ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS ! ITS PROSPECTS I 



31 



The total area of the state is 45.440 

 square miles of laiul, with several thou- 

 sand acres of fresh and salt water. The 

 laud is distributed as follows: 



S(i. Miles. 



Alluvial lands 13.255 



Bluff and bluff prairies 5,739 



OaU and hickory ui)!ands 8, 103 



Long-leaf pine hills 7.5S2 



Loii^-leaf pine flats 2. .550 



Central prairie re.uion 'iSr> 



Coast marshes 7,42() 



Sm-h are the genlojiical and agricultural 

 feiUures of this state. A «tate cf marvel- 

 ous fertility of soil, with the larg(*t 

 length of water courses, with splendid 

 railroad con' ectious, with superb cli- 

 matic conditions. A state connected in- 

 laud by the great father of waters with 

 an immense territory stretching from the 

 Appalachian to the Rocky mountains. 

 and outward, through its moutn, with 

 every port of the globe. A distinguished 

 son of another state has truly said: "The 

 northern coast of the gulf of Mexico is 

 the natural center of trade for the west- 

 ern hemisphere. The configuration of the 

 continent, the direction of the great 

 rivers, t"™** sweep of th» ocean curreiits. 



and the prevailing winds, all point to the 

 mouth of the Mississippi as the natural 

 center. There is land enough adapted ti» 

 the growth of sugar contiguous to New- 

 Orleans to supply the wants of the con- 

 tinent and to fuiuish vast <inantitios for 

 exportation. It only needs the proper ap- 

 plication of machinerj- and labor to ef- 

 fect this great result. New Orleans is to 

 be the grandest emporium of trade for 

 the continent. \v neu «hip communicatidn 

 is made across the isthmus, New Orleans 

 must become the great center of trade 

 for North America, and nothing can tli- 

 vert it but an imperial despotism holdiuL-; 

 huge investments of capital elsewhere." 

 This prophecy is being fulfilled, juid 

 the millions of acres of land adjoining 

 tills river, and tributary to this already 

 great emporium, must "at an early day 

 become peopled with busy millions of 

 souls striving in this balmy climate for 

 the mastery of the agricultural world, as 



NEW ORLEANS DOMINATES THIO 

 COMivuORCB OP NATIONS. 



To prepare for this great contest the 

 first nuestiou to ask is; 



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\ What Will These liands Grom ? 



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The -genera! impression prevails that 

 the south can only grow cotton, sugai 

 cane, tobacco and rice; that other crop^ 

 cannot be grown successfully, and that 

 hay-making and stock raising are ini 

 possibilities in this sunny land. 



This erroneous imjiressioii has been 

 produced by the persistency of our plant- 

 ers and farmers in growing the above 

 crops, a persistency largely inherited and 

 acfiuired. with our large plantations 

 filled with ignorant, unskilled Ial)orers, 

 who have lieen dis(;ii)lined since youth in 

 planting methods. But the climax has 

 been reached. I'lanling on a large scaFe 

 is /lo longer popular. Uni'eliable labor 

 low prices, soil exhaustion and liigh 

 money rates have 'horn this business of 

 ail its pleasures and most of its profits. 

 Disintegration and division is now th« 

 order of the day. and the large planta- 

 tion of yesterday will be to-morrow the 

 abode of many happy and prosperous 

 farms. 



The question may be asked. What else 

 ran be grown in Louisiana? The reply 

 is a sweeping one; nearly everything 

 capable of growth in a temperate or sub- 

 tropical country. Wheat has been, and 

 can be, grown iu the northern part of 



(he state. Oats Sown In the eariy fall, 

 and using the rust proof varieties for 

 seed, will make as finely here as any- 

 where on earth. Over 100 bushels per 

 acre have been grown on the alluvial 

 and bluff lauds of the state, while the 

 hill lands of north Louisiana have fre- 

 quently given over sixty btisfcels per 

 acre. Spring oats are sometimes success- 

 ful, but are not generally to be reoom- 

 mended. Rye and barie.v, if home- 

 grown seed be used, will thrive all over 

 the state, and are frequently sown for 

 winter pastures. The stock are turned 

 on during the winter, and at the begin- 

 ning of spring they are removed and the 

 grain permitted to mature, frequently 

 with large results. Two successive crops 

 of buckwheat have been grown in this 

 state on the same soil in one year. 



Corn can be grown easily all over the 

 state, and if the same attention and 

 methods of cultivation were given it 

 liere as in the corn-growing states of the 

 west the average yield per acre would 

 be but little under that produced there 

 But corn is a side issue with the cotton 

 and cane planter, and is cultivated a.'J 

 little as possible. Under this "touch and 

 go" method the yield of this state d u-- 

 ing the present year is but little below 

 20,000.000 bushels. By proper rotation, 

 fertilization and cultivation, this yield 

 could easily be doubled. Upon the al- 



