The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-01-31

Containing as they did, facts and in
formation fresh from the people Of all
portions of the State, in relation to the
general condition OF the crops, and full
ma ket reports of all products in our
seven principal markets. with 4 sum-
mary of the operations of the Depart
mcnt, including analyses of fertilizers,
formula for composing, etc, by DR..
A. X. Ledoux:they were eagerly sought
and read by the people. and 1t is TO be
regretted that our limited means would
not justify the publication OF a much
larger number.
As stated IL my first quarterly re-
port. the blanks Tor procuring farm
statistics were prepared and issued. as
required by section , of the Act TO the
commissioners of the various counties,
but only thirty counties have made
their returns, and these are cOnfessedly
very imperfect and unsatisfactory.
Although the preparation Of these
forms vas the first work done IN the
office, and although placed IN h hands
of the Secretary of State on the 18th
dav of April. ii was mpractlcable to
have them printed and distributed to
MANY of the counties in time to hav
them filled when the regular tax lists
were taken. There being 40 express
provision in the act to compensate the
assessors. whose duty it was made to
take these lists, and receiving notice
from several counties of their refusal
in consequence, | applied TO the At
tOrnev General, under whose advice |
issued a circula 10 IN commissioners,
referring them TO the act empowering
them to pay for such service. The
failure to obtain this particular class
of information has greatly retarded an
important branch of our work, which
must now Of necessity be postponed
until next winter.
A proper and intelligent comprehen-
sion Of our wants and necessities in all
our varied industries, especially under
our changed relations, could III no man
ner be SO readily and forcibly brought
to the attention of u people, as by facts
and figures faithfully setting forth our
true condition. Impressed with this
view, | prepared and issued another
blank form to my special correspond
entS, for procuring an additional class
of important information, which it
was impracticable to obtain from any
other source To illustrate its charac-
ter | may quote the report of my cor
respondent for Guilford county. In
that county he reports, churches |
Roman Catholic, l Episcopal, 7 Pres
byterian, 81 Methodist, 8 Baptist, )
Lutheran and 5 Quaker. Schools for
whites 50 for colored 40. Colleges,
male none female 1. Benevolent and
charitable institutions, l POor-house, 5
Masonic, 2 Odd Fellows, and ) Good
Templars Lodges. Public bridges so.
Mineral Springs, sulphur and iron.
Water powers in the county good.
Towns, cities and villages and popula-
ton: Greensboro 1900, jamestown
800, and High Point 800. Principal
kinds of timbers Oak, walnut, chest
nut. pine, hickory, cedar, locust, ash,
birch, gum, elm and sycamore. Cotton
factories l, with 3, 500 spindles Wooden
factories none, carding machines ),
grain mills, 2 steam, and SO water; saw
mills 3 steam, and 30 water. Carriage
and wagon manufactures S, furniture
4, spoke and handle f., implements 6.
Character of the soil, sand and red
clay. Iron furnaces 1, fOundrieS f,
lime kilns none. Mines, gold II, sill
yer none, copper none. Kaoline is
found. Granite, sandstone and soap
stone are found, but no marble, mill
stone or marls. Potteries /, tanneries
10, fisheries and turpentine distilleries
none. Criminals from 1st of August,
1876, to 1st of August, 1877, whites -,
colored 6S. Fruits Apples, peaches,
pears, grapes. and, in fact, all fruits
grown in this climate. Private fish
ponds none. Staple crops Wheat,
tobacco, corn, oats and grasses. Sur
face u~ndulating, hilly.
On this blank all the counties are
reported except Clay, Johnston, Mar
tin, Mecklenburg, New Hanover,
Orange, Moore and Wake.
l also procured through my CORE
~spOndentS the address of the various
cotton and wooden factories in the
State, and sent to each a blank for
ascertaining the capacity, number of
spindles, looms and operatives, capital
invested, etc, to which only thirty
two have as yet responded. l also
issued a blank to ascertain the number,
name, distance and direction from each
other, of each village, town and city
in each county To this all the coun-
ties have responded except Hyde and
Martin.
Under an order of your body, made
at its first quarterly meeting, | made
an appeal to the commissioners of the
various counties for maps of their re-
SpeCtI't COuIllleS. 1OI lIc use Oh the
Department, and only the following
have responded, viz Wake, Warren,
Madison, Alexander, Catawba, BERTHE.
Gates, Randolph, Pennsylvania, Ruth
erford and Montgomery.
With the view of a~scertaining the
general condition of our farmers. |
set out, in December, a circular, in
which numerous questions were pro-
pounded, bearing directly on their
condition, and they have been returned
from se~venty-four counties. These
statements, coming as they do from an
intelligent, observant and practical
class of our people, cannot fail to at
tract that interest and attention which
a just appreciation of our condition
demands. / hope at the next regular
meeting of your body to be able to
present these reports complete from
all the counties.
AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM.