216 



UNITEB STATES, 



be careful while the corn is soft, to guard it against 

 bears and raccoons. This, however, is a trouble 

 that must cease when the country is well settled* 

 Wheat, barley, oats, rye, buckwheat, Indian corn, 

 pease, beans, potatoes of both kinds, flax, hemp, 

 tobacco, indigo, rice and cotton, have already been 

 planted in that settlement, and they all thrive in great 

 perfection. The usual crop of cotton is 800 pounds 

 to the acre, the staple is long and fine. It is alleged, 

 however, that the lands on the Mississippi have a 

 decided preference to those on the Cumberland river, 

 for the production of cotton and indigo. No experi- 

 ments have been made on land near tli^e Mississippi, 

 within the ceded territory ; but there is a small set- 

 tlement further down the river, within the limits of 

 the United States, on a similar soil, where the 

 growth and quality of cotton is so remarkable, that 

 its culture is more profitable than any other crop..,. 

 The soil on those rivers is deep and light, having a 

 small mixtyre of sand with a black earth ; hence, as 

 the piaaters allege, it proves favourable to the cul- 

 ture of all kinds of roots, as well as indigo and cot- 

 ton.* 



* Account of the state of Tennessee, Phiiadelphja^ 1 7§e» 



