The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-12-30

SCOTS Hill. n. c.. Dec. 8. 1855.


ticle in Tbs News and Observer on the
destruction of the Georgia pine some
old ideas have been awakened in refer
ence TO the stock law OF North Carolina
as generally applied.
One Of the most lucrative industries
OF this state in the days gone by has
snrunk In dimensions u1tib il now Is
perhaps the smallest Of our commercial
enterprises. / refer to the turpenfine
business. During the ten years inter
vening between 1850 n 1860 Whining
ton was not only the largest naval
stores market IN the world. but de-
rived the largest income Of all sources
from traffic in the products OF the pine.
Just after the close of the civil war
Tor ten or fifteen years a large tur-
pentine business was also lone in this
state. This source OF income Is now
gone and from present appearances
gone never to return. For sometime 1t
is true the prices paid for turpentine
have not been high enough to stimu-
late effort in its production, but II
hey had been the result would not
materially differ. as the pines from
which the gum was formerly obtained
are gone. They are gone not only for
turpentine but for all other purposes.
The saw mill owners OF Wilmington
and other places in the state find IL
very much harder to obtain timber
now than ever before and the scarcity
increases as the years roll on. Thirty
and forty years ago much land that
was covered with a good growth OF
long leaf pine is now a barren waste.
Some of the timber was marketed,
some split into rails for fencing, but
the greater part was boxed for turpen-
tine and fell an easy prey to forest
fires. The old pines are gone, blu no
young trees are growing up TO take
THAR nlncpG aycanf in favored lncnn-
ties. When / say favored localities, l
mean points and ridges of land sur
rounded by water and remote from the
habitat of the long-nosed razor-back
hog. Any one who will take the trouble
to pass through the piney woods of
this section of North Carolina will see
millions of young pines in all stages
of growth, from those minutely small
to trees of ten feet in height, but they
never reach maturity except in isolated
spots. The most of the young trees are
uprooted by the Snout of the razor
back and those which escape are burnt
to death by the fierce fires which rage
through the woods during the early
spring of every year. / say every
year, for there has been no year dur
ing the past thirty-five in which they
have not ragged in my section Of coun-
try.
1t is quite impossible to compute the
loss to the state in the destruction of
this timber, but it has been and is now
an immense loss. Lands which were
once valuable are now no longer
I. claimed, for ownership carries with it
: taxation.
2 When the great Napoleon attained
= absolute power in the empire of France
. he found in the southern part of his
dominions a vast territory of waste
land untitled for any useful purpose.
Addressing himself to its reclamation
= he ascertained on investigation that it
was we'll suited to the growth of the
pine. Securing seed the whole of this
l desert was planted in trees. BY judi
/, cious culture since, this waste land has
: been made very profitable. How diff
!, ferent has been the Motley OF the peo-
pie in this section. Here the first set
tiers found extensive forests Of this
most valuable growth and at once be-
gan the work-o of it's destruction, until
now what was once a source of much
wealth is almost a barren waste.
FENCING.
The law of his state where it has
. not been reversed in certain counties
= forces the planter to fence all of his
cultivated fields. This, of course, neces-
L states a large expenditure of money.
= and either a considerable loss of timber
for rails or an increased sum for wire
I fences. This law imposes the fencing
= of every body's stock OF the farmer.
Now, if this state was one in which the
open range was more valuable than the
cultivated fields, the justice of the law
! could be readily seen. If, however, the
production of field crops is a more lu-
{ crative business than raising stock on
: an open range, it really looks as If the
foremost of these two industries should
receive the most attention at the hands
of our law-giyers. Whether farming
or stock raising is the more profitable
in this section of North Carolina at
- / nrncnpt &c NO.. N 6ohn IN hla n,.nCtinn T*IA
raising of stock in the piney woods as
. it is now followed is merely an adjunct
L to the farmerS income and not a prin-
: cipal part of it. This fact needs no
elaboration, il is so patent that every
Y observing person who has given il any
thought at all knows it TO be true.
Where farms are fenced with pine
! rails the owners are compelled to own
i woods land from which rail timber can
4 be had. Since most of the trees have
disappeared, larger tracts must be
. CLEANED for this purpose than former
ly. The common squatter taking adj
9 vantage of this fact possesses himself
of a few acres Of worthless waste land
upon which he builds a log hut and n
COW pen. By degrees he gathers about
d him a herd of wiregrass cattle and a
dozen or more raZor-back hogs. These
n are turned out to make a living upon
! the piney lands of the farmer. In this
way the farmer is not only compelled
. by law to fence the squatter's stock.
e but indirectly to furnish them free OF
: charge a grazing ground. This squat
: ter appreciates to the fullest extent his
a privileges and repays the farmer by
destroying his young pines through the
-, medium Of his hogs, and in early
? spring fires the goods to get rid Of old
/ stubble and start afresh new grass. In
doing this, all young trees which have
escaped the ravages of the r~azor-backs
I are Swsut awav by the fires
? If the farmer desires to share the
privileges of the range with his neigh
Dor. the squatter. he will be forced in
. doing so by circumstances to own the
e same kind OF stock as that turned out
Y by the squatter. Any investment which
may be made by him In hIgh grade
o stock will equally benefit the squat
I tarS. as all the cattle hogs and sheen