EAST TENNESSEE. 9 



ful in corn as are the Miami or the Wabash. In 1860, 50,000,000 

 bushels of Corn were raised in Tennessee, against 70,000,000 in Ohio. 

 More than one-third of this, and nearly one-half, must have been raised 

 in East Tennessee, for the other divisions of the State were largely en- 

 gaged in raising cotton and tobacco. For many years corn has been 

 worth in this market not less than fifty cents a bushel in the fall, and 

 generally more, and by the next summer it usually commands from seven- 

 t}''-five cents to a dollar. 



Tobacco so fiir as tried has done well in East Tennessee ; nor is there 

 any reason why hemp may not do well on our rich soils. Oats also do 

 well. So also do all the small vegatables, such as beets, turnips, cabbage, 

 carrots, parsnips, peas and beans. 



Apples. — As fine apples as can be desired, will grow on all our high 

 ridges. The Cumberland Plateau, all the eastern counties, all our high 

 ridges, and all the counties bordering on the Smoky and Cumberland 

 Mountains, are peculiarly adapted to their growth and development in 

 perfection. By planting on the tops and sides of the ridges, that we 

 can produce apples equal in size and quality to the best raised in the 

 North, does not admit of a doubt. Such apples can be raised on Black 

 Oak Ridge, in Knox county, and on the many high hills within sight 

 of this city. In such elevated localities the buds are rarely, if ever, 

 killed by the severity of winter, or the bloom killed by the late frosts of 

 spring. By proper cultivation, fertilizing and pnining, a good crop can 

 confidently be expected nearly every year. First quality of apples are 

 now (February, 1869,) worth from one to two dollars per bushel in 

 KnoxviUe. Aside from our own market, the whole south, where they 

 can't raise apples, and where they are worth more than oranges, Ues right 

 at our doors. It is amazing that this splendid fruit and this inviting 

 market for fortune making has received so little attention at the hands of 

 our people. They do not raise even their own fruit trees. During last 

 fall from fifty to one hrmdi'ed thousand dollars were paid to the agent* of 

 fruit men in Ohio for frait trees, possibly a much larger sum. We need 

 a nursery at Knoxville. 



Peaches, being native to the sovith, it is natural to expect them to 

 ripen here in perfection ; and so they do, with that rich and melting flavor 

 pecuhar to them in their native clime. Like the apple, by planting on 

 the high ridges, and by proper care in cultivating, piiming and fertilizing, 

 a crop can be expected nearly every year. Ripening here from twenty to 

 thirty days earlier than in Ohio, and with a much richer flavor, when the 

 Knoxville and Kentucky Railroad is completed, those who are ready to 

 supply the Cincinnati market with early Crawford's or early Hale's may 

 well expect to reap a golden harvest. 



Pears have not yet been so well tested as peaches or apples, but so far 

 as tried they have proved successful. The Bartlett and Seckel have 

 succeeded admirablv, so far as tested. 



