Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1857-06-12
From Virginia,
Special Correspondent of TIE TrareNer
FAIRFAX CoURr HoUsE,
Saturday May II, 1857.


Saturday May II, 1857.
WALKS AND TALKS IN cAIRfAx COUNTY
| left Alexandria this morning. on
foot, to see how the country looked, how
the people talked, the price of land. the
mode of living. and the system of agri-
culture in rogae in this very fertile sec.
ton OF Virginia.
regret to state that repeated walk.
through the city of Alexandria COMPEL.
ed me TO adhere to my first impressions
of that lazy town. 1t is a dull, dismal
dirty, decrepid, ill-paved. i'll swept. i'll
scented place. Il has slowly increased
IN population. and its real estate has
greatly risen in value, since the opening
Of the railroads which now terminate
there, and since the incorporation Of
another line now in course of construc
ton.
With onr- tenth "f the natu al adran-
tage> it possesses. il Alexandria had
been situated in Northern State. one
hunlrs ia hlusanI souls would nos have
settled thefc.
SUM- BBH OF AtEXANDRIA.
For three or four miles around A'cx-
an lria. the country is as b, autiful IS
beautiful raa b. walked through It
81 ke dre.m The day was exceed.
ingf peasant - soft. warm zephyr
wa~ III wing tom the South almost pon.
j rous, / 'm ;. with the perfume of
bose j., s3raAbefy and Howers,-the
c, AZ t,ee ky valie5ate4 with neecy
cFais. ia wy variety o combination
of the ,p1 reailv tr,nluil Potomac, vis-
lble and beautiful in the distance. .-cul-
ti,atod field, in the valley and running
up tie misrepresentation with houses
gnl intersp rsad with innumcrablc strips
Of forest IN ioiiage.- - made landscape, a
t'rr stal picture OF almost celestial
charms aud worldly perfection.
4 SMALL FARM.
Fur two or three miles on the road
travelled, the Ia i is chiefly held in small
sections, ard devoted to the culture o,
market produce
entered the house OF one of these
s'na farmers, It was one and -a-half.
story frame. old. and in neeI of repair
Il had TEN whitewashed, and had rather
a shiitlc,s-lookins aspect generally.
The farmers wife, bustling Yam
kee -isa woman.-was at home the old
mln was IN town VITA the produce of his
fields
a>hed her how many ares there
were in her firm, and whether she would
sell il
She said there were ffy-nna acres,
OF light sandy soil; that they cultivated
SWEET = tl.oes and market produce. al
most exclusively. She didn't believe
her old man would sell it certainly not
tor less than 800 an acre Land had
i,,cn in value much indeed within the
last few years. Her brother William,
however. had a farm on the Lec,burg
road. that he wanted to sell ,--"Wel, he
warn't in any hurry about it, ether" but
she reckoned he night come 10 terms
with mc--it were first rate farm, too,
and She believed it would just suit me.
How many hands do you employ to
keep your farm in order: -
"Well my husband. he keeps four
hands besides himself: he's in town
good deal bat we employ three niggers
ami white foreman, all the time on the
talm.'
And You keep woman to assist
you" :"
"Yes.'
"What do YOU pay for your negroes
do YOU hire them, or do you own
them -
Cosr OF SLAVE LABOR
20 no. we don't own none, we hire
them from their owners, by the year.
Fed hands,-get from SllO to Sl20;
and we pay about from eighty to ninety
dollars for boys
Wilt do You call a boy
"Well. Niger from seventeen to
twenty two pretty much. often. accor-
ding to their strength We count some
hand. men Younger than others"
What dc yoa have to pay for wo
men :"
II pay seventy five dollars for this
gall, and then her doctors bill. if she
gets sick. and her clothes"
w hat do you reckon her clothes
worth ?'
We'll, we've to give them, both
field hands and house servants. two
summer suits and a winter suit. That
what's allowed them by law, but most
OF them have to get more. We most
always have to give them four suits a
year"
"Iow much does it cost you to clothe
a house servant p
We'll, about fourteen or fifteen dol
lars year or So
"And field lands -
Field hands cost about the same, or
not much more than women. Their
summer suits cost little, and we clothe
the niggers in winter in what we call
Virginia cloth its coarse stuff. does
very well. and don't cost a great deal"
Their pants, vest and coat are all
made out of the same stuff, are they p
30 yes"
"Wh do you manure your farm
,,,; u, ~