The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-12-18

OOO-while we use only about one-ffth Of
that amount.
A large per cent. of the mills Of the South
have been erected in the last Is wears. The
mills of the South have increased their con
sumption 26 per cent during the last wear.
while the mills of the North increased ONLY
: per cent, and more cotton was manufac-
tured last year than IN any one year before.
the South using IS6,4o9 bales. aud the
North l,3.5.3S7 bales. Capitalists have
seen that the mills in the South pay a bet.
ter per cent. than in the North. They gain
in cost Of transportation, labor is cheaper.
fuel costs less, water power abundant and
very cheap, besides the streams are not ice
bound for months. and less heat is required
for drying etc. If this increase were to
continue for the next decade, say the next
eleven years. running i to 1850, what would
he the position of the South Is a cotton
manufacturing country? Put the gain at -
Of per year and in 1870 she would use g.
1000 bales, about three quarters Of a mil
lion more bales than the North used last
year. She ought to increase more RAPIDLY
az II Is Id longer an open question as to
profit, that has been demonstrated and cap
l~talists of the North are lookinga at manufac-
turing to day as they do in England. that
raw material must lie manufactured where
grown or found.
Ii the minds of many, cotton manufacture
ing looms up Is against any and everything
elSt, aud while | am extremely anxious that
we should manufacture all and even more
cotton than is produced within the limits
OF the State, yet this is but the stepping
stone to the threshold of manufacturing
that can be protitably carried on in this
State. Every pound Of iron used for all
purposes could be manufactured at home.
increasing our population and capital, de-
creaslng the vast amount of money that we
yearly send away to other States, the profits
OF local trade being increased by less ex-
pense III carriage. What is it we do not
get from abroad. | answer, cotton. This
IS the only article raised that We produce
more OF than we consume and | do not find
a single manufactured article but that we
buy OF from abroad more than we consume.
Our cotton gins, presses, bagging and ties,
plows to break up and cultivatsrs to cult
Vate land with, cotton and corn planters,
our hoes and shovels, grain drills, threshers,
tan mill fixtures, mowers and reapers, in
fact everything we use on the farm or in
the house is purchased abroad, while we
have every facility for making them with
In our own limits. Tobacco will soon be on
the other side. To-day Durham and Hen
derson are going forward rapidly, they are
increasing in population and wealth SO fast
as to surprise the citizens that live within
their limits, and yet, only for the manufac-
turing of tobacco they would be the same
dilapidated hamlets they were of yorc.
VALUE OF THE TIMBER OF TIE STATE.
| especially invite your : t"cntion to the
timber interests of this State. | remember
to have read in one Of the messages of the
hon. L. B. Vance a recommendation that
the timber interests of the State be protect
ed by law-fearing that we would suffer for
the lack Of it. The honorable Senator
rarely gets the cart before the horse. but
in this instance be certainly succeeded in
doing so. Why, sirs, of the so, 900 square
miles untraced iii the limits of the State.
over &C, 600 square miles are covered with
timbcr-four-tifths of this State covered
with forests. 1t is one of the surprising
conditions Of vegetable growth that fores'
grow more rapidly than they are consumed.
Who has not seen, what in cold countries
seems improbable, pines II inches in dia-
meter where corn ridges could be plainly
seen. For purposes Of fuel ''old field pine"
would be ample at one-twentieth Of the
whole area, and | propose to demonstrate
that the citizens OF this State cannot afford
to keep their forests-unused capital-for
the succeeding generations. invite criti-
cism, and challenge contradiction to the
following statements:
If this State were dcnuded of is timber
until it would have no more in proportion
to its areas than Kansas, Nebraska, or Hi
nois has, and the profits Of getting it to
market only amounted TO sl.00 per thous-
and feet, 1t uould amount to more hGH tie
entare assessment Of personal and real estate
in North Carolina, besides giving employ
ment to thousands of men and leaving mil
lions of dollars within its limits among the
laboring men as the fruit of their toll.
The long leaf pine covers an area Of 10
600 square miles, 1000, 900 acres. If we
assume that to-day 40 per cent. has been
cleared since 1870, We still would have
enough to supply the United States for the
next 80 years-while, in fact, there are
more feet of timber to-day in this State
than in 1870.