Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1880-07-31
Letter f~on, Worth Carolina.


L
/ the State. rs well Is 4 fine lumber country.
/ The road leads directly through the swamps,
which ere filed f)r miles with splendid tim
ber,-2ine, cypress and juniper, growing out
i of the water in grca. measure. The road Is
sometimes under tie water for mile or two
"A railing on on. side indicating where to
drive. The water Is dark red, colored by
the cypress and juniper, and the cypreSs,
knees" showing themselves thick all thro'
The swamp, pi,.:ent curious appearance
! The cyprcs, tree grows very large ani, from
the bottom for II few feet, presents the APP
pearaace Of g sugar loaf y,.th me small end
up. What they call the "knce isthe SProut
! from which the new tree grows IL iooksa
/ little like q spr0ut Of 4 treas itcoIld. Some
parts of these swamps are dcen and Danger
ous in high water, but these places are
I bridgcd At one poin, W. crossed thirteen
bridges inside OF 4 nile. Ihe undcFgr9wth
( in them is thick and rank, and abounds In
water reptiles; there fce, also, some deer
/ found hcre,-.he long gris' l. very inviting
to them, and cattle iini good range. The
scarcity OF cattle and live stock oi all Kinds
is very noticeable to any one who has lived
/ in our part oi tie country WAcre wese1 the
cattle upon thousand hills" The plant
crs dowH mere bug eYerything, almost, taat
they cat,-cycn kitchen gardens are rarc.-
Vegetables arr shipped from Charleston and
other cities Nearly all their time Is devo-
ted to the Culture of cotton, which crop, this
year, promises 10 be 4 very large one. The
cotton fields nov are in iull bloom, and are
very pretty,-whoe acres Of green filled with
pink and white blooms. To see 1t in the
morning before the sur has taken the dew
of. gives YOU a beautiful sight. The plant
does nos grow Is tall in this state as 1t does
! further South-.hcrc IL grows about twelve
or eighteen inches. The bloom comes white
and is shaped like our morning glory. 1t
stavs white until the evening 0Ethe first day,
and opens the next day pretty pink, and
thcncX. day il falls oil and the boil begins
to form where the flower was. In about SIX
weeks the boli bursts and the cotton Is ready
for picking Theayerage yield on this land
is about 800 to 900 lbs, Of what IS called
seed cotton. to the acre. After the seed Is
out il leaves rear 800 lbs cotton, which is
the average weight OF a bale, worth, usually,
from ten to twelve cents pound and gcner-
ally sold and the money spent before 1t gets
90 markets. so many planters are behind
hand" and the crop j. mortgagcd to the mer-
chant by the time the bloom is on it. This,
of course is more particularly the case with
small planters. At Enfield we get into the
"scuppernong" regions. Quantities of the
scuppcrnong grapes are grown here and
made into vine which, when properly made,
is very light and delicious, and particularly
free from Intoxicating qualities, as n great
deal of il can bcuscl without any bad effects,
which an sorry to say makes it unpopular
among the natives II is shipped in large
quantities to the Northern aud Eastern mar
kets. sells very chcap-thc best can be bought
for sevcnty-hvc cents gallon. The vines
grow very thick and are grown ON trellisscs
or arbors similar 20 our grape arbOrs, but
lower Some of these arhors cover n much
rs an acre of ground. From EHiisld ! went
without Il stop 10 Oxford. IN the tobacco
country. an old town but full of business,
and tie market for bright ilue-curcd tobac-
co. Thence to Raleigh, the capital of the
Statc-a town of about ten thousand, well
Laid out and handsomely shaded with elm
and oak; the capitol in the centre Of the
CITY and the street, diycrge from II and are
lined with handsome residence and stores;
The churches are Numerous and built, most
of them. in modern style. From Rllcigh 10
Fayetteville. one Of the Oldest and at one
time The largest town in the State. II is 4
onqin. old town. situated on the Cape Fear
river about one hundred and twenty miles
above Wilmington. The business houses,
for tbe most part. are low two-storied build
in.rs with fiat roofs. and LOOK as if they had
been built at time beyond date; but the
cotton and lurpcntinc make it Il business
town. and great many goods are handled
there. They still hold on 10 some curious
tr1 d. rff ma Ip
town bell at morning, non aud evening
meals, and also at nine 1T night, an old
custom during slave days, and still Kept up.
There is near here natural curiosity ut
place called Gross Greeks" whore one
stream crosses another that is runrlng IN an
opposite direction, and each current y main
tained. Some persons say that there can be
difference seen in the water where they
cross. This is, think, questionable. There
are in and near the tom spfne large cotton
factories; and the country Is fan ot the tur-
pcntre pine, which has q distinctive ap-
poarancc from lhc ordinary pine. visited
one cf these turpentlnc camps, and was
Greatly interested There are miles and
miles of large trees with the bark peeled off
ON the sunny side" They peel off the
bark from the bottom FOR "a distance of a foot
or two the first year, and put a notch or box
at the bottom 10 catch the turpen'inc. The
trees are visited every day or two aud the
crude turpentinc scoOpcd ny, put ~ barrels
and taken 10 stills" where il IS made into
the turDcntinc OF commerce Each year the
bark has 10 be- peeled higher mp so as 10 pre-
sent frc.h surface 10 the sun. Now, if
man wants to feel hCt, lcl him drive 10 one
Of these camps, with the white sand foot
deep. binding him, blowing into eyes, nose
and mouth. aud take look at the turPcn-
tine oozing ont Of thc trees, aud he viii doubt
whether
There Is q land that Is warmer than this
The NEGROES here can stand the heat; it is
their lile-.hcy lie down and slccPina broil-
ine sun. They say down here that IN old
nero who had been preaching oi the lower
region q q country Of perpetual SHOWS and
iccberrs. gave as his reason, that If he told
them il was hotter there than here they Wild
all want to 90 on tn. fir. hyaF Well emo
of the low grounds. From Fayetteville ]
went via Greensboro 10 the mountains Of
Western North Carolina
.. The lanI or tiic SKY. tine lanI Of the blot,
Where the artist fisls beauty and the invalid
rest
The Western road starts AZ Salisbury, and
goes through some Of the best paris OF the
state. lredell, Catawha and Buncombe coun-
7 tie., on 10 aud past Ashcyille and taps the
Virginia and tennessee At Slatosville
there j. q large Botanical Garden, where
+ roots aud herbs Of all kinds are bought and
prepared foF Northern and foreign markets,
and makes quite business in the town.
I m. VI L . &