AGRICULTURAL TOUR SOUTH AND WEST.-NO. 7. 
219 
AGRICULTURAL TOUR SOUTH AND WEST.—No 7. 
Having spent a night with Dr. Bingay, at whose 
house the reader will bear in mind I stopped over 
to rest. It was here that I saw the coco grass, 
mentioned in a former letter, as growing out of the 
top of a sugar-house chimney. The Doctor is a 
small planter, and has just erected a new horse mill, 
of which I shall speak more particularly hereafter. 
He is a practising physician, and I believe a very 
well-informed man, full of activity and enterprise. 
But as I shall have occasion to speak of the Doctor 
again, let us ride on. 
The next place worthy of note, is that of Col. 
Preston, of South Carolina, son-in-law of the late 
Gen. Hampton. It is a part of the “ Houmas Grant,” 
the other part being owned by his brother-in-law 
Col. Manning. Col. P. has about 2,000 arpents, 
under cultivation, and 350 hands in the field and 
750 in all, upon the place, under the management of 
Capt. Sheafer, a very intelligent and pleasant gen¬ 
tleman. It takes 150 horses and mules to work 
this place, which is rather under the usual number 
upon other plantations. The last crop, which he 
ftonsiders “ almost a failure,” was 1,100 hogsheads 
of sugar. All the land on the river is measured by 
arpents , which contain, within a small fraction of 
18 per cent, less than an acre. 
I counted in one “ quarter,” (the name given to 
the negro houses,) upwards of 30 double cabins, 
all neatly whitewashed frame houses, with brick 
chimneys, built in regular order upon both sides of 
a wide street, and which is the law, must be kept 
in a perfect state of cleanliness. Feeding the force 
on this p’ace is not quite equal to feeding an army, 
but it takes nine barrels of pork every week, 
which, at an average of $10, is $4,080. per annum, 
cash out, for that item alone. The regular allow¬ 
ance of pork to all field hands, is four pounds, 
clear of bone, per week, with as much corn meal 
as they can eat, besides molasses, sweet potatoes, 
vegetables, and occasional extras of fresh beef and 
mutton. Children’s rations, 1 \ pounds of pork per 
week, and full supply of other things. This place 
being in a bend of the river, the front is compari- 
tively very narrow, (34 arpents, or about 28 to a 
mile,) and “opens out,” as the lines run back, like 
a fan, which is the way that all the lands were 
originally laid off. On points, on the contrary, the 
lines run together in the rear, the fan opening the 
other end foremost. 
An ox-breaking machine, I saw at Dr. Wilkins’, 
consists of a pole about ten or twelve feet long, 
fastened on top of a stump by a bolt, so it will turn 
round freely, the steer being fastened at the other 
end with a strong bow, and having a rope fastened 
around his loins and to the pole, he is left to go 
round and round, until, on being taken out next day 
and yoked in the team, he is ready and willing to 
go ahead. Dr. W., who has this machine, says he 
copied it from some agricultural paper, and as he 
owns a large steam sawmill, and has a great many 
steers to break every year, he would not be without 
it for a hundred dollars a year. But still, to use it, 
is “book farming.” Perhaps a little more such 
book farming would be economy. He also says 
that bleeding a horse until he farn-ts and falls, will 
cure the worst case of colic, and not injure the 
horse. [Doubted.—E db.] Although he owns a 
thousand acres of cypress swamp, the difficulty of 
getting the lumber out, unless he should first dig a 
I canal, is so great that he buys all his logs in rafts that 
! come down the river. Lumber is worth $12 to $30 
I a thousand. He has in operation at his mill, a 
stave-making machine, that makes six to eight 
staves a minute. It is the same kind of machine, I 
believe, patented and in use in the state of New 
York, and in this sugar region where so many bar¬ 
rels and hogsheads are used, it ought to be in general 
use. I commend it to the attention of planters. 
They can easily see it in operation, and learn its 
labor-saving powers. 
Mr. Fagot, a very polite French gentleman, 
whose first inquiry after introducing myself, as is 
almost always the case at that particular time of 
day, “ have you dined V ’ has a brick-drying shed, 
under which he can dry 30,000 at once, upon the 
“ bearing-ofF-boards,” put on slats fastened to 
posts. By this plan, he can have the shed filled 
with bricks at odd times through the summer, which 
may be burnt when ready. Owing to the very fre¬ 
quent showers in this country, brick making is a 
very “ catching business,” but by this plan, all that 
trouble and loss is obviated. 
Mr. F’s place is a short distance above the “ con¬ 
vent,” in St. James’ parish, which is a very imposing- 
looking structure, or rather structures, neatly formed 
and where a large school is kept; and where all 
looks in a healthy, flourishing condition. This 
was a state-fostered institution, and is said to have 
cost near half a million of dollars. 
Along the road, the small Creole places are 
thick as “three in a bed,”—all the tracts being 
40 arpents deep, and the reluctance of old families 
to sell out, has caused divisions and subdivisions 
among heirs until the land is thrown into a shape 
almost worthless, as I have already mentioned. 
Fancy a farm three rods wide, and 480 rods deep, 
and if you like it here is a lot on ’em. 
My entertainer at night was a French gentleman 
by the name of Ferry, where I found a small house 
well furnished, standing separate from the dwelling, 
in which to lodge travellers, where all their wants 
are as well cared for as though it were in a hotel. 
Among the beautiful plantations passed, was 
that of “Golden Grove,” belonging to C. M. Shep¬ 
herd, Esq., for which I would willingly exchange 
all my interest in the California golden groves, or 
“ placers.” The most of the interest of a visit to 
this splendid plantation, was lost by not meeting 
the owner, whose character as a planter and as a 
gentleman of taste and refinement, stands very high. 
A few miles below, is the plantation of Dr. Lough¬ 
borough, on the point, which, owing to the shape 
of the tract, as.before mentioned, has no woodland, 
and where I saw the whole force of the es¬ 
tate at work “ catching drift;” a job of no small 
amount upon a place making 500 hogsheads of sugar, 
as that alone would consume, at least, 2,000 cords 
of wood of the usual quality of drift. The pro¬ 
cess of catching drift is by sending out a skiff, 
which fastens a rope to a whole tree, perhaps, and 
a very large one too, sometimes, and towing the 
prize ashore. One end of a chain cable is made 
fast to it, and the other to a powerful capstan, 
turned by horses or mules. I say powerful, for I 
saw them snap the chain like threads, when getting 
