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Rvmex 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



l^isiti)r/*-i 



BtOBKSSa^ 



"'i'HO.IE WHO L-LnOR IN THE EARTH AKE THE CHOSEN I-EOI-LE OF UuD, WHOSK HRBASTS HK H VS MADE HIS PECULIAR DEPaslTE FOR SUH3T 



A-VTIAL AND GENUINE \ IR lU K.'"—JrJ'crgOn. 



VOL. 8. NO. 11. 



CONCQRD, N. H., NOVEMBER 30, 1846. 



WHOLE NO. 95. 



THE FARMEU'S J>It>.\TUI.Y VISITOR, 



Pl'Kl.lsilKl) BV 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED 0.\ THE LAST HAY OK F.VKRT M0>T1I, 



At Atheniau Building. 



{CvOk^ckai. .\(!£.vts n. A. liiLj., Keenc, N H. ; Juh» 



Mabsh, Wusllin!!t<iirSt. Iloslun, Mass.; Ckam.es Wi^intv, 

 BnilUy How, VVorccsltr.. Mass.; Thomas Chandler, Bedlbr,!, 



TERMS — To siiiirlf subscribers. Fifty CciiU: Ten per 

 com. will bi- iilbuvfil t£. ilie prrsnn who shall seiiil inori- Ihan 

 mil' suhsrnliir. T" .Ive ciiiik's will he sent for the advance 

 payilh-nl III Mrc Dallara: twenty-live copies for Ten DuUars ; 

 sixl) colli.-., lor TmciiIij Datlars. The payment in every case to 

 be maile ii) ativancp. 



Si?"'''/'""!' «"'' 'fiiti.icn'ptloiK', hi a reiruUtion of the Post Master 

 aenemt, may in all cases be remitted by tlic Past Master, free or 

 postage. 



{Kj'.UI gcntleni'^n who have herelofortflrtcd as Aaents aie 

 reiiuesled to continue their Ajency. Old sniiscriliers who 

 come under the new terms, will please notify us of the names 

 alreadj' on our books. 



CONCORD, N. H., NOV. 30, 1S46 



Sagar and slavery in Louisiana^ 



Tlie ie|)iiit of iliy Coiiiiiiis.siouer of Piiteiits 

 coiii,.i.,s a list of iill ilie si.<;ur |.Uimers in ilie 

 Stiite of Loiii.siaim will, the |)rodii(;t ofeiicli pluii- 

 tiitidii for Ilie jeai- 184-i. Tlie convcied ;inro,v- 

 gme of the Mi:;ar laiseil in that jear is put at 

 2J.5,000,COO Ills. Tlie aieia^re j ield vf inolas.^es 

 at 45 gallons for every ICOO Ihs of siijiar is esli- 

 iiiate.l at 9,000,000 gillous. Be>i(les Hie molas- 

 ses ihe ciMerri lioitoiiis. Iioii^ln np l.y the sugar 

 refiners, are esiiitiated to he worth 5 percent. In 

 addition to the siio;,r piofii,--, l.-n-fre qNaiiiilies of 

 cane werfi sold in the field (or new plaiitalioii.s, of 

 uliich wiihin the last iwo in- lliree years the 

 nunilier seems to have heen nearly donhled. In 

 17 parishes o(J~ cotton planlailons.were turned 

 into sugar estates. At the liegiunino; of the year 

 there were in operation 7G3suj;ar mills, of which 

 408 were workid hy steam power, and 354 hy 

 hoise power— the luiinher of planters ahoiilUOO. 

 At the end of ihe year the iiumher of mills hail 

 increased to 1104, and the nuinher of planters to 

 1850. Seventy-two en>;ines for sugar mills were 



nut up the 



inirodnced from the manuliictories of Piitshur 

 Cincinnati, fee, and 130 were to be 

 ne.\t year. 



The sugar plantaiions of Louisiana lie along 

 the shores of the rivers and huynus. A remarka- 

 hle feature of these sugar plantations is that lliey 

 lie nearly upon a level, the highest point of which 

 is at the river, gradually falling away until the 

 land in the rear becomes low swamp too wet for 

 cultivation. Maps of the plantations with the 

 owners' names above New Orleans upon the Mis- 

 sissippi have been published, by which the trav- 

 eller is enabled to mulerstand bis [lositron while 

 on Ins w.'iy. To shut out the inundations a levee 

 or bank is thrown up near the river edge. At 

 *m„e points ilie river encroaches, taking off sev- 

 eral feet every year, ihe ground filling off at each 

 succeeding freshet. In these portions protruding 

 lo.s and Slumps of trees that have been cover"- 

 ed iH-aay years make their appearance. The quan- 



lily of filling trees and logs cou.-tanily tloaling 

 at every rise of the water is iinmeuse : it used for 

 fuel it would seem to hi; snHi(^ient for the whole 

 supply of the inhahitants. At some points on the 

 river, the Slirtace of the water is entirely covered 

 wiih the float- wood. The float-wood embedded 

 in the sand is constantly li)rming the snags and 

 sawyers so dangerous to navigaiion. The frail 

 !-teainboats on the river, constructed like an open- 

 ed actuyi «ith the cup, when deeply laden, coni- 

 'ing down very near the water's erige, soemet^fo 

 US the most dangerous vehicles in the world. 

 Vet the officers and hands conducting these boats 

 seem to bo better pleased to be under way in the 

 midst of these dangers in the night than in the 

 day time. 



As you come down some hundred and fifiy 

 miles above N^ Orleans, the plantaiions upon 

 the great river of rivers assume new beauty and 

 present evidence of the great wealth so easily 

 gained upon the snjrar estates. Above this point 

 the .•ippearaiice along shore is more new and 

 rough, as if the cultivation was but now just be- 

 gun. Many thousand acres, probably as good 

 and as valuable as any portion of the land.s, are 

 yet in their original trees. The profiis upon the 

 sugar lands have been so great that there are 

 many gentlemen, professional and otherwise, who 

 beginning with the force of a few hands insensi- 

 bly raise Ihe value of their property many thou- 

 sands of dollars. This is done, sometimes on 

 credit alone, where the planter bimself resides 

 away from his plantaiion, leaving the eniire inaii- 

 agemenl to one or more experienced overseers. 

 Ill the list of planters we observe the name of 

 Bishop Polk of the Episcopal Church, as the pro- 

 prietor of a planiaiion in the parish of Lafourche 

 producing 850,000 lbs. of sugar in the year 1844. 

 At five cents a pound, less than the average at 

 New Orleans in the latter part of the winter that 

 year, the Bishop's crop of sugar alone would 

 aiiiount to S4-J,500. And here we may presume 

 he will be Ibund enjoying a snug clearannual in- 

 come of at least $30,000 with no interference to 

 interrupt the discharge of his parochial duties. 

 Itjs true, he is the owner of slaves, and this, if he 

 be considered in the same category with Bishop 

 Soiile and Bishop Andrew of the Methodist 

 church soulh, must cut him off from the rights, 

 beneiits and even name of a Christian at the 

 North ; hut Bishop Polk, if he allows his slaves 

 to be treated with inliumaniiy would be unlike 

 every ninety-nine in a hundred of other Louisia- 

 na sugar planters. The fertile ground which 

 produces the cano yields almost sjiontaneously 

 whatever is necessary for the good living of the 

 slaves; every |!rovident (ilanter raises a sufSeien- 

 cy of corn and meat necessary for the purposes 

 of his plaiilation. The main crop, the sugar, is 

 nearly if not quite clear gain. 



The largest siigiir proilucer of Louisiana as 

 given in the list, is Col. Preston, upon the (lamp- 

 ton estate in the parish ot Ascension. His pro- 

 duction for 1844 was 2,100,000 lbs: it gives at 

 five cents per pound $105,000. This plantation 

 is a part of the estate made by the late Gen 



at one time during the war of 1812, the senio' 

 major general commanding the United States 

 troops upon the northern frontier. Gen. II. own- 

 ed estates and cotton plitntalions in liis iiulive 

 Slate of South Carolina. About the lime, we lie- 

 lieve soon after the pnrcliase of Lonisiaiiu by iVlr. 

 Jefferson, Gen. Hampton made his pitch upon 

 unreclaimed land upon the Mississippi. Proba- 

 bly he came to the tide of this land fm- the mere- 

 est trifle. . He transferred a portion of the slaves 

 who could not be as well subsisted at home, to 

 ihe Louisiana plantaiion, and here has. grown up 

 an immense estate of lands and slaves probably 

 not exceeded in the United States. The l]am[)- 

 ton estate is said to comprise some 80,000 acres 

 of these excellent lands, of vvliicli scarcely three 

 thousand are yet in cultivation. Ap|iroacliing the 

 plantation of Col. Preston (a brother of the late 

 South Carolina Senator of that name) who mar- 

 ried a daughter of Gen. Hampton, the prospect 

 from the river is one of the most beautiful tliat 

 can be imagined. Up#lie river at no very great 

 distance within the levee is the splendjd tiiansion 

 or family residence probably of Inick painted or 

 stone, surrounilHil uiih the negro houses iiir fam- 

 ily servants and stables. Near the centre of the 

 plantation directly njjon the river bank are the 

 ample store houses and wharves out of vvhieli ' 

 the hogsbeadshof sugar or molasses are directly^ 

 laden to the steamboat or other water craft com- 

 ing alongside to tnke llieni. Two extensive su- 

 gar houses situated at convenient distances for re- 

 ceiving the cane crop of the size and shape of 

 iuimense barns, are accompanied each by its 

 brick chimney standing high in the air some hun- 

 dred feet, carrying beyond danger the smoke and 

 cinders of the working engine. End to end and 

 in direct lines, are the uniform huts or ihvellings - 

 containing the habitations of the slaves living in 

 families, each hut either painted or white-wash- 

 ed, exhibiting the neatness of a clean New Eng- 

 land village, with garden plats to each surround- 

 ed by fruit trees and shrubbery. On either hand 

 are the plantation fields for the growing cane. 

 The time of our passing was the season of plant- 

 ing, when numerous hands were at work. A 

 mule or horse with a single driver and holder of 

 the plough was the sufficient preparation of a 

 light and easy soil. The planted rows in straight 

 lines, like the rows of a cornfield, extended frotn 

 the nver back far as the eye could reach, looking 

 from the high cabin of the steamboat over the 

 levee upon the river bank. At all seasons ol the 

 year the appearance of these plantations is beau- 

 tiful: seldom is the frost so severe as to cutoff 

 vegetation. The acclimated population, both 

 black and white, here enjoy the best health in the 

 world. The counlr.y produces a greater portion 

 of fat and healthy people than we have ever seen 

 in the more northern sections of the Union. 

 There is none, or very little of that winter suffer- 

 ing which is obliged to be encountered at the 

 North, and which ir;arks the condition of much 

 of the poor [lopulalion of a more severe climate. 

 The way that much of the new Slates of Lou- 

 isiana, Alabama, Mississippi, &,c. have grown in- 



4 



Wad« Hampton, who it will bo recoliecto<I was ' to their great production and proaperit.y 1ms imexi 



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