﻿130 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  period 
  cut-nails 
  were 
  not 
  invented, 
  and 
  the 
  wrought-nail 
  

   cost 
  a 
  dollar 
  a 
  pound. 
  Tools 
  and 
  all 
  iron 
  implements 
  

   bore 
  a 
  corresponding 
  price, 
  owing, 
  in 
  some 
  degree, 
  to 
  the 
  

   high 
  freights 
  on 
  heavy 
  articles 
  up 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  ; 
  the 
  

   voyage 
  from 
  New 
  Orleans 
  to 
  Natchez, 
  made 
  by 
  keel- 
  

   boats 
  and 
  barges, 
  requiring 
  several 
  weeks. 
  

  

  A 
  set 
  of 
  plough-irons 
  was, 
  therefore, 
  an 
  acquisition 
  of 
  

   no 
  little 
  value. 
  Iron 
  entered 
  into 
  the 
  composition 
  of 
  

   few 
  of 
  the 
  wagons 
  or 
  carts, 
  and 
  the 
  wheels 
  were 
  often 
  

   made 
  of 
  a 
  transverse 
  section 
  or 
  disk 
  sawed 
  and 
  properly 
  

   fashioned 
  from 
  the 
  trunk 
  of 
  a 
  tree 
  of 
  suitable 
  diameter. 
  

  

  These 
  trucks 
  constituted, 
  to 
  considerable 
  extent, 
  the 
  

   only 
  means 
  of 
  transportation 
  of 
  heavy 
  articles. 
  Even 
  

   as 
  late 
  as 
  after 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  "Whitney's 
  saw-gin, 
  

   a 
  now 
  opulent 
  planter, 
  a 
  venerable 
  and 
  highly 
  respected 
  

   citizen, 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  Adams 
  County, 
  states 
  that, 
  in 
  a 
  

   wagon 
  of 
  this 
  kind, 
  he 
  hauled 
  his 
  crop 
  of 
  cotton 
  for 
  two 
  

   years 
  to 
  a 
  neighboring 
  gin 
  ; 
  a 
  framework 
  of 
  cane 
  serving 
  

   in 
  lieu 
  of 
  plank 
  in 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  body. 
  

  

  Not 
  many 
  years 
  before, 
  the 
  same 
  gentleman 
  was 
  

   reduced 
  to 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  fabricating 
  his 
  only 
  plough 
  

   by 
  framing 
  a 
  common 
  mattock 
  into 
  a 
  beam, 
  that 
  being 
  

   the 
  only 
  implement 
  suited 
  to 
  the 
  purpose 
  left 
  on 
  his 
  

   plantation 
  by 
  the 
  depredating 
  Indians. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  only 
  about 
  sixty-five 
  years 
  since, 
  and 
  oc- 
  

   curred 
  within 
  ten 
  miles 
  of 
  Natchez, 
  and 
  to 
  an 
  individual 
  

   belonging 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  opulent 
  and 
  influential 
  

   families 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  at 
  that 
  day. 
  

  

  Flax 
  was 
  raised 
  chiefly 
  for 
  shoethread 
  and 
  similar 
  

   uses, 
  but 
  in 
  some 
  families 
  linen 
  cloth 
  was 
  made. 
  

  

  Leather 
  was 
  commonly 
  tanned 
  throughout 
  the 
  country 
  

   in 
  large 
  troughs 
  dug 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  trees. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  earliest 
  occupancy 
  by 
  the 
  English, 
  cotton 
  in 
  

   small 
  quantities, 
  sufficient 
  for 
  domestic 
  purposes, 
  was 
  

  

  