The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-02-15

us IN the experiment. The hrSt thing we
did after the purchase was to come down
to the property and bring surveyor with
us, and we laid off the whole into lots Of
80 to $50 acres each. There was very
large substantial brick mansion-house on
the premises, tenantless. We set off 400
acres with the mansion-house, the balance
in small tracts half of the whole estate
was in timber. We introduced farmers,
mechanics and laborers. Four of us join
ed together in copartnership, built large
saw-mill, and repaired an old four-mill on
an adjoining property, which we bought
within the first year, and commenced saw
ing up the timber and grinding grain. The
timber went to Philadelphia, Bath, Maine
and other places; the flour, after supplying
the colony, went to Alexandria and WASH
ington, and the North. Our mills were at
the mouth of Accotink creek Fat tide-water,
where vessels could load at the mill. A
few of the other members of the colony
took small farms to themselves the remain
der of the land for the time being was worked
and improved by the four who were asso-
ciated together and who were owners of the
main part of the estate, from which lots
were sold off as fast as settlers came in;
the whole estate is now worked in small
farms. The 400 acres left with the mansion
house is now divided into five or six lots or
farms. We commenced our farming inn
provements by moderately deep blowing,
thoroughly done, using guano freely as q
fertilizer to commence with, in order to get
straw and other vegetable matter with
which to make other fertilizing materials to
follow. But we find lime to be the
cheapest and most enduring fertilizer we
can employ, after getting vegetable matter
into the soil. Our general farming is a
rotation of corn, potatoes, or oats, and
wheat, then grass, which latter, with corn,
are the principal crops. We have consid-
cradle land devoted to small fruits and
orchards and nursery, which we find more
profitable hereaway than general farming.
While crop of wheat will only yield Is
to 80 bushels to the acre, worth 81 to $3.50
per bushel, or $50 to $40 per acre, crop
Of strawberries, or other small fruits, will
yield from 800 to $3.50 per acre. Or
charding consider to be profitable. We
have many hundred apple and peach trees.
The apple orchards are most of them too
young to show what is the best they can
do, but, from our experience thus far, |
believe apple-raisng will be quite remu-
neratve. The fruit in most instances is
very fine. | have examined, studied,
and experimental much the past twenty
five years to ascertain the kinds best
adapted to our climate, soil, and other cir
substances, and think | have succeeded
with list sufficiently large for all practical
purposes. The people of this region have
been heretofore misled, particularly with
winter or bookkeeping varieties, having OBJ
tain their trees from the North, and planted
such varieties as are popular there, land the
fruit from which they have elten here i'm
ported from there, which has proved a
failure when grown here. We find varie-
ties originating here and south of us to be
the proper varieties for long keeping; we
therefore obtain such varieties from trees
originating here, and in North and South
Carolina and Georgia, such as the AbraIn
Milan, Limbertwig, Rawle's Janet, Prior's
Red, Nleade's Keeper, and Boling's Sweet, of
Virginia the Wine-sop and York Impe-
rial, of Pennsylvania, have an equally high
need of praise; the Cullasaga, of South
Carolina, and several others of less note,
and still less known, of North Carolina
and Georgia. Last, not least, is pear cul-
ture, which succeeds most admirably in
our soil and climate and the old varieties,
which seem to have run out as by exhaustion
in more northern attitudes, succeed here to
admiration. Twill give you list of such
as find to be very desirable, viz: Bart
lett, Seckel, White, Doyenne, Butter Vir-
galieu, st. Michael's, of the North Ouch
ess d'Angouleme. Louise Bonnie de Jersey,
Flemish Beauty, Buerre de Anjou, and
many others of nearly the same claims for
superiority"