The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-05-15

Oned DN the -1Ill blItIAoI hh -NPOt1
December 1877, that to June up. 3Oth
OF that year, the gold deposited III the
Assay Offices and MINIS from their or
canization up to that time from all the
territory east Of the Mississippi river
was S2l;l64. 29O.4 9 Of which North
Carolina produced Sl0,370,4 02. Is.
The natural capabilities of our State
may not for years to come be fully de-
veloped. Many hat may form an i'm
portant part Of our economy are doubt
less among the unknown, but 1t IS to be
hoped that the spirit Of enterprise
which happily seems TO have taken
hold upon our people, VIII G ont
these elements OF strength and wealth
and make them contribute their share
10 the general prosperity of our people.
The medicinal herf.:, plants and roots
INDIGENOUS 10 our State began 10 attract
attention prior to the war, ana We're TO
some extent utilized n a substitute for
foreign drugs in our hospitals and by
our army surgeons, during the war.
Through the perseverance and enter
prise or one firm III StateSyiile, Their
trade in these crude drugs increased
from about 100 coo pounds embracing
about POO varieties in 1873, to about
500. 900 pounds embracing about 1000
varieties In 1873. Another enterprise
which Is attracting attention among the
farmers. particularly along the line of
the North Carolina railroad, especially
in Rowan county Is the diStiilatlon of
oils from s~asafras and penny-royal
t~Iiedeoma pulegioides. By Il simple
process those oils are extracted and find
ready sale at rcnumeratlve prices. In
the town Of Salisbury alone there We're
sold during the last year. OF oil OF saSa-
tras $1,000 pounds. at about an average
price OF 81 cents per pound. and OF oil
Of ~pcnny-royal about 81 900 pounds. at
about so cents per pound. 1t was
found impracticable To obtain even APP
proXimateiy accurate information in re-
gard to the Naval Store interest. on
our list of farm products, and while it
would be interesting To show in detail
the value to people of a trade con-
troiled. chiefly by our State. the Annual
export Table compiled by the Secretary
ofthe Wilmington produce exchange,
shows that Of the exports Of %turpentine,
tar, rosin, pitch, &c. from this country
during the year 1873, amounting to
Sill, 1SS, our port Of Wilmington
furnished s., l56,730,T7. With our
varied soils and climate. our treasures
OF mineral wealth, our abundance of
timbers OF commercial value, splendid
water powers; the future of our State,
can only be limited in importance and
power, by their development and utili-
ZatIon.
NINCEJI tNEnI-S ITI'yIS Ed 4, N ct 4 TT STyr-
From the best available sources the
number OF benevolent and charitable in
stltutlOns III the State, is stated to be
as follows: OF Masonic Lodges about
$40; of independent order of Odd
Fellows 30; OF Knights OF Honor 10:
with 10) members of knights Of
Pythias 9; Councils of Temperance SO:
Good Templas POO, with 1OoO mem
bers.
The total number of churches gwen
in our table OF statistics is 1894 which
are divided among our various dcnOmi-
nations rs follows Roman Catholic II:
Episcopal lO4; Presbyterian 239;
Methodist 1921 Baptist 1880; Luth-
eran -; Christian 30: Quakers u
German Reformed 81; Union 8: Dun.
kers (; DISCIPLES l09. Membership of
the Young Mems Christian Association
about 500.
Ofour chief products the following
named counties report the largest az
gregate Yields: Randolph, wheat l4f,-
$40 bushels Rowan, corn, 525.l37
bushels; Wake, cotton, l3.44l bales
OF 40 pounds Chatham, oats, l4S.-
SO bushels; Rockingham, tobacco,
3, $50. 900 pounds Sampson, reports
the greatest number OF hogs. and Ran
dulph the greatest numter OF sheep:
GIdnyiiIe owus the most dogs according
To the report: Guiltord has the LARGEST
number OF acres in orchards; Cleveland
makes The largest number Of gallons 0.
wine Chowan leads III the fishing in
tetest; Wilson produced the largest
yield Of sweet potatoes: Randolph re-
ports the largest yield OF Irish potatoes:
Randolph reports the largest yield Of
Irish potatoes Chatham reports the
greatest amomt OF butter. Tota!
amount OF honey reported 5S4,G04
pounds OF wool 57S. 505 pounds Of
dried fruits G.267, go: Granville has
the greatest number Of tobacco tacto-
ries; Aiamance and CASTOR the great
est number OF cotton factories: each
reporting six Wake has tie greatest
number OF public schools.
+Only thirteen Of the eighteen town
ships in Wake county reported.
TIE Grange ENHIBITIOE.-The
Poplar Tent Agricultural Far A>socia-
ton are progressing with their arrapyc-