Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1856-05-23
MEsTERN VIRGINIA..

Every few years q new direction is Civ.
en- to the flow of emigration. Young
America must move some where. To
live and die on the acres of his ancestors.
is no part OF his education or disposition.
Ohio once had her attraction for the bold
adventurer, but she gave place to Indiana,
Michigan and Illinois, and then Iowa,
Wisconsin and Minnesota followed, till dis
tance painted Oregon and California in
glowing colors; and these finally are most
forgotten in the excitement of Kansas and
the sunny prairies Of Nebraska. But the
strangest phase of all of the emigration
mania, is now developing itself. Hard.
ships. vexations and disappointments hav>
ing met emigration on its entrance into all
the fair paradises. that viewed from a
distance looked SO inviting, the itinerant
multitude sat down to sober reflection,
reviewed the whole question, and the
conclusion come to is as true and natural,
as it is surprising that it was SO long
overlooked that every thing considered,
they had passed over those sections Of
country abounding in good soil. good
timber and good health, TO seek the low
timberless, rich, but unhealthy prairies
of the Western States. And when we re-
fleet fully upon the subject it is no long
er matter Of wonder that the attention
of those seeking out locations Of future
homes should be directed TO the high
lands of Western Virginia, where the
cheapness of land, productiveness Of soil,
purity of air and water, mlldness Of eli
mate, hold out inducements to the poor.
but industrious man, not now to be found
in any other part of the country. These
lands can be purchased al about two dol
lars per acre, and the only obstacle to be
overcome in converting them into good
farms is the heavy growth of timber with
which they are covered. The timber is
'Oak, Hickory, Chestnut, Beech. Maple.
and on the higher ridges, Pine, but the
we'll applied strokes of the axeman. soon
remove these, and the timber finds a
ready and excellent market in the cities
Of the Ohio Valley, or it can be burnt
and converted into potash, and the pro-
fit therefrom will more than pay for
the original cost Of the land and the cost
of clearing. Corn grows as luxuriantly
on tLese high lands as in the valleys; and
for wheat. oats, rye and barley they are
unsurpassed. For fruit trees and grapes
no soil or climate can be better, all man
ner of northern fruits being produced in
great abundance wherever tried. and the
grapes surprising those Of the low'lands
in size and richness, and are free from the
diseases so destructive to them in our
river bottoms. Glover and the various
grasses take ready hold in the soil, and
afford hay and pasturage equal to land
any where.
All 10 all. the highlands of Western
Virginia hold out stronger inducements
to The hardy settler. than any lands we
know in any section of country. Free
from the levers Of Illinois, the savages Of
Kansas, and the uncertainties of Califor-
MIA. they extend their rich soil to The in
dustriOus laboring man, and promise a
rich return in wine, and corn, and wheat
and cattle. No wonder that emigration
is now rolling in to take possession Of
them.- Wheeling LntelIigencer.