variety of crops you have spoken of for consumption, by the
laborers, and for the use of the planter, I suppose, but not
for exportation and sale?
--A. Not for sale. We merely raise them for home consumption
in case of a disaster to our cotton crops. The cotton crop
is subjected to very many vicissitudes, and we want to have
all our supplies at home, so that in case of a failure of
the cotton crop we have our living made at least.

Q. Are the planters and those who labor upon the
plantations substantially independent of the small farmers
surrounding them, or do they constitute consumers for the
smaller farmers in the interior?
--A. We have our own gardens, and generally raise our own
supplies, but every planter interests himself to find a
market for all the products of his laborers. For instance,
we encourage them to raise poultry to a great extent. If
they have a surplus of potatoes, or eggs, or chickens, we
will buy it and create a market for it, and ship the
articles off in order that if they have any surplus they may
realize on it. On the Mississippi River we have nearly all
the markets. Boats are passing there every day going
directly by the banks of the river. We have the markets of
New Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis, Saint Louis, Chicago, and
we have, you may say, the whole country open before us where
we can create a market. We make the best market we can for
the products of our small farmers.

Q. Do you know something of the prices in the North for the
various crops you have mentioned, and if so, how do they
compare with the price realized by your laborers at home?
--A. Our laborers realize the prices of the Northwest. We
ship the articles for them. For instance, a negro has
several barrels of potatoes; I consign them to my merchants
in Saint Louis, and have them sold for his account.

Q. There are no middlemen, really; you transact this
business for them?
--A. I transact this business for them direct.

Q. Charging them simply the cost of transportation?
--A. You are asking me the relationship between the
proprietor and the negro. There are a great many stores on
the Mississippi River, and negroes sometimes go and trade
directly. There are a great many properties in the
Mississippi Valley owned by non