “Jamestown” and “Yorktown,” which will
be ready by April 10, and are expected to be the fastest coastwise
steamers out of New York.

“Our experience with the Old Dominion Co. covers more than thirty
years. During that time they have always been found willing to do
all in their power to assist the grower both in improved service
and in giving as low rates of freight as are consistent with fast
transportation.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Atlantic Coast Line system has been one of the most liberal and
progressive roads in the South in fostering the trucking business along
its line. It has made a specialty of its truck traffic for many years,
and to its enterprise is largely due the magnitude of the business
which is now done out of Charleston.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Middle Georgia & Atlanta road, from Atlanta to Milledgeville, has
just been completed. It is seventy-five miles shorter from Atlanta
to Milledgeville by this route than by any other. Over forty miles of
the line between Covington and Eatonton has no bonded debt whatever,
$450,000 of the stock being taken and paid for by Georgia people. The
ultimate destination of the line is Savannah. W. B. Thomas is general
manager.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Atlantic & Danville, which extends from Danville across Southern
Virginia to the Seaboard, has attracted considerable interest from the
fact that a company has been organized, composed largely of bondholders
of the road, to build a line from Danville to Bristol, Tenn., to be
called the Virginia Seaboard & Western. The Atlantic & Danville is to
be sold by order of the court on April 3, and, it is expected, will be
purchased by the bondholders. The new road, if built, will be about
115 miles long and connect with the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia
system at Bristol. It would give the latter an outlet on the Atlantic
seaboard and develop much mineral property of east Tennessee and
southern Virginia, the product of which now has no means of reaching
furnaces.




HOTELS.


The great Four Seasons Hotel at Harrogate, Tenn., has been reopened.

       *       *       *       *       *

Messrs. G. S. Atkins & Sons, proprietors of the Ocean Hotel at Asbury
Park, N. J., have bought the Brock House at Enterprise, Fla., together
with 2300 acres of adjacent land.

       *       *       *       *       *

Messrs. Stephen Green, of Philadelphia, Martin Lane, of Wilmington, and
Levi Z. Condon, of Baltimore, have organized the Luray Caverns Co. to
operate the Luray Caverns, build a hotel, &c.

       *       *       *       *       *

The proprietors of the San Marco hotel, of St. Augustine, Fla., as one
method of entertaining their guests, allow them to pick, for use in the
hotel, vegetables and fruits from the hotel garden, and on pleasant
mornings many of the guests may be seen before breakfast picking
radishes, peas, tomatoes, lettuce, &c., to be served at meals.

       *       *       *       *       *

The business men of Columbia (S. C.) are talking about raising money
to build a great hotel. Since the change in the Atlantic Coast line
route, by which Columbia is put on the main line between Florida and
the North, it is thought that a big resort hotel could do a profitable
business.

       *       *       *       *       *

The outlook for the coming season at Mountain Lake park, in Western
Maryland, is very promising. Twenty or more new cottages will be built,
and many of these have already been spoken for.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Royal Poinciana hotel, of Lake Worth, Fla., which has been erected
on the site of the old McCormick house, is doing a large business.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Macon (Ga.) news is urging the building of a great hotel at Macon
in emulation of Savannah and the Florida cities.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Florentine hotel, at Huntington, W. Va., has passed into the hands
of Messrs. L. H. Cox and R. F. Jones. Mr. Cox is from Louisville, Ky.;
Mr. Jones formerly conducted the Joy house at Findlay, Ohio. They state
that large improvements will be made.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Hotel Indian River, at Rock Ledge, Fla., has 350 guests and expects
to be crowded all through the month of March.

       *       *       *       *       *

A new hotel is to be built at Charleston, S. C., at a cost of something
like $450,000. It is to cover a block 150×545 feet. The plans provide
for broad verandas adjoining the parlors and opening upon a garden
space to be larger than any similar grounds owned by any hotel in the
country.

       *       *       *       *       *

Fort Worth, Texas, expects to have a new and first-class hotel.

       *       *       *       *       *

The court has refused to confirm the recent sale of the Oglethorpe
hotel at Brunswick, Ga., and has ordered a new sale.




CORRESPONDENCE.


A Valuable Suggestion from England.

A reader of the SOUTHERN STATES living at Florence, Ala., sent a copy
of the January number to a friend in England, and has received from
him the following very interesting and noteworthy letter, which we are
permitted to publish:

“Many thanks to you for the January number of the magazine, “the
SOUTHERN STATES,” which I received this morning. I presume you sent
it, knowing that the interesting letters relating to the subject of
immigration to the Southern States so fully coincide with the views I
have long held and have expressed to you concerning immigration from
Great Britain to the South.

“Those views were verified again only a few days ago in the following
manner: A friend of mine, who is a builder, wished to “talk with me
about America,” rather a big order if he had considered a little,
as having but limited means and a growing family he “thought of
emigrating.” _Where_ should he go? He spoke of many of the States I
know well, but he knew nothing of the South, except that they had
oranges and alligators in Florida. He was a fairly intelligent man,
too. After a long conversation, the length of which you will understand
when I tell you that I conducted my friend from the blinding blizzards
of Nebraska to the genial sunshine of Alabama, I promised to get him
some printed information from some of the emigration agents in London,
so that he could form an idea as to the requirements, capabilities and
resources of the South. Well, I tried to keep my promise, and called
on numerous agents. I could obtain _any amount_ of information about
any part of Canada and the Western States, but in this great city of
6,000,000 of people, I, an experienced Londoner, could not obtain a
line about Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana or
any other Southern State, except Florida, and as I enjoyed life in
the latter State for over three years I could describe a gopher or a
“Florida cracker,” better than the agent could. Is it to be wondered at
that people from England know the West and are ignorant of the beauties
of the South? There, you have your Southern difficulty in a nutshell.
We have over 35,000,000 of people on these little islands, very few
of whom really know anything whatever of the Southern States. We have
tens of thousands of men--small capitalists, manufacturers, skilled
artizans, farmers, dairymen, market gardeners, and business men of all
classes--who would give up the, in most cases, hopeless struggle here
(hopeless as far as a comfortable competence is concerned), and cross
over to the Southern States with their wives and families _if they
only knew_ the power of their skill, industry and perseverance in a
country where those qualities will give an ampler, fairer and a more
just reward than here. These people, the hewers of wood and drawers
of water, who are the backbone of every prosperous country, require
information, _official_, _authoritative_, _reliable_ information, about
Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, &c., and it is simply because
such information is lacking, difficult to obtain, or unreliable when
it is obtained, that so many go West and Northwest, whilst others, who
_could_ be induced to go South, stay and struggle on in the old rut
for want of being waked up. I feel perfectly sure that if a bureau
of information were established here in London and supplied with
literature, maps, &c., descriptive of the Southern States, and properly
advertised throughout Great Britain, the results would be quickly felt,
whilst the expense would be infinitesimal compared with the benefits
which would eventually accrue. Such a bureau, however, would have to be
managed by a man (or men) of integrity and experience, who should be as
unbiased as possible, and entirely free from sectional prejudice. An
agent should have sufficient business tact to know that he would never
benefit Georgia or Alabama by disparaging Colorado or California. I
know that many agents in England try to detract from every other State,
and every other section of a State, except the little spot they are for
the time pecuniarily interested in getting settled up. Their aims are
narrowed down to simply getting commissions on the railway and ocean
tickets, and a small prearranged percentage on any little land purchase
the immigrant may make from the agent in America, who has glowingly,
and very, very often untruthfully, described.

“A Southern States bureau of information, such as I suggest for London,
should be kept entirely free from the machinations of the unscrupulous
land speculator, who, we all know, has in too many cases most seriously
injured States and localities, simply to gain some small selfish end
of his own. In my opinion the expenses of such a bureau of information
should be borne by Southern railroad enterprise, and the London bureau
should work in conjunction with established agencies, or sub-agencies,
in all the large towns and cities in Great Britain, and also be in
close touch with agencies in the United States, working with the same
object, viz.: To induce immigration to the Southern States. The South
as it really is can stand on its own merits, and is good enough for
anybody, no matter what class--capitalists, cotton kings, iron masters,
coal owners, farmers, or earnest, industrious artizans. The South can
supply every requisite for all, from the raw material to the finished
product. These are a few of the facts that people here in England are
ignorant of and _should_ be _informed about_, whilst many of your own
people in the North and Northwest are not much better informed on many
points. A couple of summers ago I was laughed at at my hotel in New
York because I remarked, “I cannot stand this sultry heat any longer;
I’LL GO SOUTH, _where it is cooler_.” I was considered a “bullheaded
Britisher;” but I was right, anyhow, for it _was_ cooler in Florence,
Ala., than in New York!”


A Letter from Western Georgia.

Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga., one of the most advanced and
successful of the present generation of progressive Georgia farmers,
writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows:

“Noticing your commendable efforts to advertise the attractions and
resources of the South and induce immigrants to seek homes in this
country, I ask space in your columns for a review of some of the
inducements this immediate section offers.

“This county--Troup--is in Western Georgia with the city of LaGrange as
its county seat.

“LaGrange has a population of about 4,000 and is beautifully situated,
850 feet above sea level--on the Double Daily mail route from New
York to New Orleans, and on the new and splendid line from Palatka,
Fla., via Macon, Ga., to Birmingham, Ala. For healthfulness it has no
superior. It has two of the best female colleges in the South, and
an excellent male high school. The various religious denominations
are represented by nine churches. The town is lighted by electricity
and has a fine system of water works. Two strong banks furnish all
necessary money for business enterprises. The famous “Terraces” or
Terrell flower gardens are within a mile of the heart of the town.
There is a $400,000 manufacturing plant here, embracing the LaGrange
Cotton Mills, foundry and machine shops, oil mills and guano factory,
all under our management.

“There are two carriage factories, a plow factory, planing mills,
variety works and ice factory all inside the city limits. A canning
factory will soon be erected, and a public school system will be
established.

“LaGrange is surrounded by one of the best agricultural regions in
Georgia.

“The farm lands are fertile, easily cultivated and yield abundantly
under intelligent culture. There has not been anything like a failure
of crops in twenty-five years through this section. The climate is all
one could wish. Extreme heat and cold are rare. Our lands are rolling,
with natural drainage; plenty of timber and pure water. Farmers can
work their lands in half a day after the heaviest rains.

“The agricultural interest is undergoing a great and rapid change for
the better. We have abandoned the one-crop idea.

“Since January 1st, 1894, there has not been sold at this point more
than one car of Western corn and meat. It has not been many years since
forty cars of those two items were sold in about the same time.

“Lands here can be bought at a bargain. Our largest land owners see
the great importance of increasing our white population, and are
in thorough accord and sympathy with any movement looking to an
improvement in that direction, and stand with open hearts and friendly
hands to welcome a sturdy thrifty class with a little money and plenty
of will and energy.

“One attraction, of the many worthy of an immigrant’s consideration
in this county, is the fact that the farmer has a home market for his
surplus farm products. Within a few months from now there will be a
demand, within a circle of fifteen miles around LaGrange from the
cotton mills already in operation and nearing completion, for 10,000
more bales of cotton than the county raises; that means 30,000 bales;
we raise annually about 20,000. Many thousand bales will be sent direct
from the fields, as it is gathered, to the factory, where the spot cash
will be in waiting for the cotton and the seed, the value of the seed
amounting to, or adding to the cotton, at least one cent a pound. The
mill operatives furnish a market for thousands of dollars’ worth of the
farmers’ surplus food products.

“Clover and grasses grow to perfection here, the Bermuda grass
especially, which furnishes nine months pasturage and yields
bountifully of a hay second only in nutritive value to the purest
timothy.

“Here are some facts and figures from actual experience in farming in
this vicinity: $96 worth of Bermuda hay from one and a quarter acres;
$60 worth of rust proof oats from one acre; $64 worth of corn from one
acre; 2180 pounds lint cotton (a fine variety) from one acre, sold for
$174.40 and the seed brought $120.

“We have a farmer in this county who twelve years ago was not worth
over $1000 and who now owns unencumbered property worth over $30,000;
made it all farming; has never engaged in any other business.

“The thanks of every Southern man and woman are due you for the service
you are doing them. And every respectable immigrant who is influenced
by you to seek a home anywhere in this State, I know will not live here
long before his obligations to you will be expressed.

“This country and any other will be truly great when the man who pushes
the plow is landlord of the sod he turns.”


Interest in the South Extending.

A real estate and immigration agent in Iowa writes to the SOUTHERN
STATES as follows:

“I have been reading the SOUTHERN STATES, and am deeply interested in
its work. I have been engaged in immigration work myself for thirty
years, and I readily see some of the difficulties in the way of
promoting immigration to the South. These can be readily overcome. With
the use of proper methods, there is nothing in the way of bringing
about a large movement from the Northern States to the South. The
people of the North are finding it a matter of necessity to change
their location, and this matter of moving to the South is of as much
interest to them as it is to the people of the South. The matter
rests largely with the railroad companies. With proper inducements
and co-operation, agents could be gotten to go through the South on
tours of inspection, whose reports on their return would influence
large numbers of families in their communities. They would, of course,
bear their own expenses, but they should have free transportation over
the railroads. Facilities of this sort should, of course, be extended
only to men of standing and reputation and influence at home, whose
favorable report would lead to the removal of numbers of families
in a body. I have taken parties of farmers into the West and the
Northwest. I am in a position to explain to inquirers every feature of
every county, for example, in Kansas and Nebraska. It would be easier
to get them to go South; but I am sure of what information to give
concerning Kansas and Nebraska, while my knowledge of the South is to
some extent limited. I have a great many inquiries about the South. I
am solicited now by a number of the best farmers of Iowa to go South
and look the country over, get a list of lands for sale, prices, terms,
etc., and find out for them what the conditions actually are. There
is great interest in the South, and from all I hear and read it seems
to be infinitely superior as a place for home-seekers to the far West,
but the railroads and others interested have got to be as liberal in
developing and fostering immigration efforts as the Western railroads
have been, in order to bring about any extensive movement of this sort.”


No Hard Times in North Arkansas.

Mr. W. M. Duncan, president of the Citizens Bank, Eureka Springs, Ark.,
writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows:

“In this section of Arkansas, commonly spoken of as North Arkansas, by
which is meant the two northern tiers of counties across the State,
the financial condition of the farmers is better than at any time
during the past five years. They are raising increased food supplies,
and yet have very materially decreased their debts and improved their
properties. Very little cotton is grown north of the Boston mountains;
corn, oats, rye and sorghum being the chief cereals, while cattle,
hogs and sheep are raised to great advantage and profit. There has
not been a failure of any crops in the last five years. The outlook
for the farmers this year is very good, and that of itself makes the
general business situation of the towns and cities in this section most
favorable.

“The great financial depression through which the country has recently
passed was felt less in this section of the Southwest than in any
other, from all reports. The reason was, our farmers were all well
stocked with fat marketable hogs and cattle, and were able thereby
to quickly realize on the same and meet the calls on them from their
bankers, made necessary by the foolish alarm from lack of confidence so
generally experienced in all financial institutions.

“Our greatest industry, yet very small, fruit raising (especially
apples), merits the attention of all persons looking for a location
to engage in apple raising. The apples of North Arkansas have taken
the first prizes at New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and the World’s
Fair. There are several thousand acres of young apple trees which will
bear the first fruit during the coming year, and as many more trees
have been planted during the past two years. Our climate is especially
adapted for this.

“The present status of business with the merchants and general stores
is a great deal better than expected, and by early summer it is
believed the return to the customary good trade will be accomplished.”


A Strong Disposition to Move South.

Mr. G. B. Randolph, of Anniston, Ala., writes to the SOUTHERN STATES
as follows about his observations on recent trip to the Northwest: “I
met many farmers and stock-raisers; also small fruit growers. (The
latter can do but little in that section). I find a strong disposition
among the people there on account of the severe winters and bad roads
to come to a more agreeable climate. This of course is to be expected;
people will naturally gravitate to a country holding out the greatest
inducements. Here we not only have mild winters but our summers are not
as hot as those in Illinois. A case of sunstroke is unheard of in this
State. Our soil is productive and easily tilled. The character of our
soil is red clay and sandy loam, and will produce anything that can be
raised in the temperate zone. A great deal of attention is now being
turned to fruit, vineyard and berry culture. Also we are proving this
to be a fine country for tobacco culture. We have a remarkably healthy
country. A case of lung trouble I never knew of originating here. As an
indication of the attention being paid to this section, will say that
within the past two days I have had inquiries for lands from the States
of New York, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Will be glad to answer any
inquiries from prospective settlers. We have heretofore been greatly
handicapped by excessive railroad rates to prospectors and immigrants;
now I am glad to say the roads are showing a spirit of liberality, and
we now have excursions the eighth of each month. Round-trip tickets for
one fare good for twenty days are being sold by the different lines in
the North for all points in this section.”




NEWSPAPER COMMENT.


The Yazoo Delta.

The Memphis Appeal-Avalanche says: “From present indications the labor
problem in the Mississippi valley is about to solve itself. The answer
is a simple one--the substitution of white labor for black.

“Everything seems to indicate that the shiftless, easy-going,
debt-making negro, dependent all the year round on the man who is
running him, will soon be a thing of the past. Of course there are
some negroes who are exceptions to the rule--who pay their debts
when they make them, who live economically, who know the value of a
dollar--but they are few and far between.

“That the Mississippi Delta is the garden spot of the earth no one
doubts. Its soil is ever responsive to the hand of the tiller. It is
capable of raising the most diversified crops. As a cotton country it
has no equal. All kinds of fruit flourish in its kindly temperature.
The forest abounds in the most valuable woods. As a stock raising
country it is equal to the blue grass region of Kentucky. All that the
Delta needs is the hand of man to develop it, and man is beginning to
realize that his labor will count for more there than anywhere else.

“As an example of the difference between Caucasian and negro labor, an
instance which recently came to light is invaluable. A wealthy planter,
owning a Delta farm, let part of it to some foreign families; the rest
to negroes. The foreigners worked hard. They raised diversified crops.
They lived as cheap as they could, and at the end of the year they
had not only paid their rent, but they had their barns stocked with
supplies and well-filled bank books. The negroes had not paid their
rent and were heavily in debt, besides being dependent on outside help
for supplies to run them through the year to come. The two classes of
tenants were exactly opposite, the one representing independence, the
other dependency.

“The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, recently purchased by the
Illinois Central system, passes directly through the Delta. It owns a
great deal of the land through which it passes, and is now making a
systematic effort to settle it with immigrants from the Northwest and
Europe. At present a large tract of land, known as the Bogue Phalia
district, is receiving the benefit of most of this effort, and the
families are rapidly moving in and taking possession.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., utters these profound truths:
“Capital is like Providence in just one respect. It helps those who
help themselves. It will take no risks in a community where the people
brand investments as bad by refusing to take part in them. Capitalists
know that men everywhere are looking for good investments, and an
enterprise that does not secure home support is presumed to be a
bad investment, no matter how much talk there is for the purpose of
convincing men to the contrary. The present is an auspicious time.
Millions of dollars of Northern capital are seeking investment, and
they will go to such places as prove rather than assert faith in the
investments they offer.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Atlanta Constitution, in making editorial comment on an item in the
SOUTHERN STATES, says:

“We contend that the South is the most promising section in the Union
for enterprising farmers who will conduct their business in the right
way. The Northern and Western farmers are beginning to see this. They
are coming to the conclusion that it is short-sighted policy for them
to purchase land at $100 or more per acre when they can buy plenty of
good farming land in the South at from $5 to $25 per acre. A Northern
farmer needs at least forty acres, and this will cost him in his own
section $4000. This sum would buy him at $25 per acre a Southern farm
of 160 acres, but he can easily find good land at much lower figures.
Indeed, with $1500 or $2000 a farm of 150 or 200 acres can be purchased
in a productive region. The Northern farmer who comes South and sticks
to his diversified crop plan will keep out of debt and make money
from the start. He will find, too, that he will enjoy here the same
conveniences, facilities, institutions and society that he has always
been accustomed to at home. He will suffer none of the drawbacks
of moving to a new country among strangers. Our people are native
Americans--98 per cent. of them--and the Americans from other sections
who come here easily assimilate with them, and there is no sectional
prejudice to make it unpleasant for strangers. When an immigrant makes
it apparent that he is a good citizen his Southern neighbors readily
extend the right hand of fellowship without asking him where he hails
from.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Here is the opinion of an editor who moved from Nebraska to Tennessee
and is now editing the Advance of Harriman:

We came South from a State as fair as any under the sun. In some
respects it is unequalled by any land we have ever seen. But that is
not what makes a country desirable for a life-long, all-the-year-round
residence.

With all the desirable qualities of Nebraska, and there is no Northern
State that can excel or even equal it, there are some disadvantages
that render it more than a hundred per cent. inferior to this country.

In the first place, there are no minerals, no timber, and,
consequently, no manufacturing to supply a home market for produce. All
surplus grain must go to a foreign market, and the distance and freight
are so great, as to leave but very little for the farmer. Corn more
frequently sells for less than twenty-five cents a bushel than it does
for more than that, or even that figure.

Then the long winters and severe blizzards. We know what they are, for
we battled with them for a good number of years, and are in a position
to judge between the climate of that country and this.

Concerning the outlook for farming in this country, we are convinced of
two facts.

The first is, that the same kind of farming given to this Southern soil
that is given to the the land in the North will result in just as good
crops. Of this we have no doubt whatever.

The second is, that while the farmers of the Northwest have to sell
their produce for the lowest possible price, depending entirely on a
foreign market, here, with our stores of undeveloped minerals, and
immense quantities of timber to be manufactured, the farmer can depend
on a good local market for the next hundred years.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Age-Herald, Birmingham, Ala., says: “The disposition among Northern
and Northwestern farmers to come South is every day becoming more
apparent. They long for the salubrious climate and fertile soil of the
South. When the South is covered by small farms owned by industrious
white farmers, then it will blossom as the rose. The negro shows a
disposition to get away from the farm. He is a social creature and
loves the society and excitement of the town. He flocks to the furnaces
and mills around the city. He can stand heat and enjoys the hot work
of the furnaces. He makes more at the public works. He is thriftless
and cannot manage, and can’t make farming pay. It is possible that
there will be a considerable shifting of places between the whites and
blacks, resulting in good to the entire country.”




WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAY OF THE “SOUTHERN STATES.”


The entire attention of the editor and contributors of this magazine
is devoted to the promotion of the South as a farming region, and to
the distribution of information which will at once attract immigrants,
show them where they may with the best advantage locate, and tell
them what to expect when they arrive. It is an undoubted fact that
many thousands of acres of land of remarkable productive capacity are
going begging for occupants in nearly all of the States south of Mason
and Dixon’s line at very low prices, and it seems to be the case that
the Northern or Eastern farmer of thrifty, economical and industrial
habits and with a practical knowledge of his business will not fail
to succeed in the South. “The South and Immigration” is the first
article in the present issue, and it consists of letters from prominent
railroad officials, showing the aids which are extended to immigrants
by these organizations. The next paper is made up of letters from
Southern banking institutions whose universal testimony it is that a
steadily increasing financial prosperity is in progress throughout
these States, and the “Letters from Northern and Western Farmers Giving
Their Experience in the South” tend to prove the same statement. This
magazine is serving as the medium for the carrying on of an enormous
and an invaluable work.--Boston Herald.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is a just and true mirror of the Southern country and an invaluable
aid in its upbuilding and advertisement. The ignorance of the world
concerning all things Southern is astonishing, and is fostered and
increased by immigration agents and land companies by wilful and absurd
misrepresentation concerning its people, its climate, its methods
and everything connected with it viewed as a home for prospective
settlers. Until recently the South has had no champion against this
maligning. To combat these errors and let the world know the truth is
the mission of the SOUTHERN STATES, and the steadily increasing influx
of immigrants to this portion of the Union is in a great measure due to
its intelligent and unceasing efforts.

       *       *       *       *       *

The SOUTHERN STATES is devoting itself to a remarkable degree
to illustrating the attractions of the South for farmers and
manufacturers, and to this end is printing in its monthly numbers
letters from farmers and railway managers throughout that section of
the country, who show what the possibilities are in dealing with the
soil and in gaining access to the markets of the nation. The forces
of immigration have been chiefly directed to the North and West until
a large portion of that country has been occupied; but the industrial
resources of the South have only just been touched, not developed, and
the railways are calling loudly for people who are ready to immigrate
to different parts of the South and purchase small farms. At the same
time a large number of the farmers give an account of their actual
experience in the different Southern States as agriculturists.--Boston
Herald.

       *       *       *       *       *

The SOUTHERN STATES should meet with substantial endorsement from every
Southerner interested in the upbuilding of his section.--Commercial,
Union City, Tenn.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Wm. H. Edmonds has disposed of his interest in the Baltimore
Telegram, which was rapidly increasing in popularity as one of the
best literary weeklies in the country, and assumed the editorship and
management of the SOUTHERN STATES, the monthly magazine started a few
months since by the Baltimore Manufacturers’ Record. Mr. Edmonds is now
engaged in a work thoroughly congenial to him, the main object of the
SOUTHERN STATES magazine being identical with that he had mapped out
for the Telegram when he purchased the paper. The SOUTHERN STATES under
the new editor will, we are assured, rapidly increase in popularity,
especially in the South. Mr. Edmonds is thoroughly identified with
the progress of the South, material and industrial, and his exclusive
devotion to the magazine work guarantees a publication of the highest
literary character and extraordinary general interest. The Enquirer-Sun
extends its best wishes to the new management.--Enquirer-Sun, Columbus,
Ga.

       *       *       *       *       *

The SOUTHERN STATES, an illustrated monthly magazine published in
Baltimore, has begun a movement which is calculated to do more good
than anything heretofore projected to induce the sturdy farmers of
the Northwest to seek more congenial homes in the Southern States
where the rigors of climate are not present to obstruct and hinder the
husbandman.--The Landmark, Norfolk, Va.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is impossible to estimate the amount of good work that is being
done for the South by that splendid magazine, the SOUTHERN STATES. In
its January number “The South and Immigration” is discussed by the
leading railroad officers, representing nearly 30,000 miles of Southern
railroads, and this and the other subjects treated are handled in an
eminently practical way.--The Post, Houston, Texas.

       *       *       *       *       *

The SOUTHERN STATES, a magazine published by the Manufacturers’ Record
Publishing Co., Baltimore, is doing more for the South than perhaps any
one publication in this heaven-favored land.--The Times, Selma, Ala.

       *       *       *       *       *

The News notes with pleasure the efforts of the SOUTHERN STATES to
bring into favorable notice the great advantages the South possesses
in the agricultural field, and every Southerner who loves the Southland
should secure a copy of the SOUTHERN STATES for February, as it
contains the experience of men who have given different localities in
the South a fair trial in the agricultural line, and we are glad to
see from the actual experience of men who are capable of judging that
the South ranks second to no other section in farm production, and is
way above them all in the successful production of fruit.--Chattanooga
(Tenn.) News.

       *       *       *       *       *

This magazine is doing a splendid work for the development of the
South.--The Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.

       *       *       *       *       *

Every issue of the SOUTHERN STATES marks a literary and artistic
improvement, which is most gratifying to the people of the South, in
whose interests the magazine is published.--The Post, Houston, Texas.

       *       *       *       *       *

One who has any thought of removing to the South will find this
magazine a most valuable guide.--Western Farmer, Lafayette, Ind.





End of Project Gutenberg's The Southern States, March, 1894, by Various