The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-09-17
creat Forests Of Corn that Bring
Ten Barrels to the Acre with
utthe aid Of Fertilizers
Mattamuskeet Lake
SO Miles Of Unde
yeIoped Oyster Beds.

OyStcF oCoo.
Have you ever been up Alligator NV
er. If you haven't you have missed
seeing and enjoying a sail on the love
lest. grandest, and q OF the largest
rivers 10 North Carolina. Yet how
MANY of US know anything about thls
MAGNIFICENT ~water-course, less than nifty
miles from Edenton and thirty from
Elizabeth City? Look on the map-any
YOU please-and you will be lucky to
find the smallest sort ola line indicating
this splendid stream. Most maps ignore
it's very presence. From bank to bank
across its mouth the distance is good SIX
miles TWENTY-FIVE times as wide as the
mouth of the great Roanoke, that every
body is familiar with. Then mp Tor
thirty miles the course is perfectly
straight-no curve TO mar its beauty-a
grand, stately stream, lined on either
side with dense growths of cypress,
i%uniper. and other swamp trees. The
view is beautiful. Ii you want to see
this charming river take the steamer
Dickerman and you will get it In full.
We can pledge you also a good time. for
Can't. Hussey and those under him on
the steamer are as clever and KIN as II
is possible to be, and will take pleasure
in pointing out the various places OF IN.
terest. explaining the peculiarities and
making you have an agreeable time gen.
orally. This We know, for we were
there a few days ago. and never were
and couldn't be more kindly treated or
pleasantly entertained.
But when the great Alligator begins
to narrow latter you have gone thirty
mlles) il does take a CURIOUS course for
a fact. 1t Twists and turns and wFlthes
and wriggles and finally gets SO narrow
that YOU could jump on either shore
from the decks of the steamer. In
many places two hundred yards of canal
would shorten the distance a mile. You
turn in and steam fifty yards, turn a
point aad follow the river back for forty
yards and keep this up for half a day
for no boat can make tima on such a
wickedly crooked course. The water at
this part is of a dark rich mahogany
color and looks beautiful as the steamer
blows through it. 1t holds its color
when taken up and put in a glass
about the shade of good stiff sherry, and
very mellow and pleasant to the taste.
Of course you know it is the gettingsto-
be famous juniper water, and that the
color and aayOr come from the juniper
trees that line the shores and cover the
swamps that drain into il. This water
will preserve its freshness for years, the
fannie acid in the Juniper preventing it
from becoming %stagnant.
After following up the crooked part
of the river about twenty-five miles you
come t a six miles stretch of canal, at
the end of which is Fairfield, the most
prosperous village in Hyde county. The
village has two or three handsome resi-
dences, six or eight exceedingly shabby
oking stores, and the prettiest and
incest country church (Methodist) we
have ever seen. But the glory of the
place is the magnificent farms surround
ing. Grsat forests of splendid orn
from twelve to fourteen feet high ex-
tend back in the distance for miles. We
never saw any corn before, comparative
w. Lands that have been steadily in
cultivation for over half a century, with
GU. eyef having been fertilized, bring
ten barrels of corn to the apre--through
and through a big farm. The soil is
black and of a vegetable formation. In
dry weather it will burn readily, and
care has to be taken to protect it from
the flames when burning brush, etc.
The dwellings and farm ho4ses through
this country give evidence of general
thrift and prosperity that are to be
found to a like extent ct few places in
this part of the State.
MArTAHUSKEET lake.
A drive of half a mile from Fairfield
brings you to Mattamuskeet Lake. To
look at it for the first time is a revela-
ton. A great inland sea it is, with an
area nearly as great as the entire coun.
ty Of Pasquotank or ChOwan. Twenty
miles is the length. seven miles the
wIdth-over fifty miles around, with a
good road following the shore all the
way. 1t has no natural outlet and is
about four feet above the level of Pam
leo sound, which is folr miles out from
the southern shore. 1t is proposed TO
partly drain the lake by means of a
canal connecting it with the sound, and
$4,000 liza. been subscribed for this
purpose. The trouble is that in wet
seasons the lake OGeraoWs and SUBJ
the farms in the neiYhborh0od
A small canal to the sound was dug a
long time since, but has been mostly
filled up and. is nos Of little value. The
route will be followed with the
canal, which will be sixty feet wide.
Mattamnskeet Lake is very shallow.
You might wade across it but for
treacherous holes Ia places. How it
came there is a sort Of mystery
will never be explained; but it
seems to b6 tOlerably certain hat ma
didn't put il there to begin with.
The most reasonable theory is that it
burnt out, and this is Suppert6d by
The alleged discovery of charred timbers
'ound about ia places on its bottom
At all events it is a beautiful sheet of
imposing and majestic