The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-10-26
THE STATE on NORTH CAROLINA.
Ezroa from an Addre@ dssvdrod BY
HON. THOS. /. CLINGMAN. b

| E1fdc IRON an ddafe~ Delivered oy
HON. THos L cIINGMAN, ss Ft
Bsas Gs Sta. Agrealara sOeiay at Raagh, oaOSr 2la
| 1858
Our State from the seashore TO its western limit Il
probably well watered any equal extent Of territory
the face of the GLOBE and in all the middle and uppe
portions the supply of water power nexhaustibe In
fact there single rivers, such as the Catawba and
French Broad Racing river OF the Cherokees which
sufficient to move the machinery of State Through
out entire territory there barren wastes and
rarely square mile TO be found which cannot maintain
its proportionate share of population In all its parts
too the Variety magnitude and beauty of its forest trees
fully sustain the enoomiums of those early explorers
While the seaboard counties have those peculiar TO that
region like the cypress juniper live oak, and the ggan-
TIC pines OF the swamps t to become the mass OF great
admls and the mountains such varieties as are suit
ed to harder climate, the State, whole, seems TO
contain representatives OF almost all the trees of the
North American forest in their fullest and gndest deve
opment and to afford in the greatest prosion all
of timber and beautiful woods for the Of the ar
fcer
When look beneath the surface of the earth there
abundant objects of interest North Carolina has the
distinction of being the first of all the governments OF
the world that ordered geological survey of its terrific
ry and she has, In my opinion greater variety OF min
eral substances than any single State of the Union Not
only does she present the diamond, platinum, gold sill
yer and many other substances Interesting to the man OF
science for their rarity attractive to the lovers of
naent for their beauty but she possesses in great
abundance those minerals which add most to the wealth
anu permanent prosperity o STATE InouBn ner coal
measures not perhaps extensive those OF
of the other States yet they sufficiently so to be in
o1hausbe while the Goals of the very best qualities
for fuel for the making of gas and for the manufacture
of iron.
With respect to the ores of iron think she may fairly
claim to be the first of all the States because she not only
has all such they possess in the greatest abun
dance but she the only known to contain the
and valuable black band ore, and that in quantities vast
ly surprising the deposits In Scotland itself When
therefore, look to the coal Deep river
and find all these in the greatest abundance overly
ing or between the coal seams themselves and consider
all the advantages of this locality hardly doubt
the correctness OF the opinion expressed by the most
perenced miners and manufacturers of iron, that when
proper outlets opened by the completion of the works
of Improvement in progress iron can be there made
and transported to Wales, and sold at cheap rate
that for which the Welsh manufacturers afford the
article. l4,. es.a.a. ..ssa.sse. IA. Eae.a.4 .
Extensive beds of valuable marls ascertained to
ist almost the entire eastern portion of the State
and afford the making fertile parts of that
section Recent examinations have brought to light TO
80 great an extent lime copper ores and other valuable
minerals as TO satisfy every one that North Carolina is
eminently fortunate in her geological formations
The agricultural productions OF the State not less
varied than It's surfaces and soils know Of article
grown in New England, New York, that cannot be
obtained with less labor and at lower rates in the noun
tain region of North Carolina Whatever the middle and
western States of the Union yield be produced in
abundance not only in the central parts but in fact all
over our State. While tobacco may be prohtaby grown
IN almost every portion OF IT, some OF the nortncTn coun
ties produce varieties equal and probably superior to
what old Virginia herself any other part of the world
grows Cotton of fine qualities is produced IN the
lower counties in great quantity to the acre. and with
high profits in the southwestern States The pro-
gress this culture has of late made with u.s. when we
consider the large suitable to it, renders it probable
that at no distant day North Carolina will take rank
among the first cotton States of the Union The rice Of
the Cape Fear is esteemed equal to the best in the world
and its culture may be largely extended in that region
The owand counties of the east and northeast as
ducers of breadsu destined to be to the adjacent
regions what Egypt was in the time OF the Pharaohs
The grape indigenous in every part of the State from
Currtuck to Cherokee and among the hundreds of ma
tive varieties that from time to time brought to light
after the neglect and waste of centuries there doubt
less many which will equal possibly surpass the delicious
Suppernong of the Albemare region, and the famous
Catawba of Buncombe With such indications, and our
favorable soils and climate why may we not in time APP
proximate the vintages of France and Germany? f
Mr. Webster remark to me in conversation,
that he did believe that should be able to OBJ
tain good wine from the Atlantic slope of the American
continent The reason given by him was this the pre-
yaing winds of the temperate regions being from the
west, and in the United States they from the
land much higher degree of heat felt in the
mer than in Europe, where they blew from the Atlantic
ocean Hence he thought the extreme heat of the sum-
e here would bring about too soon an acetous fermen
aton, unfavoablc to the production of good wines III
this view should present insu1nountabe difficulty,
with respect to wines made from foreign grapes that
rpen in the heat of summers nevertheless would
not exbC IN the case OF Inc natyeS Whcn DO not usua
to maturity until the greatest heats Of the
past, namely in the months Of September and Oc-
tober. In fact in district Of few miles in extent on
the TTyon mountain where neither dew nor frost
known and which is remarkable for the variety and
excellence of its natives grapes they often found in
fine condition in the open air as late as December.
In the wine districts of France there embraced in
all about eight thousand square miles, considerable
portion of which consists of rocky steps, and terraces,
untitled for the production Of the cereals and yet the
yield in wine is of the value of more than fifty millions of
dollars annually while the product of brandy is from ten
to twelve millions -..s ..... I -
1t thus appears that the whole yield from these eight
Thousand miles of territory Is equal to about onehaf of
the average value of the cotton crop the United States
for the last five years There is doubtless in North Car
ona much greater amount of land than this suitable
to the growing of grapes and may not hope one Of
these days, to become great wineproducng coinmu-
nifty?
With the single exception of the sugar from the cane
know of no agricultural product of the Union which Is
not suited to State do not merely mean to say
that they may be produced but that they all find in our
limits their appropriate soil and climate and can be sue
cessfuy cultivated to extent greatly surprising the
wants of our people. All the domestic animals ex-
isting in the United States thrive within our borders
Though the sheep may be adyantageousy reared in al
most every part of the State he finds his best climate
and most attractive food in the mountainous region
while the bloodhorse be most successfully raised in
the sandy districts of the lower country.
The climate of North Carolina whole is emnenty
favorable know that different opinions prevail in
many quarters and SO much is said in these days Of
northern energy and southern indoece that you will doubt
less pardon few remarks tending to dispel singular
rotular deIuson Il maintain theu that durin0 nina