105 



retarded the iutroductioii of improved machinery ; but by the introduction of select 

 seeds through the Aj;Ticultiiral Department, and better culture of smaller areas, much 

 progress is being made. Ashe : Increasing use of mowers and horse-rakes. This is a 

 grass county, and the farmers sow more aud more clover and grass, and are improving 

 their lands aud stock. Raywood : Great improvement in the manaijemeut of farms. Per- 

 manent barns and shelters are being prepared for stock, and the high table-lands seeded 

 to grass for pasture. More and more attention given to saving and proper manipulation of 

 manures for fertilization. Dairying is on the increase, and sustains one cheese factory, 

 besides furnishing large quantities of butter for the southern market. Craven : Modern 

 machinery, better fertilization and preparation of the soil, and still more by the deter- 

 mination to raise more hay aud all home supplies, instead of importing them. Stanly ; 

 Compared with the condition of things ten years back, there has been visible progress. 

 Warren : We have economized labor to considerable extent in the cultivation of cotton, 

 especially by the introduction of plows, cotton-choppers, gins, &c. The experience of the 

 last sis years is beginning to change the policy of buying fertilizers and making cotton 

 to the exclusion of other crops. Stokes : Slowly introducing labor-saving machinery ; 

 .a few intelligent agriculturists settling among us; great improvement in the quality 

 of tobacco; the land is peculiarly adapted to raising the finest quality, and can be 

 bought at $5 to i|10 per acre. Randolph : An increased reclamation of wet, swampy 

 lands for several years, by putting in under-drains and ditches of proper depth. Several 

 reapers aud mowers and a few seed-drills have been introduced, but harvesting is gen- 

 erally performed with the old-fashioned cradle and scythe. Pitt : Eiforts to systematize 

 aud economize our labor almost fruitless. . A few individual examples have had a line 

 influence. Robeson : In some instances the yield per acre is much larger than formerly, 

 aud our people are beginning to learn the advantages of manuring and cultivating well. 

 Franklin : The tendency is to cultivate less land, and improve what they do work and to 

 diversify the products of the farm. Daridson : Increased use of labor-saving machinery. 



SouTii Cakolixa.— JF(7//rtni.5&«r(7/i ; Better preparation of lauds, better cultivation, 

 and better implements. York: One planter says : " Twenty years ago, with thirteen 

 laborers, my father produced on his plantation 12 bales of cotton ; last year, with seven 

 mules and about ten field-hands, I produced 96 bales on the same plantation." Caldwell : 

 The people are awakening to the necessity of improvement, but have made but little. 

 Chesterfield : Thepkiuters of cotton have made great advancement in the quantity of 

 production per acre since the war, and as far as possible, with the labor aud improve- 

 ment, have reduced the cost of production. Lexington : Colored laborers are purchas- 

 ing homes and devoting all their spare time to the improvement of the same. Their 

 children, too, are going to school, and making commendable progress in their studies. 

 Laurens : From the scarcity of labor, onr people work less laud, but manure it better, 

 aud raise more. Barnwell : The labor is about the same as since 1865, but farmers 

 have learned to deal more economically with it, from necessity, and to raise a greater 

 product per acre. Greenville : Boys are learning to plow and to mow ; girls spin, weave, 

 knit, wash, cook, and sew. There is more care taken in the neatness of working-cos- 

 tumes, substantial, home-made boots and shoes. The more nice dressing, the greater 

 the desire to work for the means to purchase good clothing. The use of wheat-bread 

 and butchers' meat is increasing. 



Geougia. — Harris : Farmers more thrifty and less inclined to run in debt ; laborers 

 more disposed to hire by the year ; more interest in fertilizers. Jefferson : Improved 

 implements and fertilizers. Decatur : No improvement. Catoosa : No im]Drovement. 

 Putnam : Colored labor better ; little work by white men, but when they have worked 

 with economy aud industry they have done well. Early : Freedmen doing much 

 better ; fruit-culture enlarging ; farmers' clubs organized ; agricultural papers more 

 circulated. Worth: No improvement; few agricultural works read; follow the old 

 ways. Cherokee : No iiuprovement. Dooly : Medium grade of planters succeed best. 

 Douglass : The results of the last three or four years of recklessness are inducing reflec- 

 tion. Forsyth: Improved implements, but not much improvement in labor. Liberty: 

 Plantation system passing away ; white men doing their own work ; the new rule is 

 small areas, thorough tillage, thorough fertilization, mixed husbandry. Twiggs : Labor 

 more intelligent and' reliable. Ujjson : Labor emigrating ; more industry and applica- 

 tion ; more manures and better implements. Schley : Eaise more for home consump- 

 tion. Bartow: None. Gordon: Better fertilization. Marion: Less cotton and more 

 grain. Brooks: Better understanding between employers and laborers. Pike: Marked 

 improvement in preparing lancls ; this found to be economy of labor ; freedmen largely 

 emigrating. IZert )(?e(/ie>- ; More grain-raising and manuring. Dawson: Some improve- 

 ment in culture, and more in economy. C'« n-o H : More grain. Floyd: Some improved 

 implements and culture. Johnson : Tenants more industrious and economical. War- 

 ren : None. Stewart: Considerable reclamation of land. 



Florida — Columbia : No improvement in farming ; in fact we are making less per 

 aci-e, and spending more in doing it, than we did ten years ago. The vast amount of 

 timber and stumps on the land prevents the use of many of the labor-saving machines 

 of modern invention, and consequently most of us are treading in the footsteps ot our 



