Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1866-08-28
The Future of our Valley.


to the Valley of Virginia. 1t lies in the mid
die region, and its climate is proverbially salu-
brious. Its inhabitants are vigorous and live
to great age. A large number of our people
Outlive, by one or two decades, the allotted span
of human life, and it is not nfrequently the
case that they attain the patriarchal age Of 100
years. The achievements of the s'Stonewall
Brigade" in the late war, composed almost
exclusively Of Valley people, sufficiently attest
their capacity Of endurance.
The soil of the Valley is remarkable for its
fertility. 1t produces in abundance, not only
wheat, rye, oats, corn and barley but it is Pc
culiarly adapted to grass and fruits of all kinds
The inexhaustible lodges of limestone furnish
the means, not only of maintaining, but of in
creasing, almost indefinitely, its productiveness
The Piedmont country is very fine district,
but in some respects it is inferior to the Valley
Every traveller in crossing the Blue Ridge must
be struck with the marked change in the APP
pearance Of the country, and most especially of
those fields which are not in crop. The broom
sedge, sassafras and briers which spring up with
such rapidity east of the mountain, are compa-
AulAfCly uIihuONH III Iuc dllCy. w OSU OF the
Blue Ridge, the farms have neat clean look
the fields are covered with clover timothy, or
indigenous grasses, and the fence rows, in the
main, are free from shrubs and briers Herein
consists one Of our great advantages. IF you
turn out an exhausted field east of the ridge, it
will soon wash into gullies or clothe itself with
broom sedge, briers or sassafras, Or small pines
West Of the mountain, an abandoned field will
protect itself from the sun the first season by a
mantle of weeds, which soon give place to a
spontaneous growth of blue grass.
We remember that, some years ago, two or
threeintelgent citizens the V alley, tempted by
the lower prices of lands east of the mountain,
had a thought of selling their Valley lands, and
removing to the Piedmont region. Before ma
king final decision, however, they determined
to visit that section and to make careful exami-
nation Of the relative advantages and disadvan-
tages of the two portions of the State They
accordingly spent some weeks east of the noun
tain, making minute explorations, and returned
satisfied to remain in the Valley. According
to their report, the increased labour necessary
to keep the Piedmont lands in order, in conse-
quenee of the tendency to put forth sassafras
sedge, briers and other noxious products, more
than compensated for the difference in the price
of lands
The facility with which lime can be procured
in the Valley to be used as fertilizer is an al
most incalculable advantage. Under the new
system of labour, and the new order Of agricul-
tural economy rendered necessary by it, we ex-
pect to see lime generally employed as the most
important and valuable of all fertilizers.
As soon as the country becomes settled in it's
political condition, (which in our judgment the
results of the fall elections in the Northern
States will rapidly accelerate), there will be a
great rush of immigration to the Valley The
inhabitants of the bleak hills of New England
will crowd into this fertile and salubrous region
to escape the searching east-winds which deci-
mate their country by consumption and kindred
diseases and thousands of the best citizens of
the Southern States, disguised with the thrift
less and lawless population turned loose upon
them, will gladly seek refuge in the Valley
where very little of that kind Of population is
to be found.
4SGW NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. dlSO-iiOW
the bug-bear of slavery is removed-will find it
to their interest to leave the inhospitable eli
mate of the North, and establish mills along
our water courses, which furnish a motive pow
er much cheaper than steam
We believe that the result of the great con-
fict between the two sections will be to build
up the middle States at the expense of the ex-
IRENE North and South. Heretofore, slavery
has operated like wall to exclude Northern
enterprise and capital from the Southern States
and it's outflow has been westward. That wall
has now been broken down, and the wealth and
skill of Northern manufacturers will seek new
field of employment in the middle States. The
natural advantages of those States will now as
sert their legitimate influence. Northern man
ufacturers viii find it more to their advantage
to establish factories nearer to the raw material
and nearer to consumers. The cotton and wool
spinners and weavers of Massachusetts,, and the
stock and wool growers of Vermont and New
Hampshire will find it to their interest to come
to Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and
Kentucky, to carry on their respective occupa-
tons, where ice does not obstruct their machin-
cry; where provisions are cheaper; where the
lands are better where consumption is almost
stranger; and where not one half of the fuel
is necessary for the comfort of man, and. one
third of the provender for the sustenance of
stock during the winter The wool-growers of
Vermont have to feed their sheep six months
in the year, while in Virginia there are but a
few weeks during the winter that they cannot
manage to shift for themselves
Other, but not less efficient causes, will in
duce Southern men to come to the middle
States For some years society must be in a
transition state in large slaveholding districts
The suddenly emancipated slaves, without edu-
cation mechanical skilE or capital, and with a
natural indisposition to work, will not be IN a
condition to maintain their families. Theft,