Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-02-19
Why Not Go south.

We have long ueen at q iOss 10 uDuerstahu
ghy it is that our enterprislng young men
choose rather to 90 into the western wilder
meas submit to all the privations and hard.
sbips of a frontier aud pioneer life, and de-
prIye themselves Of all the social comforts OF
society. when, by emlgratIrg to Virginia,
they would find all the comforts and bleS-
sings Of social interc urse, and very greatly
suuerior facilities for acquiring an honest IN
dependence. .
In Eastern Virginia, in the vicinity of
Norfolk especially, lands are cheap, exceed
ingly easy of cultivation, and the facilities
for forwarding produce of all kinds to mar
ket arc unsurpassed in any section of the
country. The season being nearly a fort
mint earlier than that Of p ,iladelphia. yegG-
tables # all kinds sent here bring high
prices. More money could be realized with
less labor, by purchasing a small farm IN
Eastern Virginia, and raising early veSeta-
bles for the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
New York markets, than in any other way
the ingenuity Of man could devise.
Several years ago, while the writer OF this
was publishing the Cd Dominion, a Demo
c~rsrit paper, at Portsmouth, Virginia, he
uT1pu ulD.I the FiIhI " III '1Sih'sT
of that town and Norfolk. t. engage in this
business. Neither their fathers nor grand
fathers had ever turned their attention to 1t,
and they listened with RESPECTFUL lncredulity
to any Suggestions IN the way Of innovation
upon aucIeLt u-ages and customs. AT last
an eoterprising farmer, from Camden, New
Jersey. purchased a farm 10 the nelghbor-
hood trr $1,000, payments to be made IN one,
ts0. and three wears. The Rip Van Win
kles who had been doing in dlgniiei t)rpor
for half q century, partially rubbed open
their eyes, yawGed slightly, and relapsed
: into their former sluggishness and apathy
with the stpleut reflection that the man was
a natural born fool Il think Ut making
money by gardening III that vlcinity-he
would never pay for his land. that was a
we'll established fixed fact. The result pro-
we'd that even wise leopie can make CHROME
Gus calculations sometimes. The third year
this natural born fool" raised surVlus
enough on his little farm TO pay the whole
amount of the $4,000, over and above what
he soil in the markets Of Norfolk and Ports
mouth. lie ]shippei enough Of four articles
alone, pea, cucumDers. tDmatoes. ana pOti-
toes, TO Baltimore and Philadelphia, to pay
tue cultTt tilDuul vi puiObaeC hJurJ WI
his farm, without taking into the account the
product OF his fruit trees, which he used IN
his own family, aud as We have already said
what he sold ia the two markets at home
Where, 10 all the wild prairie5 Of the bound
less West, can you find a spot that will al
ford a parallel tc this
Then, this Now Jersey farmer enjoyed the
pleasure of society; be bad ueighbors, &C
quaintances, and friends, all around him
lie was not isolated, living solitary and
alone, heruit-!ike, Tar from human sympathy
and cJmpanlOnshlp, with few or no ASSOC
cl aes TO break the odlouS monotomy Of pio-
uecr lfe. Again, We ask-"Why not 20
SJu'h?'
The following item, which we copy from
the Norfolk Argus, attIrds an apt commen-
tary upon our own reflections:
IRISH PuTAToES.-We stated yesterday
that a farmer near Norfolk cleared -, 600
On q potato patch of only % acres. This IS.
however, not equal to the crop Of another
Norfolk county farmer, Oh g acres. Forty
bushels were planted, and the yield was az
bbls., equal TO 126 bushels, which he sold 10
tins market TOR 50 80 per barrel, making
SSH, or Sl4l per acre. sd they been sold
1t tne price, obtained in the season, the pro
cerds would have amOunted to $1,000
PHILADELPHIA argus.