The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-09-23
THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA.
TIL CRoPS--PonR ROApS-A MODEL
FAEM-TlIE WHEhT-WIIAT OUR CORE
sroSDENT KNOWS ABOUT FARMING.

Correspondence or the Richmond Dispatch
LINCOLN, LoUDoUN couNTy,1
September 20. 1872.
Weare now In the enjoyment Of the most
delightful Of sll the seasons of the year. Al
ter an abundant harvest the farmers are now
h,lsily taking care Of 1t. or else preparing for
the next; though. owing to the long pro-
iracted drought. mitch OF their land is not
in condition TO liilow. l said an
ABUNDANT HARVEST.
Let me give you statistics of the yield of q
few farms in this vicinity, and then you may
make your own conclusions as to what
mean by the expression. A gentleman living
near Circlevlle has just finished threshing
his crop of wheat, and he informed me that
from one field Inc reaped an average of TWEEN
ty-tive bushels to the acre. Others of his
neighbors OH portions of their farms raised
crops nearly as good.
THE CORN.
which they are now cutting, promises to
give an equally good return to the laborS Of
The planters. Many of their fields are esti
mated TO turn out from ten TO twelve, and
some fourteen, barrels Seventy bllshels) to
the acre The fields here generally cover an
ARA, Of about fifty acres. SO you may readily
see the corn crop of this section of the county
promises to be u very large one. This fine
yield is made Notwithstanding the fact that
the
"DRY SPELL"
which is now upon this and surrounding
counties has continued for space of more
than Il wear. So protracted has it been that
many of the wells and springs are "gone
dry" or ha, their supply materially dimin-
,sI
where formerly water ran from "a never
falling spring" are now dry and dusty. l
do not suppose that there is Il mill In the
county which has made even half time with
in the last twelve months, or possibly for q
longer period. Three or four hours out of
the twcnty-fou is as much as the most of
them can do. II will not do to say that in
si this time there has been no rain. Occa-
>ional showers have wet the ground to the
depth of a few inches, enabling the farmer
t. plough his land for Il day or two, and Civ
iny vegetation new "lease Of lifa," but
there has not for that length Of time been Il
GOOD soaking rain which reached the depths
of the fountains from which the springs and
wells draw their supply.
Some wears since, in letter to another pa
per i'll your city, | had occasion TO mention
the
MISERABLE ARRANGEMENT AND CONDITION OF
THE ROADS
in this county. Their arrangement il lust
as miseIabhle, hut under the new road law
their condition is greatly improved. Then
they were worked under the old system ;
up,r they are worked by contract, being ;" let
out" to the lowest bdder-usually some one
who il interested otherwise than pecuniarily
i'll their being kept in good order, and they
are now generally ~ good as their location
and the nature of the land will permit. AT
every crossroads neat index fingers have
been erected to guide the stranger, but which
would better serve their purposes if in all
eases they indicated exactly the road he was
Ia 30.
In company with I couple of friends paid
4 visit, il few days since, to the
MODEL FARM
of Mr. William H. Benton, Jr., near Middle
burwh, in the southern portion of the county
Here everything was neat and tidy to de-
gree | have never seen eNceled on farm.
The out-buildinSs with their surroundings
| are kept neat and clean. and all betI1ly the
superintendent OF thrifty, careful, and
| wcIl-to-do manager. "a place for every.
thing, and everything in its place." is better
illustrated here thln on any farm which |
have visited. But his crops are the things
which most attract attention. He took us
through fifty-tive-acrc field of corn which
will yield at the lowest estimate twelve bar
rclS of corn to the acre--much of it esti,
mated to produce fourteen. This field, how
ever, had been in sod for eighteen years. Hi
whole crop OF whcat--a very large One-wi
averages product OF twenty-five to twenty
| three bushels to the acre. The
| BULK OF THE WHEAT
raised in this county is Of the Lancaster
Mr.. Bcnton sows this. but had also one tiel(
of the zimmerman" which was very pop
uar here, us elsewhere IN the State, few
years ago, but had mostly run out and beer
abandoned. l doubt not that his success
with it this year will again revive its cultiva
ton here. Indeed, learn that much of hi
crop has been sold in the neighborhood fo
seeding this full.
attended few days since meeting o
the Farmers Club of this neighburhoOd, bu
will reserve what l heard and saw there fo
| another letter II.