^48 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



pected peculiarities of a limestone region in this 

 neighborhood, and even at some miles liom the 

 calcareous soils. These are subterraneous caverns 

 and subterraneous streams. The former are like 

 the limestone caves of the mountain region, ex- 

 cept for their very narrow dimensions, which 

 forbid any passage or examination. A small dog 

 has been known to make his way through a sub- 

 terranean passage for several hundred yards. I 

 saw, at Ashemoore, one of the " natural wells'" 

 which show subterraneous streams. This was in 

 a field not of calcareous soil, and was about the 

 eize across of an ordinary artificial well. Thevva- 

 ter stood at about two feet from the surface of the 

 earth, and is supplied by a perpetual stream pass- 

 ing through below. The water, however, is now 

 higher than usual, owing to additional supply from 

 rain. 



1 heard that a little marl had been used in som.e 

 of the gardens of Wilmington ; but not the least 

 use of it has as yet been made on fields, by any south 

 of the Neuse and Trent, of whom I have heard. 



The Savannas. 



There are, in many places in New Hanover 

 county, and other of the south-eastern parts of 

 North Carolina, interspersed among, and surround- 

 ed by forests, tracts of" open grass land, called sa- 

 vannas, as clear of trees as if made and kept so 

 for cultivation. These n:eadows, however, are 

 altogether formed without the designed aid of 

 man ; and if cultivation has ever been attempted 

 on them, it was found profitless, from the unpro- 

 ductiveness of the soil, and the attempt was aban- 

 doned, after the first trial. The railway passes 

 immediately through one of these savannas, about 

 27 miles from Wilmington, which is said to con- 

 tain more than 4000 acres in one body. My pas- 

 Bage through this piece was so rapid, that nothing 

 could be distinguished as to its particular growth 

 of grass, or the nature of its soil. It only present- 

 ed to the eye one unbroken and unvaried expanse 

 of level surface, as much elevated, apparently, 

 compared to the road-way, as the forest lands, and 

 covered with young grass, the deep verdure of 

 which was made the more conspicuous by the old 

 jrrass having been burned off early in the spring. 

 To examine this kind of land more closely, was 

 one of the objects of my visit to Ashemoore, 

 under the guidance of Dr. McRee. Part of his 

 estate is one of these savannas, which is partly 

 eeen from the rail-road just north of the Rocky 

 Point depot, and 15 miles from Wilmington. This 

 Bavanna is of small extent, being only 200 to 300 

 acres, but in every other respect is similar to all 

 the others, and would serve, as I was told, as well 

 for observation as any number of them. 



I found that but a very small part of this savan- 

 na had been burnt over this spring, whirh gave 

 a better opportunity of judging of its usual growth 

 from the still abundant remains of the dry grass ol 

 the last summer. This was of many different 

 kinds, all of which seemed new to me, or if not 

 new, so altered by difference of soil as not to be 

 recognized. However, my examination in this 

 respect was necessarily very slight, owing to my 

 ignorance of the scientific arrangement and de- 

 Bcriptions of plants. The principal growth seen 

 consisted of the aristida stricta, (before mention- 

 ed as being general through the pine-covered 



land,) and a dwarfish kind of broom sedge, which 



s smaller than, and difierent from, those so well 

 known in lower Virginia, but which was not tlie 

 less manifestly one of the members of that family 

 of grasses, (andropogun,) all of which, I infer 

 fi"om my experience of the habits of some of 

 them, must indicate by their growth an add soil. 

 The old growth, notwithstanding all the eating 

 and trampling by cattle, seemed but little dimin- 

 ished, and had stood about tv/o feet high. 



I dug into the soil of this savanna, and at the 

 place examined, a spot rather higher and there- 

 lore then drier than the general surface, found 

 the depth to be about a foot. This, however, waa 

 more than usual. Along the side of the ditch 

 made to form the rail-road, where it passes by the 

 out-skirt of this savanna, the soil was about 6 lo 

 9 Inches deep, and less generally than 6 inches 

 through the adjacent pine land. The soil of the 

 savanna land is as black as earth can be, is mode- 

 rately stiff, showing the presence of enough clay 

 to form a productive soil for grasses and wheat, 

 and would be supposed, if judged merely by the 

 eye, to be as rich, and valuable for tillage, as in 

 fact it is poor and worthless, as now constituted. 

 The subsoil is a pale yellowish sand, with barely 

 enough clay intermixed to be adhesive, and not to 

 prevent water passing through and saturating it. 

 Still lower, as 1 was told, lies a bed of clay, which, 

 no doubt, forbids the descent of the rain water, 

 and causes the general wetness of these lands, 

 though they lie high, and are free both from 

 springs, and from floods from any higher lands. 



There does not seem to be any great difierence 

 between the savanna land and the great body 

 which is covered with pine forests, except in the 

 difierence of covering plants. Indeed, in many 

 parts of the pine lan<ls, where the trees stand but 

 thinly, the savanna grasses cover the ground, and 

 wheie burnt off, present the appearance of a true 

 savanna, with the addition of a sprinkling of trees. 

 The same general causes operate with more or 

 less force on all this immense region of pine Ibrest 

 land; and, according to (he degree of force, cer- 

 tain places either become open and perfect savan- 

 nas, or remain as Ibrest land. 



I was the more interested in examining the sa- 

 vanna land because of my former investigations of 

 the causes of the formation of the western prairies. 

 I was not before aware of the existence of any 

 lands of that character in all the Atlantic slope of 

 the United States. But the Carolina savannas 

 are certainly true prairies, though diflfering so 

 much both in nature of soil and in degree of lertility 

 from those of the west ; and the first formation 

 and continuance of these savannas may be satis- 

 lactorily traced from tlie operating causes which 

 were set forth in the essay on the formation of 

 prairies, commenced at page 321, vol.iii., of Farm- 

 ers' Register. 



The whole of the great region of pine forest in 

 lower North Carolma, with the exceptions of the 

 intervention of rivers and of swamps, is high land, 

 of as level a surface as can be conceived. With- 

 out any springs rising to the surliice, which would 

 be the sources of marshes, and with a climate in 

 which dryness and warmth predominate greatly 

 over moisture and cold, it might be inferred that 

 such lands, and sandy as they are withal, would 

 be very dry. IJut though no springs rise to bring 

 water from subterranean sources to the surface 



