Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-05-31

prayer by Rev. DR.. Dargan.
The final adjournment and closing exercises
of the Convention will take place Sunday night
No other business will be brought forward.
From the Raleigh Sentinel
Deep River Coal Hesfon-Letter from the
State GeoloGist
To His EXCELLENCY, JONATHAN WORTH,
GOVERNOR OF North CAROLINA
| SIR :-lnasmuch as everything relating
! to the condition and resources of our State
| has an Immediate interest and value, have
! thought it worth while to submit to you
and, if you think fit, to the public, some
observations suggested by weeks tour in
the Deep River coal region, from which l
have just returned.
! AS the general geological features and
meteorological characteristics of that section
are we'll known, [ shall confine myself
mainly to a few points less familiar to the
public.
Of course one sees here the same stagna-
ton of business and suspension of work
which are observable everywhere;-no coal
raising, no iron making, furnaces out of
blast, pits full of water or fallen in, ma
chinery and buildings falling into decay
and ruin. The spasmodic activity and en-
ergy which the last years of the war wit
messed all vanished; the extensive works
planned and in large part executed at the
Gulf, at Egypt, at Endor and at Ore Hill
abandoned furnaces fOundrieS, rolling
mills all silent, the dams and locks of Deep
River, many Of them, broken, undermined
and washing away, and all useless and I'M
used; the Chatham r. r. lying unfinished.
it's cross ties rotting before they are laid
down these things present a picture
which suggests anything but pleasant med
itations, and press the inquiry, why so
much waste, stagnation and decay =?
It would perhaps be less profitable to
discuss this question than to state some
reasons why these things should not be SO.
That coal of good quality and in large
quantity exists here, there can remain no
doubt. That iron of good quality, and in
any abundance, can be produced here is
not only evident from the character and
quantity of the ore of Buckhorn, Ore Hill
and elsewhere, but has been demonstrated
practically by the operations at Ore Hill,
Endor and other points
A large body of bituminous shales is as
sociated with the coal, which yields heavy
per centa9e of Kerosene Oil.
The water power furnished by the works
of the Deep River Navigation Company is
practically unlimited. And the forests will
furnish material for charcoal indefinitely.
These are mere re-Statements of facts well
known. The only condition wanting to
the successful establishment of manufac-
lures is facility of transportation, ready
access to market. And there is all outlet to
the seabCard at Wilmington already open,
by railroad to Fayetteville and thence by
the Cape Fear. Ten or fifteen thousand
dollars will put the navigation Of Deep
River above Buckhorn Falls in fair condi-
ton, SO us to re-establish completely the
Loo hot tho hnr md
coal pits and furnaces. And the Chatham
railroad which furnishes connection with
Raleigh and the whole middle and western
portion of the State, is graded to Deep
River, with the exception of one OF two
miles, and the cross ties delivered for half
the distance. These facts certainly Justify
the conclusion that it would require very
little enterprise Or capital to change the
whole aspect of this business, and to i'll
augurate for North Carolina that career of
manufacturing activity and prosperity to
which reason and her Astounding natural
resources have long invited, and interest
and necessity now irresistibly impel her.
But besides and beyond these SO we'll
known facts, there are still other points
which give an additional interest to this
section.
It may be taken for granted that so far
as North Carolina is to remain an agricul-
tural State, our agriculture is to proceed
upon an entirely new system. We must
adopt what is called the system of "high
farming" We cannot afford to expcnd an
nually upon land whose yearly cost is 25 or
30 cents per acre, labor worth 5 or 6 dollars,
for yield of grain worth to 10 dollars,
the soil itself losing 10 to % per cent. of
its value with each crop removed. We
shall calculate better, now that we are OBJ
liged to know what labor costs. A very
simple calculation, of which the rudest far
mer among us is capable, will show that by
making our land worth 2 to B dollars per
acre yearly, and expanding or more in
fertilizers, the same labor will yield ten
times as much Instead of a profit of moth
ing, or or dollars per acre, we shall have
25 to 80 dollars. There is a very crafty
ing evidence of a prevalent disposition to
adopt at once new system of tillage, in
the fact that there has been a larger impor-
/ tation and more general use of concentra-
ted manures in the State since the close of
the war, probably indeed, within the last
| u months) than in all previous years to-
gether. But it will soon be found impru-
dent and unsafe to rely entirely, or even
mainly, upon foreign sources of supply, and
that we must produce within our own
bounds the bulk of fthe manures necessary
to the permanent improvement Of our soils.
Guanos and superphosphates will not SUI
fee. These, alone, will be found to be
largely stimulative, and therefore exhaus-
tive It has been abundantly demonstrated
that ''the farmer, by aiding the agencies
which improve the chemical and physical
condition of his land, can obtain much
more abundant crops than by supplying
nutritive matters" The two most efficient
agencies for these purposes are drainage
and lime.
The action of lime is complex and man
fold. This is not the place to discuss that
subject. But it is not easy to over estimate
it's importance. And since, in the quanti-
ties in which it is required, it cannot be
transported to great distances, we must de-
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