l l llll I ir if i I ft
VOL. II., NO. 7.
PINEHURST, N. C, DEC. 9, 1898.
PRICE THREE CENTS.
THE SAND HILL REGION.
Extracts from the Board of
Agriculture's Publication.
Description of the Section of tbis State
in Which Pinehurst Is Located,
Where "The Healing Touch of Nature, Though
Seeming Slow, Is Yet More Cun
ning Than Science."
The State Board of Agriculture of
North Carolina has done and is doing a
Treat and good work in furnishing im
portant information regarding the re
sources of this state to prospective rest
dents and investors, as well as aiding the
present inhabitants in many ways. Its
book, Xorth Carolina and Its llesources,
contains a wealth of information about
all sections of the state. Below are a
few extracts concerning the region
around Pinehurst :
PINY-WOODS RESORTS.
"Xorth Carolina lias a large region of
piny-woods noted as a resort for those
suffering from throat, lung and kindred
diseases. The healing touch of nature,
though seeming slow, is yet more cun
ning than science. Once disease takes
hold in the harsher northern climates,
the sufferer must And a milder and more
benignant sky, and And in its genial, dry
and invigorating air a balm to heal.
There are healing virtues in the bal
samic breath of the long leaf pine. Pro
fessor Schrieber of Vienna, states : 'that
turpentine exhaled from the pine is the
most effective agent known for convert
ing the oxygen of the air into ozone,'
and Mr. Tufts in his booklet, says:
'Ozonized oxygen is a powerful antisep
tic and disinfectant. Its presence in the
atmosphere gives the latter a remarkably
healing quality for diseased throat and
lungs.' Thus we have the secret which
brings health and hope to the pilgrims
to our Mecca of Pines. ' .
"Dr. G. II. Sadelson, the first to adopt
this section of Moore county as a home,
says : 'A little more than fifteen years
ago, in quest of health, I was directed to
this section by the late State Geologist,
Professor VV. C. Kerr, as the highest,
dry est section in the whole long leaf
pine belt. I came, and getting off the
train at Manly, the then nearest point to
"Shaw's Ridge," I found myself half
shoe deep in clean sand and surrounded
hy a dense pine forest, and breathed an
air saturated and made gratefully fra
grant by the balsamic odor of the tur
pentine pine. Having j made remarkable
improvement in a shovt time, I examined
the surrounding ountrv including
"Shaw's Bidge;" making almost daily
journeys, mostly on foot, and was so fa
vorably impressed with its natural sani
tary advantages that I expressed my
views through the press, at the same
time giving my views to Professor Kerr,
with whom I corresponded.' At that
time the State Geologist was employed
by the State Board of Agriculture, and
reported to it at its regular meeting.
The board was impressed with the facts
presented by the state geologist, supple
mented and amplified by the correspond
ence of Dr. Sadelson, and placed the
matter in the hands of its then immigra
tion agent, Mr. J. T. Patrick."
PINEHURST.
"Rest" the pines say to the pale health
seeker, "the noises and the cares that have
Infested thy life elsewhere come not here.
Rest, and be healed by day. Sleep, and
be healed by night. Night and day we
will not fail to encompass thee with life
giving influences."
"The magic wand of wealth and phil
anthropy, in the hands of Mr. J. W.
Tufts, of Boston, Mass., has caused to
spring from the virgin forest of Moore
county a beautifully built city, as a re
sort for the afflicted. Five thousand
acres are included in the holding, and on
it has been laid out picturesque Pine
hurst. The celebrated landscape artist,
Frederick Law Olmstead, was employed,
and his taste and skill are amply dis
played in the work at this resort. The
board of agriculture also rendered assist
ance in locating this enterprise. As its
field is rather unique in that its philan
thropic originator has built with a view
of relieving the afflicted with small
means, as well as the more fortunate, fi
nancially, it will be worth while to
reproduce a paragraph from his little
book : 'Pinehurst is not intended to be
a sanitarium for hopeless invalids. It
has no hospital features. It is a bright,
cheery village, artistically laid out, pos
sessed of all modern comforts and con
veniences, carefully controlled so as to
make its sanitary and other attractive
conditions permanent. It invites those
in whom disease has not progressed so
far as to render recovery impossible. To
such, whether of large or small means,
it offers advantages absolutely un
equalled.'" N
"Pinehurst is located six miles from
Southern Pines, on the Seaboard Air
Line railroad, and four miles from Aber
deen, on the Aberdeen and West End
railroad. An electric car line connects
Southern Pines with Pinehurst. The
Holly Inn, new, modern in all appoint
ments, is the chief hostelry at Pinehurst.
The water is exceptionally fine, being
supplied from a system of deep bored
wells."
THE SAND HILL SECTION.
"This is the beginning of the great
sandy ridge that extends in a southwest
direction from North Carolina, through
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mis
sissippi, Louisiana and terminates in
Texas. It extends in this state through
parts of the counties of llartnett, Cum
berland, Moore and lliehmond, and is a
well marked line of division between the
Coastal plain and the lower Piedmont
regions. It is a region of elevated sandy
ridges, covered with a growth of long
leaf pine, now in most sections very
largely depleted by the operations of the
turpentine gatherers and the lumbermen,
which is being followed by a growth of
scrub oaks of various species. Until re
cent years it has been a wild forest with
little attempt to cultivate the apparently
barren soil. The dry soil and the balmy
climate have of late years attracted at
tention to the region as a winter resort
for persons afflicted with diseases of the
throat and lungs, and the great benefit
which has been received by many who
have come there for their health, has led
to permanent settlements of Northern
people at Southern Pines and Pinehurst
in Moore county. These settlers began
to experiment with the cultivation of the
soil, and it was found that this apparent
ly barren soil has a wonderful capacity
for the cultivation of fruits of various
kinds, particularly the grape, peach and
blackberry. About the settlement known
as Southern Pines it is estimated that
there are now about one thousand acres
planted in grapes. These are grown en
tirely for shipping as fresh fruit to the
northern markets, in July and August,
though some experiments have been
made in wine making Grapes start
from this section about the middle of
July and the culture has been found re
munerative to those who have given their
vineyards proper attention. The Dela
ware and Niagara grapes grown here are
noted as the best that reach the northern
markets. More recently the peach has
been planted.. One orchard of three hun
dred and fifty acres paid in the fourth
year a profit of twenty per cent, on its
cost in its first crop, and peaches are be
ing planted more extensively than any
other fruit, several hundred acres being
set out the present spring (1806). The
blackberry, mainly the Wilson Early va
riety, has been largely planted, and as
the fruit reaches the northern market
before strawberries are ripe they have
been very profitable. Some have grown
the. Lucretia dewberry, which goes to
market the last of May, and it has been
found to be particularly profitable. Few
experiments have been made here with
strawberries, but there is evidence that
in proper locations they will be a very
profitable crop. It is believed that other
fruits can be grown equally well here,
such as the Japanese and American
plums, and some planting has been done.
The state horticultural society in con
nection with and under the supervision
of the N. C. Agricultural Experiment
Station, has organized an extensive series
of experiments with fertilizers on fruits
of various kinds and vegetables which it
is hoped will develop results of value to
this section. At present it seems to be
the peach and grape region par excellence
of the state. The low price of land, and
the ease with which it can be placed un
dercultivation, together with the healthy
climate and splendid water, are attract
ing a class of intelligent settlers from the
Xorth, and the country will soon become
a community of fruit growers. It is ele
vated above the humid climate of the
coast from five hundred to six hundred
feet, while the winter climate i warmer
than that of the mountain region and the
dry air is very soothing to invalids, who
can spend nearly all the winter in the
open air."
"As intimated, the peach thrives in the
sand hill region as well as the grape, and
the development of the culture of this
fruit has of late outstripped even the
grape there. The most notable orchard
there is owned by the J. Van Lindley
Company, near Pinehurst. This com
pany has now in bearing over three hun
dred and fifty acres in peaches, and has
extended its planting the present spring
(1800), to the extent of about one hun
dred acres more. The intention is to
make the orchard finally cover one
thousand acres. The crop from this or
chard, in 1805, was the first crop from
the trees, and is said to have paid twenty
per cent, on the investment on the whole
tract of over one thousand acres. The
same company has planted about ten
thousand pear trees, which are in a
flourishing condition, but not as yet in a
bearing state. The success of this large
peach orchard has greatly stimulated the
planting of trees in the Sand Hill coun
try, and the available land in the imme
diate vicinity of the railroads, is rapidly
being taken up and advancing in price."
EXPERIMENTS.
"The state horticultural society has
lately' undertaken, in connection with
the agricultural experiment station, the
most extensive experiments in the fer
tilization of fruit trees, vines and vegeta
bles that have ever been attempted in the
United States. The grounds are situated
near the great Lindley peach orchard,
between Pinehurst and Southern Pines,
and comprises two separate plats cover
ing itbout one hundred and twenty acres
of land. The grounds are accurately
staked out into tenth and twentieth acre
plats, with walks and drives separating
them, and the experiments are made in
various series to test the proper mode of
ipplying fertilizers to promote the
growth of fruits and vegetables, every
conceivable variation being made so as to
get at the proper combinations of the va-
ious forms of plant foods and re-agents.
This work, being done with the greatest
exactness by experts, will be of great
help to those engaging in the culture of
fruits and vegetables in this locality.
These grounds will so&n be one of the
most attractive resorts to the visitors and
esidents of this section, and cannot fail
to be of value to any student of fruit or
vegetable culture.