tbs #0utb. 
LANDS IN GEORGIA. 
I did not apprehend wheq^^rote my 
Bhort letter to the Rural 8th 
that the ntire ortli was ex- 
citement, from Maine to Missouni^^^ from 
the Jakes on the North to Mason and 
Dixon’s line in the South, in relation to 
emigrating to this nunny clime. But such 
is the fact, and from all parts of the North 
and West comes the same entreaty for truth¬ 
ful information of the climate, soil and social 
condition of the people. While I fully ap¬ 
preciate the earnestness of th6so who have 
solicited a personal reply, still the magnitude 
of such a task—when the number of writers 
is taken into consideration—would be too 
laborious for a farmer whose business at this 
season of the year (we are just in the height 
of coni planting) in this climate is so press¬ 
ing. I will try in this sketch to answer 
honeetiy and truthfully, as far as possible, all 
the questions asked by the different writers. 
This shall be no varnished tale to deceive 
the people and fill the columns of a paper to 
delight the fancy of the; fiction reader. 
For the first time in our country’s history, 
the doors of Southern emigration are thrown 
wide open, and a people onco proud and 
happy, with all the comforts of life around 
them, are now writhing in poverty, their 
fortunes gone, their homes made desolate, 
and their fondest hopes crushed. In this 
prostrate and helpless condition, they invite 
you, with your money, your muscle and 
your energy, to come and help rebuild on 
the ruins and ashes of war the coveted tem¬ 
ple of prosperity. 
The large plantations must be divided into 
glebes of one or two hundred acres, and the 
email farmer, with a system ot mixed hus¬ 
bandry and a new mode of culture, will soon 
restore the lost elements of fertility to the 
soil. Part of the lands are w'om by exces¬ 
sive cropping, without fertilizing, and the 
virgin soil, by the slovenly scrat ching system 
of culture, has been nearly exhausted. But 
deeper down lie new mines of wealth, new 
farms untouched, which, by skillful hands 
and new appliances for tilling the soil, will 
fill the garnet's with plenty and add w T ealth to 
the coffers of the State. The people are 
filly years behind the times in agriculture 
when compared with the thorough and com¬ 
plete Bystem adopted at the North. Where 
you find one man who plows deep, you will 
find ten that scarcely plow at all, scratching 
along on the surface with a one-horse scooter 
plow, at an average depth of about three 
inches. The first heavy ram -washes the 
Burfacc soil into Lhe creeks and branches 
below; but when plowed deep not a particle 
will be lost. If clover bo the sheet anchor 
of American farming, underdrainint/ Is the 
rudder which guides the ship to a safe har¬ 
bor. But, alas! how little has been accom¬ 
plished in laying the foundation for perma¬ 
nent success in Georgia I IIow few are the 
fields of clover, and fewer Btill tlib rods of 
underdrains. Yet clover flourishes in the 
middle and northern parts, and underdrain- 
ing would be equally as advantageous here as, 
if not more so than, throughout the North. 
Mr. David Dickson of Hancock county, 
before the war, was demonstrating the prac¬ 
ticability of deep and thorough culture and 
on naturally poor and sandy land made a 
princely fortune. Dr. Parker, of Columbia, 
6. C., (about the same latitude as this place) 
in 1857 produced on poor worthless land— 
as it was called —two hundred bushels and 
twelve quarts of shelled corn upon a single acre, 
the largest yield on record. My experience 
fully corroborates these statements, and I 
firmly believe that with proper treatment 
and tillage the land will surpass in product¬ 
iveness the richest lands of the North. The 
cold, short climate will defeat any effort to 
compete with us. 
Let the same character of emigrants con¬ 
centrate here that built Chicago, on the 
swampy shores of lake Michigan ; that has 
pushed the car of civilization hundreds of 
miles beyond our western frontier, and there 
in the wilderness built cities, reared factories, 
and developed the mines 1 Let this same 
energy, skill and capital come here, where 
railroads are built, schools and churches 
established, the forests partially cleared away, 
and the fields ready for the plow, and where 
the climate favors every undertaking, and in 
a few short years the South will " bloom and 
blossom as the rose.” 
This mighty revolution has already begun. 
The many advantages of thi3 mild, healthful 
c.limate are becoming known, and instead of 
the tide of emigration flowing to the West, 
it is gradually turning Southward. The 
proper plan for the emigrants coming South 
is to settle in communities, so that by com¬ 
binations the good resulting from the use of 
the larger and more expensive machines, 
tools and implements, may be immediately 
shared by all. The great length of the 
season, and wide scope for planting, sowing 
and harvesting, make this plan practicable. 
The Georgia Legislature has recently 
passed an act establishing a “ Bureau of Im¬ 
migration,” with an appropriation of $10,000 
to direct this current to her soil, l he rail¬ 
roads have reduced the fare to two cents per 
mile for excursionists and others who are 
looking for homes in the State. The hotels 
have also, in the principal cities, agreed on 
reduced rates for this class of persons, who 
can flirnish the proper certificates, showing 
their good intentions, &c. Why are such 
steps taken if the people are so bitter toward 
Northerners ? Everything has been done to 
assure the people that they will be welcome, 
and that the Southern masses are ready and 
anxious to meet upon a common platform 
all those who will como and identify them¬ 
selves with the interests of the State. 
The climate is all that could be asked. No 
snow or slosh in winter, but sufficiently co! 1 
to loll all injurious insects, and make every¬ 
thing healthy and salubrious. No day is so 
hot in summer but that Northern men can 
work; the nights are cool and refreshing; 
the labor of feeding stock through a six 
months’ winter saved; roots of all kinds for 
feeding purposes can remain In the ground, 
and there is not a month in the year we can¬ 
not plow and sow. 
You need not expect to see a country so 
very prepossessing in appearance at. first 
sight; but if you are able to overlook the di¬ 
lapidation of the old system of culture and 
its consequences, you may behold as lovely 
a region as that of the far-famed Italy. 
The habits and customs of the people do 
not materially differ from those of the North, 
except, perchance, the dusky servants and 
the odd appearance of the houses, by having 
the chimneys built on the outside. 
In this part of Middle Georgia wc have 
all the advantages of the great cotton grow¬ 
ing belt w ithout its sickly, malarious atmos¬ 
phere. Then, too, the grasses and grains (I 
make no exception) of the more northern 
latitudes grow luxuriantly; fruits arc raised in 
perfection, and vegetables in rare profusion. 
As a noticeable incident I must mention 
the fact that last fall two voting men from 
Baltimore came to Atlanta and commenced 
the canning of fruits. They cleared by the 
operation $40,000. There can scarcely 
be found any of these smaller enterprises 
throughout the South. Cotton is mainly de¬ 
pended upon for money, and all these little j 
odds and cuds are allowed to go by default. 
Wo need men to develop these long hidden 
stores of wealth. We need mechanics to 
build along our water courses new Manches¬ 
ter and Lowells, whose spindles shall hum 
the song of joyous lnbor. We need men oi 
muscle for the farm, the workshop, and the 
mines. We need every class, from the aris¬ 
tocratic capitalist to the humblest day labor¬ 
er. There Is room for all. The country is 
sparsely populated, the towns and cities 
email, and the negroes make very fair labor¬ 
ers when properly directed. It is astonishing 
that lands are so cheap; but after a careful 
study of the habits and customs of the peo¬ 
ple this state of things is not surprising. 
In slavery times the negroes were in fact 
the. only real estate the planters owned. Land 
was bought and worn out (as it was called) 
as a wagon or other perishable property, to 
make cotton to buy more negroes. While 
we find some of the land good a greater por¬ 
tion has been abandoned to the mercy of 
broom sedge grass and small pines, for the 
want of a sufficient number of laborers to till 
and keep it up. The land was cleared faster 
than the population increased. The lands 
were never considered valuable, even when 
they were fresh and new, in the palmiest 
days of slavery; but a man’s wealth was 
counted, not by the number of acres, but the 
number of negroes be possessed. 
Originally this section was the richest in 
the whole State. The timber now left indi¬ 
cates this, and was the only criterion I went 
by in locating in this region. While Oak, 
Red Oak, White Hickory, Poplar, Chestnut 
and Pine, mostly abound, and are found in 
abundance for all aud every purpose. The 
forest lands will make ten bushels shelled 
corn per acre. Plowed deep and thoroughly 
cultivated, the product is often increased 
one-half, Even at. that rate, wc can raise 
more corn to the hand than on the richest 
lands in Western New York. For while the 
New York farmer has only time to break 
up and plant an acre, in this latitude we can 
ten. While the teams of the former are 
standing still in the stable, and being fed 
through a six months’ winter, ours are in the 
field at work. The only difference is, we 
must pay and feed a hired man. But when 
you learn that we get our laborers at leas for 
the twelve months than you do for the six, 
the difference is more than balanced. 
The people are awake to all the improve¬ 
ments in husbandry, but are unable, in a 
majority of cases, to adopt them. Only one 
way remains for them to regain their former 
wealth, and that is to sell a portion of their 
land and improve the balance. This they 
propose to do. 
I cannot imagine a place better suited for 
stock raising, if a man has enough capital to 
start right. One thousand sheep fed upon 
an acre of land in turnips n single. da} T , will 
make it rich enough to produce one bale of 
cotton. About four hundred pounds of good 
superphosphate will bring the turnips. At 
that outlay, together with your sheep, the 
land is immediately improved. 
Fruit raising will no doubt become a great 
business in the South. The peach is grown 
without the least trouble, on any kind of 
land, and being so much earlier, commands 
the highest price in market. The water is 
soft, but pure aud good, and furnished in 
every field by never-falling springs. The 
water power of this section is ample for 
manufactories and mills of every description. 
The General Assembly has recently passed 
an act, exempting, for the next five years 
from taxation, all capital brought to the 
State and invested in machinery and manu¬ 
factories. 
The soil is divided iuto two general classes, 
commonly known as “ stiff red,” and “ gray 
land.” The former is a kind of clay, with a 
slight admixture of sand, and best adapted 
for grain and grass. The latter is a sandy 
loam, better suited for cotton. On nearly 
every plantation these different soils may be 
found. The soil has a good foundation, and 
will hold the fertilizing properties. When 
properly manured and made rich, the vege¬ 
tation is perfectly astonishing. 
Please bear in mind that in the list of 
drawbacks you will not find a single impossi¬ 
bility to contend with, and no task half as 
herculean as to warm up one of your winter 
days, when the thermometer is in the teens 
below zero. Now if you wish to enjoy a 
climate so mild and healthful, where lands 
are cheap and water good and pure, come to 
this part of Georgia. Come with your wives 
and your children, your neighbors and your 
friends, your household goods and your 
household gods, and build cilies, churches 
and schools suited to your tastes and wants. 
Bring your mechanics and artisans, your 
workers of wood and moulders of iron, your 
improved stock and labor-saving machines, 
and on these ruins will eoon appear a daz¬ 
zling picture of prosperity. 
Good improved farms can be bought at 
from $8 to $12 per acre, according to loca¬ 
tion, number of acres in timber, and pro¬ 
ductiveness of the soil. It was only last 
Tuesday that, a farm of eight hundred and 
fifty acres sold at sheriff’s sale at $2.10 per 
acre. The buildings and fences alone are 
worth that amount. The farm of tour hun¬ 
dred acres I only notice to distinguish from 
many others that cun be bought in this 
neighborhood. A good horse is worth $200; 
mules, $150 to $200; cows, $30 to $40; 
sheep, $2 to $3. All kinds of new and im¬ 
proved agricultural Implements can be 
bought in Atlanta. A nucleus of Northern 
society is already found here. Five men 
from New York, one from Missouri, one 
from California, one from Illinois, and one 
from Wisconsin have settled in this county. 
Yellow fever is not known in this section, 
and according to the census of 1800, there 
are only two other States in the Union where 
a less number die annually with consump¬ 
tion than in the State of Georgia. The ther¬ 
mometer seldom gets lower than ten degrees 
above zero in the winter. Two days last 
summer the mercury reached ninety-nine de¬ 
grees, while at the same date in Rochester, 
N. Y., it went up to one hundred and five de¬ 
grees. It is a great mistake about the sum¬ 
mers being so oppressively warm. 
As the season is so tar advanced, there is 
hardly time for a person to come from the 
North and make a start this spring, without 
it be mechanics, day laborers, and those who 
contemplate fruit growing, stock raising or 
some other kindred enterprise. Now is a 
good time to look around; and even if a man 
should not conclude to locate he will never 
regret having made the trip. Expenses from 
New’ York City lor the round trip will not 
exceed one hundred dollars. There are va¬ 
rious ways to come:—New York. Washing¬ 
ton, Richmond, Va., Weldon, N. C., Augus¬ 
ta, Ga., and Madison. Buffalo, N. Y., Cin¬ 
cinnati, O., Louisville, Ky., Nashville, Tenn., 
Atlanta, Ga., and Madison. By steamers 
from New York to Savannah or Charleston 
may be a trifle cheaper. 
Madison is the county-seat of Morgan, Is 
situated on the Georgia Railroad, sixty-four 
miles from Atlanta, and one hundred and 
four miles from Augusta; contains 2,000 
inhabitants, four churches—Methodist, Bap¬ 
tist, Presbyterian and Episcopal — a female 
college, several preparatory schools, two 
papers, and about thirty stores and other 
places of business. A contemplated railroad 
to Eatonton, twenty-two miles distant, will 
make this place easy of access from all 
parts of the Stat e. 
The people are intelligent, kind and hos¬ 
pitable, and I can assure all persons of the 
right stamp that they will be kindly received 
and well treated. B. H. True. 
Madison, Ga., March, 1869. 
Since receiving the foregoing, another note 
from Mr. True gives us authority to say that 
parties wishing to visit the South can get 
excursion tickets over the Georgia R. R. at 
two cents per mile, by applying to .T. M. 
Huntington', Agt, 229 Broadway, N. Y., or 
to C. E. Evans, 187 Greenwich St., N. Y. 
■irib wrops, 
CORN CULTURE. 
How Large Profits are Realized in New 
York State. 
The following, among the many ways, is 
probably the best mode of treating corn land. 
As a general tiling it would seem to be, and 
tor drained Boil we know it to be. Some of 
our best formers adopt no other principle, 
and it, needs but. n general practice of tile¬ 
laying to establish it. 
The complete thing is to begin in the fall, 
or soon after the hay crop is removed, for 
sod is the thing to be turned down in all 
cases. Select a sod, then—or prepare it for 
this purpose, your land and sod—and let, it be 
a sward, that had two annual growths of 
clover, (as is usually the case with our sod 
here, Bouihem Herkimer county,) and the 
older the sward the better — but four to five 
years is common. 
Dress this in August or first September, 
with compost or rotten manure. Cover over 
finely and closely. Brush or harrow down, 
and so leave till spring. The fall rains and 
warmth will start the grass and give it a good 
growth, which is mostly a clear gain, as it is 
mainly obtained from the atmosphere. This 
is a fine coat to go into the winter with. If 
the manure is put on early — say August, 
from the first to Lhe middle,—there will be a 
growth that will surprise, especially if Bhow- 
ers and sunshine succeed; for this manure, 
in its color alone, ■will draw the sun sharply; 
and in the fall, when his rays are slant, the 
black surface will still have an effect, so that 
the grass thus secured will remain fresh and 
succulent till late in the season. 
The two, the grass and manure, will afford 
an excellent protection against the frost. 
This we see yearly, and have for many 
years. Plaster applied after the manure ia 
a benefit, and money well laid out. 
In the spring you have a fine sight. The 
manure is still there with its dark hue, but 
leas 6een now. The grass blades, like faded 
ribbons, are laid over it and on it, having 
given their strength in part to it. Your 
ground drained, you can walk over a soft, 
dry, springy surface, mid this almost as soon 
as the snow has left—certainly as boor as 
the little frost is out. And you may put hi 
your plow almost, before people liavo thought 
of a plow; you are two weeks ahead of the , 
midrained soil about you. And soon you 
turn your sward down; this must not be 
neglected ; you must not let the grass push 
out; and you must not plow when the 
ground is wet, — no danger that you will 
plow it too dry. Plow it then when mellow, 
which it will soon be,—and plow it usually 
seven or eight inches deep, depending some¬ 
what on the previous plowing. 
Your land now has a chance to lie a few 
weeks. There will bo some cold weather, 
frost doubtless, and this will drive the worms 
down into the sward where it is warmer, and 
where there is food. The sun, frost and rains, 
in the meantime, are mellowing your soil. 
Before you plant, a week or more, pass the 
cultivator over it, just escaping the sod. 
Now give it another dressing of fine, rotten 
manure or compost, and scatter it well and 
evenly. This is important, though it does 
not seem so, for it. aids in mixing uniformly 
the manure with the soil, a necessity so great 
that the crop is materially affected by it. 
Harrow and work thoroughly into the soil. 
Be not afraid you will harrow too much. 
You are now ready to mark off your rows, 
provided you are ready for planting,—and 
you must not. plant till the ground is warm, 
aud not then if the time, say middle of May, 
has not arrived. 
Draw your rows four and one-half feet 
apart one way, three feet the other. (You 
may make a slight variation, say of a few 
inches—but it must not be to lessen the space 
between the rows.) The wide rows you 
want to mark with the plow, or so as to get 
depth, as you are to plant on manure put in 
the hill. 
This manure should be hog manure, 
diluted and absorbed by three or four times 
its amount of black, forest mold, or muck, 
dried, may be used. This should have been 
prepared during the summer and fall, by 
keeping the stable fed with it, the hogs 
working it together and passing it off In a 
semi-dry state. Apply a full handful to each 
hill and plant on it; no soil need to be 
kicked over it; neither is it nasty to handle. 
And now comes a critical point. You 
must have select com. It must have been 
cured, not in a crib with other com, norover 
it (corn we have known to spoil hung over 
the crib,) nor in a warm chamber, nor sub¬ 
ject to alternations of damp and dry, which 
cannot be avoided in a crib as commonly 
built, but should be kept iu the fruit or grain 
room, or wherever the extremes may be 
avoided, for a gradual work of this kind 
seems less hurtful; especially is this the case 
with temperature. 
We are thus careful in this respect, as we 
have had dire experience and loss enough to 
appreciate the pains to be taken. 
If your seed corn is ripe, cured and wel 
kept, break off the ends of each ear, and see 
that there Is not an imperfect kernel in the 
whole. Then plant three kernels to the hill; 
let this be the exact number. Your com 
will come up three. 6talks to the hill, and 
there is no after labor of thinning. Your 
corn will not be crowded, but will be free to 
grow. Cover one inoli and a quarter to one 
inch and a half with soil. Your com is 
planted. 
Next, the cultivator is to be set agoing aa 
soon as the blades appear, and both ways. 
Keep cultivating, more or less, till the nar¬ 
row rows (three feet) will no longer permit 
it. Then still keep mellowing the soil in tho 
others till the corn ia large, and the time haa 
arrived for planting turnips. Then put a 
row (of turnips) into each wide space, row 
for row with the com, and in the center of 
the space. The ground will be partly 
shaded, and will be moist—from the manure 
and the stirring, even in a drouth. Tho 
turnips will come if your seed is good— 
which It is your business to see to—and 
will continue to grow. There will be suffi¬ 
cient space for the sun and air, and get some 
shade to favor and retain the dew. If 
necessary, use the hoe occasionally to keep 
weeds down and secure moisture to tho soil; 
it ia no labor lost, but gain. 
When fall comes, cut your corn in good 
time, when tho foliage is yet green and the 
berry uard, ere it is ripe, and cut all at once, 
or as near at the sarno time as may be. A 
rain may put you off too late. Tardy labor 
will do the same. Tho two united will ruin 
your crop for fodder, and not improve the 
berry. You will find you have largo earn, 
two on a stalk if the soil is good and the 
season favorable; you will have no nubbins. 
And now your turnips will put forth. If 
the autumn is moist and warm, you will 
have a heavy crop. If not favorable, you will 
still have a fair crop. By this treatment you 
6tand a chance to average seventy bushels of 
sound, shelled com to the acre. Wo have 
known eighty odd bushels per acre to bo 
raised, and seldom less than sixty. Besides, 
your land is in the finest condition for other 
crops, barley or wheat—too rich for oats un¬ 
less a drouth should succeed, or in the absence 
of heavy rain storms. If put to barley or 
wheat, it will afford an excellent chance for 
seeding down, if that is desired; or another 
crop may bo raised, and with a top-dressing 
of manure harrowed in with the grain, will 
afford a sure catch, and good crops of grass 
to follow. 
But the chance has gone by to preparo in 
the fall. To those who wish to engage in it, 
the manuring may be dispensed with, and 
the ground be broken up without it. There 
should be a sod of at least several years’ 
standing, unless heavy crops of clover have 
been raised, and there is a good covering of 
old stalks or of aftergrowth loft now. In 
this case, if the ground is dry' (especially if 
drained,) it will do. Treat as before stated, 
but apply more manure (after plowing,) pro¬ 
viding the soil is sandy or somewhat leachy. 
In this case the benefit will be felt the whole 
depth through, down to the sod; in stiff 
clay it will not, or is not likely, though, if 
mellow and somewhat mixed with sand, it 
will benefit it. Use pretty freely of manure, 
and treat as before directed. The crop will 
not be so good on account of the lack of the 
fall manure, but will be a good one. It is, I 
may say, the common practice here, as peo¬ 
ple are negligent about applying manure, 
trusting to the richness of their soil; a very 
bad practice in the raising of com, a grain 
that, more than almost any other, will bear 
fertility. And it is the practice here, also, to 
plant four feet each way, and some even 
lessen the distance by a few inches, though 
it cannot be said they are among our best 
farmers. Without the turnips, four feet will 
do; not that the corn will be any better; it 
will probably be about the same. As to 
drilling the corn, as is getting to be some¬ 
what practiced, we w'ill express no opinion. 
It may be the best way, leaving space be¬ 
tween the rows. 
One word more. There are those who 
wish to plant com, but have no manure. In 
such case turn down your sod—sod always 
—and plant as directed, with or without 
turnips. We advise you only, however, if 
your soil is dry. Do not plow when wet, as 
you are sure to have bad laud to v T ork and 
an unremunerative crop, the hurt lasting for 
years. 
But use the hog manure in the hill if pos¬ 
sible; use it unmixed with peat or leaf 
mold if you have neglected to prepare it. 
It will be bad to handle, but. still very effica¬ 
cious. Kick a little ground on and then 
plant. Or use hen manure, diluted with 
soil, and plant on that. It is also of great 
benefit, and is said to keep off insects. But, 
if possible, use something to start the com 
in the raw soil. The sod, rotting, will take 
care of it below. 
Never “hoe” or “hill” your com. It 
will retard its ripening ten to fifteen days. 
Yoii want the sun or the w'arrn air direct 
upon it, near the roots, and no useless roots 
to start. Keep clean, keep working; this 
pays.—F. o. 
