Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1859-09-13

For the Spectator
Agriculture of Augusta County.

For the Spectator.
Agriculture of Augusta County.
SECTION |.
Hastory.-The early settlers of this count,
were mostly Scotch Irish and German immi-
grants, and their descendants, drawn hither
chiefly from Pennsylvania and the Jerseys. They
were led to seek this new and beautiful wilder
ness garden, partly by the enticiDg offers o
cheap and fertile land, held out by individuals tx
whom large grants had been made by the colo
NAL government, and partly by the bppe of here
enjoying that freedom of opinion in religious
matters and those peculiar forms of worship
which they had inherited from their tore.fathers
These sturdy colonists were not generally in
possession of much worldly wealth, but they hat
what was far better-strong hands and homes
hearts. They owned but few slaves, and were
therefore, dependent almost entirely upon theil
personal labors for the support of their families
The work of building houses and clearing ou
fields in the heart of the forest, left them but lit
tie time for cultivating those refined manners and
social habits which are becoming more and more
conspicuous amongst their Weather and better
educated posterity. Industry and close attention
to business were prominent amongst their char
acteristo traits.
Another result of their limited means and weak
force was the necessity of making their lands
yield the largest possible product with the least
possible amount of labor. On fresh, virgin soils
they thought it better to till large amount oil
surface moderately well, than to till more cir
cumscribed area with greater care. This, togeth
er with the old bar-share plow with o wooden
mouldboard, made shallow, hasty blowing the
order of the day. This style of farming has left
many an exhausted field to try the skill and pa,
thence of subsequent owners of the land, and tc
be renovated only by more judioious system o.
husbandry. Unfortunately these early habits
have been transmitted as very undesirable in.
heritance to some OF their descendants. Where
this is the case, nothing but the native vigor OF
naturally fertile soil, could ever have kept its
cultivators above abject poverty.
To show still further the original strength of
many of the soils of this county, we may state
that many of them have been under constant cul-
tiyation for century and 9 quarter with very
little manqriDg, except the grass and clover crops
produced upon the fields. And even in cases
where the ands have been so hardly dealt with
as to be apparently worn out, deep thorough
plowing. with eSn".% ".e 70 the flosts of winter
light top dressing of manure, followed by the
turning down of a crop or two of clover, are gen
orally sufficient for high degree of restoration
while this process, kept up through several TO
tations of cropping, frequently results in oondi
toE of greater fertility than the same soils seem
ed to possess in the earlier periods of their agr-
cultural history. Wherever judicious system
of culture has been kept up, hundred and TWEEN
years have been insufficient, and under the guild
ing hand ofpractica science, ten times hundred
and twenty years more will be insufficient to ex
haust the strong limestone and shay clays which
form the basis of nearly all the soils OF this por-
ton of the Great Valley.
SECTION II.
Geography.-Sir John Herschell, in his "Out
lines of Astronomy" says "When the continent
and seas are laid down on globe, we find i
possible 80 to divide the globe into two hemis-
pheres, that one shall contain nearly all the land
the other being almost entirely sea. 1t is fac
not a little interesting to Englishmen, and, com
bined with our insular situation in that grea
highway of nations, the Atlantic, not little ex
planatory of our commercial eminence, that Lon
don occupies nearly the centre OF the terrestrial
hemisphere" 1t may also be "a tact not LITTLE
interesting" to Augustanen, that, if line 81
drawn from the shores of the Atlantic on thu
east, through Staunton to the Kentucky borde
on the west, this line will divide the State int
nearly equal parts So If line be drawn through
Stanton in o north and south direction, it will
also divide the arabic lands OF the State amos
equally. We may conclude, therefore, that Au
gusta is geographically near the centre of Vir-
ginia.
| 1t possesses several other geographical features
worthy of note, and more intimately connected
with its agriculture. i. 1t is the most elevated
valley county between the Potomac and thu
James This will be made evident by mo-
ments glance at q good mapf OF the State. l
will be seen that the two Calfpastures run from
the western side of the county, and uniting il
Rockbrdge, form the b. branch of the James
The northern corner is drained by North River
a branch of the SHENANDOAH while the waters
from the more central portion find their way in
to the same stream, chiefly through Middle River
and Christians Greek. The extreme southern cor
ner of the county is drained by the head branches
of the Rockbridge s. River, while the greate
part of that section lying along the base of th'
Blue Ridge, sends off its surplus waters through
the Augusta S. River into the Shenandoah, ant
through it into the Potomac. Thus we find NJ
stream running into this county on any side
Hence we see that there must be large surplus
of rain here preoiptated, sufficient not only tt
produce these streams, but also to render then
perennial. All this indicates fortunate exemp.
ton from frequent and long continued droughts
1t also gives large area OF watered meadows
unsurpassed beauty and luxuriance.
Q. A second feature of some interest in the ge-
ography of the county, arises from the position
and elevation of the ridge, forming the SUNNI
of the watersheds of the James aud Shenandoah
This ridge extends entirely across the count.
near its S. W. boundary, thus giving the create
part of the surface Eat least within the Grea
Valley o general slope or fall towards the N. Z
The whole descent in that direction, from til,
summit of the Central R. R., little west of Buf
falo Gap, to the junction OF North and Middle
rivers, is about one thousand feet. When to TIT
slight influence of this general inclination, we ado
the greater influence OF high elevation, it is easy
to account for the late frost of Spring and tn,
early frosts of Autumn to which this county il
so much exposed. Here too we find the reason
for difference In the length OF seasone, and il
the time of harvest, between this county an(
some Others which border upon it-a difference
which cannot be accounted for on the score O
difference in latitude.
The above mentioned circumstances will mos
probably con6ne this county to the culture of it
present staples, wheat, corn and grass, and to {
great extent exclude tobacco unless some of those
varieties, like the Connecticut seed-leaf, are in
troduoed, which require shorter season than il
required to bring the larger southern kinds te
maturity,
Closely connected with the Geography of the
county is its Geology, which will form the SUBJ
iect of the next section. ]. L. CAMPBELL.
WASHINGTON COLLEGE,
Sep. 8, 1859.
*Perhaps the most reliable map of Augusta to which
the reader can at present have access is on Cooke
Map of Routes to the Va. Springs-for sale by Cowan