New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-14
FROM WESTERN VIRGINIA.
a...s ofrhe NY Tnbnna.

ousrous inquiries about this section Of country,
r,esume that further particulars, not sufficiently
5vet upon by your former correspondents, would be
soeeptabIe TO many Of your readers who contemplate
improving their circumstances By emigration.
From many applications, received by myself aad
ihsr for descriptions Of our SOIL climate, and other
elements Of prosperity, suppose that Northwestern
virginia is but mperfeotly known By that class Of
Sthern stock- farmers who have the greatest inter-
"a in knowing all about it, Much Of what sn
ro;,r 10 say u.s. Of course applicable to several other
.4;ons or counties; but the region have more i'm
0sdiately in view lies chiefly within circle of about
"a miles in diameter, Of which West Union, the seat OF
I,oddridCe County, is the center
Nv referring to modern map Of the State, 1t viii be
sen that West Union is situated immediately on the
yorb. Western Virginia Railroad, nearly midway be-
+seen Psrkersburg and Grafton where It untes with
~ Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. BY means Of these
sds and their connections the place ia brought to
yhlin two hours from the Quo River, aud 10 from
baltimore and Cincinnati The Norh-We stern Turn
rhe frst-cass mac sdauiSed road leading from Par
fsgbug to Winchester also passes through the town,
vheh il at the same time the terminus OF two other
Qppkes, and Of several county roads. Seven miles
0uib Of West Union the county is traversed in its
zAOIe breadth by the Huntsville aud Salem Turnpike,
,ssiy completed, and all these highways inter-
,sced at numerous points by wag0nabe crossroads
lie length and breadth of which rapidly increasing
fou year TO year.
Doddrd.e County is well watered in every part by
syeral more or less direct tributaries of the Ohio
Rve and well supplied with grist and saw mills, a
Nv of which are driven by steam. Middle Island
creek which is bridged at West Union, feeds several
the best mills in the county and, at the proper
sara affords water sufficient float large r8fts OF um
ben and fatboats down to the Ohio River markets.
Although quite centrally situated in the county, and
ssnde OF so many important thOrOughfares, Yves
Inon is yet but inconsid rable place, and alike
destitute Of the population, capital and enterprise ade
ouGe 10 the development of the many business al
1adspes Of it's favorable situation. This state Of
.bipgs however, is mainly attributable to a great
aek Of the same conditions Of prosperity in the
swroundug country. IL il there we first must
hing about change in the way of doing business,
aid hope am doing no injustice to my freehearted
sd y-lnnded Indigenous neighbos, by veuturing
te opinion that this result cannot be attained for
cDtury or so without strong reinforcement of exotic
idustry, economy and Intelligence.
CLIMATE.
As it is generally known and conceded that ours is
ce Of the most healthy regions If the United States,
zll not expatate upon the cearuess of our mountain
brooks and the bracing purity OF our atmosphere. But
thtemperGture OF the seaSOns on account OF It's relation
10 he crops, deserves particular illustration.
tn following extracts from meteorological tables kept
hsp during Il residence of Is years exhibit the ex-
tnnes of heat and cold experienced during that space
dime:
'' 1910 TO ''' the mercury never was ABOVE 'S'"
49, January, % below July, go
b5, January, 50 above zero July, 9ao
49, January 80 below July, sO0 severes Winter re-
uslbered)
81. January %: July, $50
t59. January 10 above
he mean temperature of last January was 33io.
0berv atoms taken at O'Clock g.. in the Winter,
I'd at noon, or about ~ O'Clock p. in the Summer.
'he mean monthly temperature Of 1856, beginning
VIII January, was: lSl 25l, 30, 64l, 6Sl, 80 "a, TO-
SAgi, az, IS.
,e great, 1t heat as well as the greatest cold in any
or,year, never lasted more than two three days.
Thee extremes once passed, the mercury seldom
Yeahes up to 90o or descends so low az zero again.
F)f two or three years past the Spring season has
SO regular az desirable for the orchard vine
var and garden-nigh destructive to the peach
erol and partially TO the grape, having occurred
iaea us the end of April The other fruits cultivated
here are net easily affected, aud total failure Of
the apple crop is not remembered Gardening gen.
eraly commences here about the middle of March;
huittrees bloom in April, and the woods are out in
full verure about the beginning OF May. Oats are
sowu and potatoes planted in March aud April. Corn
and Chnose sugaicane are planted from the stto the
last of May, aud harvested III September. Clover
blooms early in June; Timothy ripens about the
lst Of July rye, oats and wheat about the mid
die Of the same month. Turnips and buckwheat
are then sown, aud wheat put in so late as
The LIST Of October attains sufficient growth before
Winter to protect ts roots from freezing ont.
About the middle Of October the pastures begin to
fail and the woods shed their foliage; bot the stock
cattle having sufficient range in the forest, sustain
themselves i'll good order u til Nov l5 when they are
driven TO their Winter quarters, not To be turned Ost
again until after april H. Except for milk cows and
calves who have open sheds to- there is seldom
any shelter provided for cattle although they would
winter much cheaper with it than without. Sheep
nun in pastures partly cleared wood lots, during the
whole VIII ter and seldom resort to shelter even when
is accessible 90 them. They hardly ever touch hay
fodder, unless the is deep that they cannot
pau through il. And even at this stage have
small Aockc get along without dry feed when they had
plenty of sassaas and other tavOre brush to browze
On.
SURFACE AND SOIL.
A majority of the accounts of Western Virginia
which have come under my notice describe 1t as
generally mountainous or broken country, thereby
giving the distant reader u rather inaccurate idea of
scenery aud soil Much the greater portion of it is
neither broken mountainous, but simply billy.
The geological strata of this region, though perhaps
gradually upheHved ages ago, have evidently never
been disturbed in their primitive horizontal position.
She remarkable uniformity in the hight and shape of
~ hills and of the breadth and snuoSties of most of
on valleys, appears to be the result Of slow and grad
"a abrasion, which s still going on, although It's
l effects u lifetime are barely perceptible
The bottoms of our valleys are small averaging
probably not over eight or ten per cent but their soil
j. generally composed of rich, mellow aluvll, a! most
enduring fertility. The hills from 20O to 800 feet HIGH
rise in slopes of from 10 10 40 degrees presenting
or two toeraby fiat and arabic benches between their
base and summit. The tops of the ridges also
frequently afford extensive flats Of excellent wheat land
rrhe eastern and northern hillsdes, which Olen
cuvated from top to botton contain some of
e richest soil i'll the country, while the opposite sides,
eng more steep and stony, are seldom USED for any
3ling but pastures.
= In its virgin state the soil is den ely covered with
u mber of truly magnificent growth, and of the most
III Miabe kinds, principally poplar, hickory beech,
&xauut, ash sugar maple white OAK, red and black
sNsk chestnut and chestnut oak, buckeye, sycamore,
Ilnden, wild cherry cucumber-magnOla, gum, elm,
ldoswood sc. EvergTeens very rare, and repre-
sented only by occasional spruce pine or two along
soms steep and rock bank small cluster Of yellow
pine on a sterile aud weaiher.beaten knob.
Lime is found in many portions of the country, and
seal almost everywhere, though principally in small
yejua and not Of The best quality for manufacturing