90 JouENAL OF THE MiTCHELL SociETY [^January 



land is from $5 to $6 per acre. Its sale value runs from $10 

 to $20 per acre, and in the tobacco growing section considerably 

 bigber. 



Tbe North Carolina division of the Sou'thern Railway runs 

 through the county from east to west, while a ten-mile branch 

 runs south to cormect Chapel Hill with the main line. The 

 wagon roads are at present very inadequate, though with the 

 money secured by the recent issuance of bonds, a system of 

 graded and surfaced main roads is now being constructed. 

 There is, at present, little attempt, either amongst the popu- 

 lation or on the part of the county authorities, to keep up the 

 small crossroads ; and these are in a serious condition. At pres- 

 ent Orange County's best markets are at Mebane and Graham to 

 the west and at Durham to the east. There is, as yet, no cash 

 market at Hillsboro. Outside of the cotton mills at Hillsboro 

 and Carrboro, little manufacturing is done. A factory at Ef- 

 land makes excelsior from pine wood; while one or two small 

 firms manufacture hickory handles and shuttle blocks. An 

 attempt is also being made to produce cedar oil from the saw- 

 dust and twigs of the cedar. 



The forests of Orange, which occuj)y 58 per cent of the 

 county, are divided almost equally betw^een hardwood and the 

 old field pine types. It is estimated that these forests support 

 an average stand of 620 feet of timber per acre, or a total stand 

 of nearly 90,000,000 feet. Of this amount approximately 51 

 per cent is second-growth pine; 46 per cent oak; one per cent 

 cedar ; about one-half per cent each of poplar and '' forest " 

 pine ; and the balance chiefly hickory. There is also thought to 

 be as much as 3,000 cords of merchantable dogwood in the 

 county. 



The hardwood forests occupy the rougher and poorer areas, 

 such as the hills, ridges, and broken country in the middle and 

 southern parts of the county. There are also considerable areas 

 of what are commonly called post oak flats. Most of the hard- 

 wood forest has been cut-over, some of it very closely, but here 

 and there are found small tracts of merchantable oak, running 

 from 2,000 to 5,000 feet to the acre, or even more. White oak 

 and post oak are the principal merchantable trees, forming 80 



