The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-04-26
Mineral TreasureS--The Colo OF
Ophir--The Silver Of Zebuion.
1.-The Gems of Coiconda-.
The Wealth Of Crmus
and Of Ind!

North Carolina is commonly consid
| cred an agricultural State. Why
| Simply, because until within a few
| years the only portion of her territory
| touched by outsiders was the section
| traversed by the Wilmington & Weldon
| r. r. in the fiat lands of the East, anC
the main features of her exports were
rice, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and naval
stores. Nine persons IN ten at the
North to day, suppose that the CHIEF
business in North Carolina is raising
Tar, Pitch, and Turpentine )" whereas
nine in ten of our people never even
Jaw a barrel of tar, or pitch, or turpen-
tipe,-outside of the village stores.
Moreover, although there is not an acre
If the thirty millions of land surface
hat is not susceptible of cultivation,
for one crop or another Il Is a fact, as
Gov. Vance once figured out for us.
that onIy about FIVE millions of acres, OF
less than one sirth OF the arabic soil OF
The State is even cleared for cultlva-
ton! 1t will be seen therefore that we
must increase our acreage OF Farming
lands by at least twelve millions of acres
before we can say that half the State Ii
under cultivation, and that we are "a
Farming country.
NOT DESIGNED EXCLUSI VELY FOR AGRI-
CULTURE.
The truth is that North Carolina was
desi gped by Nature to become the sea,
of a great and self-sustaining Nation,
comprising among its people every
! branch of industry. Unlike the Agrl.
cultural States Of Iowa aud Ohio, or the
manufacturing States Of Massachusetts
! and New York, we have a combination
| of both. together with all the adJunctive
and conductive attributes of both.
To comprehend this, it is necessary
| for our Northern readers to remember
two things; lst. That North Carolina
is an immense paralleloxram, 900 miles
in length, stretching East to West, and
rising step by step, in billowy terraces,
from the rich flat surface of Roanoke
Island, where the first European foot
trod American soil, to the STERN swept
plateau OF Roam Mountain, Or the still
higher peak of Mitchell, the highest
land east of the Rocky Mountains. I'd,
That North Carolina is midway be-
| tween the Lakes and the Cult, the Hot
| States, and the Cold, the cotton coun
| try and the corn
So to properly classify the State you
| must divide it into a North, a South
an East, and a West, Carolina; toul
| slices, each of them larger than Massa'
| chusetts or Connecticut. These foul
| Grand Districts must next be sub-dl-
| vided into Eight Districts.
e. I-asSInlI( fIefTlH
are the bulk Of the fisheries, the larg
| est Inland Fisheries 10 America. Sweet
%potatoes and timber are next In lmpor
lance truck farming next.
The Second Congressional District
| has probably the best cotton lands OF thu
State: with the bulk of the peanuts
and th. trucking, though confined to 4;
few localities. Also some fisheries, ant
Naval stores.
The Third Congressional District EN-
braces. with the counties OF Robesol
and Richmond added)-nearly the en-
tire Tar. Pitch, and T%urpentlne trart'
Of the State. Also the rice and a share
of the peanuts, lumber. &c.
The Fourth Congress'onGt D,sfr'c
comprise. the great bulk OF the tobacco
crop, and Its manu!dcIulC'
%,pecial localities which raise, and man
u%iacture; but the area is small comrar
atively.
The Fifth Congressional District com
nrises the bulk of the manufacturers
there being some 20 or more cotton las
tories in the " counties of Aiiamanc'
and Randolph and perhaps hall a
~,nv or other pOIDtS.
The .Sirth Congressional District is
long strip of counties or the Southern
border. nearly all differing but all yer.
productive. The upper end ofthe DIS
trict includes the manufacturing coun
ties of Mecklenburg, Castor, and Va
tawba Ca dozen factories) and the MIN
eral counties of Union. Cabarrus, Stan
". Montgomery, and Lincoln:
The Serenh District takes In the vas
area of highlands, embracing timber
stock raising, grain and fruit, minerals
and large number of small distlllerle
than any similar area.
The Eighth District is called tn
Mountain District, but comprises .