250 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



town is partly broDght from abroad, and none is 

 exported. There is no where any wheat sown, 

 except lately by Dr. McRee and one ol' his neigh- 

 bors on Rocky Point, and the oats are all con- 

 sumed on the liirnis where raised. There is but 

 little cotton made ; and scarcely any thinii lor mar- 

 ket n)ade from the fine <rra7.ing aflbrded by tlie 

 savannas and (brest lands. As evidence of the 

 abundance of pasturage, I understood that very 

 i'ew persons give any fond to their cattle during 

 winter, as they can obtain grazing throuahout in 

 the woods and swamps. But the mortality, in 

 spring, fromth is starvation system, is very great. 

 There is not much land cleared or cultivated ex- 

 cept on the borders of the rivers, and of that J saw 

 but little. In the pine lands there are but a i'ew 

 small patches cleared, and those very poor in pro- 

 duct; the almost sole business of the residents 

 being to make turpentine and tar. Even where*' 

 better lands and better farming are found, the 

 same crop, corn, is generally cultivated without 

 the intervention of any other, either every year, 

 or every second year, as long as the land can bear 

 it. The nearest usual approach to a rotation of 

 crops is, 1st year, corn, and 2d, oats on the best 

 part, and no crop on the worst ; and all grazed 

 alter the oat harvest, until near planting time next 

 sprinir, usually, thougli sometimes the gi;azing is 

 avoided. Of course no turf forms on land so treat- 

 ed ; and it is not ploughed flush,, before planting 

 corn, but only "listed," and checked across, and 

 tiie "balks," broken up after the corn is well up. 

 Yet there is good demand lor all grain and grass 

 r roducts, and extraordinary prices paid for articles 

 of small culture, because of their scarcity. For 

 example, 'he first person who made a business of 

 r^'^nding turnips to Wilmington market, sold them 

 rpadily throughout the whole season for §1 the 

 bushel ; and though another producer has come 

 \n since to share the furnishing of the market, 

 he price still has kept to 50 cents the bushel. 

 ;jth Irish and sweet potatoes grow well; the 

 Iter as well as could be desired, and they are 

 t'-nde by every cultivator. But they are found 

 dii'i:cult to keep later than mid-winter, and there- 

 ihrc are not raised very largely for stock food. 



i''ield peas are planted through every corn-field, 



hv planting 10 or 15 peas on one side, and some- 



tir.u's on both sides of ever}' stalk or place of corn. 



Tii.s is done before the last ploughing of the corn, 



■'usA that is the only benefit of tillage which peas 



■voeive. As many peas are gathered as are nc- 



; sary for use, and on the balance, as they stand, 



■1 hogs designed lor slaughter are tiu'ned in, (the 



n having first been gathered,) and are allowed 



ieed at will. Peas alone, wlien so abundantly 



•rnsumed, are supposed to cause disease to hogs, 



(a weakness in tlie loins,) which is prevented by 



'laving a patch of sweet potatoes in the same 



iic'd, lor change of food. The red and cow peas 



ari.'. the kinds most generallj' planted. It is the 



p.'-'- vailing opinion that the making of this second- 



ary crop of peas does not materially lessen the 



product of corn from the same ground; but no 



air experiment has been made to test this impor- 



■ ■'nt (lueslion, and I therefore greatly distrust the 



. ji'-ectness of this opinion. 



The sweet potato is most favored by a southern 



imate and a sandy soil, and therefore I should in- 



■r must surpass in value, for stock food, and for 



;^ latest product of nutriment from a certain space, 



all the roots of northern climes, such as Irish po- 

 tatoes, turnips, beets, carrots, &c. But th&ugh 

 the culture of this most valuable southern root is 

 universal on every farm and clearing, as is its con- 

 sumption on every table, still it is held as a pro- 

 duct of secondary and minor importance, and 

 there is nothing clearly established (that I have 

 heard) as to its amount of product, or the preser- 

 vation of the crop. The risk of rotting in the cel- 

 lars or other receptacles, and the great cost of 

 planting roots, are great obstacles to extensive 

 culture. Some persons, however, and by various 

 modes, succeed in keeping potatoes sound, until 

 late in winter. But it seems owing to peculiar, 

 and not well ascertained causes, or otherwise it 

 could be done always. Small quantities in cellars 

 made and kept both dry and warm, and also well 

 ventilated, are kept much later. 



Pine foi'ests. 



From the few fine specimens I had seen of the 

 long leaf pine, on the southern border of lower 

 Virginia, I had expected to see magnificent trees 

 (brming the greater part of the vast pine forests of 

 North Carolina. But such is far from the liact. 

 Some few indeed present the noble elevation of 

 straight trunk, and great size, which I had looked 

 for; but most generally, the trees are much small- 

 er, and far from being pleasing to the eye. 

 The long leaf pine is the original and almost sole 

 growth of the drier lands of New Hanover, and 

 even much Oiriher north, as seen along the rail- 

 way. • The short leaf pine, as called here, and 

 which is the " old-field " pine of Virginia, is here, 

 as with us, the universal second growth of the 

 drier lands wherever the first growth has been 

 cleared off. As to the short leaf or common 

 " vvoods-pine" of Virginia, I have seen none, 

 though I hear that some lew may be found. 



It is a curious fact, and one much to be lament- 

 ed, that there is scarcely any reproduction of the 

 long leaf pine throughout the vast region of which 

 it now forms the almost exclusive cover; and that 

 when the trees now living shall have died, there 

 will be almost a total extinction of this beautiful 

 and valuable tree. It is a tree of very slow 

 growth ; and probably most of those now living 

 are older than the general settlement of the re- 

 gion, or the existence of the circumstances which 

 now oppose reproduction. The large cones or 

 "burs" of this tree contain numerous, seeds, which 

 drop out as the cone opens, and which are eagerly 

 sought and eaten by hogs. This "pine mast" 

 forms the great resource for feeding the hogs 

 while ranging at large, as is the usaije. In this 

 way, very few seeds escape to sprout. And of 

 the few that do sprout, scarcely any of the young 

 trees survive the after attacks of the hogs, which 

 root up the young trees, to eat the roots, even 

 when the trees are several years old. Hogs 

 ranging in the woods are quite fond of the lender 

 roots, and the bark of the roots of older trees, and 

 live on this food principally in the winter aud 

 spring, afier the pine seeds are consumed. 



From these causes I presume it is that very 

 few young long leaf pines are to be seen. I no- 

 ticed them no where except a few in the neigh- 

 borhood of Wilmington, in riding from that place 

 to Rocky Point. And the appearance of the 

 young long leaf pine is too remarkable not to have 



