270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



At the time I first travelled through the South- 

 ern States it seemed to me that they were not yet 

 ready to receive northern settlers into full fellow- 

 ship and I did not, therefore, invest in land then; 

 but in 1887, having occasion to go as far west as 

 Wisconsin to deliver some lectures, I turned aside 

 to visit the Agricultural College at Starkville, 

 Mississippi, where my friend, Professor F. A. 

 Gulley, was in charge of the agricultural depart- 

 ment. We discussed the industrial future of the 

 South and particularly land values and prices. He 

 took me to see 1,400 acres of bottom timber land 

 which could be purchased at a great bargain. The 

 forest was largely of hickory an indication of 

 good soil rather thinly scattered over the whole 

 tract, a part of which was subject to a slight over- 

 flow in the spring, which could easily be drained. 

 The price of the whole tract was one thousand dol- 

 lars. The owner was not in town but when I had 

 looked up the title and found it good, I tried to 

 borrow money from my friend for a deposit to 

 bind the bargain. But he said that as there had 

 been but one sale of land in all this district since 

 the War, it would be quite safe to let the matter 

 rest until I got home. Meanwhile the agent of the 

 railroad had suspected my business from the fact 



