FARMERS' REGISTER— GEOLOGICAL REMARKS, &c. 



497 



with its seeds." If he should proceed in this way 

 to propagate this tree, in'all probalMlity I'-e will he 

 disappointed in t!ie result. Every old field that I 

 am acquainted with, invariably pi-oduccs the .short- 

 leaved pine, althou;i;h they may be surrounded by 

 the long-leaved ones. It is singular, but it is cer- 

 tain, that the pines, which spring up and grow in 

 our old tields, are always of the siiort leaved sort. 

 I have never known an instance to the contrary. - 

 The seeds from which they germinate, must, in all 

 probability, have been of the long-leaved pines, as 

 it is unreasonable to suppose tliat none but those of 

 the other species could have been dejjosited there, 

 when in many instances, tlie old field is surround- 

 ed with the long-leaved pines exclusivel}-. The 

 cuk+vation of tlie soil seems to unfit it to produce 

 the long-leaved variety. They never grow upon 

 land that has been cultivated in this section of 

 North-Carolina. On the contrary, the short, and 

 the long-leaved varieties will both grov»', side by 

 side, in the same forest. Nature loves change and 

 variety. Are they not " ihe spice of life.'" We 

 know that both soil and climaie have their influ- 

 ence on vegetation : and the ibrmer certainly does 

 influence the long-leaved pine. No one can doubt 

 it who has observed the facts — of an old field sur- 

 rounded by the long-leaved pines, and its producing 

 none but the short-leaved ones. We have the 

 varieties of this latter pine — the short-leaved, and 

 the rosemary, of a stiii shorter leaf. Also two 

 varieties of the long-leaved— the pitch i)ine, with 

 a small top, making our best lumber, and the tur- 

 pentine pine,Avhich is more sappy, and has a large 

 top. They all grow in the same forest; some- 

 limes the one, and sometimes the other variety, 

 predominating. I give these facts that "'An In- 

 quirer" may investigate them before he proceeds 

 to " strew his old field." 



Let not "An Inquirer" too hastily condemn 

 the " th.ousands of acres ofold'field,nov/ overgrown 

 with loldolly," nor proceed to " to cut them down" 

 before he takes counsel of his prudence ; for, al- 

 though they be not of equal value with better 

 trees, yet they are of mtich more value than no 

 trees, as, by their shade, they enrich the soil, and 

 their annual droppings, if sedulously collected and 

 applied to his exhausted acres, will (from my ex- 

 perience of their good edect) gradually enrich 

 them. And, sir, I have thought that so soon as a 

 planter has land enough cleared to admit of a judi 

 cious cultivation, bj" a proper rotation of crops, he 

 should, by all means, clear no more, but spare his 

 frees, for fencing, fiiel, and for other purposes, and 

 above all, for their annual supply of vegetable mat- 

 ter, from tvhich to manure the cultivated land, con- 

 tinuallv exhausting from croi)ping it. Tire trees, 

 in the mean time, are growing in size, and adding 

 to their annual value, and the value of the cleared 

 land, by affording a constant resource of enriching 

 materials, increasing, by a handsome per centage, 

 the yearly income of their provident owner. 



Besides these advantages, is there a man, or a 

 woman, of the least sensibility, or taste, \<\\o is not 

 agreeably excited at seeing these children of the 

 forest — the deciduous oak, the green pine, and the 

 many other trees, which, generally beautify the 

 landscape. And who does not intuitively shrink 

 from a view of a barren waste — an unlimited ex- 

 panse of nothingness — a gloomy, interminable, 

 sameness of an exhausted, and a barren nature, 

 where all is dead and dying. 



Vol. I.— 63 



Spare the trees and manure the soil, and cease to 

 be a destroyer of nature's fairest works. 



Your friend, ciiei.sea. 



n Ear AUKS, — ToroGRAPHicAL, Geologic aLj 



AKD GENERAL, RESPECTING PRESTOn's 

 ANU king's SALT^VORKS, AND THE SUR- 

 ROUNDING DISTRICT OP COUNTRY. 



From the Abingdon Bepubliean; 



The place called Saltville, is situated in a narrow 

 plain of about 700 acres of land, between the Rich 

 Valley and the North Fork of theHolston, having 

 its greatest length from the northeast to the south- 

 west, bounded on the eastern side by conical peaks 

 and ridges which are appendages of Walker's 

 Mountain: and on the western siile by conical 

 jieaks and highland intervening between it and the 

 North Fork of the Holston river, which washes 

 their bases many miles. This branch of the Hol- 

 ston is declared a public highway, but has many 

 obstructions, which it is believed could be remov- 

 ed by expending is6,000, so as to be suitable for 

 batteaus and flat boats from Saltville to its mouth 

 at Kingsport, a distance of 65 miles by water. 



The present point of manufacturing salt is on 

 the bank of the river, to which for convenience of 

 tim!)er and fuel the water is conveyed, about two 

 miles, in a northwardly course, in wooden tulies. 

 On the opposite bank of the river lies Little Moun- 

 tain, an appendage of Clinch Mountain, and is pa- 

 rallel and continuous with that mountain for hun- 

 dreds of miles, and between which, lies a narrow 

 stoney valley, commonly called the Poor Valley. 

 The numerous streams having their source in the 

 Clinch Mountain, pass through the breaks of Lit- 

 tle JMountain into the North Fork, along its course. 

 To the northwest of Clinch Mountain, and paral- 

 lel with it, lie Copper Ixidge, Powel's Mountain^ 

 Cumberland JMounfains, and the Log Mountains, 

 having narrow valleys, and the rivers Clinch, Pow^- 

 el's, and Cumberland, and their waters interspers- 

 ing, beautifying and enriching these inviting, but 

 for the j)rcsent, neglected regions. Beyond Log 

 Mountains and the adjacent ridges in Kentucky, 

 lie streams emptying into the Ohio, on one of 

 which is the Goose Creek Salt Manufactory, about 

 150 miles from Saltville. 



Viewing the country from Saltville, towards the 

 south of NValker's Mountain, fine valleys and fer- 

 tile ridges are passed before you reach the middl© 

 and south fork of Holston river, and thence to- 

 wards the southwest ; passing many tributaries^ 

 you cross the Watauga, French Broad, Nolachuc- 

 ky , and the hundred streams rising in this mountain 

 district, and winding their way westward, to form 

 the broad and beautiful Tennessee river ; whilst 

 those running from the same quarter eastwardly, 

 compose the bold and restless waters of the Great 

 Kenav.ha — all, all, adding utility and beauty, whe- 

 ther to the valleys borderingon the large rivers, or 

 the irregular but level depressions called coves, 

 hemmed in all around except a single passway, 

 and that sometimes exhibiting a cataract of its 

 little stream. 



East of the New River waters, the Alleghany 

 mountain difects the streams to the Atlantic, and 

 at some points you might stand with one foot in the 

 waters of the Atlantic, the other in that which 

 wends its weary way to the hot Mexican gulph, 

 and the great mart for the effective industry of the 



