The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-04-21
q Forihc Dispatch.
Hnecaasttes An AxrfemItnre..

ss Eorthc Dispatch.
sgpesiasties In AgricnIttire.
The alsered relations chat exist between
planter and laborer compel she former to
;chanrs his system Of operations, and to en-
deayarl to obtain returns from Gllage with
comparative independence Of 80 precarious
an agency as the deluded negro.
The staples of our. State have heretofore
been the cereals and tobacco ell these are
dsaasal crops, requiring great amount of
annual labor, and none Of them averaging d
net result exceeding fifty dollars an acre ex-
cept tobacco; while various special crops
which are perennial, and yield an increase
progressing with their age, requiring no of
ter culture but whit farmer willtake plea
sure in doing himself, and which will give
ten times the remuneratiye return, have
been entirely neglected in field culture.
The specialties are grapes, hops, fruit
orchards, wool, sorghum, hemp, madder,
and bro0mcorn. From grapes, the return
Of the annual value in wine will be from
$500 to 81 200 per acre, but it does not come
in till the fourth year from planting cost
per acre, say 900 vines, about slUO. HOPS
viii weld q CROP worth from $500 to 81 200
an acre. and give half crop the first sea-
son.-arai the sale of sets in the border
Statea for some years to come will exceed
tbe amount named in addition; cost per
acre, say two sets to hill, S42, besides
poles. Fruit orchards will in time surpass
in the value of increase both grapes and
hops; but excepting the dwarf pears,
which fruit the first year, and the peach,
which is too uncertain to be classed with
the apple and pearl in planting them q
man Of middle age is apt to feel that ne is
planting for posterity /; cost of dwarf pears
per acre, say 400 trees, about $500; return
at mature growth, SIS to $40 each tree.
For the increase on wool-gr owing see
Australia. The annual value Of its exports
of wool, to say nothing of lambs and mutton,
is scarcely below the produce of its gold
fields. Lambs and mutton are here within
reach. of the highest market in the world,
and wool is as good as gold. A hundred
sheep will cost $500; each will yield a
fleece worth three dollars, and the flock will
90 on ct least doubling itself every year.
1t will. feed on aoaste heritage summer and
winter, and all that is needed is shepherd
boy and q few good sheep dogs. 81
Sorghum is yet in the stage of expert
ment. 1t is cultivated Us easily as corn,
and already yields in syrup value Of 5000
to the acre. As soon as science shall dis
cover method of crystalizing it, our middle
States, instead Of importing, will export
sugar.
HEMP will make marvellous return if
grown on the bottom lands of our rivers. 1t
Is an annual, and though it will require
great annual labor, it is a very remunerative
crop.
Madden is, too speculative a crop for the
practical necessities of the Virginiap planter;
butwhen the present exigency has passed
away it will besa profitable crop, and add
greatly to the income of the farmer and the
wealth Of the State. Il 3
In o newspaper article the. writer can
give but O passing glance at the specialties
named, and notice few essential facts
relating to them, He hopes to be suggestive
and to stimulate inquiry. He cannot in so
brief space be demonstrative. Certain
localities have become celebrated for GER
tain productions, not because those localities
are especially adapted for their growth, but
generally because some accidental circum-
stance first brought about their introduction
to that place. If adaptation of soil and
climate governed in the appropriation Of
special productions to their special districts,
in what region would any Of the specialties
have named be found in greater extent
and perfection than in Virginia ? And any
one of the first four would have now been
adding as much wealth to the income of the
State as the best of our staples do, II the
enterprise of Virginians had taken that di-
rection and correspondent to the partiallty
of Nature.p s7@s9 A. - ..E-s5.s-s-z.
IL The writer does not speak from specula-
ton, but from experience. Impressed with
these reflections, he planted in 1866, on
small scale, q vineyard, q hop yard, and
pear orchard, within sight Of Richmond.
The grape and pear grew as If they had
moved to the paradise they had languished
for. ). The hop sets were taken from the
ground in Western New York as soon as the
frost permitted, which was not till May,
when the thermometer was eighty degrees
here, and ninety per cent. were burnt up
before they could strike root. The change
was too great and too sudden He then
gradually acclimated his plants by fall
planting and subsequent fruition and pre-
sent condition have proved to him that this
State is better adapted to the hop in soil,
climate, and seasons, than any northern or
western locality and that heavier yield,
an earlier maturity, and a more abundant
lupuline may be here obtained than is pro-
duced in any place known as hop district,
either in the United States OF. Europe.
80. s,l-a.ss 81. .gexss. = w. j.