Litchfield enquirer., 1863-10-15

pest VarleteS dahllaS Mrs Willis Catlln l best do verbenias, Miss Mary L Catn 1 best do pansys Mrs Ellen J Barber best German and China asters. Mrs Winthrop f Ames; best arranged boquet mixed flowers. | E el Cleaveland; best varieties wild flowers. | Ellen c. Catlin; best wreath and boquet | winter flowers. Cornelia }C Clark; best variety | Phlox with Cornucopia, Ellen Barber; best l carnaton pink in pot, Mrs Lauren Barber best fuschia in pot. Mrs Rhoda Mather.
 H. c. OSBORNE, Secretary.
 THE TRACK OF THE WAR IN VIRG1NA.-Tn n years ago, while occupied upon the construc- ton of the Manassas Gap and Alexandria aud Leesburg railroad the writer enjoyed good opportunity of becoming acquainted with the people of that part of Virginia between the P.- tomac and Rappahannock, and of noticing their happy condition and general prosperity. En- toying to the fullest extent all the blessings of peace, and inhabiting section of country just ly termed the garden spot of the Old Domin- ion they lived in plenty, contentment and seeu- rity. Five years later visit to tho same To- calities revealed change-but only for the better.
 The old and wealthy Virginia families still resided in their spacious and comfortable fami. ly mansions, which dotted the sides and val leys of the Bull Run Range and the Blue Ridge. or studded the country with clusters of aristocratic dwellings, like the town of War renton, and never dreaming of war or it's deso- ation, lived as they always lived, spending their summers at the cool springs of their na- tive mountains, and their winters in trips of pleasure to Richmond and Washington. While the poorer whites, aroused by the spirit of in- ternal improvement at that time revolutioni- zing the State, had shaken of the lethargy too often characterizing their class in the South and were fast becoming thrifty and desira- ble population, creditable to themselves and honorable and valuable to the State. Under the impetus given to the country by the rail- roads, the spirit of improvement and industry fourished in new found strength and promising results. The worn out tobacco lands were be. ing settled and reclaimed by class of hardy and industrious emigrants from free States ; farms were being opened up on every side, i'm. proved agricultural implements were introdu- ced and aided in rapid increase of staple pro- auctions fourshing towns and thrifty little villages sprung up all along the lines of rail. roads, and last, though not least, churches and school houses began to appear in numbers proportionate to the wants of the population. This was my last view of Virginia, until a short trip of thirty miles across the Potomac, few days ago, gave me sight of her desola- tion. Ipassed through portions of the Army of the Potomac. and fonnd nothing transpirng among them worthy of record but, had it been otherwise, the grandest military pageantry would have been tame indeed, compared with the awful attractions of the wild scenes of des- olation and woe surrounding me on every side. My trip was necessarily short and hurried, but it brought to view enough to convince me no section of country was ever so scourged by civil warfare as that part of Virginia lying be- tween the Potomac and Rappahannock They told me that to see the worst, would have to go beyond Bull Run Mountains, but cannot conceive more appalling picture of universal ruin than that on this side. Perhaps the mag nitude of an extended survey may increase the heart rending appreciation but tis impossis ble to realize scene of more utter ruin than marked the path of my brief journey. The devastated section extends from Frederick, Clark Warren and Culpepper. Six different times has all this vast territory been overrun by the'contendng armies of the Union and Re bellion, and the blight and destruction mark ing it to-day will require the labor and i'm provement of half century of peace to re- move.
 In twenty-five miles, travel outside of Wash ington Notifications, not a stalk of growing corn is to be seen, and wild pasturage for horse cannot be obtained without travelling miles from the main road and it is the same feature all the way to the Rappahannock.- Cultivated farms are no where to be found, ex- cepting in interior valleys of the Bull Run mountains, and even the small family garden are often wanting. Fences have long since been burnt, and the farming lands, which once teemed with luxuriant crops of corn, wheat and tobacco are now overgrown with weeds and brush, untouched by the plow and unviolated by the stock which once grazed in countless numbers upon the surrounding hills.
 It is along the roads that the scenes of des- lation are seen in their most painful aspect The common highways are worn and marked almost beyond travelling with vehicle. and the bridges are washed away; while the rail- roads running north towards the Shenandoah Valley present every feature of ruin and decay; bridges and culverts are destroyed, here and there the debris of disabled locomotive or smashed train piles the track, with the long, lapk grass growing amid the ruins rails are missing, and others have been washed away, leaving long gaps in the structure ; ties and s1oeners are rottiDg, and grass grows luxuriant-