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LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH.-NO. 3. 
LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH.—No. 3. 
The surface of the country from Virginia to 
Georgia, inclusive of a portion of each of these 
states, may be generally classed under three well- 
defined divisions. The first, lying on the sea¬ 
board, is low, level, and sandy ; the middle is much 
higher, with a rolling surface, and some hills; 
while in the third or western, these hills become 
more elevated and abrupt, and finally pass into the 
mountainous ridges, which form the continuation 
of the Allegany and Blue Ridge. The first con¬ 
sists almost entirely of sand ; the second of sand or 
gravel, frequently of loam, and occasionally of 
clay. Stone sometimes, though rarely, abounds. 
Except in some of the islands on the coasts border¬ 
ing on South Carolina, Georgia, and the river bot¬ 
toms, both of which are rich alluvial deposites, and 
as inexhaustible as lands can be under cultivation ; 
the soil in these divisions is generally light, and 
requires frequent manuring, or prolonged rest, to 
yield good crops. Vast quantities of it have never 
been brought into cultivation, and from its extreme 
sterility, will probably remain untouched till the 
tide of emigration, which is now rushing with so 
much strength through the territories of Oregon 
and California to the shores of the Pacific, shall 
have met this impassable barrier, when it will be 
turned back upon itself, and again set towards the 
Atlantic. They are all covered with a medium 
growth of natural forests, and furnish lumber and 
fuel for the inhabitants; and frequently, in addi¬ 
tion to these, large quantities of tar, pitch, and tur¬ 
pentine for exportation. 
Most of the islands north of Charleston are 
barren sand-banks, covered in many instances with 
a light growth of stunted pines or shrub oaks. 
The rich islands, near and south of this city, are 
generally healthy. They are densely covered with an 
agricultural population, whose principal staples are 
sea-island cotton, and farther south, some sugar; 
while corn, sweet potatoes, melons, and the various 
minor products of the south are cultivated in all. 
The impoverishment necessarily consequent in cul¬ 
tivation, is readily arrested by applying the muck 
found on the inner shores at low r water, which is 
highly charged with the remains of shell-fish and 
infusoria These are rich in carbonate of lime, 
and frequently afford an appreciable amount of 
the phosphates, so valuable in manures. These 
lands, from their fertility, accessibility, and general 
healthfulness, are held at high prices, and can 
seldom be bought under $100 per acre. The 
choicest kinds of sea-island cotton there raised 
will sometimes command a dollar per pound, for 
foreign consumption; and they are engaged for 
years in advance of production. 
The river bottoms are frequently unhealthy 
though much less so to the blacks than to the 
whites. The former, under the direction of over 
seers, are generally the sole occupants of them 
during the summer and fall. On such as can be 
flooded, rice is raised in large quantities, and where 
every way adapted to its culture. This is by far 
the most profitable crop raised in the United States. 
The more elevated bottoms are devoted to corn, and 
sometimes to cotton. These are raised to some ex¬ 
tent on the sandy levels, more especially corn, 
which yields a light crop of 10 to 25 bushels per 
acre; but it requires manures or frequent rest to 
produce even this small quantity. Sweet potatoes 
and melons are also grown upon them in abundance 
when well manured. The middle division, em¬ 
bracing the rolling land, is peculiarly the cotton 
region of these states. Corn is also raised, and 
generally to the full supply of the plantations. On 
some there is an excess for exportation, and occa¬ 
sionally it is brought from a distance for consump¬ 
tion. The western division is made up of much 
poor, and some rich lands, and is productive in all 
the grains, grasses, flax, roots, &c., and is emi¬ 
nently adapted to wool-raising, as is also much of 
the middle section. 
Augusta is a place of about 8,000 inhabitants, is 
regularly laid out, and generally well built, on a 
table land, some 25 to 30 feet above the low water 
mark of the Savannah which borders upon it. 
Notwithstanding its elevation, the river sometimes 
overflows the streets; and for miles it floods the 
rich alluvial banks, imparting to them that natural 
fertility which characterizes the elevated plateaus 
on either side. The town was formerly quite 
flourishing, and enjoyed an extensive inland trade; 
but for some years it has been stationary, if not 
retrograding. The alleged cause of this is the rail¬ 
road, for at the same time that it runs inland for 
150 miles, it runs away from it to the Atlantic, 
136. Yet, at Charleston, its tide-water termination, 
it is denied that they have a corresponding benefit, 
although in this, I think they are mistaken, as there 
is some evidence of improvement, and the place is 
certainly extending its buildings, and adding to its 
trade and population. Including the suburbs, it 
now contains nearly 40,000 inhabitants, a majority 
of whom are blacks. 
Savannah is the terminus of another railroad 
running through the interior of the state, and draws 
off a part of the trade heretofore enjoyed by Augusta; 
but it has hitherto derived little increase from it, 
either in business or population ; and the interior 
of the country along these routes, has certainly not 
manifested any peculiar developments in conse¬ 
quence of their construction. Most of the Southern 
railroad stocks have always been much below par, 
and paid little if anything in the shape of dividends. 
The utilitarian will naturally inquire what benefit 
has followed the outlay of so much capital ? Much 
in various ways, though little in the manner that 
was anticipated by the stockholders. They have 
greatly facilitated intercourse between remote points, 
and at much cheaper rates, and passengers and 
products can now readily pass over great distances, 
not only with less outlay of money, but also with 
great economy of time, and entirely independent of 
bad roads and weather; and when markets are high 
on the seaboard, the planters can rush in their entire 
produce and obtain the highest rates. 
It is truly enough said, that railroads principally 
benefit the extremities; but here is Augusta, at the 
head of steamboat navigation, which it has posi¬ 
tively injured, and their influence is scarcely per¬ 
ceptible in favor of Charleston and Savannah, 
where transhipments are made upon tide-water. 
The planter and the agriculturist of the interior, it 
has certainly benefited; then why are their good 
