246 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



tiful flowers, and that the ready means now offered 

 by the rail-roads are not more used to convey these 

 rare treasures norlhward. I sent on by the train, 

 in boxes, growing specimens of all the above 

 plants, with their native soil, just dug up, and 

 which must have reached Petersburg in perlect 

 condition ; and might so be carried as lar' as Phi- 

 ladelphia, even should they /ail to be kept alive 

 afterwards. In this manner, by proper arrange- 

 ments, hundreds of rare plants, which even in 

 green-houses cannot be produced in perfection at 

 the north, might be sent, in all their native splen- 

 dor and vigor, to floricultural exhibitions a thou- 

 sand miles distant. 



General appearance of the lands of New Hanover 

 county. 



One of my first objecls after reaching Wilming- 

 ton was to seek out, and make personal acquaint- 

 ance with Dr. James F. McRee, a gentleman 

 whom 1 knew merely as the only subscriber to 

 the Farmers' Register in or near Wilmington. 1 

 drew the inference, in which I have rarely been 

 mistaken, that a man who had thus appreciated 

 my labors for seven years, would probably be one 

 both able and ready to aid me in acquiring inform- 

 ation. I was not mistaken. In addition to the 

 pleasure derived from Dr. McRee's general con- 

 versation, and to his kind and serviceable atten- 

 tions in other respects, I was indebted to him for 

 much of the inlbrmalion in regard to the pecu- 

 liarities of this region, and its products, which I 

 was enabled to acquire. My first inquiries of him 

 were in regard to the extent of the marl Ibrmaiion 

 of this region, (having previously seen it in Wil- 

 mington,") and I heard from Dr. McRee such in- 

 teresting facts on this subject, that 1 was very 

 willing to accept his invitation to accompany him 

 to his liirm, Ashemoore, near Rocky Pomt, the 

 most favorable portion for observation. For this 

 place we set out on the 17th. 



in a mile or two from Wilmington, along the 

 ordinary carriage road, the excessive sandiness of 

 the soil changes to rather less of that character, 

 and to such as is general through the pine lands for 

 many miles. The general growth is long leaf 

 pine, thinly set, with very little undergrowth of 

 trees or shrubs. The surliice of the earth is set 

 with tufts of what is here called "wire grass," 

 but which (as might be inferred from its locality,) 

 is altogether ditl'erent from what is called by thai 

 name in Virginia. This grass, as Dr. McRee 

 informed me, (and to whom, by the way, 1 am in- 

 debted lor all the botanical names here used.) is 

 the aristida stricla. It grows in small tussocks. 

 Each spire is a single straight upright stem, cylin- 

 drical and as regular in shape as a wire. This is 

 the most general grass in the poor pine woods, and 

 open grounds of same quality. When burnt off' 

 in the spring, as is most usually done, the young 

 grass springs out more rapidly, and furnishes good 

 grazing all over the country. 



The surface of the land, like that of the last 50 

 or 60 miles seen along the rail-road, is almost a 

 level. The slight depressions are all of swampy 

 character, and are called " bays" or bay land, be- 

 cause the loblolly bay tree (gordnnla lasianthus) 

 is always found in such places. But whether dry 

 or wet, all these pine lands, and the shallow 

 "bays" intersecting them, are Very poor, and, 



without being furnished with the calcareous in- 

 gredient which they want, are, and will continue, 

 worthless for tillage. It is from such pine woods, 

 which cover so large a part of eastern Carolina, 

 that the great supplies of turpentine and tar are 

 obtained, the making of which is almost the sole 

 business of the residents of the pine lands. 



The calcareous lands of Rocky Point. 



Upon reaching what are termed the Rocky 

 Point lands, the marks of soil chansred from the 

 indications of the basest to those of the most va- 

 luable calcareous lands. Rocky Point is a low 

 bluff" of the limestone peculiar to this remarkable 

 region, jutting out on the north-east branch of the 

 Cape Fear river. The stone or the softer marl 

 (or that which may as correctly be called chalk, as 

 the harder is limestone,) forms the continuous and 

 nearly horizontal substratum of all this neighbor- 

 hood, and comes so near to the surface of a body 

 of some 6 or 7000 acres, as to give to it a peculiar 

 and well established cliaracter for great iertility, 

 and power of long endurance of continued cultiva- 

 tion of the severest kind. A small tide water 

 creek, which passes through the Ashemoore farm, 

 marks the middle of this body, and on each side 

 of it are the best of these celebrated Rocky Point 

 lands. They are there best, no doubt, because 

 the surface is lowest, and the calcareous substra- 

 tum is nearest to the surface. It is sometimes so 

 near that the plough turns up a white slice upon 

 the top of the Mack soil ; and in these, and many 

 other places, where the cause is the same, though 

 not so manifest to the eye, the productiveness of 

 the land is greatly impaired. This injurious ef- 

 fect, however, is greatly increased by the too 

 great wetness of the soil, owing to its level sur- 

 face, its absorbent and sometimes close and adhe- 

 sive texture, and especially to the solid calcareous 

 sub-stratum, which prevents the surplus water es- 

 caping downward by filtration. The land too has 

 not been cultivated in beds (or ridge and furrow.) 

 which, if properly executed, and with the neces- 

 sary ditches, I am sure would make the lowest 

 acre abundantly dry. There are no springs rising 

 to the surface that cause wetness, but only the sur- 

 face water from rains to guard against ; which is 

 a very simple and sure business. The soil, in 

 quality and in level, and in its calcareous sub-stra- 

 tum, is more like the famous low grounds of Glou- 

 cester and Back River in Virginia, which have 

 been described at length in former volumes of this 

 journal, than any other known lands. I never 

 saw soil that seemed of better natural constitution 

 and qualify than some of the fields of Ashemoore, 

 or which promise better rewards for their culti- 

 vation. 



The limestone is but an accumulation of pure 

 shelly matter, solidified into stony hardness. The 

 marl is the same in chemical composition, but about 

 as hard as chalk, and has very much the texture 

 of an impure chalk, and is soft enough to be used as 

 manure without pounding, burning, or other mode 

 of reducing. I analyzed, on the place, three spe- 

 cimens which were selected as fair samples ; and 

 Dr. McRee, before, with the aid of my portable 

 apparatus, had examined several others. The 

 general proportion of carbonate of lime in both 

 kinds was lully 95 per cent. One specimen only, 

 of marl just dug and hastily dried, yielded as little 



