SUGAR-PLANTATIONS IN LOUISIANA.-SURFACE AND WHEEL-DRAINING. 
175 
any similar situation. If the water were required 
to be lifted much over two or three feet, the revers¬ 
ed action of an overshot wheel of the proper diame¬ 
ter would undoubtedly be best. 
The plantation of Colonel Maunsel White, which 
I also visited, on the right bank of the river, forty 
miles below New Orleans, has been partially drain¬ 
ed by means of a screw ; but he informs me that not 
finding this satisfactory, he has determined on 
adopting the method before described. Messrs. 
Benjamin and Packwood, and three or four others, 
have also commenced the system of wheel-draining. 
This improvement is in its infancy; but it does not 
seem -presumptuous to predict for it a rapid exten¬ 
sion, till it embraces nearly the whole area of the 
delta. It ^vvill reclaim hundreds of thousands of 
acres not how in use, and render all that is under 
tillage vastly more productive than it can otherwise 
be. Its adoption will justify and render available 
the system of under-draining, which is capable of 
immeasurably augmenting the crop, and besides be¬ 
ing in the highest degree beneficial in preventing 
the formation of miasma in the atmosphere. But 
this is a subject reserved for future consideration. 
Each of the plantations mentioned is under a high 
state of cultivation, the result of a close supervi¬ 
sion on the part of their intelligent proprietors, 
though neither resides permanently on them; and 
each has its peculiarities, indicative of a well-di¬ 
rected taste, acting on the features under their con¬ 
trol. 
After passing through a private canal, reaching 
five miles directly back from the river, and then 
through the bayou for twelve more, amid alternate 
low woodland and swamp prairie, the voyageur first 
meets the cultivated land of Mr. Hodge. Continuing 
for a mile on the reclaimed front, the bayou, then 
turns at right angles, and for another mile, borders 
the plantation. The buildings occupy the lower 
front, which opens upon bayou Villars, a prairie- 
bound inlet, that leads to Lakes Oucha (Washaw) 
and Petit, a distance of but a mile from its junc¬ 
tion with Barataria. 
Numerous shell-banks abound on these lakes and 
bayous, and immediately in front of the buildings, 
on either side, are long piles of them partially im¬ 
bedded in the earth, and covered with magnificent 
live oaks. There are also several high conical 
mounds, of alternate layers of shells and earth, evi¬ 
dently the work of a long extinct race, as no record’ 
or tradition remains of their origin. One alone 
yielded over 100,000 barrels of shells without being 
exhausted. They are the remains of a species of 
fresh water muscle, still existing throughout these 
waters; and their accumulation in these immense 
banks is yet a problem to be solved, opinions still 
being divided, whether they are the result of artifb 
cial or natural, human or elemental action. I as¬ 
cended one twenty-five feet high, where the roots 
of an old oak, five or six feet in diameter, still 
cover almost the entire surface. 
1 have often admired the variety of shape, the 
live oak, the king of the forest, assumes. It alter¬ 
nately resembles the form of the northern maple, 
the ash, the oak, the elm, and even the weeping 
willow. I have seen one of these standing on a 
bank, five feet above the water, yet with its pendent 
limbs trailing in it. But the aspect of the willow is 
much more prominent from its long clusters of 
waving moss, that sometimes load it down with its 
long and graceful drapery. Mr. Hodge religiously 
preserves every specimen of this tree on the planta¬ 
tion, and in addition, has a beautiful young forest of 
selected trees, which are pushing themselves rapid¬ 
ly into consequence and notice. 
In this secluded, yet beautiful retreat, nature 
seems to reign almost supreme. For miles on the 
bayou and lakes, not a tree has been cut, nor a 
stroke been made, that indicates the presence 
of man. The alligator suns himself in undisturbed 
quiet; the waters abound in fish that prey only 
on one another; and the air is.filled with the blue 
crane, the mocking-bird, the red-winged and crow- 
blackbird, the little ampray or papa, and numerous, 
others of the feathered tribes, whose notes make 
the welkin ring again with their jocund melody. It 
is through these solitary, yet measureless bayous,^ 
lakes, and morasses, that one may wander, and see 
nature just as she was a thousand years ago, un¬ 
disciplined by the hand of civilization, unvexed by 
the hand of toil. 
Colonel White came into possession of his plan¬ 
tation before a ruthless onslaught upon the native 
forest had entirely swept it away, and with a taste, 
as commendable as it is rare, he has preserved a 
large grove of native trees, which sweep from the 
river’s bank around and far behind his domicile. 
Mr. Morgan found his deluded, but by a judi¬ 
cious selection of forest-trees (among which I find 
a native elm conspicuous), he is rapidly recovering 
the ornamental grounds with their appropriate 
adornments. 
Thus far I have seen on the low lands but one 
species of fruit-tree, in an apparently natural and 
healthy condition. The apple grows up long, 
mossy, and spindling, and with the peach and plum, 
yields a thin foliage, straggling specimens of which 
not unfrequently hang on to the branches through¬ 
out the year. Occasionally, though seldom, do 
either bear satisfactorily. The fig grows every¬ 
where luxuriantly, and with a full, rich, and dark 
foliage, that indicates the greatest health and vigor. 
The orange has been a most successful bearer 
throughout most of the delta; but within a few 
years, has in many instances been almost annihi¬ 
lated to exterminate a parasitic insect that fastens; 
upon the trunk, the limbs, and foliage. Every 
known remedy has been hitherto tried in vain, and 
as a last resource, the limbs have been lopped off, 
and in many cases, even the trunk cut down to the 
ground, to give a fresh and more vigorous growth, 
that might possibly resist attack. Colonel White 
informed me that the products of his scattering 
trees had yielded over $1,000 in a single year, yet 
this disease had compelled him to cut them down 
to naked trunks. There is evidently a wide field 
open for study and experiments in the fruit-trees 
of lower Louisiana. 
In future numbers, I shall continue the subject of 
cane cultivation, though leisurely, and perhaps 
with considerable interruption; but I shall not re¬ 
linquish it till the best modern practice, and hints 
for its further improvements, are fully spread out 
before the American planter. 
R. L. Allen.. 
New Orleans , April 27th , 1847 
