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 THE SEs “ISLANDS | . 
 
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 A REVOLUTION IN THE SYSTEM OF PLANTING. 
 
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 [FroM tHe News anp Courter, APRIL 22, 1880] 
 
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 CHARLESTON, S., Gaeta? = ae 
 THE ‘NEWS, AND COURIER BOOK, PRESSES. : . 2 
 
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 a 
 

 
 Tee SEAPISLANDS. 
 
 ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 HELD AT $200 AN 
 
 slands of South Carolina, a complete tour of 
 Edisto, Wadmalaw, John’s and James 
 slands has just been made by Mr. J. K. 
 
 Phese islands are considered the most impor- 
 points in the archipelago which stretches 
 
 the Savannah River. The leading plant- 
 ers, both white and black, were interviewed, 
 aud the plantations, the mode of cultivation, 
 and the manners and customs of the people, 
 vere closely examined. The effort was to se- 
 re au accurate account of the social and in- 
 strial condition of the Sea Islands, as com- 
 ed with their coadition in 1866, the first 
 
 ason they were cultivated after the war. || 
 
 asons: First, because the emancipation of 
 e slaves has brought about so radical a 
 change in the manner of cultivation and in 
 he lives of the people as to render a com- 
 son almost impossible; and second, be- 
 
 ise it has been the custom to refertoevery- | 
 
 n words of glowing eulogy, and in the same 
 it to underrate every thing which has 
 since occu red. 
 
 Every one who is acquainted with the sub- 
 et knows that the landed proprieters ef the 
 
 ackman of TuE NEws anD COURIER Staff. | 
 
 Charleston down the coast as far as | 
 
 THEIR CONDITION IN 1865 AND 1880—A TOTAL CHANGE IN THE SYS- 
 TEM OF PLANTING—NET PROFIT 3100 AN ACRE—SEA ISLAND LANDS 
 ACRE—FRIENDLY 
 BLACKS—CATERPILLARS NO LONGER oe RESULT OF 
 THOROUGH DRAINAGE AND HEAVY MANURING—THE CO-OPERA-— 
 TIVE PLANTATION AND ITS RESULTS. 
 
 RELATIONS OF WHITES AND 
 
 | Sea Islands were in years gone by the weal- 
 thiest men in the State; that they lived Jike 
 | barons, surrounded by their vassals, upon 
 | their estates, and by their wealth and social 
 | position wielded no small influence in the po- 
 lical affairs of the Commonwealth. It is 
 equally well known that upon them fell heay- 
 | iest the evil results of the war, leaving them 
 at the close of that disastrous struggle shorn 
 of all save their landsand houses. To many 
 not even the shelter of ahome remained, and 
 | the soil of their ancestors was in the posses- 
 | sion of their former slaves. In May, 1866, 
 || through the interposition of the Federal com- 
 | manders, the rightful owners were restored to 
 i! the possession of their estates, but they were 
 |, not in a position to resume with any 
 || chanees of success their planting in- 
 | terests. They had no capital, and the 
 || Begroes were bitterly opposed to them. 
 || With an energy and a perseverance, how- 
 || ever, which, when Viewed in the light of the 
 || surrounding circumstances, seem almost in- 
 | eredibie, they succeeded in securing labor, 
 i| although at very high rates of wages. They 
 i} struggled also under another disadvantage. 
 | 
 
 
 
 They had, during their five years’ absence, 
 | lost much of their agricultural knowledge and 
 found it exceedingly difficult to adapt them- 
 selves to the new order of things. Fortune 
 favors those who help themselves, however, 
 | and the first year’s crop was both large and 
 i} profitable. The lands, after a rest of five 
 
yeare, were rich and fertile, and yielded an 
 abundant harvest. Cotton sold from $1 50 to 
 $2 per pound, and everything seemed to 
 foretell a speedy return to the baleyon days 
 of yore. But fate willed otherwise. With 
 the year 1867 came disasters in every form. 
 ‘To add to the labor troubles, the season was 
 uupropitious. Rain fell for weeks ata time, 
 rotting the crops, and bringing with it the 
 
 destructive cotton worm, which greedily de- || 
 
 voured the scanty yield that remained. 
 
 The years 1868, 1869 and 1870 were no 
 Everything was at its lowest || 
 
 less disastrous. 
 ebb and hope had fled. But the darkest houris 
 before the dawn, and soit proved with regard 
 to affairs of the Sea Islanders. Finding that 
 
 they must make a new departure in order to 
 
 save themselves from utter ruin, the aid of 
 
 science was sought, and the mode of cultiva- | 
 The planting of large | 
 
 tion was changed. 
 tracts of land was discontinued and, by thor- 
 
 ough drainage and high cultivation and fer- | 
 
 tilizing, it was hoped to make an equivalent 
 if not greater yield. 
 
 Ilaving run over rapidly the condition of | 
 
 things from 1866 to 1870, we will state in 
 the outset the particular points to which at- 
 tention was directed, and then give the results 
 of these inquiries, treating each island sepa- 
 rately. 
 ative were as follows : 
 
 First. as to the relations existing between | 
 the blacks and the whites at the present time, | 
 
 as compared with those relations in 1866. 
 Second. The progress of the colored people 
 in improving their general condition. 
 
 Third. Their increase in numbers as com- | 
 pared with their increase during slavery, and 
 
 whetber their offspring are properly cared for 
 and receive adequate medical attendance. 
 
 Fourth. Whether the colored people have | 
 
 made any progress in education. 
 
 Fifth. Whether they have BecoG iene | 
 ers to apy extent; the size of their hold- | 
 wee y | lieved by geologists that the alluvions of 
 | these rivers may nave had the same agency in 
 chs formation of this island that those of the 
 tive cost of their living expenses as compared || Nile and Mississippi have had in the forma- 
 siee Teke er 7 | tion of the Delta and New Orleans. Indented 
 
 ings and their success or failure as proprietary 
 planters. 
 Sith. Their means of support and the rela- 
 
 with the whites. 
 
 Seventh. Whether they have proper facili- i| 
 
 ties for disposing of their crops to advantage. 
 Whether they have suflicient capital to work 
 their crops to the best advantage. 
 they obtain their capital, and the rate of in- 
 terest on advances as compared with what 
 was paid in 1866. 
 
 Asto the condition of the white planters 
 
 the inquiries were as follows: 
 First, As to the supply of labor and its efli- 
 
 | the years which followed up to 1 
 
 The inquiries made by our represent- | 
 
 Where | 
 
 ciency. The mode of procuring labor and 
 the cost. of labor as compared with the cost 
 in 1866. 
 
 Second. As to the relative size of the tracts 
 of land plauted, the mode of cultivation and 
 
 | the changes which have taken place in this 
 | regard. 
 
 Third. Whether any of the planters are 
 
 | Nortbern men, and if so, as to their success 
 
 or failure. 
 
 Fourth. Toe caterpillar. Its effeet upon 
 the crops and the different ways employed 
 for destroying it. 
 
 Fifth. The effect of the lower price of long 
 cotton on the profits of the planter when 
 taken in connection with the differing cost of 
 labor and of provisions, the cost of supplies 
 and the comparative rates of interest ou ad- 
 vances, 
 
 Sizth. The average yield to the acre in com- 
 parison with the yield per acre in 1866, and 
 
 872. The 
 varieties of cotton preferred. 
 
 Seventh. Whether there has been any in- 
 crease in the area of corn avd small grain 
 planted. Whether any attention has been 
 paid to the raising of cattle and sheep for 
 market. 
 
 Highth. Whether any attention has been 
 
 | paid to the cultivation of olives, tea, tobac- 
 | co, Oranges or any other new crops. 
 
 Ninth. The means of communication with 
 
 | the city enjoyed by the residents of the is- 
 
 lands and the facilities offered for the traus- 
 portation of their crops. The condition of 
 the roads and bridges, &c. 
 
 Tenth. The general outlook aud the proba- 
 
 | ble future of the Sea Islands. 
 
 In giving the results of these inquiries we 
 take up the islands in the orderin which Mr. 
 Blackman Visited them, and give his report in 
 his own words: 
 
 Edisto Island. 
 
 This island is situated about forty miles to 
 the southwest of Charleston. It is bounded 
 
 | by the Atlantic Ocean on the southeast, by 
 | by the North and South Edisto Rivers in their 
 
 respective beariugs uorth and south, aud on 
 
 | the northwest by Dahaw River, which con- 
 
 nects the waters of South Edisto or Pon Pon 
 River with those of the north inlet. It is be- 
 
 by a variety of creeks Edisto is extremely 
 irregular in form, and in fact what is known 
 as Edisto Island is really two islands sepa- 
 rated by a small creek, and to the residents 
 these portions of land are known as Little and 
 Big Edisto Islands. Tothe northwest, ‘sepa- 
 rated by a very narrow stream, lies the litile 
 island of Jehossee, which in the early bis- 
 tory of the State appears to bave been classed 
 as a portion of Edisto. Edisto Island is 
 twelve miles long, and in the widest part be- 
 

 
 tween four and five miles broad. It contains 
 28,811 acres. It is so generally level as to 
 exhibit few inequalities of surface, the high 
 lands, strange to say, in every instance being 
 situated directly along the banks of the rivers 
 and creeks. The more elevated parts consist 
 of a light, sandy soil. The low grounds or 
 bottoms are of a stiff, clayey quality. It con- 
 tains a smaller proportion of barren land and 
 is more generally fertile than any of the ad- 
 jacent islands. Yimber in some localities is 
 searce, and with difficulty procured. , 
 Ramsay in his History of South Carolina 
 fixes the settlement of the island as taking 
 place about the beginning of the Highteentb 
 Century, the settlers being principally emi- 
 grants from Scotland and Wales. All the 
 vrauts are dated either the last years of the 
 Seventeenth or the first years of the Hight- 
 eenth Century. The first settlers directed 
 
 their industry to the culture of rice, but the | 
 
 quantity of rice land was found to be incon- 
 siderable and of inferior quality. 
 
 INDIGO. 
 The Edisto lands being ill adapted to the 
 
 growth of rice, the islanders turned their at- | 
 
 tention at an early period to the culture of 
 cotton and the indigo plant. Inthe prepara- 
 tion of the dye extracted from this weed they 
 made considerable proficiency, and the Edisto 
 indigo was in greater demand and sold ata 
 higher rate than any other manufactured in 
 the State. It is observable, in this connection, 
 that the lands that were found best adapted 
 fo the production of indigo are the least 
 adapted to the growth of cotton. Intime the 
 demand for indigo decreased, and the whole 
 attention of the planters was given.to the cul- 
 tivation of long cotton, the consumption of 
 which has increased from year to year until 
 now this peculiarly fine and fleecy staple 
 enters largely into the manufacture of silks 
 and all the fiaer classes of cloths. In 1808 
 the population of the island was 236 whites 
 and 2,609 blacks. 
 
 With this brief descriptive account of the 
 island, I will proceed to give the result of my 
 inquiries touching its present condition. 
 
 As to the relations existing between 
 
 THE WHITES AND THE BLACKS, 
 
 J think I can safely say that in no section of 
 the State are the white plauters on better 
 terms with their colored laborers than they 
 are on Edisto Island. This may seem asweep- 
 ing assertion, especially as the colored popu- 
 lation owing to their Jarge preponderance 
 over the whites and the evil teachings of 
 selfish politicians during the earlier stages of 
 reconstruction, and even up to 1876, were, at 
 times, very turbulent and ungovernable. 
 From this fact they have acquired a bad 
 name througbout the rest of the State which 
 it willtake years to dissipate. Since the in- 
 | auguration of the Democratic government iu 
 ' 1876, however, the colored people have im- 
 proved their condition so materially as to 
 become very conservative, and in every portion 
 of the island 1 found them orderly, civil, 
 
 
 
 
 
 good-natured and obliging. The planters are 
 unanimous in saying that 
 AN ERA OF GOOD FEELING 
 
 exists between all classes on the island which 
 has never to so great an extent existed before, 
 and which it is confidently believed will never 
 be again disturbed. The colored man if left 
 to himself is invariably orderly and good 
 natured, and of course he becomes more con- 
 servative as he acquires more property. Politi- 
 cal harangues have lost much of their charms, 
 and while they are to a considerable extent 
 
 | under the influence of the Republicaa leaders 
 
 of the county, they are rapidly beginning to 
 see that their political friends have use for 
 them only at election time, and they are conse- 
 quently paying more attention to their own 
 interests and less to the interests of the oflice 
 hunters. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF THE COLORED PEOPLE 
 
 in improving their material condition has un- 
 questionably been more rapid than in any 
 otber portion of the State. In 1866 the ne- 
 groes owned no land on Ejdisto Island. Dur- 
 ing the war they had been left on the island 
 entirely to themselves, the white planters and 
 land owners being eitherin the army or ‘‘refu- 
 geeing’”’ elsewhere. The effect of the sud- 
 den transition from slavery to freedom upon 
 so large a population was calculated to result 
 badly, and it did result badiy. They were 
 subject to many distracting influences, and 
 were alike unwilling to work for their former 
 Owners, and incompetent to cultivate the 
 land for themselves to any advantage. 
 When these facts are taken into con- 
 sideration, their progress has been truly 
 wonderful. In 1866, many colored 
 people becoming dissatisfied with their old 
 homes, sought labor in the up-country, but in 
 a few years those who still lived had found 
 their way back to the island, ard are to-day 
 the owners of little farms, making comforta- 
 ble livings. The popuiation has not increased 
 to any considerable extent since 1866. The 
 present population is 300 whites and about 
 3,800 blacks. The colored people to-day own 
 4,000 acres of land, and it is estimated that 
 they raise two-thirds of the cotton produced 
 on the island. Their holdings range from 10 
 to 25 acres, and in some few instances 
 
 | they own as much as fifty and sixty acres. 
 
 Nearly every head of a family owns a neat lit- 
 tle house, with a cow and horse, or mule, and 
 the majority of them have acquired buxyies 
 and carts and improved agricultural imple- 
 ments. During the past year the colored peo- 
 ple of Edisto Island alone purchased over 500 
 horses and mules, 300 carts and 100 buggies. 
 Many of them have so managed their affairs 
 as to be almost independent of aid from capi- 
 talists, aud there are some few instances 
 where they advance heavily to their own race. 
 Their mode of cultivation, while it is not so 
 perfect as that of the white planters, is very 
 similar, and as the whites improve the negroes 
 improve with them. Itisa fact that cannot 
 be disputed that the leading colored planters 
 
on Edisto island to-day carry toa higher de- 
 gree of perfection the cultivation of their 
 Jands than their masters did before the war. 
 The average yield of lint cotton peracre made 
 by the colored planters is about 75 pounds, 
 which is about the average yield of the white 
 planters in ante-bellum days. There ure of 
 
 course some instances where the yield has | 
 
 been considerably greater, and in one instance 
 the yield has been as high as 225 pouuds to 
 the acre. 
 
 The most prominent colored plauter on the 
 island is John Thorne, and the success which 
 he has met with will give an idea of whata 
 steady, industrious and thrifty colored man 
 can accomplish in this section. I had a long 
 conversation with Thorne aud found him a 
 very intelligent man. 
 island in 1872 as the agent of a company of 
 colored men, for the purpose of purchasing 
 
 He went down tothe | 
 
 for them a tract of 750 acres, formerly known | 
 
 There were 
 
 asthe Baynard Seaside tract. 
 
 thirty-five men in the company, and the place | 
 
 was purebased for $6,000. Each member of 
 the company held so many shares, and the 
 land was apportioned out among them ac- 
 cording to the shares they held. The hold- 
 ings ranged in size from 10 to 25 acres. 
 Thorpe himself secured 160 acres of this 
 tract, and owns altogether ou the island 250 
 acres of land. He is the proprietor of an ex- 
 teusive store and storehouse and Owns a com- 
 fortable residence. He also runs a gin-house 
 with six gins, and last year ginned out up- 
 wards of 400 bags of cotton, of 300 pounds 
 each, for which work he received four cents 
 per pound. He advances largely to_ several 
 colored planters and is worth from $15,000 to 
 $20,000. In speaking of the material condi- 
 
 tion of the colored people, Thorne said: ‘La | 
 
 1866 very few of the colored people owned 
 
 auy personal property, and at present there | 
 
 is hardly a colored man who does not own a 
 
 horse or maule, a cart, and a cow, as well as | 
 housebold goods and agricultural implements. — 
 
 The colored planters average a bag of cotton 
 to three acres, and make from $500 to $800 a 
 year, upon which they can live comfortably 
 und save morey.” 
 
 The colored planters, I found, raise about 
 the same quantity of corn as of cotton. | They 
 also raise hogs and a few cattle for their own 
 use. The success Which they have achieved 
 during the last few years enables them to se- 
 cure, without the slightest difliculty, all the 
 capital they peed for the proper cultivation of 
 their lands. They obtain their advances al- 
 most exclusively from the planters and store- 
 keepers on the island, and deal only, in afew 
 iustances, with factors ia the city. Of late 
 vears the colored planters, and the whites 
 also for that matter, have sold to great advan- 
 tage the bulk of their crops to a Northern 
 buyer, who takes the cotton either in the seed 
 or lint, and pays prices which are higher than 
 tuose that could be obtained in Cuarleston, 
 after deducting the eest of transportation and 
 eommissions: 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 The poorer colored people, who do not own 
 lands of their own, comprise the bulk of the 
 
 | labor by means of which the white planters 
 | cultivate their lands; and, eo great has been 
 
 the improvement in their condition, that the 
 most serious problem which the whites have 
 to deal with is the securing of suflicient labor 
 atany price. Upon this point Thorne thinks 
 that there is really no cause for serious ap- 
 prehension, as many of the colored people 
 who are land-owners themselves have shown 
 a willingness to add to their incomes by work- 
 ing for daily wages so many days in the week. 
 I willtouch upon this subject more fully when 
 1 come to discuss the labor question under its 
 proper head. 
 
 Before leaving this branch of the subject 
 I would like to mention a peculiar supersti- 
 tion which is said to exist among the negroes, 
 aud which doubtless operates to a considera- 
 ble degree against their success as colton 
 farmers. The advent of the cotton worm to 
 them means complete destraction of their 
 crops, as they consistently refuse to use any 
 of the meaus adopted by the white planters 
 for their destruction. i conversation with 
 one or two colored men upon this point I was 
 informed that the caterpillar was sent by God 
 as a visitation upon them, and they consid- 
 ered it sinful to attempt to destroy them. 
 Whether this superstition is universal I am 
 unable tosay, but itis a fact that they use 
 neither Paris green nor any of the preventives 
 which have been found so eflicacious. My 
 own private opivion is, however, that they 
 
 | refrain from using these means not so much 
 
 from religious scruples as from motives of 
 economy. 
 
 I think the facts [ have related bear out the 
 assertion that the colored people on Edisto 
 
 Island have improved their material 
 condition more rapidly than the _ col- 
 ored people in any other portion of 
 
 the State, and I canuot express the truth of 
 
 | this fact more forcibly than by quoting the 
 
 
 
 language of a colored planter, with whom I 
 bad a short conversation. After asking sev- 
 eral questious, touching the condition of the 
 crops, &c., 1 made the general inquiry as to 
 how the colored people were getting along, 
 and whether they had improved any in the 
 last few years. Without a moment’s hesita- 
 tion, he replied, in bis own peculiar way: 
 ‘“*We de eat de pearl grits dis year, sab.”? ‘This 
 telis the whole story. The negroes love good 
 living, and they will have good tbings to eat 
 if it takes their last cent to get it. During the 
 trying years from ’66 to ’70, everybody was 
 compelled to live on short commons. The 
 negroes ground their owp Corn in small hand- 
 mills—a process which is both tedious aud 
 laborious. ‘lo be able to live on pearl grist, 
 therefore, to the average Edisto negro, is 
 the acme of happiness, and exhibits a degree 
 of improvement which cannot be appreciated 
 by those of their race who live in cities and 
 subsist in many instances en bhe same fare as 
 their employers; 
 

 
 THE INCREASE OF THE COLORED POPULATION, 
 
 The colored population of the Island re- 
 mains very much the same as in 1866. If 
 anything it is less than it was at that time. 
 The cause of this is not so much from mor- 
 tality among the adults as it is from the want 
 of proper care of their children. While in 
 slavery the negroes had every attention paid 
 to their wants, 
 same medical aid as their owners did. As 
 freedmen this haschanged. It is a peculiarity 
 of the race that they never send for a physician 
 until medical aid is almost useless. Whether 
 this is from motives of economy or not I am 
 not prepared to say, but in conversation with 
 Dr. Pope, the leading physician of the Island. 
 
 i found the mortality among the negroes is 20 | 
 
 per cent. greater than before the war, while 
 the mortality of the whites is from 20 to 50 
 per cent. less, owing to the improved sanitary 
 eondition of the Island. This increase in the 
 death rate Dr. Pope attributes solely to the 
 failure on the part of the negroes to secure 
 prompt and proper medical attendance. 
 
 is due partly to the same cause and partly, it 
 
 is §thought, to infanticide, a crime whichis | 
 
 said to be very common among the poorer 
 classes. 
 class of people who deem it sinful to kill the 
 
 cotton worm should be prone to tbe murder | 
 
 of their own children. 
 PROGRESS IN EDUCATION. 
 
 The colored people have made decided and | 
 gratifying progress in education since 1866, | 
 
 and especially since the reorganization of the 
 _ school system by the Democratic administra- 
 tions since 1876. The school session is from 
 
 four and a half to six months in length each | 
 There are on Edisto and Jehossee | 
 
 year. 
 Island four colored schools, with an atten- 
 dance of 657 pupils. Theaverage attendance 
 ‘is less. During the months of December, 
 
 January and February the attendanceis much | 
 
 Jarger than in November, March and April. 
 This is owing to the fact that during the last 
 named months the children are required by 
 their parents to assist in the fields. The 
 schools are admirably conducted by four 
 white and three colored teachers, and the 
 rising generation, from 12 to 20 years of age, 
 can all read and write and are acquainted 
 with the elements of arithmetic. When 
 ‘Bishop Stevens was elected school commis- 
 sioner there was not a school-house owned by 
 the county on the island. Now there are 
 five. A new school building has just been 
 completed, and another is to be erected during 
 the present year. The number of teachers 
 will be increased next year, and still greater 
 educationai facilities will be afforded than are 
 now offered. The school-house on Jehossee 
 
 is the private property of ex-Governor Aiken, | 
 
 and isfurnished by him for the use of the 
 colored children. It takes time to reorganize 
 an educational system which had been pros- 
 ‘tituted under Radical rule, and the improve- 
 ments which have been effected are therefore 
 
 | The || 
 _ mortality among the children is very large, and 
 
 It is hard to reconcile the fact thata | 
 || than to devote any of their land tothe pastur- 
 
 wT 
 
 and in sickness received the | 
 
 
 
 
 
 but the beginning of a good work which 
 during the next two years, if the present 
 school officers are re-elected, will be per- 
 fected. 
 
 THE COLORED CHURCHES. 
 
 There are on Edisto five colored churches. 
 The denominations are Methodist, Baptist, 
 Presbyterian and Reformed Episcopal. All 
 the church buildings are in good order, some 
 of them having been recently erected. The 
 attendance can hardly be estimated, as every 
 man, woman and child who is ableto walk 
 flock to their respective houses of worship 
 
 “every Sunday, and the majority of them spend 
 
 three or four evenings out of every week at 
 prayer meetings and revivals. 
 
 HOW THE COLORED PEOPLE LIVE. 
 
 The negroes live almost exclusively upon 
 the products. of their farms and the proceeds 
 of their cotton. When the crop requires ‘‘no 
 more working”’ they add to their resources by 
 fishing and hunting. Fishing especially is 
 largely resorted to, and issaid tosupply an 
 abundance of food for several months in the 
 year. Poultry is raised by them, but not to 
 any great extent. Hogs and cattleare in 
 
 | some few instances raised, Dut itis argued 
 
 that it is cheaper to raise cotton and buy meat 
 
 ing of cattle. As they furnish their own 
 labor they can raise their crops much 
 more cheaply than the white planters, 
 and their cost of living is, of course, consid- 
 erably less. Itis hard to form any correct 
 estimate of their actual living expenses, but 
 a colored farmer with fifteen acres of land 
 will manage to raise three bags of cotton, 
 which, at last year’s prices, would net him 
 about $350. Therest of hisland he plants 
 in potatoes and corn, and will raise enough to 
 meet the wantsof his family and his ani- 
 mals. He very rarely receives but a small 
 portion of the proceeds of his cotton, as 
 it has been shown by experience that the 
 colored people live much more extravagantly 
 under the system of advances than if they 
 had to pay the money down for everything 
 they wanted. In most cases they live up to 
 their means, but, to their credit it can be 
 said, that they seldom live beyond them. 
 They are remarkably prompt to pay their 
 debts when they have their money. I heard 
 oue gentleman say, who had been advancing 
 to colored planters for several years, that in 
 all that time he had never Jost $25, and this 
 was a great deal more than he could say of 
 the white men to whom he had advanced. 
 THE WHITE POPULATION 
 
 of Edisto is about 300, and, with the excep- 
 tion of about 4,000 acres, owned by the ne- 
 groes, they own the entire island. The major- 
 ity of the planters own handsome residences 
 and live as comfortably as they could desire. 
 They all have horses and buggies for riding 
 purposes besides their ploughing stock, and 
 have of late years supplied their plantations 
 with improved agricultural appliances, 
 
THE AREA PLANTED 
 
 in cotton this year by whites and blacks is 
 about 6,000 acres, which is estimated to be 
 just about the same as was planted last year. 
 
 THE MODE OF CULTIVATION. 
 As intimated above, the manner of cultiva- 
 
 tion has undergone a radical change since | 
 
 1866. Where large tracts of 400 and 500 
 acres were formerly planted, only 50 and 60 
 acres are planted now, and, by high cultiva- 
 
 tion, it has been found that the profits to the | 
 
 planter are comparatively greater. Commer- 
 cial fertilizers were first used on the island in 
 1868. Daoring that year from 150 to 200 
 pounds of fertilizers were used, and each suc- 
 cessive year the manuring has been increased, 
 and now from 800 to 1,000 pounds are used to 
 the acre, representing in moneyan average of 
 $20 to $25 an acre in fertilizers alone. In ad- 
 dition to the increase in the use of fertilizers, 
 many of the most prosperous planters have 
 adopted the system of subsoil drainage, and 
 with those who cannot afford this improvement 
 
 | of them as large as that ich 
 
 
 
 
 
 a thorough system of ditching is resorted to. | 
 
 The additional yield per acre, under the new 
 system of cultivation, is almost incredible. 
 Where formerly 80 to 100 pounds of lint cot- 
 ton per acre was considered a fair yield, 200 
 to 250 pounds per acre is now looked 
 upon as _ nothing extraordinary. Some 
 
 || planters have done, who 
 
 of the» planters I visited made last year an || 
 
 average of 320 pounds to the acre on large 
 
 tracts of land. I heard one gentlemanremark | 
 
 that the man who could not raise an average 
 of 200 pounds tothe acre had better go to 
 Charleston and sell tape. The average cost 
 of raising and marketing an acre of cotton is 
 about $70 under the new system. With a fair 
 season 300 pounds to the acre is now con- 
 sidered a possible and probable thing. At 50 
 
 cents a pound this would net the farmer $150, | 
 
 or a profit of 100 per cent. on the capital in- 
 vested. At 30 cents per pound the profit 
 would be 20 per cent. The planters say that 
 
 does not pay toraise Sea Island cotton at 
 1.88 than 30 cents a pound owing to the great 
 rick which is run. This risk, however, has 
 been greatly reduced under the new system 
 of cultivation. 
 loss of the crop from heavy rains, and the 
 means used for destroying the cotton worm 
 are looked upon as absolutely reliable. 
 
 , THE CATERPILLAR 
 «which a few years ago was regarded as a 
 plague which could not be averted, no longer 
 has any terrors for the planters. I consulted 
 nearly every planter of prominence on the 
 island, and there was not a single one who 
 expressed the slightest concern whether the 
 caterpillar came tbis year or not. The Paris 
 green mixed with flour and rosin and spread 
 over the plants is certain death to the worms 
 before they can effect any damage. The cost 
 of applying this preventive is about $3 an 
 acre, and the appearance of the caterpillar is 
 not considered as entailing any loss beyond 
 the cost of preparing for their reception. The 
 islands, it should be remembered, have not 
 
 3 a 
 
 B ee 
 
 by ith ee retin 
 ae a) ee ‘ 
 
 Under-drainage prevents a || 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘ 
 hada general visitation of caterpillars 
 1867, and it may be possible that the 
 which have proved so suce 
 ing small bodies of the worms m 
 be inadequate to stop the rayages o} 
 
 the islands thirteen years ago. It is 1 
 hoped, however, that the sense of & 
 now enjoyed by the planters may not be — 
 rudely destroyed bythe fulfilment of any 
 an prophecy. eet me 5 
 
 he improvement in the crops as well as” 
 the additional security afforded by under- * 
 drainage commenced about the year 1873, 
 and with each successive year more drains 
 have been laid, more lands have been ren- 
 dered arable, and the yield to the acre bas 
 increased in proportion. On some of the 
 plantations tile drains are taking the place of 
 the wooden ones first put down, and the Work 
 which a year or two ago was in its crudest 
 state 1s now being carried on according to the 
 established rules of those who are entitled to 
 be considered as authority on the subject. 
 Edisto, however, is by no means properiy 
 drained, and it will probably be some years 
 before the planters reach the same state of 
 perfection in this regard as the James Island 
 were the first to 
 adopt the system after the war. 
 
 The mode of manuring the lands has 
 changed, both in the class of fertilizers used 
 and the quantity which is spread to the acre. 
 
 | The quantity, of course, varies with different. 
 
 planters, and it is hard to strike an average, 
 but the following figures obtained from one 
 of the most successful planters on the island 
 will give a pretty fair idea of the kind and 
 
 | quantity of fertilizers which are used to the 
 
 acre: 
 Fish; scrap. ..:.....5 os =e pounds,...250 
 German salt (Kainit)....... Sevan wee Come 
 Acid phosphate.......... PY ee ae 250 
 Cotton seed... .|....-beaueeraene bushels.... 40 
 Rushes...» ss» sae --..cords.... 8 
 
 In addition to this, the planter generally 
 uses on a portion of his crop as much com- 
 post manure as_ his place affords. Mud, 
 whicb was fora long time found to be very 
 
 | eflicacious, has been supplanted by the use ~ 
 
 of Kainit. 
 
 ‘There is one other change in the mode of 
 cultivation, and that is the substitution of the 
 plough for the hoe in preparing the fields for 
 planting. The work is found to be done just 
 as thoroughly, and much more expeditiously. 
 
 IMPORTED PLANTERS, 
 
 In 1867 and 1868, several Northern gen- 
 tlemen, with capital, settled on the island and 
 
 | expected to make a fortune in one year, 
 
 They were utterly inexperienced in the busi-_ 
 ness and entertained an abiding faith in their 
 own peculiar theories, They swung clear 
 away from old established rules, and conse- 
 quently failed signally. To-day there is not a 
 single new-comer planting on the island. The 
 
 | same may be said of those Northerners who 
 
 i