Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1842-12-08
Concluded next week

y y
29th Of October, 1912.
Concluded next week
i Wien we look into the early a9ricul
tural history Of our own country. ant
particularly to that portion of it east o
the mountains, we trace causes operating
with bIishting iesolation over its beau
tiiul and fertile su~,lce, as received b,
the white man from the hand Of nature
1t was settled about the year 1850; SIX
ty years after wards, the price of the hes
high lands scarcely exceeded two dollars
per acre. the average price of the periot
was under 81 so. The consideration
expressed in the deed ofsale, now in my
possession. of two hundred acres ct land
on which the Shatwell Mill aud FactorN
are situated, was Henry Wetherbaffl''
1.-THE then keeper of Raleigh tavern. Will
amsburs) biggest howl of arraok Punch,
This is some of the most valuable h.Essl
land in the county, Independent Of it
water-power. The appraise'nents OF de
cedent's estates about 1860, of record il
the Clerks Office show the value OF ne
gro men to have been one hundred ano
fiftv dollars and under. Among sne@
inventories, but one horse was rated az
high as forty years. Cows and calves
from $3.50 to $500. All other stock
and implements in proportion. An in
dividual could then have purchased five
hundred acres of the best high land for
from $500 to $3.50. supply it with ten
working hands, at from one thousand to
twelve hundred dollars. procure his inn
plements, stock, and years supply of
corn for $3.50. The implements consist
ed. almost exclusively of axes and hoes;
a few ploughs of a construction so simple
that the butt of single was deemed a
most appropriate piece of timber for a
mould board. Cabins were constructed
without nail or bit of; iron. Houses at
a later period were shingled, wooden pegs
being used instead of nails. Few farms
boosted pair of cart wheels, the tobacco
was rolled to market i'll the hogshead in
which it was prised. Corn rose, from the
great drought of 1855, to ten shillings
the barrel price SO uEexampled. that
for wears afterwards it was known as the
ten shilling year.
For $4,000, farm of the best high
land could be purchased and stocked for
culture. Tobacco was the sole crop for
market, corn with its shucks, tops apd
fodder supplied food for man and animals.
Wheat was cultivated in 'patch,' and
-four formed an article of occasional lux
ury. The tobacco was raised exclusive
ly upon virgin soil, which produced it
from two to three. and even five years in
succession, according to their fertility,
leaving the land in the finest condition to
produce corn with the least possible labor.
1t was continued annually in corn until
shallow culture and heavy rains had stri p
ped it Of its soil and marked the gullies
for future wear; new portions turned off
annually from tobacco, supplied fresh
ields to desolate. A fair crop of tobacco,
it'll good management, upon lands not
icked or culIed by previous clearings,
as probably not under 1000 lbs to the
md Gt was sometimes doubled) 10000
BIS. to the farm. This tobacco sold froT
$3.50 to 1888 per hundred weight. The
Whole crop of the State sold;f for the same
Price. all that passed inspection was held
,f like quality. The merchant purchas-
ID by the inspectors certificate, without
eeing the tobacco. The gross sales of
UGH farm fluctuated from $500 to $667
,er annum, from 25 to 535 per cent. up
ia the capital vested. The expenses
were of the simplest kind and of the
smallest amount, and were fully balance
ed by the living of the family out of the
other products of the farm. And this En-
ormous per centage was made by bend
ing all their energies to clearing the
country of its forests, and desolating it
in their progress. The product of an
acre of virgin land in tobacco was then
worth from $40 to $27. The first crop
paid 500 per cent. upon the cost OF clear
ing. The offal of the crop for manure
was as nought; the cattle few and poor
ly fed, the means of improvement scarce
Iy existed. To have attempted it pro-
missed no compensation. UncIeared lands
that were productive in tobacco were
cheap and abundant. This state of things
operated as high bounty upon desola-
ton, and desolation followed, as the ma
tarai consequence. IN the t0otsteps oil our
fathers. Many of US can recollect the
aspect OF the country, its fertile hills con-
verted into barren wastes, abraded every
where by impossible gulies. The la
Dor of smoothing its surface and again CO.
vering it with vegetation has been in ma
ny instances accomplished. The iacili-
ty with which it has been done gives the
: most encouraging evidences Of the natur-
al fertility Of the soil. 1t has developed
energies which the most sanguine had not
anticipated, and gives an assurance that
however fair and remuneratng our pre-
sent productions may be, they certainly
form bnt small portion OF that, which a
iudicious system Of husbandry would lead
US 10 anticipate. Compare what it was,