Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-09-30

ton, and when it Is recolleeted that
Leeds parish or Upper Fauqulcr, pro
dnced, according to The census Of
1910, 294,858 bushels of wheat,
whilst Hamilton parish, or, Lower Eau
QUEER, only produced 81, 1863 bushels of
wheat that the country around and
above Warrenton, is fine farming
country, whilst The greater part of
Lower FauQuIer is barren, that large
quantity of the whea: of Upper Fau-
quier finds a market in Falmouth and
Fredericksburg, that the section of
Fauquier lying above Warsen,on and
on and near the Rappahannork river,
= known as the Free State and the Ma
nor. grows but little wheat or other
grain. that the railroad from its being
| a cheaper and safer conveyance than
] the river improvement, will draw near
" all the tiade ofcentral and upper Fau-
quier, large share of trade from Gull
pepper and 'Rappahannock, and a
much increased trade from Loudon,
there should not be doubt, but that
:he tonnage upon the railroad will ex-
coed 26 900 tons, without calculating
upon any receipts Of -four or grain be-
/ yond the Blue Ridge. | think we
may safely calculate upon the quanti-
| ~ givensin the freight table, being re-
allied. Again the crop of 1888 was a
very short crop, for the flour inspected
n Alexandra, in 1880, only amounted
to 20, PTS barrels, when in 1881, there
was inspected 2O9, 1896 barrels. The
Corn trade of Alexandria has increased,
and this article has become most I'M
portant one in our commerce.
In the address of the Committee TO
the farmers, it was estimated that the
wheat Of the range of county, that
would trade upon the railroad, and
which was then delivered in Falmouth
and Fredericksburg, for the year end
ing July, 1899, Did not fall short of
10000 bushels, and that The amount
of Plaster and Salt sold in those towns
to the section Of country that would
trade with the railroad, was 5000 tons
of Plaster, and 81 600 bushels of Salt,
and that the trade that might have been
expected on the railroad in 1889,
would have been TAI, $3.50 bushels of
wheat, $500 tons of plaster and 5S,-
900 bushels of Salt. The crop of
1898, delivered in 1888 ard 9. was
judged by men well qualified to form
an opinion, from their business relations
and practical knowledge, to be only an
average Of half a crop, and The amount
of actual trade, that would be upon the
railroad was supposed to be double
the quantity above, or $4,000 BUSH
els of wheat, 10000 tons of plaster,
and 100000 bushels of salt. But
to be clearly below, instead of above
the mark. Mr.. \. J. Marshall, the gen
tleman appointed by the Stockholders
to collect those statistics, struck off
from his estimate 100000 bushels of
wheat, and stated the trade that might
be expected upon the RAILROAD, at l :
100000 bushels Of wheat, 100000
bushels ofsalt and 10000 tons of plas-
ter, or 3S, 900 tons.
After closing his estimate, Mr..
Marshall, states that, sin addition to
this. the rich and beautiful farming
country which skirts the eastern base
of the Blue Ridge from Ashby's Gap,
stretching across the county of Fau-
! quier, far into Rappahannock, has, for
some years back, looked to the uncertain
navigation Of the Shenandoah for its
outlet to market. The amount of this
trade, have no data by which to cal,
culate, but some opinion may be form
ed fits extent, when it is stated that
much Of the wheat as low down as Oak
Hill and Barbee's cross roads, in the
county of Farquler, finds its way
to the Mills on the Shenandoah
None Of it, however, is embraced in
the foregoing estimates, as it is car
ried from the river Mills to Winches-
ter, or boated to Georgetown" All
this trade, not estimated by. Mr.. Mar
shall, will pass over the Shenandoah
railroad to Alexandra. And do not
think, it would be unreasonable, to es-
! innate the total trade upon the road
from the eastern side of the Ridge al
10000 TONS When we consider that
Mr.. Marshall estimated the trade in
1889 from Warrenton at $4,000 tons,
from wseat, salt, and plaster, no other
article being included, that this road to
Warsenton, was only to reach to a
point a. miles from Alexandra whilst
Farrowsville is 90 miles from Aexan-
dria; that the route of the Shenandoah
road passes through a more productive
section of the country than the route Of
The proposed railroad to Warrenton;