726 



TENNESSEE. 



borne, Union, and Jefferson Counties ; they are 

 in greatest abundance in Union County. The 

 Stiner belt, near Powell's River, is fifty or sixty 

 feet wide, and is marked by the absence of 

 trees. The lead and zinc ores are often asso- 

 ciated. Black oxide of manganese is found in 

 small masses, associated with iron, all over the 

 State. Iron pyrites also exists everywhere in 

 the State ; a large quantity is found associated 

 with the copper at Ducktown. Large beds 

 also occur near Greeneville in Greene County, 

 and in Moore, Carter, and Perry Counties. 

 Heavy spar or baryta, used for cheap paints, is 

 found .in Middle and East Tennessee; it is 

 mined in Greene, Washington, Jefferson, and 

 some other counties. It is usually associated 

 with lead, constituting the gangue of that 

 mineral. Asbestus exists in large quantities in 

 Cocke County. Copperas is abundant, and 

 specimens of gypsum have been found. Salt 

 was formerly made in the State, but its 

 manufacture has been discontinued. Saltpetre 

 abounds in numerous caves throughout Mid- 

 dle and East Tennessee. Petroleum has been 

 found at various points, and 10,000 barrels of 

 it has been obtained from the wells near Spring 

 Creek in Overton County ; but the production 

 has not been found profitable. Extensive beds 

 of lignite are found in many of the counties of 

 West Tennessee. Alum occurs in the same 

 situations as copperas in Middle Tennessee, 

 Epsom salts in many of the saltpetre-caves, and 

 large quantities of bluestone (sulphate of cop- 

 per) at Ducktown. The State collection of 

 minerals in the Capitol comprises, besides a 

 great variety of specimens, 200 kinds of marble, 

 of all colors from Parian white to jet black, 

 all found in the State. Tennessee has marked 

 advantages in the number, variety, excellence, 

 and medicinal value of its mineral waters. 

 Mineral springs occur upon the lofty peaks of 

 the Unakas and along the bases of the long 

 ridges of the eastern valley. The Cumberland 

 table-land abounds with sparkling chalybeate 

 springs. There are also valuable sulphur and 

 chalybeate springs in West Tennessee. 



The climate is generally mild and remarka- 

 bly salubrious, excepting in the swampy dis- 

 tricts of West Tennessee. The eastern division 

 is noted for its pure mountain air. The mean 

 annual temperature along a line running east 

 and west through the middle of the State is 

 about 57 in the valley of East Tennessee, 58 

 in Middle, and 59 in West Tennessee. The 

 temperature is about one degree higher along 

 the southern, and about one degree lower along 

 the northern boundary. Going from west to 

 east there is a difference of elevation of more 

 than 6,000 feet, which gives a wide range of 

 climate and great variety in vegetable produc- 

 tions. East Tennessee, excluding its great val- 

 ley, has a limited surface adapted to cultivation. 

 The soil of Middle Tennessee is generally good, 

 producing large crops of wheat, rye, oats, In- 

 dian-corn, buckwheat, barley, potatoes, hemp, 

 hay, sweet-potatoes, flax, cotton, and tobacco. 



The western division is almost level, and cot- 

 ton, tobacco, and all kinds of grain, are grown 

 in extraordinary abundance. The soil of this, 

 part is a rich black mould. Along the banks] 

 of the Mississippi and Tennessee are extensive 

 canebrakes, covered with reeds. The country] 

 is well watered. The northwest part contains 

 an extensive tract of swampy land. Nearly 

 half of the State is wooded land, and presents 

 almost every variety of timber found in the 

 United States. West Tennessee is specially 

 noted for the magnificence of its forests. The 

 high mountains in the east are covered with 

 forests of pine, which yield tar, pitch, turpen- 

 tine, and ramber, for export ; white pine, chest- 

 nut, hemlock, and black walnut, grow to im- 

 mense size in the coves of the mountains. On 

 the mountain-slopes, the sugar-maple, ash, ce- 

 dar, juniper, and savin, are also abundant; and 

 in the lower lands as well as in Middle Tennes- 

 see the poplar, hickory, black walnut, oak, 

 beech, locust, and cherry, are found. The most 

 extensive red-cedar forests in the United States 

 are found in the central basin of Middle Ten- 

 nessee. In the swamps and lowlands of West 

 Tennessee the cypress, hackmatack, cotton- 

 wood, and swamp-cedar, occur in large quan- 

 tities. Several wild or indigenous grasses grow 

 spontaneously. The pawpaw, a low bushy tree 

 or shrub, bearing a fruit somewhat resembling 

 the banana, though inferior to it, is found in 

 the river-bottoms. The persimmon, which is 

 common, yields a fruit which in sweetness and 

 pleasantness of flavor equals the date. The 

 black haw, red haw, wild-plum, blackberry, 

 wood-grape, muscadine, strawberry, whortle- 

 berry, gooseberry, and service-berry, all grow 

 wild and yield luxuriantly. Nuts of various 

 kinds abound, as the walnut, hickory-nut, 

 hazel-nut, chestnut, pecan, and chinquapin, all 

 forming articles of export. Ginseng is found 

 on all the elevated lands. The wild animals 

 are the bear, found only in the mountainous 

 districts, deer, raccoons, foxes, opossums, and 

 squirrels. Horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, are 

 raised on a large scale, and many thousands 

 are annually exported. The hills and moun- 

 tain-slopes afford an abundance of fine pastur- 

 age. Much attention is given to wool-grow- 

 ing. Peanuts, constituting an important crop, 

 are raised in the counties of Perry, Hickman, 

 and Humphreys, and parts of Dickson and 

 Lewis, all of which are on the west side of the 

 Highland rim. The production amounted to 

 680,000 bushels in 1872, 110,000 in 1873, 200,- 

 000 in 1874, and 250,000 in 1875. The average 

 yield is about 40 bushels an acre. The ship- 

 ment of cotton from Tennessee amounted to 

 378,813 bales in 1872-'73, 489,534 in 1873-'74, 

 and 446,674 in 1874-'75, most of which was the 

 product of the State. In 1873 there were 613,- 

 267 acres planted with cotton. The best grows 

 in the southern half of West Tennessee ; it is 

 grown in the whole of the central basin south 

 of Nashville. As a tobacco-growing State 

 Tennessee ranks third, Kentucky being first and 



