South Carolina

Dairying and the live stock industry as a whole, in South Caro lina, is capable of much further development. The State produces only about one-third of the creamery butter it consumes, there being hardly more than one cow to the farm on an average. In 1935 there were reported only 170,000 milch cows in the State and a total milk production of but 551,000,00o lb. The total value of the principal classes of live stock was Forests.—The total stand of saw timber in South Carolina in 1920 was estimated at 25,000,000,000 bd.ft., of which 15,000, 000,000 bd.ft. were in softwoods and 10,000,000,000 bd.ft. in hardwoods. The annual growth was estimated at about 250,000, 00o bd. feet. In 1934 lumber production in the State was 341, 000,000 feet (board measure) or about 2.2% of the nation's total. Small quantities of turpentine and rosin are produced from the slash pine forests of the coastal plain.

Fisheries.

The commercial fisheries are located in the five coastal counties—Beaufort, Colleton, Charleston, Georgetown and Horry. In 1932 the output of fisheries in the State was 4,536,000 lb. or $123,400. Oysters are canned in quantity, but several other kinds of fish are also taken.

Minerals.

South Carolina's mining output is small, amount ing in 1933 to only •04% of the total mineral value of the United States. The principal mineral products in the order of value were clay products, stone, sand and gravel and barite.

The stone quarried in South Carolina is chiefly granite and granite-gneiss. High grade granite, the "Winnsboro Blue," is quarried in Fairfield county near Rion. Barite is mined chiefly near Gaffney, Cherokee county.

Manufactures.

In 5929 there were 1,651 manufacturing es tablishments in South Carolina, employing 108.706 wage earners and producing $385,144,000 worth of goods. This activity fell off sharply during the depression but had somewhat recovered by 1933, when the figures stood respectively at S88 plants, 104,336 workers, and production. Of the total output cotton goods composed 63.1% in value. The number of cotton manu facturing establishments in 1933 was 145. The number of pro ducing spindles 5,720,512, looms 134,497, the operatives 74,593, the amount of raw cotton consumed 1,101,000 bales and the value of the output $162,410,918. Practically every grade of cotton cloth is produced. Factors contributing to the phenomenal devel opment of the cotton textile in dustry in South Carolina are the abundance of cheap hydro-elec tric power from the Piedmont streams, a suitable climate and dependable native labour. The

Piedmont section leads in the textile industry. The values of the output in the chief producing counties were, in 1927, for Spar tanburg $39,560,544, for Green ville $33,419,033, for Anderson $22,679,697, for York 131, for Greenwood for Union $13,724,135 and for Chester $10,522,567. Charleston and Richland counties are important for diversified manufactures. During 1933 lumber and timber products equalled $8,550.394; cotton seed oil, meal and cake, $5,191,007; electric current $16, 919,000 (an increase since 1929); fertilizers, $5,526,968; foundry and machine-shop products $292,313 ; printing and publishing $2,400,451; flour, feed and grist $545,815.

Hydro-electric development has greatly aided both indus trially and in bettering living conditions. The report of the U.S. Geological Survey (1934) ranks South Carolina sixth among the States of the Union in developed water-power and estimates the State's potential water-power at 550,000 h.p. for 90% of the time and 86o,000 h.p. for 5o% of the time. The existing 59 water power plants had a capacity of 811,431 h.p. In 1927, 63% of the power used by textile mills was hydro-electric. The Murray dam about io miles above Columbia on Saluda river, measuring 208 feet high and 7,000 feet long (one of the largest earth dams in existence) forms a lake of about 50,00o ac. in area and develops approximately 200,000 h.p. (150,000 kilowatts).

Transportation and Commerce.

The chief railway systems of South Carolina are the Southern, the Atlantic Coast Line, and the Seaboard Air Line. Steam railway mileage was gradually re duced from 3,780 miles on Dec. 31, 1930 to 3,681 miles on Dec. 31, 1934 while a corresponding reduction brought the track mile age of electric railways in the State from 301 m. in 1922 to 246 m. in 1932. The mileage of State highway on Dec. 31, 1934 was 5,998, of which 2,372 M. were paved and 336 M. surfaced with gravel, chert, etc. Automobile registration fell from 231,274 in 1929 to 162,735 in 1933 but rose to 202,834 in Inland water communication is possible on a number of the larger navigable rivers, but is undeveloped except slightly near the coast. Charleston in 1933 had a foreign trade totalling 424,000 short tons as compared with 1,142,114 tons in 1925; its coastwise trade amounted to 1,095,000 tons as compared with 1,531,577 tons in 1925.