Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1870-01-25
A Desirable Reform.

We have been permitted to copy the fol-
lowing very practical and appropriate re-
marks from private letter. We commend
them to the attention and careful considera-
tion of our Valley readers, and especially of
this county, believing as we de, that this
must become leading manufacturing coun=
ty =
DANvILLE KY.
was glad to learn through the Spirit of
.Je6erson, that the Virginia Paper Mills"
at Halltown, had begun to throw off sheets of
'spaper boards" the first manufactured in
Virginia-the fruits of patient industry and
manful energy, and the earnest of the future
wealth and prosperity of those VINO will de-
velope the vast mineral and manufacturing
interests of our State.
hope the era of reform in public opinion
South, respecting mechanical and kindred
employments, is at hand trust the young
men of the Sonth will forsake the foolish and
unfounded prejudices of their fathers, Gall
honor to their memories,) and seize hold of
the great levers of national wealth and sta
bility, mechanical and agricultural labor, and
by mantul and persistent effort, develoPo the
numerous natural sources of wealth that
abound in our venerable State, especially in
the Valley.
Let those who have entered the stocked
professions of law and medicine regardless of
taste talents. merely because these profess
sions are respectable split their ''shingles"
into kindling wood to burn their first born
briefs, and throw their pill, and plas
ters the trash heap. and show true inde-
pendence enough to labor with their own
hands, as long necessary, to drive the spin
Il 10 ha Shnff hy1T ubaa
of manufacturing power.
They are not to 6cscrnd-to sacrifice dig Z
nifty or cuIGUntion-Lm to elecafe Me pursuit,
and associate it ,ciM ,Ohat is refined and ele-
CANT!
Not the fine arts alone. but all the arts that
contribute to mnn's comfort and improve
ment. | wish to see cultivated in our own
Southern land.
have for some time believed that agri-
culture. as pursued in the past in the Valley
of Virginia. especially in our county. (Jeffer
SOM has ceased to be very profitable. In
some parts. with the natural disadvantages of
rocky soil slight fertility. compared with
the Western praries, and the necessity for
applying fertilizers. and the slug.ard using
of umimprnved instruments of agriculture. you
cannot possibly compete with the rich alluvial
States of the West in growing small grain
Distance from Eastern markets has censed to
be an imrediment to their competition.
great and multiplied are the facilities of trans
pnrtatinn Illinois can discharge her vast
crops of wheat into the warehouses of New
York at less cost than the county of Jeffer
son Her trust for prosperity should he in
fruit raising-that of all kinds-and in stock
NOT Jefferson alone. but all Virginia :
Looking at her from an agricultural point of
view. she is bound to becomo just such a
State as New York now is There the wealth
and hopes Of the people are in their improved
stock. their vast orchards of apples and peach
cs their dairies and cheese factories.
Virginia ought to become the greatest man
ufacturing region this continent. and the
vast and varied deposits of minerals and ores,
shonll make her the wealthest and most
populous.