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though I fear some suffering may occur during the intervening months before it is gathered — as there is but little provision now in the county and that very high in [[juice?]], while money is exceedingly scarce-
Two thirds of the married Freedmen, whose intentions I have learned, propose next year to start farming for themselves— and I doubt whether more than one in ten of them will be prepared for such an undertaking—however beautiful the idea of the immediate transformation of the former degraded slaves into small farmers, with abundance, peace, and independence reigning in their happy cottages, may be to the well-intentioned, but more poetic than practical enthusiast, the truth of the case, to those who live among them and watch the course of events, presents a different aspect — Of an ardent and hopeful nature the negro seldom counts the cost of anything, and indeed, his past bondage has incapacitated him for reflection- To any argument you may advance he has the ready answer that if he could once not only support himself and his family, but his master and his family also, he now can certainly can do the former — This is indeed plausible reasoning if we choose to forget that the master had lands, horses, farming implements, food, money, and — most important of all — an ability to manage — the result of years of experience — none of which the Freedman has- On the contrary, so soon as he has purchased an old horse and planted his crop, his stores of money and provisions are exhausted and he must steal or starve- and it is not hard to divine which alternative will be adopted—
The Freedman labors also under the disadvantage, that in most cases only poor lands — such as the owner himself, will not