Nebraska advertiser., 1869-08-12


Though repeatedly q visitor to the
outskirts, and even the capital Of NiF-
ginia, l had never passed through the
heart of that State until last week.
when. in compliance with an invita-
ton from friends interested in certain
Mineral lands on her northwestern
border, I passed and re-psssed along
her central line Of railway from Alex
andria. by way of C~uJpepper, GOrdons-
Vile. Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Lib
erty, Christiansburg, and so far down
the Tennessee Railroad as Dublin de-
not. Pulaski County, thence visiting
and t~Faversing the adjacent county OF
Giles, which is skirted by New River,
on its course from the mountains of
North Carolina to emerge,as it leaves
this county, through a gap in the
mountains. into West Virginia, and
form. with the GreenbrieT, the Great
Kanawba. Some notes Of what /
saw and heard on this hurried journey
NAV interest those who are either al
ready connected with Virginia, or
who contemplate migratiOe thither.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY.
Central Virginia is emphatically a
"roIling'' country, with mountains of
moderate activity and steepness,
wooded or cultivated 60 their c~rests,
almost always visible on the north
and west. Beyond Christiansburg,
the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
passes through or among some spurs
Of the Allegheny range; and hence
mountains are often visible IL not
imminent in either direction. AS q
whole, this is q chill country" Of re-
maFkable beauty and healthfulnes.
Underwater Virginia" is subject TO
chilIs and fevers, which a compacter
population and better husbandry will
ultimately eradicate; but could
hear of none that originated in the
"PiedmOnt'' OF more Westerly region.
The cadaverOus c~Ountenance too often
encountered are the result, nOtOfague,
but Of the immOGerate, %incessant use
Of Tobacco.
SOIL, CULTIVATION, PRODUCTS.
Most of the land I saw is of the
"red-land" variety, well known in
New-Jersey and Maryland-a sort Of
cIayey loan tinged with iron or some
kindred mineral, and often testifying,
where it has been cut through by the
railroads, TO its marine origin. It is
naturally strong and fruitful, free
from stone, easily worked when not
too wet, and inviting deep and thor
Ough culture, while rarely addicted to
weeds. Yet the unwOOded portion of
it has been so long and so steadily
treated as badly IS pOssible-plOwed
three to five inches, rarely or never
MANFRED, devoted to Wheat, Tobacco,
and Corn, and never seeded when
thrown out Of cultivation, that 1t
seems wholly exhausted. A drOuth
has prevailed for weeks through most
of this region, and the average stand
of Indian Corn is miserable. / am
confident that / saw ten thousand
acres that will not yield five bushels
per acre; much Of IL not a of
sound cor per Rcre i noticed that
the shocks of wheat and oats often
standing in the field were small and
far apart. Tobacco is a favOrite crop
throughout, and it generally makes a
poor show. Even where clover (eYery
where greatly needed) has been sOwn,
It is too often allowed to stand till
dead ripe, and then, the little life left
in it is deliberately fried out by DAYS of
MOCNAGcc OAgAnB All bHC hMagl VI CuChs
Other grasses may be treated a little
more insanely, but not much. AS a
rule, they are cut too late. and left out
too long to make themselves into hay
that only the severest pangs of hunger
will induce cattle to eat. There are,
Of course, eXceptiOns-fields of thrifty
corn or tobacco, stacks and stubbles of
bOunteous Wheat, or Oats, fair fields
of second growth clover, &c, &C., to
attest the truth
eff vain our toll.
We ought TO blame the culture, not the sOil;''
and I am confident that, even without
fertilizing, these same barren fields,
that now serve no purpose but to re-
pei immigration, would yield fair
crops if simply plowed twelve inches
instead Of four. Time and again was
I told of the drOuth, and the inability
of the people to buy fertilizers,
where it was manifest that simply
confirming to ten acres the labor and
now absolutely squandered on thirty
or forty would have insured the cult
vatOr a decent return for his efforts,
where he will not now receive TWEEN
ty-five cents for each fair DAYS work.
Secession was a transient delirium /:
but here is madness persisted in from.
youth to age, and handed down from
generation to generation. And &C
seems TO me that the habit Of sloveh.
Ivy niggardly farming is so inveterate
that only through a large infusion of
new blood is renovation probable