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to impart its heat to the mass of solid salt and water above it. As the fresh 
water evaporated, salt water would flow in and take its place, and from these 
new supplies deposits of salt would continue to be made till the surface of the 
solid mass was on a level with the Gulf. There the work would stop. The 
baked sides of a crater would form a good pit for the manufacture of salt. The 
washings of the tides would make a muddy deposit on the surface of the mine, 
and in this mud marsh-grass would grow. This mud and grass they now find 
on the first formation above the salt. Then the rough and loose earth thrown 
up, forming a hill on the north side of the salt mine, would begin to wash down 
by. sueceeding rains. That is exactly what it has been doing till the marsh- 
grass and earth are now covered with a deposit of mud from eleven to thirty feet 
in depth.” 
The region embraced within the parishes named is a fine grazing country, 
and vast herds of cattle and large flocks of sheep may be pastured upon the 
extensive natural meadows of the “ Opelousas prairie,” extending seventy-five 
miles southwest and northeast, with a width of twenty-five miles. One man is 
said to own 12,000 head of cattle, and it is estimated that from 75,000 to 100,000 
head are now grazing upon these prairies. 
4. Cotton, sugar, corn, and potatoes are the principal crops in Louisiana, and 
before the war the cultivation of the first two named was very profitable, but 
our correspondents uniformly represent the production of cotton as ruinous to 
the planter during the past year. Jackson parish reports two hundred pounds 
of lint cotton to the acre, fifteen bushels of corn, one hundred and fifty bushels 
of sweet potatoes, and twenty bushels of peas. Tensas parish, one to one and a 
half bales to the acre in good season, fifty to seventy-five bushels of corn; in 
cultivation, nine acres of cotton allotted to one laborer and five acres of corn. 
In Union parish about six bales of cotton to the hand was expected before the 
war. In Carroll parish cotton will produce six hundred pounds lint to the acre 
when newly cultivated, and a fair laborer can make eight bales of cotton and 
one hundred bushels of corn, yielding about $500 to the hand; but under the 
present system the average is two and a half bales cotton and twenty-five 
bushels corn to the hand. Prior to the war the parish of Rapides produced 
from 30,000 to 40,000 bales cotton, 15,000 to 18,000 hogsheads sugar, and 
30,000 barrels molasses, but the production has much deteriorated, though with 
the labor and capital at command, the capabilities are still as great. In the 
southern tier of parishes sugar, rice, and tobacco are made specialties, and fruits 
are extensively grown, with great inducements for the increase of the latter 
production. 
5. But little attention has been given to the growth of wheat, scarcely suffi- 
cient to develop the capabilities of the soil and climate to produce it successfully. 
In Bossier parish wheat was grown to some extent during the war and did well. 
The Tappahannock has been introduced in Union parish, and bas demonstrated 
that wheat may be successfully grown there. In Avoyelles parish planters are 
trying the crop the present year. In a majority of the parishes, however, the 
culture of wheat is considered impracticable, the rust appearing to be its most 
serious enemy. When grown at all, the planting season is the last of October 
and first of November, and harvesting the latter part of June. 
6. Bermuda and crab-grass, crow-foot, sedge, and the common prairie grass, 
with the swamp grasses and wild canes, afford the pastures for stock, upon 
which the latter can feed from nine to eleven months, and in some sections the 
entire year, without fodder or shelter. Our Rapides correspondent says: 
“ Stock of every description—except working stock—can be sustained in this 
locality the entire year upon pastures. When the fields become exhausted 
they find sustenance in the woods and the wild cane, the latter being superior 
for horses and cattle in winter. There are several varieties of foreign grasses 
here admirably adapted to our soil and climate. Rye grows vigorously, and 
