THE LARGER TRACTS OF BARREN LAND. 



47 



In Sampson county there is, perhaps, no single tract of waste 

 hind which covers an area as large as 10,000 acres. Bnt beginning 

 in the south-western section of the county, near Autryville, and 

 following the Black river down, there are several small areas of 

 from 3,000 to 8,000 acres, all of which areas are in a bad condition. 

 These have been burnt over and in many instances are still covered 

 with charred stumps or encumbered with fallen trees. The surface 

 sand here is not as deep as in Bladen, the loam usually lying about 

 three feet below the surface ; nor is it as continuous, being cut across 

 by Big swamp, Big and Little Coharie, and by several other swamps 

 and streams. The population here is thicker than on the southern 

 side of the river, and there is more cleared land, but there is as 3"et 

 no scarcity of good timber. As the trees are here worked for tur- 

 pentine longer than elsewhere in the State there are less abandoned 

 orchards and the forests are better protected. The combined area 

 of all the waste tracts in this county amounts to about 25,000 acres. 



Cumberland county has in its eastern part a continuation of 

 the sand-hills of northern Bladen. The land in some places is 

 more hilly, and the loam subsoil lies usually at such a depth below 

 the surface (5 to 20 feet) that the roots of many trees do not reach 

 it. The waste land lies mostly east of Fayetteville, all along Rock 

 Fish creek, and south and east of Manchester. There are, however, 

 many bodies of excellent timber in this latter section of the county. 

 Along some of the creeks in the south-eastern part of the count}' 

 the land is almost bare of all tree growth, while in other places, 

 particularly in the north-eastern part, there is a heavy growth of 

 sand black-jack, which has an average height of about 15 feet. 

 There are at least 40,000 acres of such barren land in Cumberland 

 county. Although not one-tenth of the soil is under cultivation 

 several reports from the county state that in many place's fencing 

 material is becoming scarce. 



Timber, other than the long-leaf pine, is not abundant in most 

 parts of the county. The streams all have narrow channels and 

 there is not much hardwood or loblolly pine along them. There 

 are several white cedar "bays," but these can supply no build- 

 ing, material. West of Fayetteville there is the same kind of soil 

 that there is in the eastern part of the county, but there is much 



