Page:Eastern North Carolina Encyclopedia.djvu/36



In looking over the many inducements offered the prospective settler or investor by Eastern Carolina the inquirer will profit by stopping for awhile to consider the many advantages to be found in the County of Nash.

Nash County was created in 1777 by the General Assembly of North Carolina, and since that time has played an important part in the history of the State and Nation. It is situated in the northeastern part of the great State of North Carolina, just on the divide between the flat lands of the Coastal Plain and the rolling lands of the Piedmont section. Its area is 535 square miles, with a population of 45,000 of practically 100 per cent American citizens.

The geographical location, its splendid soils, its progressive people, and other natural resources are its greatest assets. Here it is cold enough in the winter to encourage thrift and industry among the people. There are usually enough cold days to rid Nash of many noxious insects that become a serious pest in more southerly sections of the cotton belt. Being in the very northern part of the cotton zone, the boll weevil is not expected to survive here in sufficient numbers to become a serious menace to Nash County's high rank as a cotton county. The 1923 crop was the highest yielding crop in the history of the county.

Nash lies in the center of the famous section of Carolina known as the "Marlboro Strip". The soil of this section is a light loam over clay subsoil, and is very easy to cultivate with any of the various types of modern machinery. From this type as an average of her soils, Nash can furnish the farmer with his choice of a few red-clay farms in the western sections of the county, or if he desires sandy lands for peanuts or tobacco and truck these can be easily found within the borders of Nash. All these types are found on some individual farms. Good farms may be bought at prices ranging from $10.00 to $200.00 per acre, depending upon location and improvements.

Being blessed with a variety of fertile soils, naturally Nash County produces a wide variety of crops. The leading ones are cotton, tobacco and corn; while oats, peanuts, wheat, rye, grass, alfalfa, fruits and vegetables are grown quite extensively. To those who desire live stock lands Nash offers natural advantages that are scarcely excelled in the South. Natural grasses grow profusely on the heavier soils, and the various clovers respond eagerly to proper treatment, and twelve month grazing is easily secured for live stock. This type of farming is on the increase in Nash County. Ready markets for meats and poultry products are Thirty