Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1863-01-22

dated at Fairfax, Va, Jan. 10th. We
publish it because of its interesting de.
scription of what our soldiers see and ex.
perience even in qniet times:
Were it not for the disturbances in
evitablc to war the farmers of this coun-
try would now be engaged in breaking up
the fallow soil preparatory to their next
seasons crop of corn. 1t is usual here
am told, to improve such weather in JAN
uary and February for that pupose. In
March oats are sown in April corn is
planted and in the autumn the ground is
seeded to wheat-such being the regular
rotation of crops. The soil naturally Of
the highest excellence has been so impov-
erished by faulty cultivation generally
and the raising of successive crops of to-
bacco particularly that fertilizers are now
required to make a decent crop of grain
or grass. Place a New England farmer
on some of these farms, put in his hands
a Universal Plow and let him have his
own way about a compost heap and this
land would again blossom and bring forth
much fruit.
The original forests in this part of Viz
ginia are nearly all of oak and other hard
woods, but in every direction are now
found large fields covered with dense
growths of the hard pine which arc appar-
emily from twenty-five to even fifty and
sixty years of age. These are the old to-
bacco fields from which everything was
taken and nothing returned. Tobacco and
negro cultivation have done a gigantic
work in determining both the sons and
the soil of the "Old Dominion"
Speaking of the forest leads me to re-
mark that it is exceedingly pleasant to a
lover of trees and shrubs to travel through
some of the long ranches of woodland
filled with gigantic trees that have not
yet cultivated an acquaintance with the
woodlands axe, some of which are yet
standing in various parts of the country
proud memorials of q former age when
great and patriotic men of a kindred size
and type owned them. Never until saw
some of these trees could | appreciate the
surprising beauty of al oak tree. Here
they stand in more than regal splender at
once the type of symmetry and strength.
Chestnut trees also grow here to a size that
for exceeds the largest of the kind at the
North, but their fruitagc is much less
prolific than in the colder climates. The
white maple, persimmon and gum trees
nearly complete the assortment of the
more common sorts. | have seen but two
sugar naples in Virginia and those are
growing in a private lawn in this place
as curiosities from other climates. The
holly with its thick and green leaves, and
the box with its smaller but more album
dant foliage are green all the winter long
as are the maple and chestnut in June.
The mistletoe too, as it clings like q par
asite as it is to the utmost branches of
some of the tallest trees there finding q
home for an enormous growth, looks cheer
lily with its soft green leaves and small
white wax-like berries. With soldiers the
staple shrub of this region is laurel, some
what akin to that of Vermont, but differ
ing in its large, bulbous-like, though
knarly root from which pipes innumerable
and of endless variety and design are
made by our five regiments of Yankee
whittlers.
have heretofore had occasion to allude
to the ravages and spoliations that have
been successfully committed by the troops
of one side or the other during the diff
ferent administrations that have rapidly
succeeded each other in this region. To
a greater or less extent these ravages still
continue, and seem only to be limited by
the thorough cleaning to which the field
has been so frequently subjected. Not
only are unoccupied houses torn down and
the lumber and brick carried into camp,
but in too many instances are buildings
pulled in pieces over the heads of their
occupants. Grain, cattle, poultry and
provisions are foraged on private account,
and their unfortunate owners may think