182 OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 



ricnced planters admit that one quarter of the cultivated lands of 

 any considerable plantation may be planted in cane, one quar- 

 ter left for pasture, and the remaining half employed for pro- 

 visions &c. and a reserve for change of crops. One Parisian 

 arpent, of 180 feet square, may be expected to produce, on an 

 average, 1 hhd. (12 cwt.) of sugar, and fifty gallons of rum. 

 From the above data, admitting that both sides of the river are 

 planted for ninety miles in extent, and about three quarters of 

 a mile in depth, it will result that the annual product may a- 

 mount, in round numbers, to twenty five thousand hhds. of 

 sugar, with twelve thousand puncheons of rum. Enterprising 

 young planters say, that one third, or even one half of the ara- 

 ble land might be planted in cane; it may also be remarked, 

 that a regular supply of provisions from above, at a moderate 

 price, would enable the planter to give his attention to a greater 

 body of land cultivated in cane : several of the departing bran- 

 ches of the Mississippi furnish strips of land along their mar- 

 gins within the sugar latitude; there is also a portion of the 

 Alacapas, parallel to the sea coast, favorable for this culture;, 

 every circumstance being therefore taken into view, .we may 

 admit that in the existing state of the lower country, double 

 the quantities of sugar and rum above mentioned may be pro- 

 duced, although hitherto the annual product has only been 

 about 5000 hhds. of sugar. 



When the immense regions watered by the tributary streams 

 of the Mississippi, particularly those extending to the sources 

 of the Missouri, shall be opened up and cultivated by the per- 

 severing labor of man, our winters will be enchained in the 

 north, and a milder climate will extend itself over the whole of 

 the Delta; and as it lies under the same parallels of latitude, 

 so will its productions be similar to those of the Delta of Egypt : 

 and if we extend our views to a future period, when the wa- 

 ters of dhs great river shall be completely under the control of 

 man, by a regular system of canals and embankments, such as 

 probabiy existed in Egypt during its best days under its ancient 

 kings, sum.' idea may be formed of the inestimable vaiue of 

 a country, which most happily for itself and for the United 

 States, aiow constitutes a very precious portion of the union. 



