Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-06-25
THROUGH THE SOUrH.
OLD VIRGINIA.
EXPERIENCE OF NORTHERN MEN IN
THE SOUTH-APPEARANCE AND
CONDITION OF TIE COUNTRY
AND PEOPLE.

Correspondence Of the New York Tribuncl
NORFOLK, Va. May l7th, lS69.-After
the wAr closed several Northern men with
money came down to this tidewater region,
and bought farms and lands at low rates,
as they supposed, with the expectation that
Northern immigrants would n ok in and
buy of them at greatly advanced prices.
Some hired managers 10 oversee, In some
cases few improvements were made, ard
occasionally hOusrs aud wharvss were
built, but as to going fairly to work to de-
velop the resources OF the country, they
did not propose this was TO be done by
those TO whom they should sell. They
waited sni waited, but buyers did not
come it is true many came TO 10 k, but
they generally returned without buying,
and least Of all, they would not buy second
haade l, and the result was dis, s'rous some
sold out at great sacrifice, o;h,rs sin
held on, and being unable to make p piymPnts
as they fall due, they are ruined, unless
they have capital to fall back upon: and
certainly ruined 40 far rs the speculation
Is concerned, / hear OF sveral who have
lost from $4,000 to $50, 900 each, and
have yet to re i1formcd of single invest
ment in farming lanis for the object spec'fi
ed, In which expectations have been reali-
zed. The few who have come to secure
homes, are making rea onab'e progress,
and are likely 10 do well. The fact is that
no moley can be made by buying these
lands on speculation for two good reasons
one, because almost every farm may be
said to be for sale, snd the other because
industry Is disorgauized and there Is no ru.
raj population TO give lie to business aud
trade. 1t Is astonishing that Northern
men should have acted so blindly, for they
must have seen, had they taken the least
pains, that the land seemed cheap oni5 be.
cause genuine labor had never been applied
to II.
No matter what may be tho fertility oi
the soil, the value Of timber or Of fisheries,
no matter what noble rivers or other means
Of transit aud transportation may exist,
hey are OF little value unless an intelligent
and induItrious people occupy the
rural districts, to supply the markets Of
towns, TO give employment TO mechanic;
| and trade to the merchant The slave
holder may, by enlarged Views and by con.
slant vigilance, do sometirg TO this end
but the prosperity he creates cannot bs
| permanent, for the inevitable tendency O
uuskilled labor Is to impoverish the soil and
bring down ruin. Thus, the close Of the
war left Virginia and the South with
worn out soil, aud with a rural population
incapable OF restoring the waited fertility
and what was still wors', having no inter
ests in the soil, they had neither an oljec
nor a desire to restore H..
The ioad from Williamsburg To York
town, a distance Of ten miles, is uudouhted
ly the oldest in America. IL runs on higl
ground about equally distant between th,
James aud the York Rivers. The sli
varies from loan TO light clay, not one
fourth is in cultivation, and none Of th'
farms or houses have = neat, thrifty look
Few Of the streams srs bridged, aud horse
are permitted to drink now In the place
where the horses drawing the c.rr;sssS o
the Colonial Governors, or the army wsg
ons OF the Continental army as 1t hasted Il
inclose CORVALLIS drank long ago, and her
are the same washed hills and stretches O
swamp aud forest, aud like birds sing, an,
like wild flowers bloom.
After having visited Fortress Monroe
three miles distant, passing over low bu
fertile ground, aud having seen the case
mates where J. ID. was cOnd1ed, a boat wa
taken for Norfolk, some 20 miles distan
! scrpss Hampton RoAd., aud the mouth O
JaBes River. Norfolk has about 80, 90
inhabitants, aud q considerable business
done in the way Of trade, but the chief en-
teTprise Is In connection with the CROWN
of vegetables and strawberries for the Ne'
York market l Travelled many mile
through these garden grounds, and was as
tonished at their extent. A field OF !
acres o. strawberries is common, Will
there are fields Of 20, 40, 90, and In on
case OF go acres. Thousands Of freedmen
ueD, women, and children, are emplos ed
and they think that there is no place In ou
country where this business Is carried on .
extensively. The land is & ,od, il Is We
cultivated, aud The prizes varies from S25 {
$50 and 900, aud at no great distance Il OF
the city, which seems to mo cheap. I sal
pear orchard, mostly of tho DIiehes
variety, which here succeeds best. an
which annually brings In s5,O00. Port
mouth Is across EliIabeih River, reached b
ferry boats which run every 10 minute
Ii has at least 700 inhAhitAnts, and it u,
much like Brooklyn. Norfolk ?, s.mbl,
New York, aud the relative situation m
and appearance OF the tao places az, sII
king. II Is well knONn that their harbo