Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/719

NORTH CAROLINA. that of the farms operated by white farmers. The per cent. of rented farms is high, having been 41.4 per cent. of the total number of farms in 1900. Renting is much more common among the negroes than among the whites, the percentage of renters among each being respectively 68.0 and 33.4. In the western counties, where nearly all the farmers are white, the share system of renting prevails. Among the colored farmers of the cotton-growing counties the cash and share tenants are about equal. The negro farmers usually mortgage their crops.

As may be inferred from the paragraphs under Topography, there is a great diversity of agricultural products, three agricultural sections being recognized. These are the eastern or coastal plain region, containing much sandy and barren soil; the middle or Piedmont section, more undulating, and with a soil more fertile and better adapted to diversified farming; the western or mountainous section, characterized by a fertile loam and best suited to grazing and the raising of temperate zone crops. The crop which stands out prominently as to acreage is corn, the acreage for 1900 exceeding 47 per cent. of the total crop area, and the receipts equaling 25.2 per cent. of the total crop receipts. Since the Civil War the corn acreage has steadily increased. Wheat, the next most prominent cereal, has only one-fourth as large an acreage. The acreage devoted to oats and rye each decreased one-half from 1890 to 1900. The yield per acre of all these crops is very low. The acreage of hay and forage crops is comparatively small. The two crops which yield the largest receipts from sales are cotton and tobacco. The acreage of each fluctuates greatly. An increase in one usually is accompanied by a decrease in the other, the respective acreages being determined by the rise or fall in the price of one or the other crop. The State ranks about eighth as a cotton State, and cotton does not hold the dominant position it maintains in the Commonwealths farther south. However, there was a very decided increase in production from 1850 to 1900, the crop for 1900—459,707 bales—being over three times that of 1850. The utilization of the seed has greatly increased the value of the cotton yield.

Likewise there has been a large increase in the attention given to tobacco-raising. From 1890 to 1900 the acreage was more than doubled, and North Carolina took rank next to Kentucky. The State holds third rank in the production of peanuts and second in the production of sweet potatoes. The former are grown most extensively in the northeastern counties. They are, however, put on the market bearing the Virginia label, being sold to Virginia factories. The area of production increased enormously during 1890-1900. Garden farming has become a prominent industrial feature. The climate enables gardeners to produce for the early Northern market, and cheap transportation is furnished by ocean navigation. The southeastern or Wilmington section has made the greatest progress in this line. Watermelons, cabbages and other vegetables, and strawberries and other small fruits are there grown in abundance. Orchard fruits are most common in the western part of the State, the apple being the principal variety. Peaches are raised, but not in such great quantities as in other Southern States. Rice is raised

along the tide-water rivers, where the construction of dikes makes possible a system of flooding and draining. In Hyde County, however, irrigation is accomplished by pumping. The last census reported 22,279 acres devoted to rice. Peas and sorghum are among the other crops grown.

The following table of acreages explains itself:

. Stock-raising is of secondary importance. Swine is about the only variety of farm animal raised on a scale which permits any considerable outside shipments. There were five times as many mules and asses in 1900 as in 1850. During that period the number of sheep decreased almost two-thirds, the decrease being the most marked in the last decade. The number of horses has increased considerably since 1870, particularly since 1890. Dairying is becoming more important. The following table needs no further comment:

. Prior to 1880 the manufactures were little more than such necessary neighborhood industries as are common to rural communities. In the two decades following 1880 the value of products increased 100.9 and 135.1 per cent. respectively, and the corresponding increase in the number of wage-earners engaged was 85.7 and 109.9 per cent. In 1900 the total number of wage-earners was 70,570, or 3.7 per cent. of the total population. The absence of legislation bearing upon child labor is reflected in the unusually large total of persons employed who are under sixteen years of age. They number one-tenth of the total employed. Most mill-owners, however, have agreed to discontinue the employment of children under twelve years of age.

From the table appended it will be seen not only that each of the ten leading industries made gains from 1890 to 1900, but in a number of them the value of the product increased three-fold or more. The manufacture of cotton goods has realized the largest growth. Several favorable conditions have united to bring about this result. The fact that the cotton fields are near the factories results in the saving of the cost of transportation; the cheapness of living results in lower wages; there is a plentiful supply of wood for fuel; and there is, as already mentioned, plenty of water power. The streams of the State, it is estimated, can furnish 3,500,000 horse power, only a little more than one-fifth of which is now utilized. From 1890 to 1900 the value of the manufactured cotton product