439 



blew all that was open out of the bolls, aud blew dowu cotton-houses, 

 thus exposing that which had been picked. It injured the crop at least 

 50 per cent. Matagorda : A most terrific storm began on tbe morning 

 of September 15 ; about dark it increased to a gale, and continued of 

 about the same intensity for twenty-four hours, when it increased to a 

 terrible tornado, which continued until 3 o'clock the next morning, the 

 17th. It carried in its course destruction, desolation, and death. At 

 the same time rain deluged the earth. As the papers will give full 

 accounts of the destruction of towns, houses, farm-auimals, and people, 

 I will confine myself to its effects on the crops. This it is impossible 

 yet to estimate. All open cotton, which constituted the bulk of the 

 crop, was blown and washed away. Many gin-houses were either blown 

 down or unroofed, by which much cotton was either lost or damaged. 

 The cotton-stalks being entirely stripped of leaves by the wind, a bright 

 sun and w^arm days rapidly developed the remaining bolls, when, on the 

 nights of the 24th aud 25th, we had a recurrence of the gale. This was 

 not so severe, but materially injured the lately-opened cotton, reducing 

 the condition to 25 per cent. It also did great damage to the corn. On 

 the 18th of September, 1851, just twenty-one years ago, this county suf- 

 fered a similar disaster, though the storm was less in duration and 

 extent. Bastrop : The great storm, which caused immense havoc and 

 ruin in our coast towns, did much damage to the cotton-crop in this 

 county. The loss is not less than 1,000 bales, or 10 to 15 x)er cent, of 

 the amount opened. 



Mixed husbaisidiiy veesus cotton. — Sussex, Virginia : The cereals 

 are attracting more attention from our farmers. They are becoming 

 more alive to the fact that cotton alone is not sufficient for all the 

 demands made upon it. Before the war we raised negroes, and worked 

 them, ourselves, and our lands almost to death in order to get money to 

 buy more negroes. Now, cotton has been substituted for the negro. 

 We work ourselves almost to death to make cotton, and, as soon as 

 made, we sell it to buy commercial fertilizers and hire labor to make 

 more cotton, and so on, never having anything except a little cotton, 

 which we expend, in the ways indicated, to enable us to make more cot- 

 ton. But let us get to making grain largely, raising stock, and diversi- 

 fying our crops, and the good old days will return when, instead of sit- 

 ting down to our dinners with a little piece of scraivny western shoidder, 

 bought on credit, we will have Virginia ham and cabbage, both of our 

 own raising, and all the splendid luxuries on which we were raised, but 

 which now are creatures either of fancy or of the memories of the dead 

 past. 



JVas/i, North Carolina : We are beginning to plant wheat aud turn more 

 attention to grass and stock-raising. 



Hart, Georgia : The farmers of the county have raised more provis- 

 ions than in any year since the war, and there is a reasonable prospect 

 of a greater increase next year. 



Henry, Alabama : Our people are determined to plant more small grain 

 than ever since the war, and to study economy in every department of 

 the farm. We will try to make our farms self-sustaining, and at the 

 earliest day possible will remove our smoke-houses and corn-cribs from 

 the West and locate them at home. 



Carroll, Louisiana : The county will raise plenty of corn for home con- 

 sumption, and more meat than for years. 



Castor-beans and flaxseed in Missouri. — Vernon : Castor-beans 

 and flaxseed are quite crops in this county. The former averages this 



