AGRICULTURAL WEEDS. 471 



stantly increasing. As is the case with the truck crops, berries shipped 

 from Norfolk would have the market largely to themselves for a period 

 of about two weeks each year. 



Some of the wild fruits of the region are quite palatable. Worthy of 

 mention are: The muscadine grape (Viiis rotundifolia), wild currants 

 or service berry (Amelanchier botryapium), Chicasaw plum (Primus 

 angustifolia), the wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), blackberries 

 (Rubus cuneifolius, the sand blackberry, E. nigrobaccits, the common 

 high blackberry, and P. villosus, the dewberry), and huckleberries 

 (Vaccinium corymbosum, V. vacillans, Gaylussacia frondosa, and 

 especially G. resinosa). Edible, but less pleasant to the average taste, 

 are the papaw (Asirnina triloba), the persimmon (Diospyros virgin- 

 iana), the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), and the maypop (Passiflora 

 incarnate). The cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus) also grows wild 

 in the region. Its cultivation here is probably not feasible, owing to 

 the length and heat of summer and the difficulty of properly con- 

 trolling the water supply. The cold soil of the Dismal Swamp, where 

 peat moss grows abundantly, would meet the requirements of this 

 fruit were it possible to retain these conditions after the timber has 

 been cleared away. However, it is not likely that the cultivation of 

 this fruit, except, possibly, in limited quantities for the local market, 

 would prove remunerative, because of the difficulty of preserving it 

 for the winter market. The berries would naturally mature much 

 earlier here than in New Jersey. It is also a question whether cran- 

 berries would not be even more liable to "scald" and other diseases 

 than is the case farther north. 



OTHER CROPS. 



Tobacco is not cultivated to any important extent in the Dismal 

 Swamp region, although it is occasionally raised by the negroes in 

 small patches for their own use. It grows very well upon the light 

 truck soils, but would not be as profitable as the garden vegetables. 

 Near Newbern its cultivation is increasing, wrapper leaf being the 

 variety preferred. There are now two tobacco warehouses in that 

 town. However, tobacco is in Virginia and North Carolina a crop of 

 the Piedmont rather than of the Coastal Plain region. 



Small fields of sorghum are seen here and there in the region, but 

 it is probably grown only for home consumption. The cane, cut into 

 small pieces, is ground in a very primitive little mill, the power being 

 furnished by a mule, which is hitched to the beam that serves as a 

 crank. 



AGRICULTURAL WEEDS. 



The most injurious weeds of the Dismal Swamp region are mainly 

 such as are common elsewhere in Atlantic North America, by far the 

 greater number being introduced from Europe. 



23502— No. 6—01 11 



