I 
Vol. LXIV. No. 2877. NEW YORK, MARCH 18, 1905. 
NEW LIFE TO LOUISIANA PLANTATION. 
From Cotton to Pecan Groves. 
A SOUTHERN WINTER.—Here In the “Sunny 
South,” I am sitting by a blazing wood fire in the old- 
fashioned style that reminds me of childhood days in 
Ohio. We put on a big “backlog,” on top of it a 
“top stick,” in front and across the andirons a “fore¬ 
stick,” and then fill up between with smaller wood, 
rake out the glowing coals to give a good draft, and 
watch the blaze creep up and through the pile. Soon 
we are scorching in front, although we may be freezing 
behind. But there is great satisfaction in looking into 
the fire if not absorbing the full degree of heat that 
would give comfortable warmth. We can turn one 
side and then the other, as our parents and grand¬ 
parents- did in the early days, when we were children, 
shifting about their high-backed and low-armed chairs. 
As the fire burns low the recollections grow brighter, 
thinking of the times and the dear ones that we shall 
never see again. The series of storms that have held 
the whole country in their icy grip did not wholly miss 
any part of the South. 
Even Florida fared bad¬ 
ly in some sections. But 
our Citrus trees near Mi¬ 
ami came through un¬ 
touched, and all else ex¬ 
cept some tomato and 
pepper plants, and a 
few very tender trop¬ 
ical things. Here in 
the pecan country there 
have been three separate 
sleet storms, one being 
very heavy. It loaded 
the trees with ice to the 
limit of endurance in 
most cases, and many 
beyond it, breaking their 
tops dreadfully. The few 
peach trees growing 
here were split at the 
fork or their smaller 
branches snapped off. 
The Magnolias, Live 
oaks and other ever¬ 
green trees were more 
seriously hurt than the 
deciduous trees. The 
heavy festoons of moss 
that are a characteristic of the far South became 
masses of ice that helped to burden the trees far be¬ 
yond the weight of their own branches. The pecan 
trees stood it best of all, for their wood is very tough, 
yet there were some broken branches on a part of 
them. In the forests the branches were breaking all 
one night and a part of one day, so as to sound like a 
battle of musketry, with an occasional cannon shot. 
I lay in my bed and sighed for the helpless trees and 
the birds and other animals that had no shelter. They 
must have suffered dreadfully, and many were doubt¬ 
less killed. A view of the ice-covered cotton is shown 
in Fig. 92. In my recent travels through Mississippi and 
Tennessee the destruction to fruit and ornamental trees 
was seen to be serious. Peach trees suffered the most 
of any, owing to their very tender wood and the lia¬ 
bility to split at the fork. In the great peach orchards 
of the South, I am told, the havoc was almost incal¬ 
culable. But after this icy Winter we are likely to 
have good crops of fruit on the remaining branches. 
1 hey should be cut hack where broken and prepared for 
making new tops. Peach trees thus treated will be 
improved rather than damaged, in some cases, where 
they had grown too straggling and are not seriously 
broken down. 
A PECAN PLANTATION.—I have recently bought 
a plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, for the 
planting of a pecan orchard of 1,000 acres. It fronts 
on Lake Concordia, which is an ancient channel of the 
Mississippi River, but long since only a cpiiet bayou¬ 
like lake, that is flooded by backwater during extreme 
high stages of the river. At such times the boats come 
in and discharge and load freight and passengers all 
along the big Government levee that protects the farms 
and towns from the flood. There are over 2,250 acres 
in the place, 900 of which are cleared and in cultiva¬ 
tion. The rest of the tract is in timber, which is un¬ 
der contract to have the saw logs removed gradually 
within the next five years. Over 500 acres of this for¬ 
est has an undergrowth of bamboo, from which fish¬ 
ing poles are made, most of it being from 10 to 30 feet 
high and as thick as it can stand. There is no better 
sign of rich land than this. In fact, such land will 
grow the biggest crops of cotton, sugar cane or any¬ 
thing else that- suits the climate that can be found in 
the world. The timber is immense, giant cypress trees 
being scattered through the other kinds, and pecan 
trees of monstrous proportions. It is a mistaken no¬ 
tion that the cypress only grows in swamps or “brakes,” 
for there are many places where they grow on the best 
of farming land, although only sparsely, and this 
land of ours is capable of making the best of crops. 
It will be gradually cleared, except a small forest reser¬ 
vation, worked in cotton at first and probably used for 
trucking after the roots and stumps are partially gone. 
It will grow potatoes, melons, onions, beans, cabbage 
and many other such crops, and to perfection. There 
is not an acre on the entire plantation that cannot be 
tilled, except a little covered by a small lake, and that 
affords the best of fishing. 
TRANSPORTATION AND LABOR.—The new 
Gould line from St. Louis to New Orleans crosses the 
plantation about the middle, and has given us a flag 
station, which, together with the water transportation, 
affords the best of shipping facilities. Mail is deliv¬ 
ered at the gate by a Government carrier, and a tele¬ 
phone line passes there. We feel that we are not out 
of the world. We have 30 tenant houses well filled 
with negro laborers, and a complete outfit of farm stock, 
tools and seed for cropping. As we have a good cot¬ 
ton gin on the place we are expecting to tie and ship 
from our own fields over 400 bales of cotton the com¬ 
ing Fall. The 1 other day, after the farm hands knew 
of our purchase, we had a slight sensation on this 
plantation, in the form of a convocation of a delega¬ 
tion of the colored population in front of our habita¬ 
tion to hear my “proclamation,” as one old darkey had 
it, regarding the coming situation. I told them we 
were friends and partners in the coming crop, as they 
nearly all work on shares, and that we would give a 
number of prizes for their encouragement. We will give 
a gold watch and chain as first prize for the big¬ 
gest average per acre of cotton, according to the books 
after ginning; and second and third prizes as well. We 
shall also give three medals for the three cleanest and 
best sets of ditches; and three dress patterns to the 
three women who have the cleanest cotton fields, for 
the women do that part of the work almost entirely. 
This may seem foolish, to spend about $50 in prizes to 
working people, but it will pay in better crops and 
cleaner fields. 
LIORTICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS—I have 
bought the best quality of peach, plum and pear trees . 
to be planted, a few about each cabin, for the use of 
the occupants. I have fig 
cuttings from which to 
grow trees for the same 
purpose. These will en¬ 
gender a home feeling 
among the working peo¬ 
ple. Rose bushes and 
other ornamentals will 
be introduced in time. 
The plantation grave¬ 
yard will he fenced, and 
a better plan of burial 
encouraged, that the 
humble toilers may not 
think they will be laid 
away like brutes, as is 
now the case. But all 
this is only incidental to 
the pecan business. We 
have now growing in 
nursery enough grafted 
pecan trees to plant 600 
acres next Fall and 
Winter, and more to fol¬ 
low. I am planting 
3,000 pounds of pecans 
in nursery form here, 
and expect to graft and 
bud the seedlings in due 
time. I have already set a few grafted pecan trees 
on the place, and have a lot of the wild trees cut hack 
to induce them to send out shoots that will be budded 
next August. These will serve as sources of wood for 
budding and grafting in due time. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
GLASSHOUSE VS. HOTBEDS. 
Oil page 147, in answer to the query, “Which do you 
prefer for an average farm gardener, hotbeds or small 
greenhouse?” I note what W. S. Bucklin, Monmouth 
Co., N. J., and D. L. Hartman, Pennsylvania, say. It 
looks to me as though these correspondents were ad¬ 
vising along nineteenth century lines, rather than in 
accordance with twentieth century knowledge. I have 
handled hotbeds for 25 years or more, and feel safe 
in saying the advance movement is in favor of some 
form of greenhouse for growing seedling plants to 
the age of transplanting in outdoor frames. I am just 
making this change myself, because I am quite sure a 
better plant can be secured for transplanting in cold 
frames under glass. One feature, as spoken of by 
D. L. H., is the cheapness of the bed. If one takes into 
consideration the amount of manure required to heat 
a bed of considerable size, and its worthlessness for 
AN ICE-COVERED LOUISIANA COTTON FIELD. Fig. 92. 
