The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1844-03-14

maading The eoarser kinds Of lang combs
wool. which are seenIdlnsly already CON
irg ia'e gEs.Irr dsuaad
| >. s. SKINNER.
House u Representatives.
fsbaaTy ;, 1874.
4 Dear sir: Your favor Of lie 3Olh ulri-
mo Vas reee Ysd d4y ~ iso slnce. and
! now avail myseif 81 The very firsl or-
poiian'iy - snswrr il. | DO 50 mn,i
cheerially. because. in lie FIRST pare. l
AN happy 10 have il my power % eraify
"a any m1nner one who has done so much
% yaUrsslI 10 dlfTa.e correct Information
on subjects most important 10 the sgricuI.
lufe ofthe country; snd. secondly. because
lei deep inteIssi in The subject 20
/ which yOur inquiries are drrcssd.
fnutiale thai you have directed some
attention nlhe sheep hnsbanJry u The u.
States. 10 The course Of shich il has occur.
red 10 you TIA, the PEOPLE ofihe moun,ain
regions Of North carol,ns, and some Of
tie oIhs Southern Slaie., have not avail.
ed then sel,es suflic emily 81 their natural
advantages f..r The production Of sheep.
Bsing myself well aequsinted with The
Western section Of North Carolina. / may
4, refhsPs be able 10 give yon most Of The
'nfrmation yon de.ire. As you have
directed several Of your inquiries 70
the county Of Yaneey. II presume from
the fact, well kno~n IN you. thar il con.
tains the higl est meun' ain. il any oI The
United States, | whl, IN, the first plaee,
turn nv attention ~ that rnnniy. First,
- to its elevation. DR.. Mitchell, Of our
University. sscerained that The bed Of
Tar river, the largest stream in the coun-
~, and Ha fnrd near il. entire. was about
twenty-five hundred feet above the level
OF The cCesn. BnrnsvilIe, the seat of The
lcaur, house, he found TO be between
$500 and 900 feet sbove il. The ge,
neral lessi Of Tie county is, OF conrse,
much above This elevation. In fact, a
number Of the mountain SUBMITS rise
sbnro the height If six thousand feel.
The climate ia delightfully."- COOL during
the summer: in fac, ,hsre are very few
places in The country whefe The ,hermo-
meter rises above So on the hotties, dsy.
an in'elligen, gentleman who passed a
simmer in the northern part Of the coun-
~ (rsther the mote elevated portion of iI
informed me that the thermometer did
not rise on the hottest days above 76c.
You ask, in The rex, Tl.ce, il the sur
face N The ground is so much covered
with rocks AZ to render il unfit for pas
ture! The reverse is the fact; no portion
Of the county that | have passed over is
too rocky for cultivation, and in many
sections Of the county one nsy travel
miles without seeing single stone. tits
only about The tops of,hs lris her mountains
that that rocky preripices ATE to be found.
A large portion oi the surface Of the county
is a sort oil ele, ated tahle-lsnd. Mndulatin,r.
but seldom too broken for cultivation.
Even as one ascends the higher nouns
ialns. he will find occasionally on their
sides flats Of level l,nd containing several
hundred acres in budy. The TOP of the
Roam (lhe highes. mountain in the coun-
~ except the BLACK is covered by prai-
RTE Tor ten miles, which affords rich pas
tnre during the greater par, OF the year.
The ascent OF il is so gradually that per.
sons ride to the top IN horseback from al
mos, any direction. The same may be
said Of many of the other mountains.
The soil Of the county generally is un.
commonly fertile. producing with tolera-
Die cultivation abundan, crops. What
seems extraordinary To sir'nger is the
acs tIa, the sol! beromes richer as he'as.
ends the mountains. The sides of The
tom. the Black, the Bad, and Others, a,
IN elevation even of ice or six thousand ,
Get above The sea. are covered with
Ieep rich vegetable mnuld, so soft that I
lorse in dry weather ef,e7 sinks TO the I
eHack. The fact that the soil is fire.. I
Iuently more fertile as one asccnds is, |
resume. attributable to ihc clrcum. lance
hat the higher portions are more COM
aonly covered with clouds. and the We
eiabe matter being thus KEEP, in cool s
MOIST state while deca, ing, is incorporated
grea'er degree with the surface Of the i
arih, jus, as it is usually found that the i
lorth side Of hill is richer than The por. {
ION most exposed To the action OF the I
un's rays. The sides of the mountains, s
he timber being generally large, with lit l
% nndergrow,h and brushwood, are pc.
nl,arly fi;ed for pasture grounds. and the {
eget'tion is in many places as luxurian, :
= 1t Is lii the rich savannas Of the low {
ounty. .
The soil Of every pat Of The county is a
ct only favorable To The production Of I
ram, but is peculiarly fitted i"r grasses. {
lnnlhy is supposed 10 make the largest '
ield. two tons of hay being easily pro-
uced on an acre; bu, herls-grass, or red
,p, and clover. >Scccod >&aeliy vel; Line.