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JOURNAL AND MESSENGER
JOURNAL & MESSENGER.
a CON, GA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16.
GEORGIA AND FLORIDA.
Tbeir Resources, Industry and Future Prospeels.
[From the N. Y. World, Oct. Blb.]
There are fortunes to be made in the
South. Despite unsettled labor, impaired
capital, and scant credit, industry flour
ishes, even in the midst of political agita
tions! alter a fashion which suggests great
results when these temporary disturbing
causes are withdrawn. With almost, if
not quite, all the natural advantages of the
North in the way of mineral deposits, har
bors, grain lands, and water power, the
Houth lias a peculiarly mild climate and a
monopoly of cotton land. These possibili
ties of wealth have not excaped the ex
ceedingly acute notice of some of our
moneyed men, and in reading the South
ern papers one comes every now and then
on some mention of an investment which
seems to indicate a belief in Northern
financial circles of a not very distant re
turn to peace. With a settlement of exist
ing political difficulties, the value of
Southern investments would at once ap
preciate, and as this settlement, when it
does come, will come at once, these invest
ments that are from time to time noticed,
indicate that some of our long-headed
financiers are speculating for a rise. Laud
that can now be bought in the South for
from one dollar to ten dollars would, with
a definite pacification of the political situ
ation, go up to from three dollars or four
dollars to thirty dollars, thirty-five dollars
and fifty dollars; and, with this rise, other
property would gain proportionately in
value. But to argue that an acknowledged
solution of the Southern problem would
appreciate Southern property, would be to
argue a fact that is already admitted, and,
without further discussion on that point, it
may beof interest to give some general ac
count of those indications going to show
that Northern capital, though quietly and
in perhaps uo very large measure, is now
seeking investment South. This account
will be best given in a rapid survey of the
industrial condition of the two great
States, Georgia and Virginia, with a few
statements as to some of their lesser sis
ters.
GEORGIA.
This State, as the reader may see, if he
will but follow' this description on the map,
is singularly gifted. Within its limits are
sections fit for each of the great divisions
of labor. Taking them in order, from
north to south, there is first the mining
region, then the wheat country, then the
cotton belt, and last the stock raising
counties. Beginning with the mineral re
gion, it will be found that north of a line
starting about at the North Carolina boun
dary and running southwest very nearly
across the State there are wonderful stores
of coal, iron, marble, slate, building stone,
petroleum and gold. With the realization
following the close of the war that plant
ing must cease to be the main business,
and that mining would be profitable, some
thing over one hundred companies sought
and received from the Georgia Legisla
tures of 1805 and 1866 charters of incorpo
ration to develop those resources. Some
thing over fifty millions were to have
beeu put into these associations, but on
the overthrow of the State government
and the disorder then ensuing, all but
some four or five companies became inop
erative, though the fact that some twenty
times that number had sought incorpora
tion must speak very strongly for the na
tive wealth of this region. The stone
quarries of North Georgia are very fine,
and as the most accessible specimen, the
reader, if ever traveling on the Georgia
Railroad, is advised to inspect the quality
or the stone turned out at Stone Mountain
a station ust below Atlanta, as one travels
iither fioni Augusta. Thorough blocks
( P ,a in view of the car win
ft f ~ . a Ppearance presented by
*r ter ', al i 9 aL a flu»te serviceable,
„ a , j wor^ e d> and handsome stone. The
gold deposits of Georgia are well known,
ana nave been so productive as to have'
caused tne location at Dablonega, in
Lumpkin couuty, of one of the few branch
Bunts m the country. In this immediate
vicinity is the Chestatee river, which was
to have been flumed by a company incor
porated in lStd, and at Tallulah Falls
some thirty miles to the northwest, in
Habersham county, paying operations are
now carried on. J ust outside of the town
hnnts of Dablonega itself, there is also a
quartz mill in operation, and the latest ac
counts represent anew vien which turns
out to be one of the largest and best pay
ing hi the county, as having just been ex
posed in its immediate vincioity. To work
this anew stamp mill has been establish
od by the proprietor, Colonel R. H. Moore,
aud the rate is from six to ten dollars per
ton, though iu one place three penny
weights have been obtained from a
single pan. Within the last fewyears the
ooal deposits of North Georgia have re
ceived attention, and every fall the de
mand increases. At Castle Rock there i»
a mining property of five thousand acres
leased by Geueral John B. Gordon, of At'
jauta, on which every variety of semi
bituminous coal known in Tennessee or
Georgia is fouud. The deposits are repre
sented as in the form of four separate and
GEORGIA.
STJPPLBMEITT.
MACON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1868.
distinct seams, varying somewhat in the?"
specific adaptation. The hard o.oa: is
much used in Atlanta, and is found to
giveent re satisfaction. ' The slate, oil,
and iron deposits are not as well kuown as
those mentioned, the companies organized
to work them, not having gone intoopera
tion from the causes before slated, but,
with the recur ence of order, the atten
tion now temporarily diverted will be re
directed, it is thought, with satisfactory
results.
The graiu regions, lying just south of
the mining districts, have made them
selves a name in New York markets in
the Georgia wheat which manages to lead
the new” crop each year, and below the
wheat lauds comes the “ black belt,” as it
is called, or cotton region, reaching out
from about Lincoln couuty, just above
Augusta, clear across the State to the
southwest. Here cotton is seen in its
glory, soil and climate so admirably fos
tering its growth that its culture brings to
mind the mot of the fast young planter,
“ Cotton planting is most as fascinating
as faro,” And so in this region it is, with
the exception that the fascination is hon
est and the profit sure. One crowning
advantage of this “ black belt” is its prox
imity to first-class water power. If the
reader will look, he will see Columbus on
the west, Macon in the centre, and Au
gusta on the east of the State, all in this
belt, all on water lines, and all backed by
water power. To manufacture cotton
grown at the mill door is the future of
these cities, and is even now addiDg to
their wealth. In Columbus the mills were
burned at the close of the war, but have
since been rebuilt, and, as bearing on their
condition, the following extract from the
Columbus Enquirer , of the 19th ult., may
be of interest:
“We have on several occssions heard
ladies speak in high terms of the beauty
and excellence of the goods of the Eagle
and Phoenix Manufacturing Company of
this city. Yesterday we paid a visit to the
mills, and the first glance satisfied us that
the ‘ half had not been told us * concern
ing the fineness and beauty of these goods,
as well as their variety. There are
ginghams as pretty in color and smooth in
texture as any mills in the country can
turn out; cassimeres of unsurpassed
smoothness and beauty; jeans that will
make a suit as neat as broadcloth; and
white cotton goods of unrivaled wearing
qualities, compactness in weaving, and
snowy whiteness. The colors of these
goods are of great variety and beauty.
There is no cheat about any of them. In
compactness of woof and completeness of
finish, they are equalled by few and ex
celled by no goods in the market. The
Eagle and Phoenix Company, as we have
heretofore said, examined all the ma
chinery adapted to their business in this
country and Europe, and made choice of
the best, without regard to cost. They
have availed themselves of all the improve
ments in the manufacture of cloth, with
an eye to the making of goods equal to any
in the country. And they do make goods
equal to any that can be produced else
where. No one who examines their fab
rics can have a doubt of this fact. The
goods speak for themselves. We are
pleased to learn that merchants in all the
surrouuding country are finding out their
superiority and value, and the advantage
they will gain by ordering from the Eagle
and Phoenix descriptions of goods that
they have heretofore been getting from
the North. They find here far better
goods at lower prices. We heard lately of
a merchant remarking that he paid at the
North double the price asked at these mills
for yarns for knitting purposes. And
speaking of yarns, nobody ever saw
whiter, finer, or smoother yarns than they
make here.”
In Macon, the factory which has been
on halftime for some months back, was
put on full time on the morning of the
14th ultimo, and is now working three
hundred and fifty hands, and consuming
twelve thousand dollars’ worth of raw
cotton per month. Between Macon and
Augusta there are also cotton mills at
Milledgevilie, the capital of the State, but
their existing condition is not known.
Coming lastly to Augusta, it will be found
that the mills there are in an exceedingly
flourishing condition. The following ex
hibit of the Augusta factory is from the
last report:
The gross earnings for the six montns
ending July 1, 1868, were $139,632 30; tbe
expenses and taxes aggregated $31,89S 16,
leaving a net profit, $107,534 14; from
which two dividends of five per .cent each,
amounting to $60,000, have been paid, en
abling the company to carry to the credi t of
profit and loss accounts47,s34 14, making
the amount now to the credit of that
account $224,798 22.
Daring this period the following
are the statistics;
Cotton consumed, lbs
Average cost of cotton
Average yards of loom per day
Average number of looms running
Average number of bands employed....
Aggregate wages paid f57,546 H.
Aggregate sales .ol’J, AH ui
Twenty per cent is the annual dividend
of this factory, and the property is worth
the par value ($600,000) in gold . The im
mense water power backing up this city
of Augusta, and the rich cotton basin —
many of tbe heaviest counties in Georgia,-
and the richest districts in South Carolina
—in the centre of which it is situate, give#
it many advantages which mark it out as
the seat in a few years of a very heavy
mill interest. Connected with the general
subject of cotton manufactures in the
Houth, mention may be made of a very
profitable adjunct,in the nature of cotton
seed oil aud oil cake manufacturing. By
a Liverpool circular of the 2d ult., it ap
pears that cotton seed oil was “in immense
favor” at ,£4O per ton, having climbed up
to that figure from £3O on its first impor
tation, while rape seed oil, then £45 per
ton, has gone down to £34. Cotton seed
cake was also quoted as in much demand
at £9 to £9 ss. per ton, being U9ed for cat
tle feed. A company which would grow
its own cotton on its own plantation or
plantations, work it up in its own mill or
mills, and crush out the oil from its own
cotton seed, the residuum being “cake,”
would, it is evident, be doing a “big
thing,” and, erelong, big as that thing is,
It will be done.
In the Georgia cotton region the latest
accounts are that the mule trade, an un
failing index of the extent of the next
year’s planting, is very heavy, several car
loads of the long-eared gentry having
already passed through Macon, and dealers
are looking for largo sales during the bal
ance of the year. As of importance, it
must be mentioned, before passing from
this cursory view of the industrial condi
tion of Georgia, that a very important link
in the Southern railway system is quite
near completion—the Columbia, 8. C., and
Augusta railroad. Still another impor
tant road, that from Albany to Tbomas
ville, where it strikes the Atlantic and
Gulf road, in southwestern Georgia, is in
process of completion and will be of im
mense service in opening up one of the
richest portions of the State. Altogether,
the industrial prospects in Georgia is not
uncheering, and appears to sustain the
statement of a late traveler throughout the
South, that “Northern capital seems to
have poured freely into Georgia alone
among her sisters, and it is an oasis of re
turning prosperity, between Alabama on
the one hand and the desert of South Car
olina on the other.”
********
FLORIDA.
Next to the great States of Georgia and
Virginia, little Florida seems to exhibit
the greatest industrial activity, her adap
tation to the production of early vegeta
bles and tropical fruits attracting much
-Attention. East Florida is ahead in point
of attraction from its greater diversity of
resources and closer proximity, by rail and
steamer, to the great markets, through the
southern and western portions of tbe State
are, as will be shown, not so very far be
hind. In the neighborhood of the St.
John’s river, on the banks whereof it may
be mentioned that Miss Harriet Beecher
Stowe lives in peace and comfort, the
orange culture is attracting much atten
tion, and found to be the source of consid
erable profit. A specie of curculio is at a
certain stage of growth, apt to be dam
aging, but is not more frequent in its ap
pearance than the cotton worm. Passing
this stage, the orange groves bear so luxu
riantly, that at a fraction of a cent apiece
for the finest oranges the crop is found to
pay. All the choicer vegetebles can be
raised in the open air weeks before they
are forthcoming in more Northern lati
tudes, and in supplying the great markets
with them is a sure field of profit. Al
ready there is considerable doing in this
direction and profitable room for more.
At Jacksonville, it is stated by the Boston
Journal that a first-class hotel is now in
progress. It is to be built by Northern
capitalists, arid a number of Boston me
chanics have recently gone there to super
intend and lead in the work.
Passing to South Florida, the following
account i9 furnished by the Tampa Penin
sular of the 12th ultimo:
“The tide of immigration Is setting in to
‘South Florida. Since the war the popu
lation of Hernando, Hillsborough and
Polk counties has largely increased, and
the population of Manatee has, no doubt,
trembled daring the same time; and still
they come. The greater number of these
emigrants are from the Southern States,
but there are many from the North and
West. There is quite a colony of hard
working ‘down Easters’ settling at Sara**
eota, in Manatee, and they will soon make
the rich keys in that vicinity become the
most desirable land in the State. There
are thousands of acres of fine land, adapt
ed to the raising of tropical fruits aud
gardening, all aloug the Gulf coast, and
will doubtless in a few years become dense
ly populated. The land is good, and the
bavs, inlets, creeks and branches are full
of the finest fish, ovsters and clams, and
the climate delightful. Come along, emi
grants, there is still room for thousands
more.” . .. .
In West Florida special mention must
be made of Gadsden county, as a section
of the State that has always been a region
of small farms. Under the sensible direc
tion of the lawful, but now ousted, Chief
Justice, Hon. Charles H. DuPont a ro
dent of the county, a fall exhibit has
been made of its advantages. The soil is
a strong red clay, and in it marl deposits
•of ereat extent have just been discovered.
Vegetables grown in this county have
been delivered in New York on the fourth
•day after being storied. Besides vegeta
bles, cotton, oranges, corn and grapes are
largely grown, but the chief advantage of
the county Is what is know there as “the
poor man’s crop,” Cuba tobacco. The ac-
count given of this is so interesting that
we subjoin:
“The ino9t distinguished trait in the
agriculture of Gadsden county prior to the
war, was the great attention which was
given to the cultivation of the Cuba to
bacco. This culture was inaugurated by
a worthy gentleman, by tbe name of John
Smith, who emigrated from Virginia and
Fettled in the vicinity of Quiucy, about
the year 1829. His extraordinary success
soon induced others to go into the culture,
and in the course of a few years the “Cuba
tobacco” became a staple product of the
couuty, second only, if at all, to cotton.
For a number of years immediately pre
ceding the war, the production of this
staple within the limits of the county
averaged from three to four thousand
boxes, of four hundred pounds each, an
nually, and readily commanded on the
plantations in cash from twenty-five to
fifty cents per pound. [An average annual
income to the county of $500,000.]
The purchases were generally made by
agents of German bouses sent out from
New York and Bremen. The great ad
vantage attending this new enterprise was
that the principal labor required to save
and house the crop came on between the
laying of the cotton crop and the picking
season of the same, and the handling and
boxing preparatory to sending to market
could only be done in darnp and rainy
weather, when the laborers could not be
employed in out door work. It thu9 came
to be esteemed by the cotton planters as
an extra crop, the avails of which , as a
general thing , more than paid the entire
expenses of the plantation, without, in the
slightest degree, operating to curtail the
staple crops of cotton and provisions. This
culture tvas almost entirely confined to
Gadsden county, whose soil and climate,
seemed peculiarly adapted to the produc
tion of the article, and to its now intro
duction as anew staple was she mainly
indebted for her rapid increase in material
wealth prior aud up to the close of (lie
late war; and if her citizens wore in a
condition to incur the expense, they would
doubtless be ready to erect a monument to
the memory of her worthy citizen, John
Smith, now deceased, more deserving of
the homage and approbation of posterity
than are those which have designed to
perpetuate thedeeds of military chieftains.
With the change in tho system of agricul
tural labor, induced by the results of tin*
late war, thecultnre of tho “Cuba tobacco’
has been almost entirely abandoned, but
this abandonment will boos only tempo
rary duration, for it is emphatically the
“poor man’s crop,” as every member of
the family, from six years of age and up
wards, can be profitably employed in
either the cultivation or the preparat ion of
the article for market,”
Besides market-gardening, there is also
excellent scope in Florida for enterprise
in the Cuba cattle trade. In Southern
Georgia, and middle and South Florida,
there are fine cattle ranges where, at a
very trifling cost, beeves can bo raised for
the Havana market. Something is already
doing in this way, but there is room for
more. In Georgia, in especial, there is
abundant nutriment all the year round in
the shape of what is called “wire grass,”
a hardy species of herbage, taking its
name from its wire-like look, hut very
sweet and much liked by cattle.
A GENERAL VIEW.
With this particular account of affairs
in three States, chosen specially since cot
ton manufactures, as in Georgia, and early
vegetable farms, as in Virginia and Flori
da, will probably receive the first atten
tion of those desiring to either move to or
invest in the South, it is interesting to no
tice the tendency toward what may be
termed the ante-cotton crops. Thus in
Louisiana aud South Carolina, as also to
some extent in Georgia, the culture of in
digo was a specialty prior to the inven
tion of tho cotton gin. Only tho other
day there was an article in the Columbia
(8. C.) Pham .c referring to this crop, and
advising some steps looking to its revival.
In Deßow’s Review for September is also
an interesting sketch of the old indigo
works near New Orleans. In Oglethorpe’s
time silk was raised in Georgia, and
shortly prior to the war some effort was
made to turn attention in South Carolina
to the olive, tbe pine lands of that Stale
being represented as admirably adapted to
its production.
Wine making is also a destined business
in the South. In Monroe county, Geor
gia, is a vineyard of five acres, producing
yearly 1,609 gallons of wine, and yielding
a profit of something like SI,OOO per acre.
In Roanoke county, Virginia, is also a
fine vineyard of sixteen acres, which has
been ten years in cultivation, and will
send this season into market from 60,00 u
to 80,009 pounds of grapes, the estimated
profit being $12,000. In the vicinity oi
Aiken, South Carolina, are also well es
tablished vineyards. It may, and doubt
less will, be years before the culture of
any of these products rises into a national
importance, but as even cotton lay dor
mant till the cotton gin gave itvalue.it
may not impossibly be that the terrible
blow dealt cotton by the war may in turn
inure to the fostering of wine making, and
the culture of silk, indigo and the olive
The immense oak forests of the Houth
also present a fine opening for investment
in the preparation of bark for tanning
purposes. Saw mills can be made very
lucrative; railroads, languishing for lack
[CONTINUED ON RECORD FAOE.]