The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-02-20

YOUR State TO a knowledge of
their true interests and the great
wealth-horal, mineral, &C., Of
North Carolina. | have travelled
much, and | have never seen a
country for which Nature has
done so much, and man SO little,
as for North Carolina aud Nlr-
ginia. | especially refer to the
Piedmont and mountain sections
Of those States. They have some
few things lacking, but very,
very many beauties and advan-
tages. | repeat, Nature has done
all. Man has only destroyed.
The children of the soil are un-
aware Of their true wealth ; and
as for strangers, it is truly an
noying to hear northern and
western people talk Of the South.
1t is very encouraging to know
OF one such Carolinian as you f.
Keep at H.m. | entreat you, Let
them know what they are doing,
when they Stay so ruthlessly
their most beautiful, most valu-
able woodlands. Nothing will
pay them for the destruction Of
their forests. A mountain of
gold in the middle of the State
would not compensate for the
trees already stripped from the
mountains of Virginia. They
do not understand the results OF
denuding their hills of trees, and
they mock at any remonstrance
on that subject. Had they been
away twelve years, the great
gaps in the forests, the bald,
leprouS-loohing spots on the noun
tains, the miles of "old fields"
Of straw pine, poor Nature
struggling to repair the ravages
OF man), more than all, the
muddy strt ans, once SO crystal
clear, reduced to haIf their size !;
all these things, and many more,
would look worse to them than
even the dirty, ill-built villages
and-no matter. To find fault
is a very ungracious task but if
they only wo"M open their eyes
and see. / know their many
discouragements, their heavy
burdens, but l would rather see
them clearing ont and cleaning mp
the woods near their dwellings,,
not cutting down every tree
within a mile, and letting half
fed stock trample and Craze to
death the thousand delicate
and rare flowers, off which
some enterprising florist might
make a fortune. But the
ungrateful Southrons actually
scoy0 their loveliest flowers, be-
cause they are mitd, though all
the outside world may prize
them. There is hat most beau
tiful of all flowers, the Southern
passion-fower, Rassit7ora incarna-
Ia, beloved OF poets, priced Of
florists, but pulled up as a weed
by South&kn fower-tenders, who
call it cry a common may
pop" or "wild apricot" while
they send for and pay for some
stiff dahlia or ugly cactus-very
good in their way, however, but
not comparable to the exquisite
ly beautiful passion-fower, or
the delicate, fairy loveliness of
the trailing mimosa botanic
Schrank1a, southern name sand
Then there is the pretty
partridge vine, MitcheNa repens,
With alternate evergreen leaves
and scarlet berries. Ali know
and love the sweet azalia, and
hat "lily of the field" the dainty
little blue iris, lovely and frag-
rant, the ever-dear, clustered
Wax-f1owers of the kalmia wild
the delicate sweet bells of
The trailing-arbutus, the yellow
snow-drop, called also, adder's-
E1ythTonium 1noeTlcanuna, with
is dodding flower and dark
green, glossy leaves, notified
With purple, the gentians, lobeli-
IS, and laurels OF many kinds
'hodora-but [ am getting quite
Wild ; so / will not venture into
he endless families of pinks.