2224 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



peas and potatoes. The islands along the coast are 

 famous for the production of cabbage plants. Four 

 million or more packages of cabbage plants are shipped 

 out from here annually to all parts of the United States. 

 The Pine Belt is primarily a farming section with 

 large plantings of cotton, corn, oats and other general 

 farm crops. The region is mostly flat with an average 

 slope of 33^ feet to the mile in the southeastern part, 

 where there are numerous fresh-water swamps, and a 

 slope of about 5 feet to the mile in the northwestern 

 part. It extends across the state parallel to the Coastal 

 region, having a varying width from 50 to 80 miles. 

 Although general farming interests are of chief impor- 

 tance in this region, there are a few horticultural crops 

 that are proving remunerative. A considerable area is 

 devoted to the growing of cantaloupes and watermelons, 

 which are shipped to the northern markets. In some 

 counties, asparagus is also grown as a commercial 



2513. South Caro- 

 lina, to show the four 

 districts. 



product. Rotundifolia grapes, Japanese persimmons 

 and figs grow luxuriantly in this region, but they have 

 received little attention in a commercial way. 



The Sand Hill region comprises an area of about 30 to 

 40 miles in width, stretching through the central part 

 of the state from the Savannah River to the North 

 Carolina line. Being for the most part a chain of hills 

 with deep sandy soil, this region is remarkably well 

 adapted to the growing of peaches, Labrusca grapes and 

 dewberries. All of these fruits attain high quality and 

 color here and ripen early. The Mayflower variety of 

 peaches is ready for market by the last of May. The 

 Delaware is the most largely grown of all the varieties 

 of grapes because of its good shipping quality and 

 splendid flavor, but the Brighton, Niagara, and Con- 

 cord varieties are grown considerably for the local 

 markets. Dewberries, ripening the earliest of all the 

 berries, bring good prices on the local as well as more 

 distant markets. The largest peach-growers of the 

 state are in this region, individual growers in some cases 

 having as many as 20,000 to 30,000 trees. A great 

 many young orchards, varying in size from 100 to 

 5,000 trees, have recently been set. There are no com- 

 mercial plum orchards in this region, although varie- 

 ties of the Japanese and Wild Goose types of plums do 

 well. This region is also well adapted to the growing 

 of early vegetables, and market-gardening is being 

 carried on rather extensively in areas adjacent to the 

 larger towns. 



The Piedmont region includes all of the northwestern 

 portion of the state except parts of the counties of 

 Oconee, Pickens, Greenville and Spartanburg, which 

 lie in the extremely northwestern corner of the state 

 and make up the mountain region. The elevation of 

 the Piedmont region varies from 400 feet in the south- 



eastern portion to 900 feet in the northwestern portion. 

 There is magnificent water-power in the many streams 

 which have been utilized in manufacturing interests, 

 creating a large mill population and making a good 

 field for the market-gardener. Probably the leading 

 fruit of commercial importance in this section is the 

 peach, which does well on the elevated areas. All the 

 summer varieties of apples do well here and a few of 

 the winter varieties, as the Winesap, Delicious, Yates, 

 and Ben Davis, but there are few commercial plant- 

 ings of importance. The canning industry has reached 

 considerable proportions in this section, both fruit and 

 vegetables being used in canning. The principal fruits 

 that are canned are peaches, apples and blackberries, 

 while the chief vegetables used are tomatoes, snap 

 beans and corn. 



The Mountain region occupies the northwestern 

 corner of the state, including the greater part of 

 Oconee, Pickens, Greenville and a small part of Spartan- 

 burg counties. The soil on the mountainsides is in 

 most cases very fertile and the elevation is from 1,000 to 

 nearly 3,500 feet, which makes this region particularly 

 well adapted to the growing of those fruits that require 

 a high altitude. Apples do especially well here, and 

 almost all the leading commercial varieties are grown. 

 They produce heavy crops, and in color, flavor, and 

 keeping quality are not surpassed by the apples of 

 any section in the eastern part of the United States. 

 It has long been known that in this part of South 

 Carolina excellent winter apples could be grown, but it 

 is only during the past fifteen years that commercial 

 apple-growing has come into prominence. There are 

 now a large number of orchards containing from a few 

 hundred to thousands of bearing trees. The varieties 

 most largely planted are Stayman Winesap, Red Wine- 

 sap, Rome Beauty, Virginia Beauty, Delicious, and 

 Kmnard. The box is gradually replacing the barrel 

 as a shipping package. A few years ago almost the 

 entire bulk of the apple crop that was not sold on the 

 local markets was marketed in barrels, but the growers 

 being quick to observe the advantages of the small 

 package have discarded the barrel and adopted the 

 Standard apple-box. There are several box-making 

 plants in the vicinity of the larger growers that have 

 an output of more than a thousand boxes a day. In a 

 few instances the growers own and operate their own 

 box-making plants. The large amount of timber land 

 in this region, with the splendid water-power, makes it 

 possible to operate such plants at comparatively small 

 cost. Aside from the commercial orchards now in 

 bearing, there are a number of young orchards from one 

 to five years old, and it will be only a short time before 

 the face of these hitherto wooded hills will be covered 

 by wealth-producing orchards. Other fruits that thrive 

 in this region, but fail to do well in other sections of the 

 state, are the sweet cherry, red raspberry, currant, and 

 gooseberry. There are at present no commercial plants 

 of importance of these fruits, although the home gar- 

 dens produce them in abundance. Cabbages, onions, 

 and potatoes are grown extensively in this region for 

 the fall and winter trade. They are sold locally and to 

 some extent shipped to the southern cities. The tomato 

 is also grown extensively in some sections of the 

 Mountain region for canning purposes. In a few 

 instances large areas have been devoted to this crop 

 for marketing in the Gulf States during the early fall. 

 All vegetables and small-fruits may be grown success- 

 fully in this region. 



It may be seen, therefore, that the horticultural 

 products are extremely varied. From the seashore to 

 the mountains, there are sections peculiarly adapted 

 to particular horticultural interests; yet, taking the 

 state as a whole, with the exception of the few sub- 

 tropical fruits that do well in the Coastal region, all 

 the principal fruits of the temperate zone may, if 

 given proper care, be grown in every part of the state. 



