[F 347 Copy 1 t •>-HAND~BOOK-<" ^^ OF Yazoo Bounty, -MVIISSISSIPPI.-^ ■4* OFFICIAL INFORMATION RESPECTING Yazoo County, l^ississippi. BY THE New Orleans Eiposition Eoniinissioi!. W. C. Craig, Chairman. W. A. Henry, Secretary. YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI October, 1884. Yztir YAZOO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. • — -1--^- — • VAZOO COUNTY is situated about 1 fifty miles south-westward from the geographical center of the State, and is one of the largest counties of the State. The face of the county is divided into two general classes, viz., the upland or hill country, and the bottom — the two portions being nearly equal in geographical extent. The former is a common rolling or gently undulating region, with no high or un- tillable hills. The latter is a flat delta region, being a part of the great Ya- zoo Bottom, which is itself a portion of the great Mississippi Delta, extend- ing from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf. These two regions are divided by a 4 Yazoo County, Mississippi. range of bluffs running nearly north and south, at the base of which flows the beautiful Yazoo River. The pop- ulation of the county is about thirty- five thousand — ten thousand whites and twenty-five thousand colored. SOIL AND PRODUCTION. The soil of the upland region will compare well with the better classes of agricultural lands in Tennessee, Ken- tucky, Illinois, and such countries. It is all well watered by numerous creeks flowing into Big Black River on the east and the Yazoo in the center. It has no stony, swamp, or otherwise waste land. Its productiveness is above the average of upland generally in and near this latitude. It is all susceptible of a high product by judicious man- agement. The bottom is all not only rich but unsurpassed in fertility by any Yazoo County, Mississippi. laod on the continent. As to the vari- ous products of which it is susceptible, we need not go into particulars. It produces every thing suited to its lati- tude, and in the greatest abundance. Two bales of cotton or forty bushels of corn to the acre are easily produced un- der good cultu re. Its capabilities have never been tested. Much less than this is the general result, for the rea- son that land being so abundant and cheap — there being so much more land than labor in the country — our farmers always undertake to cultivate too much land. Hence, the real productive ca- pacity of our land, especially the bot- tom land, has never been tested. An intelligent writer, living in a distant State, says: "The Yazoo Delta is the most productive soil in the world." Yazoo County, Mississippi. INCREASE OF PRODUCTS. With all the disadvantages under which our people have labored in the last few years, the census reports show that our increase in the products of the soil have been far greater than we our- selves supposed. "Mississippi: Its Climate, Soil, Pro- ductions, and Agricultural Capabilities, by A. B. Hurt," is a pamphlet made from the United States Census, and pub- lished under the auspices of the Agricult- ural Department. From this we make room for a very few facts. From 1870 to 1880 Mississippi increased her prod- uct of corn thirty-six per cent. ; cotton, seventy per cent. ; oats, nearly four hundred per cent. ; tobacco, nearly six hundred per cent. ; orchard prod- ucts, over four hundred per cent. ; sweet potatoes, over one hundred per cent. ; hay, seven per cent. Hay is the Yazoo County, Mississippi, f 7 only article .in which we have'^not in- creased in a ratio far exceeding the aver- age in the North and West ; and yet Ya- zoo county, especially the bottom land, is one of the very best hay regions in the United States. Native, unculti- vated grass grows sometimes from six to eight feet high, and so thick that a mower with two good mules can scarce- ly handle it. We have no doubt if this table of increase of products were made up for Yazoo county alone, it would show much higher figures than the above. We have certainly one of the most improving counties in the United States. LIVE STOCK. This little pamphlet does not afford room for particulars, nor do we deem it necessary to go into details. We know of no better stock country than 8 Yazoo County, Mississippi. Yazoo county. Indigenous grasses grow in great abundance. Hogs live well in the woods the year round with little or no feeding. Stock cattle and sheep need no feeding except in winter for a short time. COMPARATIVE VALUE OF LAND AND CROPS. From the same official statistics al- luded to above we learn that the aver- age value of products annually per acre in Mississippi is $12.21; in Illi- nois it is $7.81; in Indiana, $8.23; in Iowa, $6.85; and about the same fig- ures in other Northern and Western States. But a still greater disparity is seen in favor of Mississippi when we look at the comparative value of the lands on which these products are grown. In Mississippi the average value is $17.79; in Illinois, $38.65; in Yazoo County, Mississippi. 9 Indiana, $45.66 ; in Iowa, $23.52. On these figures Mr. Hurt very properly remarks: "It appears from the above that the market value of lands in Mis- sissippi bears no just proportion to their intrinsic value. There is too much land for the population and capital. Land that will average a money value iroduct of $12.21 per acre should av- eiage a market value of at least $50 } er acre, and especially in such a tem- perate and healthy country." The above figures relate to the whole State; but it should be noted that this is not a fair estimate for Yazoo county. Here the average value of product per acre is considerably above that of the whole State, while the average market value of land is less. To recapitulate this important item : The average market value of land in the States of Illinois, Indiana, and 1* 10 Yazoo County, Mississippi. Iowa is $35.94 per acre, and the aver- age annual value of the product per acre on the same is $7 63 ; while the average market value of farm land in Mississippi is $17.79, and the average yield per acre yearly is $12.21. In other words, $35.94 worth of land in those Western States produces annu- ally only $7.63, while in Mississippi $17.79 worth of land produces an an- nual crop worth $12.21. Or, to vary the statement again, land in those S,tat<'s cost more than double the price in Mississippi, and they produce a lit- tle over half as much as here. Such disparity is surprising. But for the official reports, it would be almost in- ctedible. The man in the West with double the money invested as in Mis- sissippi gets an income of very little over half the amount as here. Money invest- ed here yields, therefore, nearly four Yazoo County, Mississippi. 11 times as much as there, with certainly no advantage there on th^ score of cli- mate, health, etc. The product in Yazoo is much above that of the whole State. Open land in the upland portion of the county, with plenty of timbered land thrown in, can be bought for about four to ten dollars per acre. In the bottom about from twenty to forty dol- lars, more or less, according to improve- ments. In the bottom, land rents for about five to eight dollars per acre; in the hill country, for about half as much. Land in the bottom generally produces, in cotton, forty dollars per acre; with good tillage would produce nearly or quite double as much. There is probably no better fruit country in the United States than right here. We could sustain this remark well by de- tails if we had room and deemed it necessary. 12 Yazoo County, Mississippi. HEALTH STATISTICS. From the same official source we have some death-rate figures, the benefit of which we are entitled to. The annual death rate for each 1,000 inhabitants in several States is as follow^s: In Mas- sachusetts, 18.59 ; in New York, 17.83; Virginia, 16.32; Indiana, 15.77; Tex- as, 15.33 ; Kansas, 15.22 ; Pennsylvania, 14.92; Illinois, 14.60; Kentucky, 14.39; Alabama, 14.20; Georgia, 13.96; Colo- rado, 13.01, AND IX Mississippi, 12.89. Misinformation sometimes makes Mis- sissippi an unhealthy State, but official facts do not. The average annual death rate per thousand in all the above- named States is 15.33; in Mississippi, 12.89. Yazoo county is about an av- erage. We have a greater number of cases of sickness here than in those States, but they are of short duration, easily controlled, and seldom fatal. Yazoo County, Misslssippi. 13 TIMBER. It is not probable that there is a county in the United States better sup- plied with all kinds of valuable timber than Yazoo. Mechanics, recently here from the North and West, express sur- prise at the immense quantities of val- uable timber they find here. To enu- merate and describe it would more than fill our pamphlet. In red gum^ cypress, various kinds of oak, beech, hickory, etc., we have almost semi- national wealth standing in the forest. We have on exhibition a few speci- mens, to which we invite your attention. Our most valuable timber is the cy- press, red gum, and the various kinds of oaks. Cypress grows here in very large quantities, and equal in size to that in any other location. The red gum has but recently come into notice by lumber men and mechanics who T4 Yazoo County, Mississippi. handle fine wood- work. It takes on a finer polish than black walnut, and for fine work has no superior on the conti- nent. The various kinds of oak are too well known among timber-workers to need particulars. They are all here in abundance. MANUFACTURES. Beyond an oil-mill, a few saw-mills, and occasionally the building or re- pair of a small steam-boat, we have very little manufacturing in the coun- ty. There is a large opening here for enterprise in this field of industry. We know of no place where the man- ufacture of cotton and woolen cloth, furniture, wagons, buggies, agricultural implements, brooms, cooperage, tin- ware, wooden-ware, pottery, and the like, would do better than in Yazoo City. All these articles are brough Yazoo County, Mississippi. 15 from a distance, where material is not so good or plentiful as here. A dozen saw-mills on the Yazoo River and elsen where would do well. We invite man- ufacturers who may be looking for a new location to visit Yazoo City and look round. : > RAILROADS AND NAVIGATION. We are not well supplied with rail- road facilities. The New Orleans and Chicago road passes through the east- ern border of the county, with a branch from Jackson to Yazoo City, passing three other stations in this county, viz., Bentonia, Anding, and Valley. It is. to extend north-westwardly through the great bottom to connect with roads ; west of the Mississippi. Several other roads are projected in and near thjf county, and likely to be built shortly^ Qur facilities for navigation are. -ex- 16 Yazoo County, Mississippi. celleiit. The Yazoo is navigable all the year. It is one of the best rivers of its size in the world. Then we have Silver Creek, Panther Creek, Tokeby Bayou, Lakes George and Tilby, and Wolf Lake, affording navigation part of the time, and all connecting with the Yazoo. No part of the county is re- mote from market, TOWNS IN YAZOO. Yazoo City, on the left bank of the Yazoo Kiver, nearly in the center of the county, is the principal town. It contains about three thousand inhabit- ants, is the county-seat and the chief center of the commerce of the county. It has more commerce than almost any other town of its size. The other towns are Satartia, on the river thirty miles below; Benton is the old county-seat, ten miles back ; Bentonia, Anding, and Yazoo County, Mississippi. 17 Valley are new, thriviDg towns recently sprung up on the Yazoo and Jackson Kailroad; Dover, Vaughan's Station, Deasonville, Palmetto Home, Free Kun, and Silver City are thriving country villages. GAME AND FISH. Large game is nearly all driven out of the county, though turkeys are in places somewhat numerous, and occa- sionally a few straggling deer are found. Ducks, squirrels, rabbits, partridges, and coons are sufficiently abundant. Fish of various kinds are plentiful. The Yazoo and all the lakes, bayous, and creeks emptying into it are fine fishing waters. Big Black River fur- nishes fishing for those living near the eastern border. LAND IN CULTIVATION. About one-sixth part of the land in 18 Yazoo County, Mississippi. the couDty is or has been in cultivation. A considerable amount of land is lying vacant for lack of labor and fencing. Some of it is in bad condition, and can be bought cheap and improved. There is no worn-out land in the county. Yazoo produces about fifty thousand bales of cotton annually, which is the largest yield of any county in the State except Washington, which lies wholly in the bottom. LABOB. A large amount of the farm labor here- abouts since the war has been and still is by sharing the crop between the land- lord and the laborer. Under this sys- tem the land, team, and implements are furnished by the owner and the labor by the laborer, and they share equally in the product. Good field-labor can be hired for about tw^elve dollars a month, with bread and meat rations. Yazoo County, Mississippi. 19 Those who have teams prefer to rent land. OVERFLOW. This question pertains to the bottom land. For some causes not well known we have had more deep overflow in the last three years than for thirty or forty years previously. We must wait the development of the future. But we have learned that overflow is by no means the clear disadvantage that many suppose. The United States has taken hold of this subject in the way of im- proving navigation, and the general impression seems to be that the time is not distant when the annual freshets will be confined to the great river. Ex- cept the last three years, the damaging floods have occurred on an average of about once in ten years. The question of damage from overflow depends very much on the condition of the planta- 20 Yazoo County, Mississippi. tion and the preparation made for high water. Heretofore the water has not failed to subside in time for a crop. The overflow itself is a very great ad- vantage to crops and vegetation of all kinds. The periods of overflow have by no means been the poorest crop years in this region. A person not familiar with these landsi and the way they are handled, seeing them in February or March presenting the appearance of a lake, with a look of desolation, would be surprised in sixty or ninety days to see the same land covered with a luxuriant growth of cotton and corn, promising a bale and a half or two bales or forty bush- els to the acre. No cultivated land is free from injury by redundant water. This operates diflferently in the alluvial bottom and upland or creek or ordinary river bottoms. And taking a series of Yazoo County, Mississippi. 21 years — say ten years — we do not think the aggregate of injury from redundant water has been greater, all in all, in the bottom than in the hill country. Heavy summer rains never seriously injure crops in the bottom. WATER FOR DOMESTIC USE. Both portions of this county — hill and bottom — are well supplied with water for stock. The hill-country is pretty well supplied with springs; and when these are not at hand, good drink- ing-water is generally found at a depth of twenty-five to forty feet. Of course there are no good springs in the bottom, or not many. A few have been found under the bank of the river and lakes, but generally they are not good. Until late years it was thought that good drink- ing-water was not to be had in the bot- tom except by cisterns ; but later experi- ence demonstrates that by sinking wells 22 Yazoo County, Mississippi. a little deeper very excellent water is to be had in abundance. Water is now generally procured in the bottom by sinking iron pipes thirty or forty feet in the ground. In this way good water is procured anywhere in the bottom. Our physicians, who have been long practicing medicine in the bottom, rep- resent great improvement in health since the more general introductio wells. SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. Education is reasonably well cared for in Yazoo. The public statistics show that we have three thousand three hundred white children and ten thou- sand colored who are legally considered educable. Of these there are in actual attendance in public schools, according to the last report, one thousand five hun. dred and forty-eight whites and three thousand seven hundred and eighty- Yazoo County, Mississippi. 23 nine colored. These public schools are in every neighborhood. Then we have private schools wherever needed. There are about one hundred and thir- ty public schools. CHURCHES. A statistical account of our churches would not probably be very useful, nor have we room for it. It may suffice to say that church facilities are good in every part of the county. The towns are all well supplied, and at other points where needed churches of the various denominations are at hand. There are eight churches in Yazoo City, SOCIAL CONDITION. We have not been free, in all time past, from social disturbances; but, after comparing ourselves in this re- spect with other countries around us, we are not able to see that we have 24 Yazoo County, Mississippi. suffered more than our proportion of these public misfortunes. We have got along with outlaws and criminals as best we could, and have probably been as successful, on the whole, as the citi- zens in other places have been. The law has always been in force here, and outbreaks have been subdued as soon as the law could operate. Our citizens are quiet and law-abiding. A consider- able portion of our people, both white and colored, have come in since the war. Those who came for industry and peaceful citizenship are doing well. Nobody moves away from Yazoo on accountof any thing objectionable in the community. Persons desiring to settle among us will find a good, Christian community, good neighbors, good and cheap land, good health, good employ- ment, and good and quiet homes. Come and see us. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS T Illll Ill L_. 014 541 948 7 i V