97' 



now said to be reduced to only eight feet of water 

 on the bar. 



The productions of Louisiana are cotton, sugar, 

 rum, indigo, rice, corn, furs, and peltry. It also 

 affords lumber, tar, pitch, lead, horses, and cattle. 

 The fertility of the soil admits of great increase 

 of these and an additional supply of many other 

 articles. The culture of the sugar cane, which 

 has already become considerable, may doubtless 

 be carried to a very great extent. At present, 

 cotton is the largest and most profitable produc- 

 tion. Indigo is on the decline. Further north 

 than the Iberville, the sugar cane is liable to be 

 injured by the cold, and the crops rendered un- 

 certain ; but all the lands southward, susceptible 

 I of improvement, and adapted to that kind of cul- 

 ture, will produce the cane in good perfection. 

 In some parts it is already became a staple com- 

 modity. Some planters employ about one quarter 

 of their plantations in the production of sugar 

 cane, and the remainder in pasture, and raising 

 provisions. It is estimated that one hundred and 

 eighty feet square will produce, on an average, 

 twelve hundred weight of sugar, and fifty gallons 

 of rum. Calculating on this data, it is presumed 

 the lands under present cultivation, suited to this 

 culture, would produce about fifty thousand 

 hogsheads of sugar, and twenty-four thousand 

 puncheons of rum. It is believed by some, that 

 as a full and regular supply of provisions may be 

 easily obtained from above, on moderate terms 

 9 



