Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-07-23
THROUGH THE SOUTH.
THE CUMBERLAND TABLE LAND.

| the Cumbersn table land presents t. / G
| Northern settler, for il was reported re.
maj kably healttfSl and fertile, that thu
wi grass sustained stock the year round
thrt II eSoels for fruit, and land was cheat
in short, that It was tho most favored region
in our wio'e country anl as tho n ID mt
had printed good deal to this Ell CT,
thought II my duty to e. thither. Ga ar.
irving at Knoxville I found few who couli
inform me how | should reach It, althru Ih
the Cumberland mountains we're in sight.
but they stretch through E,st T,npcssce
| into Virginia, q dist ance of several hundred
miles. At Last met a Lam agent who had
huen To CtusSvi L., the county seat of Cam
| bcrland county, and fund il nects ,ary TO
return TO Ludou. Having raacl ed thls
place | was to take steamer down tn
| Tennessee to King ton, some 80 miles,
| whence was to lind means for reaching
| the table land. Getting OF The train | won
| on foot with half dUacn other passengers
over h II, then came TO gate, AMI pass
| ing through corn Il Id we reached a small
steamer ready to take us aboard. This
boat had but recently been put on the
route, and it was the only passenger craft
between X oxviIle and Chattsno ga. dis.
lance Of several hundred miles, and vet
| during most oi tho year there are about az
| feet OF water, even on the sbo ais.
The Tenness % is a beautiful s'ream, and
| IN some fo-pt CTS resembles tue G rnDecti-
| cut. Tue sceLery along the bar K is pleas
ing, hills are varied with level deld,, hut
for the M 'st p the v CIV is Of an ,xten
sive Vol ey which, in pro iuctivoness, is CON
sidered equal to any other part OF the
South. During the Latter pirt of the Win.
ter season mu h OF this valley s,v RHO wed,
| when rich deposit Is left, but there are
| i,tla xulf no
reache", and at no other season dos this
OVERT Nv VI cur. The only or ps Isaw ow
ing we're wheat and corn, but the wheat did
not &c Im heavy. Corn is said to yield an
| average OF GO bushels to the acre. The
| price of these river farms ranges from S25
to Sl0O per acre, much Deepen ling on the
amount of hill Lands included.
The size Of the farms is from 400 to l,201
acres, sometimes as high as 1900 acres,
and the improvements, Cor the most part,
consist Of farm house, which sometimes
is frame and well Luilt, hut generally IL
| is Of logs with a rough stable aud no barn
and a seeding orchard, which to a n nrth-
| ern man are no improvements at ALL The
houses, 70 far as appeared from the boat
| were from three to six miles apart, b 1t the
beautiful bidding sites facing the river
seem never selected, ON the contrary, the
houses are located not far frnn a gully
probably to DO near spring, and the gen.
eral appearance of the region Is similar t
a devastated one, that Is, 10 Northern eye
Why the laud should b. 81 dear will sur
prise many readers, but 10 the grain region
of the 5, II h, which extends we'll into Gror
lSn d i 5ISsyys sJa scsodng 10 i,
as the result of many inquiries, sells on al
average at s a buIhel, and 10 genera
terms it may be stated that land will Il
for about one-third more dollars per acre
than IL will produce bushels of corn. We
made several laudings in the so miles, and
few passengers, and few hundred p'und,
of freight, were transit rred, and after q rur
OF two hours We entered the beauiiu
Glinch River, and landed at the town oi
| Kingston.
b fore the railroad was huilt around the
: mountain to Nashville, Kingston was
place of importance, for it was the las,
town on the eastern sid 1t suffered som,
duriOg the war, and is how improving {
: little. found that it was 80 miles to Cross
lille, and that neither buggy, nor q saddle
! horse was to be had, bur a proposition wa
made to take me In a two horss vehicle, Il
be over day in getting through, fotaS25
which was rejected. Finally, a nice look
ing horse was obtained, but as no one coul,
, say whether he was easy to ride, | coDclu
dcd he was a hard customer, and was cor
, rect. The Clinch River was crossed by 4
ferry, fare 10 cents, and ! started late il
the morning A follow bOrseman, who hao
been in the Confederate army, hnd wh'
had not dared to return until lately, wa
going few miles, beguied the way bj
pointing out places in the wool and neal
/, log houses where men had been killed.
Most of the farms, are poor, having been
cropped with corn until exhausted. The
.. soil is a clay loan, with large admixturi
! Of gravel and flint, which would call ebert
well adapted 10 fruit and who It-growing |
kept up with clover or other fertilizer, bn
Otherwise soon m lde barren, tor tho cher
. on decomposing, contains 10 ell m mt o
fertility for restoring the soil. ArJun
Post Oak Spring, blue limestone Comes /
the surface, the soil IL ri h, most xcellen
i wheat, oats aud corn re growing. Eas
+, I, nIessse seems nearly divided into hes
i TWO varieties OF soils, one OF viii h Is Va
; ned at from 81 to 50 an acra, an the othe
from $1O tSIJO. A farm abOunding wit
$ ebert and run down is not worth having
d whatever tho man who wants ~ sell ma
IA say, and IL is important for Northern me
:. seeking for farms to bear this distinction
r mind.
|, From the cary settlement OF Fast Tel
a | nassaa. innnnans4' lnaniiiia af oSss, wha'
# and bacon, have bee n produced and shippe
0 during tho Fall ami Winter down the lilo
ston, French Broad, md Tennessee,
d points accessible to the cotton resio ~
@ kentucky has contrib tied the same pr
n duets, aud in addition bayo furnished "a
Is mems Of existence to the cotton sectiol
n lying southwark The general syste
10 adopted by tho common farmers OF ~
"a Tennessee, was to grow corn year att
| nh a A Wlnh
- and when the land could yield
! more. Il was abandoned. Latterly Glow
- mas b, en- 50 Wn on limestone land, and no
I, here are fair stands, but on IRE hinty fard
- II grows only on parts Of folds having pa
W ren slopes and hil-sides, and often lev
u a,,Is themselves desolato, or where Whe
90 and oats are s9wn, the barrenness Is pal
&c FULLY apparent in the conyic ion that 9
&c seed will scarcely DO returned. saw SC
eral Ohio farmers looking for farms W
u, wondered why wheat even In good y
~ shoald took 30 well, when IL was cViu'
NC that tho piowing had been oil the most
WI pelio'l kind.
Ten miles from Kingston found NJ
's- enterprise ia the town Of Roekwo e, gro
ne around a blast-furnace, organized ena
d in operation by q 81. W Ter, VINO hlu no
ed pls s,,, vice in tbs battle of Chick 'maul
\
Of found in ahuudl rcr, running Ia veios =
he aIlsl with tho rnonptsin; llmest' n, Is
re, the spot, al a'to mi 'ns coal OF
ZEN orrinr a "a ity, a, II contains no sulpur
sat R.Hwsy o. ok, or tramwtys, lead direc
IN rom tho beds Of these throe numerals
IN Tho firnnc,, and 10 addition, Is III
mr.. our miles long to tho Tennessee RN
our where the iron is shipped. II Is only alb
A year since the first bios was stiu *,
now they are Ia lull operation, aud whe
'so' vas there a sale Of their iron had been m
'ne at Atlanta of the value Of sos 600. Az
our one.h 4 of Il g coal being dusty, Us col
40 while ,he courfe coal Is deposited dire
no in he stack. they run night day
T. year round, anil their average Prodns
RES for "a hours 10 u lun'. Aav'"Ss visited