The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-09-02
A California Story.

!
little station where lowing to defect in the
track both trains were detained many Of
them were cx Californians, and the conxersa-
ton naturally turned upon that country, and
the "big things" they had seen there.
1t was stranger-a quiet inoftensivc man i,
that asked the question Of Joe Hanson, who
was somewhat fond of drawing the long bow
when he thought he could gull listeners. ls
"About four or five tons," answered Joe,
: without even the ghost Of smile. Il was
freed by one once for four days, the brute"
"Didn't you get hungry p questioned Tom
Perkins. s9
"Hungry ? Not bit l went two weeks
once there without SO much as a swallow of
water; but ! tell you made a square meal
when | got a chance. 4 whole deer first,
and then finished off with couple of water
melons, each as large as hogshead.
"Ah!" interrupted the stranger, 'the veg
etable productions must grow to an immense
size in that country"
s'You bet ON that. / was at the State
Fair at Sacramento once, and saw cabbagcs
| stripped Of their outside leaves and ready
for boiling, you know that were as large as
coach body, and weighed from four to five
|
you wouldn't have known them from pine
tree stripped of its bark. There were pota=
toes nearly the size of -four barrel; grapes
that weighed forty pounds to the bunch tur-
nips that wouldn'tg in bushel basket pears
as large as the pumpkins here; and -but
speaking of pumpkins, they just took the rag
clean off the bush. | saw one that a man
had scooped the inside out of, and used it
| for a house."
cit must have made large namber of
pies" said the stranger.
s'Pies l am glad that you reminded me
of that, for had the figures in my pocket
book for a long time, and remember thenE
There was regiment of dragons camping
there at the time, and they lived on pump
kin pies for niue weeks Besides, every one
who visited the fair had one given him to car
ny home. / tell you it took power of milk
and eggs and -four to make them. Here are
the figures, and will swear to them any day
in the week. Twenty seven thousand gal
Ions of milk one hundred thousand dozen
of eggs; FIVE tons of butter and lard, and
just an even clipper ship load Of -four"
'Did you ever see the great trecs?" quer=
ried the stranger, as if intent upon gaining
all the information possible.
Joe winked at his friend, took an extra
pull! at his cigar, and continued in the most
matter Of fact manner possible.
ITO be sure | did-camped under .hem
often. There were the three sisters and tho
old man. aud the latter just beat anything l
| ever saw.
"Joe, have you any idea of Its dimensions?"
II should rather think had Jim Town
send and started to measure it with tapes
line after shutdown. l don't distinctly res
member the extra feet and inches, but it
girted over ten miles. A big tree trunk
that, stranger, but it was nothing to its
height. saw an eagle try TO fly to the top
once, and had to rest at least twenty times
before it got up. | got an old Vermont lum-
Der man to 'scale it and he said it would cut
something oyqr nine hundred million feet of
lumber, clear stuff at that, and that there
would be about five hundred thousand cords
of wood left. ! tell you, bis things grow III
the Golden State, stranger"
II am satisfied Of that. Particularly one
thing"
'sWhat is that ?" asked Joe, turning
around sharply, and fearing that he had for
gotten ian article upon which the stranger
could oserlay hiH,.
''Liars !"
Joe arose, buttoned his coat, drew himself
up and said with dignity;
"Boys, I shall never speak Of the big
things of California, after having my yeraci-
ty once questioned"
Resources Of Virginia.
Amongst the vast resources of old Virginia
which unlerlie her soil, one Of immense i'm
portance is the plaster deposit in Smyth
county The main bed is situated in what
is called the Cove" on Cove Greek,
branch Of the North fork Of Ilolstop River,
about rs miles north OF Saltville, the present
terminus Of the branch of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad. The route from thence
to the Cove is up the valley Of the Holston. IL
most favorable line for a railroads.&c. grades
would DO about fifteen feet to the mile--de=
scending with the expert tonnage.
The quality of this plaster is superior to
any now known on this continent. Such as
have had fair opportunity of testing it witt.
the Nova Scotia fix their relative value at
fifty to Que hundred per cent. in favor Of tho
Virginia; that is to say, one toa OF the Viz
ginia is equal to one and a half to two of the
Nova Scotia La quantity it is enormous-l5
underlies hundreds of acres in a compact body.
A we'll or shaft, ten feet in diameter, has
been sunk at one point. Within four feet
from the surface plaster was reached, and
continued with the exception Of few dinlin-
utivc seams of clay) for the depth Of 3S2
feet, and operations suspended without reach
ing the bottom Of the von or deposit, so con.
tiDuous was the plaster. No water came in,
the plaster continuing of a uniform superior
quality throughout.
| What an immense treasure is here pre-
scented Tor the agricuiturist! What a pow
erful and effective agency to resuscitate the
now impoverished South, enabling the farm
er to- make more available the entire surface
Of Southern soil.
10 attain perfection in agriculture gypsum
is necessary Whatever other fertilizers may
be used, GYPSUM is Indispensable for by ityou
obtain for Vegetation that which is not attain-
able through any other source; its use cannot
be superseded or even diminished by the use
Of any othet agency.
The most cxtravagant demand can be sup,
piled for centuries at least, ard indeed the
!