USA > South Carolina > Darlington County > History, description and resources of Darlington County, state of South Carolina > Part 2
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Leaving the sand hill country, the other lands of the Coun- ty may be classed as Swamp Lands, Upper Low Lands, and Ridge Uplands. The Swamp Lands have been partially described in speaking of the Great Pce Dee. They are al- luvial lands, of recent formation, and are wonderfully pro- ductive. Properly drained and protected from freshets, they produce from 40 to 75 bushels of Corn, and from 1500 to
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2000 pounds of Seed Cotton to the acre. Long before the war efforts were made, by patriotic and intelligent citizens, to engage the State Government in the great work of re- claiming its Swamp Lands, but owing to various circum- stances, unnecessary to mention, the scheme failed to become popular, except in certain localities, and nothing was done. The present State Government, with its burden of debt, is not likely, for many years to come, to be prepared to attempt the task. What has been done in the past, however, de- monstrates that the work, great as it is, would prove not beyond the means of individuals, if efforts were made simul- taneously. This reclamation of our Swamp Lands would open up for cultivation thousands of acres of the richest lands of the whole South, and, at the same time, by remov- ing the only local cause of disease, would render our coun- try one of the healthiest in the whole world. The work within the limits of this County, along the Pee Dee, would be mainly one of restoration-the repair of damages done by the freshet of 1865. No great amount of capital would be required to accomplish this, and it would be easy to de- monstrate that the investment would prove exceedingly profitable. Not more than one-fifth of the Swamp Lands of the County have been or are now in cultivation.
The Upper Low Lands are, at present, the most valuable in the County. They are the finest Cotton lands, have a stiff clay sub-soil, and are susceptible of high and rapid im- provement. With fair manuring, and ordinary cultivation, they yield from 1000 to 1800 pounds of Seed Cotton to the acre.
The Ridge Uplands have generally a thin soil, but are casy of enrichment, and repay most generously every effort made for their improvement. Before the war there prevail- ed a reckless use of our lands. Land and labor were cheap and plentiful, and the planter made little or no effort to keep up and improve the soil, but abandoned a field as soon as it showed signs of exhaustion, and in new clearings of his forest, sought fresh lands. After the war necessity led to
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wiser conduct. Confronted by diminished capital, uncertain labor, and the unwonted evil of theft from the fields, the planter was compelled to confine himself to the fields around his dwelling, and to seek his support in the concentration of his money and efforts upon bringing these few acres to a condition of extraordinary productiveness. Such radical changes are not brought about in a day, but this agricultu- ral reform has, under the pressure of necessity, advanced with rapid strides, and is now observable throughout the County. There are unusual facilities for this work of land improvement. Besides the manures of the stable yard and lot and the marl-beds of which we have spoken, the excel- lent Fertilizers made near Charleston, are obtainable on easy terms, and these, composted with the rich and abundant surf and muck of the near at hand forest and swamp, supply to the land just what it needs to enable it to do its best. Many an old field, long abandoned as worthless, has become, under this treatment, as highly productive as the freshest lands of the County, and one now rarely hears the old time talk of the poor and worn out lands of South Carolina. Mr. Calvin Rhodes, one of the best of our farmers, planting improved uplands, in the neighborhood of Swift Creek, that were formerly old fields, made last year (1873), on a 20 acre field, 25 bales of Lint Cotton, each weighing 500 pounds, and eight of the bales were gathered from five acres. Few intelligent farmers are now willing to risk their judgment in fixing a limit of cotton production to the capacity of our lands.
The Upper Low Lands and Ridge Uplands of the County, in farms and plantations varying in size from 100 to 2,000 acres, well fenced, and having upon them all needed buildings, range in price from $3 to $15 per acre, the terms of sale be- ing usually one-third cash, and the balance on a credit of one and two years. Before the war land with us might justly be spoken of as a monopoly, and could rarely be pur- chased without the approval of neighbors. Since the war vast quantities have been thrown upon the market, while
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the buyers have been few. Only within the last three or four years have the negroes, in any number, been prepared, by reason of their savings, to purchase ; but the number now, with every year, is rapidly on the increase. These facts, with the political condition of the country, account for the price of our lands, and a present observable upward tenden- cy. Looking to their intrinsic value, the price of our lands is strikingly low, as is illustrated, by constantly occurring instances of purchases of land entirely on credit, and the purchaser, in the course of two or three years, besides sup- porting himself and family, paying, wholly with the profit of his lands, the entire purchase money.
The great value of the Cotton Crop, and its consequent absorption of the labor of the County, has been attended by evils that are, just now, being fully understood and appre- ciated. This monopoly of the industry of the County has prevented the development of its manifold agricultural re- sources, discouraged a wise economy, and deprived us of that independence which is the fruit of a varied agriculture. Just after the war, as is well known, the price of Cotton was exceedingly high. The planter was induced to see in this the opportunity for a rapid rebuilding of his fortune, the ne- cessity for economy was not felt, and he, naturally, kept up his old time, loose and extravagant mode of living and expendi- ture. Cotton paid so well, that it seemed foolish to devote an acre to anything else. There were not wanting those who called attention to the fact that the permanently prosperous farmers and planters of the past were they who made their own provisions ; but these warnings were silenced by a short and apparently unanswerable mathematical demonstration. The price of Cotton gradually fell, but, unfortunately, in its fall, fluctuated to such a degree as to keep up hopes painful to be surrendered. Cotton has, therefore, continued to re- ceive undue attention, and the planter, in too many in- stances, instead of rebuilding his fortune, has become a bonded slave to his factor, and powerless to turn back on a road which he now clearly secs is leading him to ruin.
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This year (1874) though no great increase has been made in the area of Corn cultivation, the season has been so pecu- liarly favorable that there is every prospect of a provision crop large enough to meet the demands of the coming year. This opportunity concurring fortunately with a low price for Cotton, and a growing conviction of the folly of the past, will, it is hoped, produce a radical change, and lead our farm- ers, hereafter, to plant less Cotton and more Corn. The soil presents no obstacle. Though so well adapted to the cul- ture of Cotton, it produces in abundance Corn, Wheat, Rye, Oats, Peas, and other provision crops. A good illustration, saving words, is furnished by the fact that Mr. W. E. Dar- gan, a young and enterprising farmer, in the neighborhood of Timmonsville, harvested early this Summer a crop of Red Oats, which measured out sixty-five bushels to the acre, and has now upon the same land a growing crop of Corn that cannot fail to yield him twenty bushels to the acre.
MINOR INDUSTRIES AND RESOURCES-ORCHARDS-GAR- DENS-ORGANIZATIONS OF FARMERS.
Rice is raised almost entirely for home consumption, but could easily be produced in quantities for exportation, much of our soil being admirably fitted for the culture of a variety very little inferior to that of the Tide Swamp Region.
Every thrifty farmer has his Sweet Potato patch, yielding with little labor and attention, from 200 to 500 bushels to the acre. The Sweet Potato is more valuable in product than that of any root crop of more Northern climates, high- ly and deservedly as root crops are there prized. It is one of the chief articles of food met with on the table of the Southern farmer-cheap, palatable and nutritious-is easily preserved from crop to crop, and its exportation could be made very profitable.
The yield of Irish Potatoes is large, but difficulties, aris- ing, perhaps, mainly from inexperience, have been met with in their preservation after removal from the soil, and
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their culture is almost entirely confined to the garden. They come to maturity very quickly in our soil and climate, the carly varieties being ready for use in April-and two crops, on the same ground, in the same season, are common.
In soil and climate the County closely resembles some of the most populous and most productive of the countries of the Old World, such as parts of India, China and Japan, and the portions of Europe bordering on the Mediterranean. Midway between extremes both of soil and climate, with few exceptions, the most valuable productions, both of the cold regions of the North and of the tropics of the South, can be grown abundantly within its borders.
The Vine can be cultivated with great success. Native vines, in their wild state, abound in our forests and clamber along our fences. Since the war, much attention has been given to this industry, and it has, already, become a marked feature in our agriculture. Young vineyards are common, and every year adds to their number, while such as have reached maturity bountifully repay the labor and attention bestowed by their owners. A successful vinegrower of the County estimates the annual value of his vineyard at $1,000 per acre. The Scuppernong, Flowers and Thomas are the most certain, prolific and valuable of the vines cultivated ; but other choice varieties, such as Concord, Clinton, Catawba and Isabella, though requiring more attention, do well and yield abundantly.
Plantations of Olive Trees have already succeeded in the State, and there is no doubt that the tree could be grown with profit in this County. The Tea Plant has been success- fully grown, in the open air, in an adjoining County, and English Walnut and Pecan Trees do so well that in the last two or three years a good deal of intelligent interest has been manifested in their increase.
The soil and climate are admirably adapted to the Mul- berry Tree. Groves of the best bearing varieties of the edi- ble Mulberry were planted before the war, by many of our planters, for feeding hogs. The varieties that have been
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found by experience to furnish the best food for the silk- worm, can be easily and rapidly grown, and are hardy and luxuriant. There can be no doubt that the production of silk could be made a profitable industry in this country. In 1759 South Carolina produced 10,000 lbs. of raw silk.
The capacity of our soil and climate to yield many other valuable productions besides those mentioned, has been well ascertained, among the most prominent of which we mention Tobacco, Groundnuts, Flax, Hops, Castor and other Oils, Mustard, Pepper, Bhene Seed and Opium. Our forests and fields abound with medicinal herbs and plants having mar- ketable value, such as Jessamine, May Apple, Jamestown Weed, Boneset, Golden Rod, Snakeroot, Pleurisyroot, Wild Horehound, Fennel, Queen's Delight, Mullein and Sumach.
Fruit of great variety and excellence is abundant during the Spring and Summer months. Peaches and Watermelons are in the greatest plenty, and if equalled elsewhere, in size and flavor, are certainly not surpassed. Blackberries, Straw- berries, Apricots and Raspberries are ripe in April and the early part of May. Plums, early Pears, Apples, Peaches, Figs and Nectarines follow. Watermelons and Muskmelons continue from July to October. Late Peaches, Pears, Apples and Grapes come in during the middle and close of the Sum- mer, and Persimmons and a variety of nuts in the Fall. Recently a lively and very general interest has been mani- fested in the extension and improvement of the fruit culture of the County.
It would be difficult to name a desirable vegetable that cannot be readily grown in our gardens. Vegetation being checked but a few weeks in the depth of Winter, the garden, changing its products with the seasons, supplies to the table the year round its best and cheapest food. The earliness and excellence of our vegetables would render their exporta- tion common and profitable were there proper facilities for sending them promptly and safely to Northern markets. Among the favorite and most abundant productions of our
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gardens we mention English Peas, Irish Potatoes, Asparagus, Green Corn, a variety of Beans, Squashes, Okra, Tomatoes, Salads, Onions, Beets, Egg-plants, Carrots, Cucumbers and Cabbages.
The forests, which still cover the largest part of the terri- tory of the County, and are so distributed as to supply every farm with abundant fire-wood and lumber for fencing, build- ing and repairs, are distinguished for their variety of hand- some and valuable trees. Chief among these trees, and forming by far the larger part of our forests, is the Pitch Pine, which has been well said to be one of the " great gifts of God to man." "The forests of Pine are not only useful but beautiful. The characteristic moan of the wind through their branches, their funereal aspect, almost limitless extent, and the health-giving influences which attend their presence, all contribute to make the Pine an object of peculiar interest to the people of the Southern States. The terebinthinate odor of the tree, some electrical influence of its long spear- like leaves, a certain modification of 'ozone' (an allotropic condition of oxygen, see Farnday's examinations), are sever- ally esteemed to modify the atmosphere and diminish the effects of malaria."" For fencing purposes, for boards, lum- ber, laths and shingles; for Tar, Pitch, Turpentine and Rosin-the foreign as well as domestic trade fully attests the value of the Pine; for fire-wood it is emphatically the poor man's candle ; its leaves furnish an abundant material for manure and for medicinal purposes, and its seeds are edible and nutritious and are largely consumed by hogs.
Next to the Pine in abundance is the stately Cypress, the largest of the trees of the State. It grows in the swamps and along the banks of our streams. Its wood, soft and easily worked and yet resisting unusually well the action of weather and the changes of temperature, is used for making the interior work of houses, posts, shingles, staves, &c. Of
*Porcher's Resources of Southern Fields and Forests, p. 495.
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other trees there are Post, Live, White and Red Oak, Maple, Poplar, Gum, Ash, Blackjack, Sycamore, Wild Locust, ' Birch, Hickory, Walnut, Dogwood, Holly, Juniper, Persi- mon, Wild Cherry, Pride of India and Cedar. The Persi- mon-one of the most valuable of our trees-abounds. The fruit, which is not ready for use until after frost, is very sweet and pleasant to the taste, yields on distillation, after fermen- tation, a quantity of spirits, and furnishes a most excellent Beer. The juice of the unripe fruit is said to be preferable to oak bark for tanning, and a black dye may be extracted from it. The wood of the tree is very hard and of fine grain, and has been used for engraving.
These varied resources would make to the farmer of the County the road to wealth short and easy, were he prepared to "make every edge cut." In other words, could he find a market at his door for the many productions of his field, his garden, his orchard and his forest. But while he has every help and facility for the preparation for market of his Cotton, his Turpentine and his Lumber, and competing buyers on hand and eager to purchase, when he varies his industry, and seeks to sell some other production of his farm or his forest, he meets with no assistance, and finds that he must take upon himself all of the trouble, expense and risk of its ship- ment to and sale in some distant market. This difficulty is aggravated by his inexperience, and, most commonly, the result is pecuniary loss, the laughter of his neighbors, and a damper put upon his spirit of enterprise. The purchasing house is not likely to be established until the article to be purchased is produced in sufficient quantities to meet the demands of a large business, and yet production is limited and depressed by the want of a purchasing house. This difficulty can be overcome by a combination of capital and enterprise ; but this combination the County does not pos- sess, and is most sadly in need of. The prospect, however, is not without hope. Our people are thinking over and de- siring, as they never thought over and desired before, the
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development of the manifold resources of their soil and cli- mate. There is no lack of enterprise, and though many have failed, some few are succeeding, despite all difficulties and discouragements, and are inducing others to join in their efforts. There is a well founded hope that many years will not pass before the County will be richer and more prosper- ous than ever in the past.
There are several prosperous organizations of farmers look- ing to the improvement of the agriculture of the County. An Agricultural Society, established long before the war, still exists, and holds an Annual Session, in the Summer, at which an Address is made and Reports read on various agri- cultural topics. Several years ago an Agricultural and Me- chanical Fair Company was established, which now owns beautiful grounds, near Darlington Court House, is in a sound financial condition, and holds annually two Fairs-one in the Summer, for Fruit, Vegetables, and Flowers ; and a General Fair in the Fall. The Patrons of Husbandry have estab- lished a number of Granges in the County, and these are full of life, rapidly increasing in numbers, and doing much for the elevation of the farmer and his occupation, the increase of his social enjoyments, and the introduction of skill and economy in the management of his financial affairs.
CLIMATE-HEALTH-INVITATION TO IMMIGRANTS.
The climate of Darlington County is a medium between that of tropical and of cold temperate latitudes. The Sum- mers are temperate, and the Winters mild. The number of extremely warm days rarely exceeds thirty in a year, and during these the thermometer seldom stands above ninety- two degrees. Of these warmest days, it is not often that more than two or three come together. Thunder showers, often accompanied by hail, occur frequently, and greatly moderate the Summer heat ; while a fresh breeze usually springs up in the evening, rendering the nights cool and pleasant.
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The number of very cold days during the Winter does not exceed the average annual number of very warm days. Vegetation is checked for about six weeks. The ground is rarely frozen so hard or to such a depth as not to be quickly thawed by the rising sun. Ice of half an inch in thickness rarely occurs. It is not often that a Winter affords more than two or three light snows, quickly melted. In some years January, and in others February, is our coldest month. Fires are kept in our houses, with not unfrequent interrup- tions from warm days, from four to six months in the year. The architecture of our houses shows, palpably, that their builders looked more to protection from heat than protec- tion from cold.
Rain is frequent and well distributed the year round. In July and August we have most rain, while May and June are usually our driest months.
An impression prevails abroad that the whole of lower South Carolina is very unhealthy ; but this is an error easy to be exploded, by a comparison of our bills of mortality with those of sections of country having high reputation for health. The mildness and regularity of our climate is favor- able to health, while the single local cause of disease-the malaria of our swamps and low lands-is easily avoided by drainage or location of dwelling houses on the healthy up- lands.
These uplands, forming the largest part of the County, compare, in point of healthfulness, advantageously with the most favored sections of the United States.
Our sickly months are August and September, the rest of the year being healthy. In Winter, the diseases consist of Catarrhal affections and Pneumonia of a mild type, rarely producing permanent or organic injury to the lungs, with oc- casional Rheumatisms ; in the Spring bowel affections-such as Diarrhea and Dysentery-are met with, yielding readily to treatment, and rarely fatal, except among children ; in the latter part of the Summer and the early part of the Fall, oc-
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cur the Fevers produced by malaria. These Fevers of the Summer and Fall are either Intermittent or Remittent. The first is the most common, and is light in its character, and but little dreaded. The Remittent Bilious Fever is the only serious disease peculiar to the climate. Its treatment is well understood, and where medical assistance is promptly sought, the patient rarely fails to recover.
Instances of longevity are numerous in the County, there being now very many residents over the age of eighty.
Another false and injurious opinion that prevails abroad, concerning this and the other Counties of the State, is, that incoming strangers, and particularly settlers from the North, are, by the whites, not desired, and are received and treated with coldness. This opinion has arisen from a mistake as to the spirit with which our people acknowledged defeat and accepted its results, and from a knowledge of the scorn and contempt with which they have treated and still treat the carpet-baggers, who, coming to us after the war, avoided every honest avocation, busied themselves in arraying the negro against the white man, filled our public offices, and amassed fortunes by all manner of corruption and dishones- ty. Such settlers as have sought their living by honest means, and have evidenced character, have had, and have now, no reason to complain of their treatment.
This pamphlet demonstrates the true disposition and desire of the white people of Darlington County. Prepared by direc- tion of the Granges of the County, composed of its representa- tive farmers and citizens, it is meant for distribution among the Granges of the other States of the Union, and particu- larly of the North and Northwest, as an invitation to honest men, of whatever political opinions, to come and join us in the work of developing our resources, and share with us the wealth and prosperity that must speedily result. It says to such settlers, you will be met, as you enter our County, by an organization of farmers, cager to give you a Southern welcome, and, by every practical assistance, to smoothe your way to an advantageous settlement within our borders.
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With no ill will to the negro-believing that we subserve his best interests, as well as our own-we seek, by the peace- ful means of immigration, to overcome the negro majority in our County, to restore to its offices capacity and honesty, to bring out the hidden riches of the land, and to make our County once again, as in the past, wealthy and prosperous. R. W. BOYD, Darlington Court House,
B. F. WILLIAMSON, Darlington Court House, JOHN A. WILSON, Society Hill,
Committee on Immigration.
SEPTEMBER 15THI, 1874.
LE N 10
HISTORY,
DESCRIPTION AND RESOURCES
OF
DARLINGTON COUNTY,
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
CHARLESTON, S. C. THE NEWS AND COURIER JOB PRESSES. 1874.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
0 014 417 269 3 1
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