THE FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 234:0 



miles of this one kind of timber that is so valuable. 

 And yet, all this great mine of wealth is almost liter- 

 ally hermetically sealed to the outer world by reason 

 of overflow and the perpetual miry condition of the 

 swamps ; although so easily reached by only a little 

 labor and effort. 



From time immemorial it has been known as a re- 

 markable fact that hogs raised and kept in Holly Shel- 

 ter and Angola Pocosons are always free from all 

 kinds of diseases, even the fatal hog cholera : they feed 

 upon a starchy, tuberous root, called by the natives 

 tuckahoe, and get very fat in the fall when the root 

 fully matures ; it is supposed by many that this root 

 being eaten by the hogs prevents cholera. 



In an isolated spot in east Du2:)lin, a beautiful speci- 

 men of climbing fern has been found, which is an ev- 

 ergreen and grows to the height of 4 feet ; it belongs 

 to the family of climbing ferns found in the moun- 

 tains of Japan. 



There has been found in Pender County a tree or- 

 chid new to North Carolina. In the same county, in 

 the interior of Holly Shelter Pocoson, there has been 

 found a floating plant heretofore only found in Aus- 

 tralia. 



It is more than probable that there are yet other 

 strange and rare plants to be found in tlie North-East 

 River basin. 



Dr. A. E. Anderson of Wilmington first used Creep- 

 ing Huckleberry, V. crassifolium, [see Hale's For- 

 estry, page 142,] in the practice of medicine; but 



