by the use of a
small whip.

The machinery of a cotton-gin is driven by steam or horse power;
generally the former. There is no water-power in the State of
Louisiana, but I believe some of the lakes and bayous might be turned
to advantage in the same way that the tide is used on the sea-coast.

All the larger plantations are provided with steam-engines, the
chimneys of which are usually carried to a height sufficient to remove
all danger from sparks. There is always a corn-mill, and frequently a
saw-mill attached to the gin, and driven by the same power. On
every plantation, one day in the week is set apart for grinding a
seven-days' supply of corn. This regulation is never varied, except
under the most extraordinary circumstances. There is a universal rule
in Louisiana, forbidding any person, white or black, smoking in the
inclosure where the gin-house stands. I was told there was a legal
enactment to this effect, that affixed heavy penalties to its
infringement. For the truth of this latter statement I cannot vouch.

With its own corn-mill, saw-mill, and smithery, each plantation is
almost independent of the neighborhood around it. The chief dependence
upon the outside world is for farming tools and the necessary
paraphernalia for the various branches of field-work. I knew one
plantation, a short distance from ours, whose owner had striven
hard to make it self-sustaining. He raised all the corn and all the
vegetables needed. He kept an immense drove of hogs, and cured his
own pork. Of cattle he had a goodly quantity, and his sheep numbered
nearly three hundred. Wool and cotton supplied the raw material for
clothing. Spinning-wheels and looms produced cloth in excess of what
was needed. Even the thread for making the clothing for the negroes
was spun on the plantation. Hats were made of the palmetto, which grew
there in abundance. Shoes were the only articles of personal wear not
of home production. Plows, hoes, and similar implements were purchased
in the market, but the plantation was provided with a very complete
repair-shop, and the workmen were famous for their skill.

The plantation, thus managed, yielded a handsome profit to its owner.
The value of each year's cotton crop, when delivered on the bank of
the river, was not less than forty thousand dollars. Including wages
of the overseer, and all outlays for repairs and purchase of such
articles as were not produced at home, the expenses would not exceed
five