The farmer and mechanic., 1915-05-04
MIDDLE NORTH Carol INA
A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
Bn Butler and the Doctor Finish Up That Trip From Norfolk
son---Ten of the Wonderful Progress of Great
Agriculture Counties 'r

to get away from us, and for several |
miles we were on dry land. 1 do not |
know where Wilson got it's name, |
whether from Wilson whiskey, or
Woodrow, or some Of the rest Of the !!
considerable family that has come into |
prominence at one time or another |
But whoever it was Wilson is not de-
pending on it's nameSake to give it dis |
tinctiOn. Wilson has the tobacco habit |
also. It makes close to ten million
pounds of tobacco a year. besides
some million dollars worth of other
stuff, and if you look up street from
the station when the train stops and
see the big tobacco warehouses and
packing houses you half wonder if
every body in Wilson is living on to-
bacco Huge brick buildings stand
out in every direction, and they are
used by the big tobacco companies
for warehouses, and for packing and
storage houses. 1t seems that tobacco
is a fnicky product that can not be
cut from the stalk and run through
the barn and then sold to the buyer
who wants to make a cigarette. 1t
has to be aged, like the rest of us,
for age seems to improve a lot Of
things, no matter what Dr.. Osler may
think.
Tobacco is stored away in packing
y
man who owns it can let it stay that
| long, although it seems that men are
| like the small boys and frequently
| have to dig out the things they have
stored away and take a look at them.
| The demand for bright leaf tobacco
has been so active of late that instead
of allowing the leaf to season as long
as it should good deal Of it is
| brought out and manufactured and
sent to market in the charm Of youth
as you might say.
Whole Section Moving.
The progress this section is making
is wonderful. From 1900 to 1910 the
value Of property in Wilson increased
from $3,O03,OO to $8,164,000, or over
I'll per cent. In Pitt the increase
was 154 per cent, or from $4,335, 900
to $11,O14,00O That is at the rate OF
nearly million and a quarter a year
for the two counties, which is a
mighty creditable advance. This does
not include town property but is for
the farms alone. The towns have
made remarkable advancements as
we'll. Greenville in the same time in
} creased in population from 1865 to
4,1O1, and Wilson from 3,525 to 6,717
and it goes without saying that prop
erty increase in the towns has beer
| enormous.
count if it were a finished job, but the
development is still going on. From
the car window it looks as if more i:
| doing right now than at any time II
the past, and if the tobacco belt O.
t the line from Washington to Raleigh
f does not have some account to give
} of itself when the census man comes
t again he can be justified in arrestins
l | it for false pretense.
All these towns have good railroad
r facilities, and they are showing th'
: advantages Of convenient transpOrta
a ton lines. The railroads are als'
: showing the advantages of the vas
v quantities of freight that originate
r in the big and little points along al
f the lines Cotton and tobacco ant
v fruits and vegetables and such stuf
all pay freight.
e / don't know whether the people o
r North Carolina realize it or not, bu
e right in the heart of this State, talkin
t. in such counties as Pitt, Wilson, Edge
@ combe, Halifax, Johnston, Mash
e Wayne and Wake is a district tha
n does not need to take off it's hat yer
e often to any farm section any where
It These eight counties make about one
: fifth of the crop Of North Carolina, tn
e total in the census year reaching clos
e to 3O.O00,00O dollars, not countin
Z fruits. I've stock, poultry and dair
1t products and such things as tina
n which run up into additional millions
At the same rate if the rest of tn
counties of the State kept up wit
le these, the agricultural products {
is North Carolina would amount to owe
.r $3.50, 900. Illinois is the only Stat