The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-05-16
Some Facts.

one Of the most useful members OF
Congress from the South, said
J. take the ground that it l. the
duty and interest of the Govern
ment 10 revive the business ami
industries Of the great South. The
extreme Southern States have been
producers OF the raw material by
which the looms and spindles OF the
great North have been kept At work.
The South has been a purchaser
which has enriched the manufac-
turer Of the North. Shoes, hats.
leather. wooden cloth. cotton cloth,
and a thousand and II articles
manufactured at the NORTH have
found ready purchasers in the farm
ing and planting population OF the
South.
Here is a magnificent country.
with twelve million people, a coast
line Of nearly three thousand miles
on the Atlantic and Gulf, l5,2ol
miles of finished railroads. and a
grand stretch of ,51,09S square
miles Of territory, reaching out It's
hands to the Government for pro
lection and development.
Let us look at some of the pro-
ducts of the South: There were
grown in 1S.6-wheat, 21,S44,490
bushels; Indian corn, Us, 09l ,42G
bushels; rice, 80, 635,021 pounds.
But cotton has been the great
crop of the South. The product
Of 1876 was 4,6G9, 2SS bales, of tour
hundred and forty pounds each.
making the grand aggregate Of
2,O54,4S6, 120 pounds.
To get an idea Of the value of the
cotton crop to this country glance
far a moment at the figures:
Exports from the United States, 1876.
cotton and manufactures OF, (~valuatlOn)
Sea Island. ..............."S 4l,SO3
Other, manufactured. 191, 111.459
Colored manufactures. 1,455,462
Uncolored -. 1914, 73S
All other Of. 952,17S
Total valuation. 200 S2, go
Where does England buy her cot
ton? The statistics show that IN
1876 Great Britain imported 1,4S7,-
SIS, S40 pounds of cotton, of which
in round numbers one thousand
million pounds were furnished by
the South.
Gentlemen will see at once what
an immense benefit is conferred up
on the Uuited States by the cot
ton crop in bringing money from
abroad as the cotton imports into
this country In 1876 amounted to
S22,.25,590
But the South added to the ma
terial wealth of the country from
other sources. The Southern States
alone produced in 1870, 11,O66, $50
pounds of leaf tobacco. which found
It's way, when manufactured and in
leaf, into the markets of the world,
making at ten cents per pound, the
sum Of $1,106, G59. GO. But much
of this tobacco, produced in Nir-
ginia and North Carolina" the
gold leaf Orinoco." "the silky
Pryor" &c.-ranged at prices much
higher than the foregoing. The
average sales Of me crop in Lynch
burg, from Madison county, North
Carolina, was 500 per one hundred
pounds.
THE PRECIOUS METALS.
The States Of Alabama, Georgia,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia have fur
nished to the minis and ASSAY Of
fees, as follows:
142, los. IS
Sllver...... ............ 10, 80. 90
The collection Of gold in the
North Carolina gold belt, covering
the counties OF Randolph, Neck
lenburg, Cabarrus, Lincoln, Burke,
Rutherford, Mcdowell, Cherokee,
etc, IS decidedly on the increase.
The successful ~reopening Of the
mint for coinage Of gold at Char
lotte, North Carolina, will greatly
add to the quantity of this beauti-
full and valuable metal. Add to
the gold the deposits Of coal, iron,
copper, mica, asbestos, agalmato-
lite, marble, corundum, ETC., and
you a form a notion of the vast
mineral wealth of the regions nam
ed.
The iron ores Of Western North
Carolina are not surpassed in the
world. The rcd hemitite and mag
netic ores abound profusely. A
test of the North Carolina iron.
made at the Washington Navy-Yard
some years since, proved its superb
GRITTY to the Swede. Government
should procure this iron for repair
ing II Navy.
I'll e. .