THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
19 
SOUTHERIN PINES. 
The Delightful Winter Resort Seen From a 
Nurseryman’s Standpoint—The Great 
Van Lindley Peach Orchard. 
Southern Pines, Moore Co., N. C., Feb. 12.—Thinking a 
few words from the “Sunny South” might be of interest at 
this season, when for the most part our northern states are 
covered with snow and ice, I take the opportunity to give you 
a description of this place, and tell how I happened to be here. 
Having suffered in the northern part of Massachusetts for a 
whole year, first with pneumonia, then with the grip and ner¬ 
vous prostration and finally the asthma, I decided to come 
here for the winter. Through our friend J. Van Lindley, who 
is interested in a large peach orchard at this place, I obtained 
from the superintendapt of the orchard, E. B. Hodgin, very 
comfortable quarters. 
The house is new and commodious, standing nearly in the 
centre of a 400 acre peach orchard, about three miles west of 
Southern Pines, with an electric road within 100 feet of the 
house, whose cars pass hourly to and from Pinehurst, which is 
situated three miles further west. Wood can be had here for 
the asking ; as the company owns 1700 acres, which is being 
cleared of the timber as rapidly as possible, to prepare the land 
for orcharding. With an ample open fireplace in my room, 
and plenty of “blackjack” and “fatty pine,” we have such 
fires as were enjoyed by our ancestors, but which this genera¬ 
tion at the North knows very little about. Suffice it to say 
that I have everywhere been received with that true southern 
hospitality, for which this section is so justly noted ; and, with 
constantly improving health, I hope to return to Massachusetts 
before April ist, and be prepared for a good spring trade. 
Southern Pines is situated near the centre of a large sand¬ 
hill, called Shaw’s Ridge, some 50 or 60 miles from east to 
west, and not quite so far from north to south. The surface 
is undulating, the sand varying in depth from 4 or 5 to 70 feet. 
Numerous small streams of pure water intersect it in all direc¬ 
tions. The elevation is about 600 feet above sea level, and 
situated about half way between the mountains and the sea. 
No malaria has ever been known here. The land, except 
where cleared, is covered with a heavy growth of the long¬ 
leaved southern pine, Pinus palustris. The resinous smell of 
these pines is said to be very effective in the cure of all pul¬ 
monary diseases. This fact is well established in the case of 
hundreds from your own state and New England, who came 
here confirmed invalids, but who are now enjoying comfort¬ 
able health, with a new lease of life. 
LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
The town contains about 500 permanent inhabitants, with 
more than twice that number in winter. Some five or six 
hotels, with numerous boarding houses and cottages, are pat¬ 
ronized by as social and intelligent a class of people as one 
could wish to see. Here are ministers, teachers, doctors and 
lawyers of good ability, who have come generally on account 
of the failing health of themselves or families ; children are 
sent to school, and the churches are filled every Sunday with 
attentive and appreciative audiences. No intoxicating drinks 
are allowed to be sold in this or the neighboring towns. Pity 
as much could not be said of some of our northern cities and 
towns. 
There is one sad feature about this entire section ; the noble 
forests of pine, grand old giants of centuries, running as 
straight as an arrow, 70, 100 and even 130 feet tall, have been 
mutilated, murdered, for their turpentine, and after being ex¬ 
posed to numerous forest fires, their blackened and decaying 
trunks stand with outstretched arms, as if pleading for pro¬ 
tection until some friendly storm finishes the work of destruc¬ 
tion, and they lie promiscuously, like fallen heroes, intercept¬ 
ing public travel and making what would otherwise be delight¬ 
ful woods rambles, both tiresome and disagreeable. Here may 
be found the beautiful trailing arbutus by the acre. It is just 
beginning to show the points of its pink and white petals. The 
white flowering dogwood, Cornus Horida, can be found every¬ 
where, while in the brooks or “branches ” can be found Holly 
trees 15 feet tall, the Magnolia glauca, the Andromeda arborea, 
and several other Andromedas ; also the Tulip tree, which 
with us is a small tree, two or three feet in diameter with a 
straight trunk 50 to 75 feet in height. The high land, after 
the pines have been destroyed, is generally occupied by the 
“ black jack ” oak which is of very slow, stunted growth. The 
pines are trying hard to get a foothold again, and small ones 
can be found by the thousand. Away on the distant hills can 
be seen a medium growth of pines, which appears to have 
escaped the hand of the destroyer. 
LAND AT 50 CENTS AN ACRE. 
The land here, having been stripped of its original growth 
was considered as the darkey said “mighty poor ground ” and 
sold in large quantities as low as 50 cents to $2 per acre, and 
yet when certain fertilizers are applied, notably potash, very 
respectable crops can be raised. Peaches and grapes of fine 
quality are grown here by ihe hundred acres. Plums, apricots 
and small fruits generally are being raised in large quantities 
for the northern markets. In almost every garden one sees 
fine specimens of Magnolia grandiflora (the evergreen mag¬ 
nolia) while the English Ivy can be seen covering fences and 
buildings as fresh and green as in any lady’s parlor. One ad¬ 
vantage that this place will have in the future as a winter health 
resort, is its accessibility and nearness to the New England 
and eastern middle states. Twenty hours by rail from New 
York city, will land you in Southern Pines. The cost of the 
round trip is $26.50—good from Nov. ist to May 31st with 
the privilege of stopping over 15 days either way at the princi¬ 
pal cities. 
The first appearance of the place to a stranger is that it is 
rough and unfinished. But it is designed in the near future, to 
put in a perfect system of drainage, introduce water, and have 
the streets and rough places graded down. Less than two 
years ago James M. Tufts, a wealthy and benevolent Boston 
man, was so impressed with the place as a health resort, that 
he immediately purchased something over 5,000 acres of land, 
six miles west of this place at about $2 per acre. He com¬ 
menced by enclosing 100 acres with a Page’s wire fence, to 
keep out stray animals ; he employed the eminent landscape 
architects, Olmstead, Olmstead & Eliot, who made plans for a 
unique little village—sewerage, water works, electric power, 
all complete. Some 40 or 50 hotels and cottages have already 
been built ; also a barn with its Jersey cows, deer park, garden 
and nursery ; lawn tennis and croquet grounds are scattered 
about generally. 
