18 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
iby “Agricola.” (See Cultivator for June, 1855, page 
5172 .) I would remark, however, that 16 by 18 feet is too 
omall. I think, even for a small fa/mily. Negro houses 
are never more than one story high, and always too low 
at that ; and, as there is but one apartment for the whole 
> family, this ought, undoubtelly, to be of good size and 
' well situated. Negroes, I admit, bear crowding much 
il3>etter than white people. Owing to certain constitutional 
■peculiarities, the negro does not consume as much oxygen 
as the white man, and he is, therefore, relieved, in some 
■degree, from those inconveniences experienced by the 
w^hite man from over-crowding and want of ventilation. 
• Still I must insist that ventilation is necessary and ought 
• to overlooked ; and that too much crowding together 
?iiQ small apartments is injurious and ought to be guarded 
-against. When the houses are built of logs (which is 
^generally the case) they should be hewn and all the bark 
i taken o£ The cracks should be neatly lined inside and 
©lat, If this is not done, the negroes will soon have them 
; ittiied with dirty rags, old shoes, coon skins, chicken 
t leathers and every other description of trash. They should 
aot he permitted to indulge in these filthy, though very 
f jsatural propensities. Nor should they be allowed to have 
sloiandles of rags and dirty cloths stutFed about their beds. 
This they will be certain to do if not prohibited. The in- 
i tsffior of their dwellings should be frequently inspected 
V by the master or overseer to see that all is right within — 
nhat they keep a clean house. 
iJRlant^tion Hospitals. — Perhaps this will be a new idea 
40 some ; it may be to many ; for I am not aware that the 
plan has been adopted by more than a few in any part 
y&{.the country. Nor do I know that the subject has ever 
t received any particular attention anywhere or at any 
> lime. Whatever may be the views and opinions of others 
- soon this subject, my own observations and reflections 
s fully satisfy me of its utility ; and I, therefore, earnestly 
cti&commend it to the attention of every one having the care 
and management of a number of slaves. And I am per- 
siaaded that whoever will try the experiment, will never 
reason to repent it. If it does not at once prove to be 
a memy-making concern ,I am confident it will be found 
t© be a money-saving one in the end. The cost would 
a mere trifle, while the advantages it would afford, are 
incalculable. 
As to the size, form, and general arrangements of the 
' b^iilding, no uniform rules can be given. These must be 
/:ric)gulated according to the number of slaves on each plan- 
iation, and the healthfulness or unhealthfulness of the lo- 
• cation. A house 20 by 25 feet would do for three beds. 
'SM all of its arrangements, the prime object should be com- 
fiort, both in summer and winter. Hence ventilation, a 
. good fire-place, clean beds, &c., are of the first importance. 
- Aia excellent kind of bed can be cheaply made of refuse 
and shucks. When v/ell made, this is a much better 
b-sd than feathers, for either the sick or well. 
When a negro is taken sick, he should be at once taken 
?t© the Hospital ; his dirty clothes taken off, and his whole 
person thoroughly cleansed before being put to bed. He 
3 e then ready for medical treatment with a fair prospect of 
■ isbtaining all the benefits to be derived therefrom. A com- 
; pgtent nurse should be appointed to attend him, while the 
t :;«aster or the overseer will attend to giving the medicine 
- take a general superintendance of everything connect- 
- with the establishment. Other negroes will desire to 
rasit the sick, and it is right they should do so, but too 
jsany should not be admitted into the sick room at once; 
r. 2 i<E>r should they be allowed to crowd around the sick 
No man, I think, can fail to see the great advantages of 
- arrangement. The patient is at once placed beyond 
■ A-»eyeach of the noise and bustle of the family, the crying 
. <fcdjildren, the opening and shutting of doors, and vari- 
ous other disturbances, always extremely annoying to the 
sick. But more than this ; we are enabled to protect him 
from atmospheric vicissitudes, and without this it would 
be unreasonable to expect much benefit from medicine or 
anything else we could do. Under these advantageous 
regulations, convalescence will not only be hastened, but 
rendered doubly sure. And we have some reasonable 
grounds to hope for a favorable issue. But whatever the 
final result may be, we are relieved from any painful re- 
flections upon ourselves. Whether he lives or whether he 
dies, we have the satisfactions of knowing that ace have 
done what we could — we have discharged our duty. 
Omo. 
Toccopola, Miss., Sept., 1855, 
THE SUGAE GROWTH IN LOUISIANA. 
A friend in New Orleans writes as follows : — I wrote 
you yesterday. I resume the pen to-day to correct a gross 
error which has crept into your September number. At 
page 353, it says : “and in the year 1765 there was sugar 
enough manufactured for home consumption, and in 1770 
sugar became one of the staple products of the colony.’* 
Where the author got his authority for so stupendous an 
assertion, the ghost of Munchausen alone could tell, if 
summoned by the spirit rappers. There was not a pound 
of sugar made in the time mentioned. 
Judge Martin, who came very early to Louisiana after 
the cession, and who had the best means of information, 
for he could get it from a large number of men who were 
personally acquainted with the state of the colony in 1765 
and 1770, thus writes on the subject in his history — page 
125, 2d vol,: 
“Since the year 1766 the manufacture of sugar had been 
entirely abandoned in Louisana. A few individuals had, 
however, contracted to plant a few canes in the neighbor- 
hood of the city. They found a want for them in the 
the market. Two Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, had 
lately made larger plantations. One of them boiled the 
juice of the cane into syrup, and the other set up a distillery 
in which he made indifferent tafia.^^ 
A feiv canes for the market — syrup toffia — but no s^igar, 
as you see. 
The ^me authority continues : — “Etienne Bore, a na- 
tive of Illinois, who resided about six miles above the 
city, finding his fortune considerably reduced by the fail- 
ure of the indigo crops for several successive years, con- 
ceived the idea of retrieving his losses by the manufacture 
of sugar. The attempt was considered by all as a vision- 
ary one. (Why visionary, if good sugar had ever been 
made in the colony 1) His wife, (a daughter of Destrehan, 
the Colonial Treasurer, under the government ofFrance, 
who had been one of the first to attempt, and one of the 
last to abandon the manufacture of the sugar) remember- 
ing her father’s ill success, warned him of the risk he ran 
of adding to, instead of regaining his losses, and his re- 
lations and friends joined theirremembrances to hers. He, 
however, persisted ; and having procured a quantity of 
canes from Mendez and Solis, began to plant.” 
This was written at a time w'hen instant contradiction 
would have been given to the author if he had, in the 
slightest degree, swerved from the truth. 
At page 131, the same author observes : — “ Bore’s suc- 
cess in his first attempts to manufacture sugar was very 
great, and he sold his crop for twelve thousand dollars. 
His example induced a number of planters to plant cane.” 
The fact is, that before Bore’s success a sort of thick 
sweet paste had been made in Louisiana, but no sugar — 
at least what we now understand by the word sugar. 
The reason was that the juice of the cane did not granu- 
late. My grand-father, Mr. Bore, was the first who suc- 
ceeded. See page 349 of History of Louisiana, 3d volume. 
Yours, &c., Chas. Gayarre, in De Boiv's Review. 
