clams are caught in the sounds, in the lower courses of the rivers
flowing into them, or in the neighbouring waters of the sea.
Climate.—North Carolina has a climate which varies from that of the S.E. corner, which approaches the sub-tropical, to that of the Mountain Region, which is like the medium continental type, except that the summers are cooler and the rainfall is greater. The mean annual temperature for the state (below an elevation of 4000 ft.) is about 59° F. For the Coastal Plain Region it is 61° F.; for the Piedmont Plateau Region, 60° F.; for the Mountain Region, 56° F.; for Southport, in the S.E. corner of the state, 64° F.; and for Highlands, at an elevation of 3817 ft. in the S.W. corner, 50° F. January, the coldest month, has a mean temperature of 38° F. in the Mountain Region, of 41° F. on the Piedmont Plateau, and of 44° F. on the Coastal Plain; and in July, the warmest month, the mean is about 79° F. on both the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Plateau and 74° F. in the Mountain Region. Extremes have ranged from −19° F. at Highlands in 1899 to 107° F. at Chapel Hill, Orange county, in 1900 and again in 1902. The average precipitation for the state is about 52 in. a year, nearly all of it in the form of rain. For the Coastal Plain Region it is 54 in.; for the Piedmont Plateau Region, 48 in.; and for the Mountain Region, 53 in. On the E. slope of some of the mountains the rainfall is exceeded nowhere in the United States, save in the N. part of the Pacific Slope. At Highlands, Macon county, during 1898 it was 105·24 in., and during 1901 it was 106·17 in., 30·74 in. falling here during the month of August. The winds are variable and seldom violent, except along the coast during the sub-tropical storms of late summer and early autumn.
Soil.—On the Coastal Plain the soil is generally sandy, but in nearly all parts of this region more or less marl abounds; south of the Neuse river the soil is mostly a loose sand, north of it there is more loam on the uplands, and in the lowlands the soil is usually compact with clay, silt or peat; toward the western border of the region the sand becomes coarser and some gravel is mixed with it. Throughout much of the Piedmont Plateau and Mountain regions the decomposition of felspar and of other aluminous minerals has resulted in a deep soil of clay with which more or less sand is mixed. It is deeper and more sandy where granite is the underlying rock, deeper and more fertile on the north-western than on the south-eastern mountain slopes, and shallower and more clayey where slate is the underlying rock.
Agriculture.—Until the Civil War agriculture was about the only important industry in the state, and at the close of the 19th century it was still the leading one; but from 1880 to 1900 the ratio of agriculturists to all inhabitants of the state engaged in some gainful occupation decreased from 75·3 to 64·1%. The land included in farms amounted in 1900 to 22,745,356 acres or 73% of the total land surface of the state, and the percentage of farm land that was improved increased from 26·5 in 1870 to 36·6 in 1900. Throughout the colonial era the establishment of small estates was a part of the territorial policy of the government of North Carolina, 640 acres being the largest normal grant to any one person; as a consequence of this policy land holdings have always been much smaller here than in most of the other parts of the South, and since the Civil War the rise in the percentage of improved land, the development of truck farming, and the growth in number of negro holdings, have been accompanied by a further decrease in the average size of farms from 316 acres in 1860 to 101·3 acres in 1900. In the latter year there were in all 224,637 farms: of these 93,097 contained less than 50 acres, 55,028 between 50 and 100 acres, 44,052 between 100 and 175 acres, and 4224 over 500 acres. Of the total number of farms 128,978 were operated by owners or part owners, of whom 17,434 were coloured (including Indians); 19,916, by cash tenants, of whom 10,331 were coloured; and 73,092 by share tenants, of whom 26,892 were coloured. After the Civil War there have been several important changes in the crops raised: the development of cotton manufacturing in the South and the utilization of cotton-seed oil and meal gave impetus to cotton culture; and the discovery of the adaptability of much of the cotton land to the culture of tobacco of a superior quality resulted first in the development of a vast tobacco industry and then to a fluctuation in acreage of the crops of tobacco and of cotton, according as the price of either rose or fell. The destruction of pine forests to meet the demands for naval stores, and the introduction and increased use of the refrigerator car, resulted in much attention to the growth of garden produce for Northern markets. Peanut culture, introduced into the state from Virginia soon after the close of the Civil War, spread rapidly. In the meantime the crops of cereals increased little, and stock raising generally decreased.
The principal crops are cotton, Indian corn, tobacco, hay, wheat, sweet potatoes, apples and peanuts. The yield of cotton increased from 62,901,790 ℔ in 1869 to 307,500,000 ℔ in 1909. In 1909 2,898,000 acres were planted to Indian corn, with a crop of 48,686,000 bushels; 570,000 acres to wheat, with a crop of 5,415,000 bushels; and 196,000 acres to oats, with a crop of 3,234,000 bushels. In Caswell county, North Carolina, “lemon yellow” tobacco was first produced in 1852, and the demand for this “bright” variety became so great that except during the interruption of the Civil War its culture spread rapidly. In 1879 the state’s crop amounted to 26,986,213 ℔, in 1889 to 36,375,258 ℔, in 1899 to 127,503,400 ℔, and in 1909 to 144,000,000 ℔. The hay and forage crop increased from 80,528 tons in 1879 to 246,820 tons in 1899; and in 1909 the hay crop was 242,000 tons In the production of vegetables and fruits the state ranks high. Potatoes, cabbage and lettuce are much grown for the early Northern markets.
Farmers of the Piedmont Plateau formerly kept large numbers of horses and cattle from April to November in ranges in the Mountain Region, but with the opening of portions of that country to cultivation the business of pasturage declined, except as the cotton plantations demanded an increased supply of mules; there were 25,259 mules in 1850, 110,011 in 1890, 138,786 in 1900, and 181,000 in 1910. The number of horses was 192,000 in 1910; of dairy cows, 297,000; of hogs, 1,356,000; and of sheep, 215,000.
Cotton is grown most largely in the S. portion of the Piedmont Plateau and in a few counties along or near the W. border of the Coastal Plain; tobacco, in the N. portion of the Piedmont Plateau and in the central and N.W. portions of the Coastal Plain; rice, along the banks of rivers near the coast; wheat, in the valley of the Yadkin; orchard fruits, in the W. portion of the Piedmont Plateau and in the Mountain Region; vegetables and small fruits in the middle and S. portion of the Coastal Plain; peanuts, in the N. portion of the Coastal Plain; sorghum cane, almost wholly in Columbus county in the S. part of the Coastal Plain. The state government, through its Department of Agriculture, takes an active interest in the introduction of modern agricultural methods, and in the promotion of diversified farming; in 1899 it established the Edgecombe and in 1902 the Iredell test farm.
Forests.—North Carolina had in 1900 about 35,300 sq. m. of woodland; great quantities of merchantable timber still remained, especially in the Mountain Region and on the Coastal Plain. The trees of the greatest commercial value are oak and chestnut at the foot of the mountains and yellow pine on the uplands of the Coastal Plain. But mixed with the oak and chestnut or higher up are considerable hickory, birch and maple; farther up the mountain sides are some hemlock and white pine; and on the swamp lands of the Coastal Plain are much cypress and some cedar, and on the Coastal Plain south of the Neuse there is much long-leaf pine from which resin is obtained. Several other pines are found, and among the less important timber trees are black spruce, Carolina balsam, beeches, ashes, sycamore or button wood, sweet gum and lindens. The value of the lumber and timber products was $1,074,003 in 1860; $5,398,742 in 1890; $14,862,593 in 1900; and $15,173,379 in 1905.
Fisheries.—In the sounds along the coast, in the lower courses of the rivers that flow into them, and along the outer shores fishing is an important industry. The fisheries are chiefly of shad, oysters, mullet, alewives, clams, black bass, menhaden, croakers and bluefish. In 1908 the catch was valued at about $1,750,000. The State Geological and Economic Survey has made a careful study of the fishes of North Carolina, of the shad fisheries, of oyster culture, and of the development of terrapin. At Beaufort the United States Bureau of Fisheries has a marine biological laboratory, established in 1901 for the study of the aquatic fauna of the south-east coast.
Minerals.—At the beginning of the 20th century a great number of minerals were found in the Piedmont Plateau and Mountain regions, but most of them in such small quantities as to be of little or no commercial value, and in 1902 the total value of the products of the mines and quarries was only $927,376; but in 1907 their value was $2,961,381, and in 1908, $2,145,947. During the first half of the 19th century North Carolina was a mining state of the first importance; in 1804 it was the only state in the United States from which gold was obtained. Operations ceased during the Civil War, and although resumed soon after its close, they became somewhat desultory. Probably the earliest large find was a 17-℔ nugget on the Reed Plantation in Cabarrus county in 1799; in the same mine a 28-℔ nugget, probably the largest found in eastern United States, was discovered in 1803. The production in Rutherford and Burke counties and their vicinity was so great, and transportation to the United States Mint at Philadelphia so difficult, that from 1831 to 1857 gold was privately coined in 1, 212 and 5 dollar pieces bearing the mark of the coiner “C. Bechtler, Rutherford county, N.C.” The coins were of standard purity (or higher); they are now very rare. A branch mint of the United States was established in 1837 at Charlotte. Silver, which is rarer in the state than gold, is found chiefly in the W. portion of the Piedmont Plateau. In 1902 the value of the gold and silver product combined was $71,287, and in 1908, when the Iola mine 6 m. E. of Troy, Montgomery county, was the most productive, the value of the gold alone was $97,945, that of the silver $668, and that of copper, $2560.
In 1870 North Carolina’s mica mines were reopened, and they produce the best grade of sheet mica for glazing and a large percentage of the country’s yield of this mineral. Most of it has been found in the N.E. portion of the Mountain Region; and that mica. was mined here before any European settlement of the country seems proved by numerous excavations and by huge heaps on which are large oak and chestnut trees, some fallen and decayed. North Carolina is also the leading state in the Union in the production of monazite. The mining of corundum was begun at Corundum Hill in Macon county in 1871, and from 1880 to 1902 the output was considerable, but with the discovery of the Canadian corundum
