Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 18

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Mississippi > Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II > Part 18

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"Strawberries are also cultivated for the Northern markets, especially along the line of the Illinois Central railroad, Crystal Springs, Terry, Jackson and Durant being favorite localities. The area in strawberries at these points is two thousand one hundred and fifty acres. The most prolific varieties are the Charleston, Wilsons, Crescent Seedling and Sucker State. Strawberries have always paid well, because they get into market early. The crop this year has not been as profitable as in the past, the unseasonable spring having somewhat affected and delayed it.

"The orange grows mainly on the coast of Mississippi. Those produced there are pronounced equal to any in the market, and sell for $10 per thousand at the orchard. The severe winter of two years ago inflicted a heavy loss on the growers, killing a number of the young trees, but the industry is reviving.

"Grapes of various kinds grow throughout the state, largely on the Gulf coast, and some wine is made there, but the industry has never reached the proportions it should. The Concord, several varieties of Ives Seedlings, and some of the table grapes of France succeed well, but the native grape, the Scuppernong, is the peculiar boast. It requires no parti- cular care and little or no pruning.

"In Winston and other more northern counties the Black Scuppernong, Flowers, Tender Pulp, Thomas, and the Sugar of the Scuppernong varieties, also, the Hartford, Ives, Concord, Delaware, Martha, Lindley, Allen's Hybrid and others are cultivated. All do well, and a dry sweet wine is made from them. One vineyard, only twenty-four acres in extent, produced one thousand two hundred gallons of wine, which sells at $2 per gallon. Other farmers in the neighborhood have lately established vineyards. There are four hundred acres in Winston county alone under cultivation in grapes, all of which are doing well and proving profitable.

"The vegetable business has assumed large proportions in Mississippi. From thirty thousand to forty thousand boxes of tomatoes are annually shipped from Crystal Springs. Melons, cucumbers, beans, peas, asparagus, egg-plant, pepper, squash, Irish potatoes and early sweet potatoes are also grown in large quantities to supply the increasing demand of Western cities. Sweet potatoes have proved to be a profitable crop, bringing $1 per bushel in the West.

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"Crystal Springs makes the largest shipments of fruits and vegetables of any point in the state, the most profitable crops being strawberries, cantaloupes and tomatoes. The aver- age yield of these is from $200 to $250 per acre. The shipments include radishes, aspara- gus, onions, potatoes, beets, beans, peas, strawberries, plums, peaches, tomatoes and melons.

"The Tiffany refrigerator cars, now used by the railroads, have given this early fruit and vegetable industry a great impetus. The fruit formerly sent by express paid such heavy freight charges that all the profits were eaten up, whereas now a large number of refriger- ator cars are run on the Illinois Central, Mobile & Ohio, and New Orleans & Northeast- ern roads, carrying the fruit to the Northern markets cheaply, and getting it there in good condition.

" The Illinois Central railroad transported of fruit, from points along its line in Missis- sippi, two hundred and fifty-nine thousand four hundred pounds in 1884, seven hundred and thirty-six thousand seven hundred pounds in 1885, and one million two hundred and thirty- one thousand six hundred pounds in 1886. No account is given of the vegetables trans- ported. The Louisville & Nashville railroad carried, during 1886, two hundred and fifty-one thousand eight hundred pounds of fruit and vegetables raised in the state; the New Orleans & Northeastern, five million seven hundred and ninety-eight thousand pounds; and the Vicks- burg & Meridian, two million seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

" The total production of the state of fruits and vegetables for the past year has been $1,260,000, of which nearly two-thirds was shipped out of the state, New Orleans, Chicago and St. Louis being favorite markets. The production in 1880 was of fruit $378,145, of vegetables $61, 735, so that some idea can be formed of the increase in this line and the wealth thus added to the state."

But take other lines, so well described in the article above referred to.

"It is only within the present decade that the advantages of Mississippi for stock grow- ing and dairying have been fully recognized, and it has pushed forward and become the lead- ing dairy state of the South. It now boasts of more creameries than any of the Gulf or Southwestern states, more breeders of blooded cattle and more high grade-cows. Difficul- ties have been encountered and overcome, and the great advantages far more than compen- sate for these.

"Mr. S. A. Jones, commissioner from Mississippi to the late World's industrial exposi- tion, in his report to the Times- Democrat, calls attention to the fact that before the war almost every Mississippi farmer was a stockraiser and that thousands of blooded cattle then fed upon her prairies and luxuriated in the rich grasses of her valleys.

"It was one of the theories of Western farmers that the South could not compete with that section in grasses. The idea is to-day thoroughly exploded. It is now proved that in Mississippi, particularly in the rich lime belt in the eastern portion of the state, and even in the piny woods, grasses of all kinds, cultivated as well as native, will grow. No- where does Kentucky blue grass do better than here, and clover yields from six thousand to nine thousand pounds of hay per acre when planted late in October, after the other crops have been harvested, improving the land at the same time.

"Indeed, Mississippi hay has become so popular that the astonishing circumstance is seen of rich New Yorkers purchasing it in the New Orleans market for the purpose of using it in their fancy stables.

"The exhibit of grasses made by the state at the World's exposition showed its stock and dairy possibilities. It demonstrated the fact that every county was well adapted to

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grass-growing and stock farming. This exhibit consisted of fifty two bales of hay, includ- ing timothy, Japanese clover, water grass, wild millet, white clover, red clover, burr clover, crab grass, boar grass, Bermuda grass, chicken corn, red top, pea vine, Milo maize, velvet grass, all of the best quality.

"Such a display naturally gave a new impetus to the dairy industry, and in central and eastern Mississippi the amount of land planted in grass has since increased with each year.

"In consequence of the success in raising these grasses, Mississippians began improving the breed of their cattle and imported blooded stock. No state in the South has gone more extensively into the business, and every breed has been thoroughly experimented with and tested. The agricultural department, in its report on the condition of cattle in Mississippi, calculated the improvement in the standing of its stock by the importation of and crossing with better breeds, at thirty-five per cent.

The following is the view taken of the cattle industry in Mississippi by the department in its last report, published but a few months ago:

" The farmers are manifesting a determination, with a true spirit of progress, to make stockraising a success. They are improving their cattle, horses and mules by introducing fine blooded stock. A large number of counties report intense interest taken in raising horses and mules, and will, ere long, raise a sufficiency for home use. Correspondents report great improvement in building shelters for stock, and providing large quantities of hay for winter supply. They are fencing in large pastures for grazing purposes, and sowing grasses for early spring use. A very remarkable feature in the reports is, not one mentions disease of any kind among horses, mules or cattle.'

"Mississippi has the largest number of breeders of fine stock of any Southern state, the number of breeders of Jersey being two hundred and fifty, and the Jerseys registered and entitled to registration in the state being two thousand out of a total of seven thousand four hundred and twenty - five in the South.

"There is but one herd of Brittany cattle in the South-the largest in the country, and one of a very few herds owned at Starkville, Miss. One of the largest herds of Ayrshire, numbering about twenty, is also to be found in eastern Mississippi. Of Devons, there are several breeders in the state. Large importations were made of this cattle two or three years ago, but they did not do as well as other breeds and many of them died. The Agri- cultural and Mechanical college possesses the only herd of Herefords known to be in the state. The Holstein cattle are in great favor, and rank in point of numbers second in Mississippi; and in Holsteins and Jerseys Mississippi is far ahead of its neighbors. There are some thirty five breeders of the former cattle, and the herds number one hundred and twenty-five, one or two being over twenty each. There are some Galloways around Stark- ville, almost the only ones in the South. Of Shorthorns, there are one hundred and fourteen breeders in the state, and some six hundred cattle.

"Creameries are springing up so fast in Mississippi that it is almost impossible to keep count of them. There are two at Starkville, around which there has been the greatest development in stockraising and dairy-farming-one belonging to the State Agricultural and Mechanical college, and: the first creamery established in the South (and it is to be noted that this college has the only professorship of dairying in the country), one at Meridian, and others near Bolton, Macon, Aberdeen, Corinth and West Point, and a separator at Vicks- burg, owned by a very eminent breeder of Jerseys-the first separator in the state. Since the success of these creameries, central and eastern Mississippi have been encouraged to embark in the dairy business, and creameries are now under way or proposed at Durant,

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Holly Springs, Hernando, Crawford, Oxford, Flora, Clinton, Yazoo city, Jackson and Stan- ton. Macon and Aberdeen have cheese-making machinery.

" The butter made at the State Agricultural college at Starkville has gone to many of the markets of the South. It outsells creamery Elgin, and is better. From Novem- ber to May, the milk of the college herd averages about one pound of butter to sixteen pounds of milk; and it has reached as high as a pound of butter to fourteen and one-half of milk-the highest average known. The herd from which this milk is taken is one-half native cattle, mixed with Jerseys and a few Holsteins.

"The dairy products of Mississippi have now reached a very respectable figure. In 1870 only two million six hundred and thirteen thousand three hundred and eleven pounds of butter were produced in the state; in 1880, seven million four hundred and fifty-four thou- sand six hundred and forty-three pounds; in 1885 and 1886, an average of fifteen million eight hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, worth $3,800,000. This is a splendid growth for six years, and the promise is even better for the future. There has been a large increase in the number of milch cows in the state, and in their average yield. The hay crop, moreover, is steadily increasing, being fourteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-five tons now against eight thousand eight hundred and ninety-four in 1880.

"In the matter of stockraising, an average of ten acres of Mississippi land is sufficient to furnish each animal with ample grazing, making the cost of pasturing a steer only $2 per year, since nothing is paid for attendance on herds grazing at will on farms. This is less than one quarter of the same item in Illinois.

"The advantages enumerated in favor of cattle-growing and dairying in Mississippi, as compared with the Western states, are: The cheapness of the land; the excellent pasturage to be had through the year, requiring the cattle to be fed only one or two months at most during the winter; the natural grasses and canebrakes, which afford the cattle so much extra food; the climate, which allows them to run at large without any danger; the abundance of water, etc., needed for the stock; and the nearness to excellent markets.

"Dr. W. E. Oates, of Warren county, Miss., one of the most successful raisers of Jersey cattle in the South, says:

"'After several years' experience in breeding and raising thoroughbred Jersey cattle, Southdown sheep, Berkshire and Poland China swine, I do not hesitate to say that Warren county, Miss., is equal, if not superior, in some respects, to the famous blue-grass region of Kentucky. It only needs the life-giving touch of the skilled husbandman to convert the hills and valleys into gardens of Eden. Clovers luxuriate in our soil. The Bermuda grass covers nearly all our hills and valleys, and it will pasture, acre for acre, more stock in sum- mer than the blue-grass lands of Kentucky. Its power to resist drought is greater, and anal- ysis places it, pound for pound, in value with blue grass. On our meadow land as much as three and a half tous per acre have been cut of very superior hay.'

"The raising of sheep, the production of wool and of mutton, has met with several very serions blows lately, growing out of economic causes, principally changes in the wool tariff. In Mississippi, however, sheep-raising still continues a profitable industry, the smaller breed of sheep being in favor, as the animals are grown principally for their wool. The pastures of the state, abandoned by the cotton planters on account of the presence of the Bermuda, may be made far more profitable as a sheep walk than when under cotton culture, with less labor, worry and risk involved in planting.

"It should be remembered that Mississippi took the first prize at the London world exhibit of thirty years ago for its wool, and that, at the World's industrial exposition, there were no less than fifty-one exhibits of wool from twenty-eight counties.

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"Hogs of any breeds do well in the state, but the white breeds are not much sought after. The Berkshires and Essex are popular, on account of the readiness with which they fatten at any age. The Poland China ranks next. The Jersey reds, Yorkshires and Sus- sex are also among the better breeds in favor.

"The number and value of stock in the state is as follows: Horses, one hundred and thirty thousand one hundred and sixty, $9,187,566; mules, one hundred and fifty-three thousand four hundred and twelve, $12,953,958; milch cows, two hundred and eighty-three thousand and seventy three, $4,076,251; oxen, four hundred and twenty-four thousand six hundred and sixty-two, $3,823,653; sheep, two hundred and forty-two thousand nine hun- dred and seventy-one, $348,664; hogs, one million one hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and seventy-two, $3,345,516. Total, $33, 735,608. As compared with $24,287,717 in 1880, this shows an increase of thirty-eight per cent., the greatest improvement being in milch cows.

"No one now disputes that Mississippi led the entire Union in the exhibits of woods at the World's industrial exposition in New Orleans. In nothing was the exposition so well represented as in the exhibits of the forest products of the Southern states, and in these Mississippi stood at the head of the list with one hundred and thirty- four varieties of wood. One specimen, a yellow poplar from Holmes county, showed a log more than twelve feet in diameter, while others were five, six and seven feet.

"There are nineteen million nine hundred thousand four hundred and ninety-two acres of forest land in Mississippi, some sixty per cent. of the entire area of the state, and nearly all of it is in wood of valuable varieties, such as pine, gum, oak and cottonwood.

"The timbers as yet most utilized in the state are pine, cypress and oak. Pine covers the southern half of the state, and constitutes about two-thirds of the lumber produced. The merits of the Southern pine need not be recapitulated here. It is one of the heaviest, strongest and most durable of woods, and is employed in all heavy edifices, in the construc- tion of cars, for beams, etc. It is now the principal lumber used in Latin America, and large quantities are shipped there. It has also grown in favor in the North and West, and is sold extensively in the Chicago and New York markets. While rather coarser than the white pine of Michigan, it is stronger and more durable, and offers a good substitute for it. Recognizing the fact that the yellow pine forests of Mississippi must soon come into use to supply the deficiencies caused by the destruction of the woodlands in the Western states, the 'pine barons' of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin have bought up large areas of these lands in Mississippi, estimated at one million five hundred thousand acres; but little of which has yet been cut or utilized, but is being reserved for the time when good pine lumber becomes scarce-a time not far distant. This land, which was bought at an average of $2 per acre, has, standing on it, lumber worth $30 to $35, sawed on the place.

"The following is the estimate of the pine still standing in the state:

"Longleaf pine-standing west of Pearl river, six billion eight hundred million feet; east of Pearl river, seven billion six hundred million feet; region of mixed growth, three billion eight hundred million feet; total, eighteen billion two hundred million feet. Shortleaf pine -standing in the northwestern region, one billion six hundred million feet; standing in the northern portion of state, five billion one hundred and seventy-five million feet; total, six billion seven hundred and seventy-five million feet; grand total, twenty-four billion nine hundred and seventy-five million feet.

"Along the Gulf coast and the Illinois Central and New Orleans & Northeastern railroads are many sawmills, including two of the largest in the South, which are extensively engaged

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in sawing lumber for foreign market. Mississippi supplied all the lumber used in the con- struction of the buildings at the World's exposition, and now supplies a large portion of the yellow pine used in Chicago in the construction of heavy buildings, while the exports from Pearl river, Pascagoula, Moss Point and other towns on the coast, go to South America, Europe, and even to Africa. A considerable portion of the lumber used in the work on the Panama canal is from Mississippi, and within the past two months there have been heavy shipments from that state to the Canary islands.

"The Yazoo valley is as abundantly wooded as the coast region, but in different varieties of timber, gum, oak, cypress and magnolia predominating. Its importance as a lumber region for the future, and the immense supply of available timber there, have only recently been recognized. As a result there have been large purchases by companies and syndicates of these woodlands, over one million two hundred thousand acres having been purchased in the last three years.

"In this valley stands the largest area of sweet gum in the world, a timber that promises to take, in time and with the proper treatment, the place of black walnut as a cabinet wood. The gum grows to a large, straight tree, ninety feet high, furnishing a considerable amount of lumber. This lumber has been found to be eminently adapted for cabinet purposes. Polished, it attains a rich and elegant satiny gloss far superior to black walnut. The wood has only one inconvenience, it warps very badly, and, unless this evil can be corrected, it will not grow in favor. This defect, however, it is claimed, can be remedied. A considerable amount of gum is now being shipped to Cincinnati and other cities engaged in the manu- facture of furniture, and fine desks, armoires and tables have been made from it. It is also extensively used in house building, and lasts well.

" The rapid disappearance of black walnut, nearly all of which has been destroyed in the Northern states, renders it necessary to discover some substitute for it, and it is suggested that the sweet gum will take its place. The supply of it is practically inexhaustible, and it grows in large clumps, and is generally easy of access. During the past few years several syndicates have made extensive purchases of lands in Mississippi, well wooded, largely in gum, with the intention of bringing this lumber into general use for cabinet purposes. Ex- periments have been made with it, whereby its defects have been, it is said, corrected. If this can be done, it will make gum the furniture wood of the country during the next twenty years.

"One of the great advantages the timber lands of the Yazoo possess is that after the tim- ber is cut from them, they are even more valuable than when it was standing. The soil is fertile, unlike that of most other wooded sections, and land which when timbered, was worth only $10 to $25 an acre, becomes worth $25 to $50 when cleared and suitable for crops.

"The other principal woods of the state are walnut, cypress, ash, red oak, white oak, red gum, white gum, black gum, tupelo gum, poplar, pecan and hickory. The red and other gums are used for furniture, and the Singer sewing machine company employes them almost exclusively for the woodwork of their machines. The white oak staves are sent to New Orleans and exported thence to Spain, France and other wine-producing countries, bringing at New Orleans from $75 to $140 per thousand.

"The following figures will give some idea of the improvement that has taken place in the lumbering industry of the state: Number of establishments 1886, five hundred and ninety- eight; capital, $2,698,400; hands, three thousand one hundred and twenty-five; products, $3,975,000. Number establishments 1880, three hundred and ninety-five; capital, $922,595; hands, one thousand one hundred and seventy; products, $1, 920,335. H

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"It is in its manufactures that Mississippi is most backward. And yet it possesses all the advantages for leading in certain lines of industry. It ought to be one of the largest producers of cotton cloth in the world. It has the cotton within easy reach of the mills, and it has a fine market for the product. It ought to be the center of the lumbering indus- try of the country as it possesses the greatest variety of fine woods, and of furniture fac- tories, carriage and wagon factories, etc. It formerly paid little attention to these indus- tries, but it is now beginning to recognize the importance of greater diversification in its industries, to see that it does not benefit a state to devote itself wholly to agriculture. The towns which were formerly merely commercial and social centers are growing in population and anxious to increase their factories.

"The good will of the people of Mississippi toward manufactures, the inducements they hold out, are shown in the act of the legislature passed in 1882, exempting from taxation, for a period of ten years, the machinery used for the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods, yarns or fabrics, etc.

"As a consequence of the encouragement held out, the product of manufactures has almost doubled within the last seven years. The new industries established have been organized almost wholly with home capital.

"As is natural, this manufacturing has been confined mainly to turning the raw products of the state into more valuable forms, making the cotton into cloth, the cottonseed into oil, the timber into planks, etc.

"The cottonmills of Mississippi have been particularly prosperous, and the Mississippi mills at Wesson now turn out more goods than the whole state did in 1880. The cotton fac- tories now give employment to two thousand and twenty-three hands, with a total annual output of $1,686,000. The products are shipped to the Northeast and West, only a small proportion remaining at home. During the past two years four new cottonmills have been erected in the state.

"Of the cottonseed oilmills that at Yazoo is the largest in the state, with an annual production of $150,000. The bulk of this product is shipped to New Orleans, whence it goes to Europe, the oil to Italy and France, to return as olive oil; the meal and cake to England for fattening cattle. Barely one-tenth of the product of the oilmills remains at home to fertilize the land and fatten stock.

"There are foundries in Jackson, Columbus, Vicksburg, Meridian, Corinth, Natchez, Canton and other points. Most of the railroads also have repair shops for the repair and rebuilding of their engines, cars, etc.

"Other industries are woolenmills, grist and flouringmills, pottery works, etc.

"The chief manufacturing interests and the amount of their products are the following: Lumber, $3,975,000; flouring and gristmills, $2, 136,000; cotton goods, $1,686,000; cotton seed products, $1,120,000; woolen goods, $315,000; all other industries, $4,424,000.

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 18

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314