The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-06-28

NQTTe1p0lllleglGE ~ utG 4NEU 4UTE HGENtAs
HARPER's FERRY, June 20, 1857.
By stage over a smooth, ,macadamized
road from Staunton to Winchester, and
thence 10 Harper's Ferry by rail, we
have lust trRYersed the whole length OF
the Shenandoah valley, in round num-
bers, one hundred and thirty miles.
The valley lies between the Blue Ridge
Mountain chain on the east, and the
North Mountains, or frat tier of the
main Alleghany chain, on the west, and
the distance across is from twenty to
twenty-five miles, the valley itself being
country of hills aud valleys of inti-
mite variety of combinations. By sew
eral sharply cut parallel mountain
ridges, running for a distance of forty
miles or so in the heart of this valley,
II is divided Into the valley OF the north
and the valley of the south branch oi
the Shenandoah, and the intermediate
valley of Passage creek; but all these
divisions cease on line across from
Strasburg to Front Royal, where all
these central mountains abruptly ter
inmate in q bold and picturesque group
where the two rivers unite, and where
the valley, from mountain to noun
tain, expands to a width of twenty-five
miles. Es. I
The main river above is the south
branch, running along the flank of the
Blue Ridge, but the main valley from
near HarrisOnbuTgd down to Strasburg is
| that of the north branch, and down
| that we have mado our journey. And
the wheat crop along this route Is q
sight TO gladden. the eyes of the farmer
or any other man with family OF con-
sumers. In detour OF some three
Thousand miles, more or less, through
| Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Nlr-
! ginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Northern Ala.
bama, Georgia, south and North Caro-
lima and Virginia, we have seen nothing
that begins TO approach this ripenipg
! wheat crop of the Shenandoah valley.
Elsewhere, what are accepted as splen-
did wheat fields, are mere chtld's play
compared with the truly glorious fields
OF the Shenandoah valley. For one
gaps between Newtown and Winches.
| ter, these wheat fields, on the right and
| len, before us and behind us, close by
and miles and miles away, in the plains
and the valleys, along the hills and
spreading over the htlltops, are con
stantly in sight, in hundreds or thou
saUds of acres. And as the gentle
winds pass over these gorgeous fields
| of grain, they roll and shine in the sun
Hike the silvery waves of II summer sea.
This wheat stands as high as the eight
rowed Indian corn when fullgrown in
Northern New York, and 1t IS set SO
thickly in the soil that one would
think a straw hat might be carried
| by the wind on the heads of the
| grain, as on the swell of a wave,
across hundred acre field. These
valley farmers are, of course, enrap'
tured over the prospect of an unprece-
dented harvest; but still they qualify
their calculations with such remarks
| as "Well, IL the rust does not come, y
''If the hail does not beat IL down." or
''if no new wheat eating insects get into
IL we shall havea a great cfop. ''ThHt
| field,u one would say, "Ought TO give
thirty bushels to the acre, and another
would 'think there will be a pretty
extensive average Lin my county oil
twenty-five bushels to the acre"
And how has all this been done?
General Sheridan devastated this valley
| in the fall of 1864, in the destruction OF
its mills, and in the sweeping away OF
its stock. By this military stroke to
starye out the rebel army, two thousand
barns were destroyed, and Touring
mills by the score, in Shenandoah and
Rockingham counties. And then,
apart from this particular experiment
OF devastation, the soldiers Of both
armies, (though the natives always
charge their damages to the Yankees,
had for three years been consuming the
fences OF this valley in cooking their ra-
tions. But mills by the dozen, and two
thousand of the valley barns destroyed,
have been replaced; hundreds OF miles
of fencing have been restored, seven,
eight and ten rails high, and only at
rare intervals in this valley, above
Newtown, do we see field without It's
fencing as left by the war.
Between NeWtown and Winchester,
where the main body ofthe Union army
of the valley had its winter quarters in
1864, and not only the wooden fences
but the stone walls along the road for
miles were removed, and the woods
This sneighborhood, therefore, resembles
to some extent that desolated expanse
of country between Bull Run and Gull
pepper Court House, which, in its fence
less and defenceless condition, to-day
has the look of a forsaken prairie. But
how, to the wonderful extent We have
indicated, have these damages of the
war in the Shenandoah Valley been re-
pairedP In 1865, these people, without
stock orgrain, or fences 10 their fields,
were on the verge OF starvation, and
were for some months greatly depend
ent on Northern supplies. In 1857 they
| are sending reliefto Georgia. How mas
this change been brought abouR
In this way. The farms of The valley
are mostly small, and the owner and
his sons (or other white men) are gem
orally the laborers. They were on the
ground. and went at once to work.
Their fields without fences, meantime,
with their indigenous grass, supported
the horses and cattle the farmers man.
aged to save or TO bay; and thus these
natural grass lands Of the valley were
the basis of iIs speedy restoration to
abundant crops OF wheat and corn.
"Our grass" says the valley farmer,
| t'supported us in supporting our stock
till We had replaced our fences and
raised q crop of corn. NOW" they say
"with the promise of the best crops OF
wheat, rye, oats and corn, potatoes and
other vegetables, and With our numer-
Gus orchards spared by the war, loaded
| down with fruit, we expect TO take a
new start in the world this fall on the
high road TO prosperity. We are not
troubled with many negroes Most OF
what we had up The valley before the
war may now be found in Washington.
Our labor, therefore, mainly of white
men directly interested in The soil, Is
reliable, and does-its-wOrk efficiently"
at Winchester we found The registrn-
tion going on, and, as at other places,
the blacks, though decided minority
OF the population, were far ahead In
registering. The State is going radical
| by default. The great body OF the
whites, involved in their Hlost cause, "
do not like this registration business.
| They have, become remarkably tndittrr-
ent about it since they have been given
to,s understand that Attorney General
Stanbery's opinions are to be upset by
u July session OF Congress. The oath
required for registration, too, In re-
curing them to swear or affirm that
they are mot disfranchised for partici-
patton in any rebellion or civil war
against the United States" and that
they "have never taken an oath to sup
port tile constitution" &C., land after
wards engaged in insurrection or rebel
lion against the-Unlted SLates," is ex-
ceedinSly distasteful to them, as it in
wolves the recognition OF the war as a
rebellion on the part of the South, while
they held that 1t was war on the basis
OF their reserved constitutional State