Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-01-07
AN OLD-FASHIONED WINTER,

There is not fifty year old farmer in this
latitude says the Lancaster LuteUigcncer, (and
the same language is applicable to this sec>
tlon,) who has not been heard to declare re-
peateL!y and most emphatically tina, winter
nowadays is very different from what it was
when he was boy. Who is there that has
not heard these farmer folks describe what
they call ian oid>faShioned winter ?" Seed
Ing was delayed then more than it is now.
and by the time the grain had fairly begun
TO shoot through the surface of the mellowed
soil it was expected to be wrapped in blanket
OF suow, beneath which it was kept moist and
warm until the genial rays of the sun gently
removed the covering which protected it from
the biting blast of the long winter months
By the time the maize was gathered within
the cribs aud the fiddler stacked in the barn
yard, for the cattle, deep SHOWS were duly
expected. y Christmas without foot or
two or snow on the ground was wonder in
those days. y snow al of two feet and up
wards was no uncommon thing then. The
country being much more thinly settled the
breaking OF the roads was great undertaking
which required the cooperation of all who
had horses. Whole neighborhoods turned
out the day alter the snow ceased falling and
cavaIcace of horsemen plunged through the
drifts while teams dragging pine trees with
spreading branches came behind Then, for
m"nths together wheeled vehicles were laid
aside and everything went on runners. Long
siedS were substituted for numbering mail
coaches, aud the speed and comfort of travel
ing were greatly increased.
TIE great SHOWS which lay long upon the
ground generally melted away gradually, and
the mass OF crysrazad moisture sinking
gently into the earth, furnished an abundant
supply to the springs which burst from every
hill side. When the snow disappeared the
grain was found to have grown beneath, it
and the meadows which looked brown and
bare in November, showed q surface of dei>
cate green as soon their winter coatin" was
cast of. Our farmers of to>day are glad to
see heavy fall of snow early in the season.
and weiI-pleased to have it lie long upon the
ground. The present indications of an old
fashioned winter will not be diSpleasing to cur
farmers. Deep SHOWS cause great inconve-
nlencc in large cities, but they arc generally
welcomed by the rural population.
The recent storm swept over an area of
territory cxtcndin. from the Gulf of Mexico
on the South, and the Great Plains on the
West TO the far North, aud Eastward far into
the Atlantic Ocean. Rain fell in unusual
quantities in the Southern States except upon
the mountains of North Carolina and Ten
nessee, where snow pre3ominated, while north
of the heart of Virginia it was all snow. The
area covered by snow was not less thar fifteen
hundred thousand square miles, and some
cunning calculator has estimated that the
amount of moisture deposited was equal to
the contents of lake six feet dee1 and Gov
erinS an area as large as the State of New
York. With such fall of snow as this tho
chances are that old farmers will be enabled
to realize all the delights and to reap Az the
beucits which they are prone to calm for
what they fondly style ian Old fashioned
Winter"