mr. robinson’s tour.—no. 20. 
255 
MR- ROBINSON’S TOUR-No. 20. 
Benefits of Railroads to Agriculture .—Having 
given an article upon this subject, as illustrated 
by the New-York and Erie Railroad, I now pro¬ 
pose to give another of similar character upon 
the South-Carolina Railroad, which connects 
the city of Charleston by three branches to one 
stem, with Camden, Columbia, and Hamburg, 
and thence to Augusta, Georgia, and all the Geor¬ 
gia railroads. 
I left Charleston upon my tour of examina¬ 
tion on the 14th. of Feburary, which some of my 
readers at the north will perhaps remember as 
a severe cold day, while here it was mild and 
pleasant and free from snow, which never in¬ 
commodes this road as it does some of those at 
the north. It is but an act of justice for me to say 
that 1 had been provided with a “ free pass ” by 
the president of the company, Colonel Gadsden, 
which I understood had been ordered by a vote 
of directors, in consequence of my connection 
with the American Agriculturist. I have some 
reason to believe that I owe this to my respec¬ 
ted friend Colonel Wade Hampton. I certainly 
look upon it as a compliment to my labors in 
the cause of agricultural improvement, and a 
mark of high respect to the agricultural press. 
Now, kind reader, if you please, let us jour¬ 
ney together. We leave the Charleston Hotel, 
(one of the best in the Union,) in a large omni¬ 
bus, which is worthy of notce and commenda¬ 
tion, at nine o’clock, and drive about a mile to 
the dep6t, principally along a plank road, re¬ 
cently laid down in King street, and though not 
quite equal to a “ Russ pavement in the goodly 
city of New York,” it is far better than the deep 
sands of Charleston. The neatness and order 
of the depot is somewhat in contrast with that of 
Boston and other places ; but the cars are pret¬ 
ty fair, and it is worthy of remark, that the con¬ 
ductors of all the passenger trains I was upon, 
(and I believe it comprises nearly the whole,) 
are among the most gentlemanly, well-bred, kind 
and accommodating officers of my acquain¬ 
tance. At ten, we are are under way; the Ham¬ 
burg train a head and the Columbia train follow¬ 
ing within half amile, so that both are atBranch- 
ville at the same time. Along the first five or 
miles, we see a succession of vegetable gardens, 
but, few or no farm houses, for the reason that 
no white person can live out of the smoke of the 
city fires, during summer, on account of the ex¬ 
treme unhealthiness of the country. 
The road now passes through an almost un¬ 
broken forest of flat, sandy, wet land, of pines 
and scrubby cypress, 62 miles to Branchville, 
where the Hamburg and Columbia trains part 
company. Thence to Hamburg is 74 miles and 
to Columbia 68 miles, with another branch, ta¬ 
king off'25 miles below Columbia, and 105 from 
Charleston, and running up to Camden, 37 miles, 
or in all, 142, the three branches making a to¬ 
tal of 241 miles. From Columbia, there are two 
roads building, which will soon be in operation 
and produce a wonderful effect upon the agri¬ 
cultural industry of North and South Carolina. 
One of these roads is to extend 109 miles to 
Charlotte, N. C., through a rich farming country, 
far from navigable water, and the other one to 
Greenville, S. C., with its branches, will be 160 
miles long, mostly through a rich cotton and 
corn country, and lately found to be very pro¬ 
ductive in wheat, and only wanting market 
facilities to make it a very productive and 
healthy farming region. 
From the end of the Hamburg branch, the 
Georgia Railroad to Atlanta, 171 miles, and the 
Atlantic and Western Railroad, 138 miles to 
Chatanoogee, making 445 miles from Charles¬ 
ton, in a direct line towards Nashville, Ten., are 
now in successful operation, and have already 
benefitted the rich agricultural region through 
which they pass more than the whole road has 
cost. From Branchville to Aikin, 56 miles, the 
quality of the soil and appearance of the coun¬ 
try somewhat improves, and is more settled, 
though butjsparsely. The traveller is constantl y 
impressed with the idea that he is passing 
through the wild forests of some new country, 
instead of along one of the oldest railroads in 
the United States, and through one of the oldest 
states. From Charleston to Aikin, 118 miles, 
the road has one gradual rise, and is there 513 
feet above tide water. Here we descend 176 
feet down an inclined plane, 2,640' feet long, 
towards Hamburg, and down -197 feet more 
through 18 miles to that place, which is 140 feet 
above tide. Six miles from Aikin, we pass the 
neat little granite imitation gothic depot of 
Granitsville, one of the most beautiful and flou¬ 
rishing manufacturing villages in the Union; 
which probably never would have been in 
existence if the railroad had not been previous¬ 
ly built. This place is well worthy of a visit 
from every intelligent traveller, and offers strong 
evidence of the benefits of railroads to agricul¬ 
ture ; for, where facilities of transportation are 
most convenient and cheap, unless the soil is 
unforbidding, it will be improved, and where 
manufactories are located and flourishing, there 
will agriculture be found most improving. 
The trip from Charleston to Hamburg, 136 
miles, is 8£ hours, and price of passage, $5. 
This road was chartered in 1828, and in 1830 
the first locomotive was put in operation. This 
was about the first application of steam upon 
railroads in the United States. In 1833, the 
road was opened to Hamburg, and was then the 
longest road in the world. This was the first 
railroad in the United States upon which the 
mail was transported. 
The Columbia branch was commenced in 
1838 and finished in 1842, and the Camden 
branch some years later. The following figures 
will show the increasing usefulness of the road:— 
In 1834, the number of bales of cotton trans¬ 
ported, was 24,567; in 1835, 34,760; 1836, 28,497 ; 
1837, 34,395; 1838, 35,346; 1839,52,585; 1840, 
58,496; 1841, 54,064; 1842, 92,336; 1843, 128,047; 
1844, 186,638; 1845, 197,657; 1846, 186,271 ; 1847, 
134,302; 1848,274,364; 1849, 339,996—showing 
an increase, in sixteen years, in this one article, 
of 315,429 bales over the number transported 
the first year. What a vast number of horses 
and men, the carriage of the last year, alone, 
would have withdrawn from cultivation, to trans- 
