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into contracts with the whites for any long period, notwithstanding I make every effort to encourage them to do so, yet I am unable to prevail on them to make many contracts.  Nevertheless all the Blacks who are able to work appear to be working, large numbers of them are only working by the month.  Such cannot be prevailed upon to contract for a longer period.

I know of no person who is able to work, who is not at work in some way, and as a general thing farmers prefer to employ their old servants, in preference to the Germans whom some farms are endeavoring to interduce as  laborers in the county.  The colored population of this county consist of about (1500) fifteen hundred people, a large portion of them are women and children who are unable to perform much labour.  Consequently farm hands are very scarce, and as the people of this county have suffered very severely by the war they are unable to offer any great inducement for laborers from other portions of the country, to come amongst them, and will be compelled to let a large portion of their farms go untilled the present season.

I am still issuing rations to some (24) twenty four old and destitute men and women who have no means in supporting themselves.       

Transcription Notes:
introduce misspelled in original, maintained as written. writer uses the old English spelling of labor = labour