by M. C. Harper, 1904
Jefferson county is situated in southwest Mississippi.
Within its borders are found hills and valleys of unsurpassed
fertility. Its climatic conditions are almost perfect.
Near
enough to the Gulf of Mexico for its winters to be tempered, and to
be cooled in summer by the breezes that come ladened with refreshing
moisture.
The Mississippi river making a grand sweep
westward, flows in a great curve around its western border, and
forms thousands of acres of alluvial lands that are the finest in
the world for cotton and corn.
Rising from these bottom lands
are the celebrated Gulf Hills, where cane brakes become jungles and
where the magnolia and the poplar attain their most perfect growth
making the balmy air sweet with their perfumes
Among these
hills fortunes have been made, palatial homes have been built, and
contentment has reigned supreme.
Here, with proper care,
lands are made to produce remunerative crops after fifty years
constant cultivation. Here cotton and corn grow to perfection, the
various grasses flourish luxuriantly, and stock raising is becoming
an important industry.
Bee culture is most successfully
developed on the bluffs above the river bottoms. They find in the
lynn trees on the hills the richest of material, and the willows in
the bottoms afford an inexhaustible supply of honey-producing
flowers.
The two forks of Coles Creek run nearly through the
entire length of the county, and their broad valleys, together with
those of the numerous streams tributary to them, and. the ridge
lands skirting them are dotted with farms whose owners are
independent and prosperous.
The eastern part of the county,
reaching into the long leaf pine regions that have made South
Mississippi famous in recent years, is still affording much valuable
timber and settled by the descendents of sturdy Scotch families, is
divided into numerous small farms whose owners are thrifty,
self-reliant and prosperous.
Several sawmills are getting
out, preparing the timbers of this section for market, and find a
ready sale for their products. Splendid schools, a high moral and
religious tone among its people, and good lands, worked thoroughly,
make this a most desirable part of the county to live in. They who
are looking for locations in the South, will find Jefferson county a
most satisfactory section to invest in.
The Yazoo and
Mississippi Valley railroad runs through its central part, and this
is intersected by the Natchez branch of the Illinois Central, afford
splendid facilities for the transportation of garden products,
which, grow splendidly and mature early.
Bermuda and other
grasses flourish in abundance, affording rich pastures for stock,
and we believe, in a few years our herds of shorthorn, Hereford,
Devon, and other breeds of cattle, will rival those of any of the
Western States. Two to three tons of hay to the acre are frequently
cut from the Bermuda meadows, and a bale of cotton or forty bushels
of corn per acre are not uncommon. Sugar cane does well, and the
purest and best of molasses can be made, and many of our: farmers
supply themselves entirely with most delicious syrup. Three
cotton-seed oil mills furnish employment for many laborers and much
of their product Is used in fattening cattle for market.
By
the rotation of crops and the planting of the celebrated cowpea as a
fertilizer, our lands need never wear out, as the old lands by this
method can be brought back to a high state of production.
To
this promising and balmy land of the South all good comers are
doubly welcome. Churches, good schools and a most hospitable
citizenship are here to receive you; a fertile soil is here to
respond to your industry, and a genial climate Is here to give you
health and long life.
We need more population, and our lands
divided into smaller farms can afford homes for thousands of
families, and these lands can be bought at prices ranging from $5 to
$20 per acre.
Large tracts can be bought and divided into
homes for colonies, and thus social, religious and school advantages
can be established for themselves. No where does nature do more for
man and by thrift and reasonable care almost anyone can become
comfortable in a few years.
To this county we cordially ask
the stranger to come and make his home.