The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-06-27
Gke GateLElqe!ne!e!n!::..
WEST VIRGINIA.
It's Natural Resources Inducements TO
a. Immigrants.

It's Natural ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS !
Immigrants.
Boston Commercial 1allelin.
4 Cut of from the rest OF the world b
wretched roads and impossible noun
tainS, hs had no market for his surplu
products, SO he was content to till, yea
after year, his small patch Of corr AM
vegetables, and raise just enough for TIL
supply Of his family. II All uniavorabll
season reduced his crops below the want
OF his household, he simply shoulderet
his rifle and brought down some Of thu
abundant game Of the adjoining forests
or, II he were a li:tle more enterprising
than some oihis neighbors, he "deadened'
few additional trees, and planted a few
additional acres in corn and cabbageS
And thus he lived, and thus his children
have lived, and this to-day Is the mode o.
life Of one.half Of the rural population o.
West Virginia, We need not say that Il
would be long before such people would
develop n smLe, whatever might be i'll
natural resources
ina previous paper We have shown that
the climate OF West Virginia is the one
most favorable to develop in man the abiI.
iLy 10 work, being neither 10 cold as TO be.
numb his energies, nor 10 hot rs to ener.
vate his physical system. The physical
agencies which control physical prospect.
", are climate and soil, the one regulating
the constancv and energy Of labor, the
other fixing, with reasonable certainty,
the amounts and profits OF production.
There Is no instance in history" SAYS
Buckle in his Civilization IN England, OF
any country being civilized by It's own ef-
forts, unless It possessed one Of these con-
stituents (climate or soiD in very favor
able form. In Asia civilization has always
been confined to that vast track where q
rich and alluvlal soil has secured to man
that wealth without some share OF which
no intellectual progress can begin" To
the north OF this alluvial belt "is u long
line Of barren country, which has invari.
ably been peopIed BY rude and wandering
tribes, who are kept IN poverty by the un.
genial nature Of the soil, and who, as long
US they have remained on it, have never
emerged from their uncivilized state.'
CONDITIONS TO THE GROWTH OF a STATE.
Climate and soil then, it would appear.
are essential conditions TO the growth Of a
State, und by reason OF the leisure given
by wcaIth-of its intelligence, moral chi.
ture, and civilization.
"lf the climate is too moist and too
hot, says j. i. Killebrew, in his very val.
liable work ON the Resources Of Tennes.
see" "the exuberanCe OF vegetation rem.
ders the labor OF a man insufficient TO
keep 1t in subsection, and the infections OF
malaria destroy the habits Of systematic
and hardy industry; II too dry, vegeta.
ton withers, and tho labOrs Of the hus.
bandnan are not rewarded by a bounte-
GUS yield Of the fruits Of the earth. II the
growing season is short, the variety of
crops is small; il continuous, the anchor.
Nting effects OF freezes are lost. The most
happy combination appears TO be that in
which the amount OF humidity and sun.
shine ia just sufficient to produce the high
est degree oil perfection and maturity in
the crops, and where the degree OF cold is
just enough to invigOrate the physical
system, aneliorate the soil, and DESTROY
the germs Of disabling disease" He adds
"a soil that will produce one crop well, is
not SO valuable rs soil that will produce
n dozen. Nor can State which produces
only one crop be rs profitable as one that
produces a diversity !.
This combination OF richness OF soil and
diversity OF climate, and consequent capa.
city 10 produce variety OF crops, can be
found nowhere in greater proportion than
in West Virginia. 1t has every variety Of
soil, aud its elevation above tidewater,
varying, rs it does, from five hundred feet
along the Ohio river, to four thousand feet
in the mountains in the northeast, pro-
duces climatic difference OF fully four.
teen degrees.
With these favorable conditions, it is
safe to predict that when its advantages
become fully known, immigration will flow
into 1t, will develop its fertile soil, utilize
It's vast forests and mineral wealth, and
thus make 1t one q the most prosperous
States in the Union.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.
lnthc limits OF u single paper we can do
no more than glance very briefly ut some
OF the principal productions Of this State.
IS soil is admirably adapted TO the rails
ing Indian corn, and this, owing to the
primitive character OF its people, and their
preference for it rs IN article OF food, has
always been the largest crop produced.
The yield varies with the locality-rang.
ing on tho hills from thirty to forty bush.
els TO tho acre, wilhelm the valleys and on
the river bottoms fifty and sixty bushels
arc not considered extraordinary. The
soil OF these bottoms is light. easily pene-
trated by the sun, and full OF vegetable
matter; hence without fertilizers, and
with tho poorest cultivation, it produces
corn most abundantly,
In the kanawha valley corn has been
planted for eighty years consecutivOly,
without compost, or rotation Of crops, and
has produced sixty bushels; and on Blen.
nerhasset Island, in the Ohio, under
similar treatment, the yield for fifty years
has been as high as eighty bushels.
With proper cultivation this grain
would produce most astonishingly on such
soils. Nearly all the corn raised Is con.
sumed by the producers themselves, eth,
or for food or in the feeding Of cattle.
What is not thus consumed finds ready
market, at not less than fifty cents BUSH
81, in the towns, or HIH0ng the new settlers.
Wheat is not now so largely produGsl
in this State US corn; but on suitable soils
tho yield is as large as in any of the great
whGat.produGing States Of tho West 1t is
grown principally in the oldnr and more
thiCkly.settled countries, not because they
IRE best adapted to its cultivation, but for
the reason that the farmer thereha lQrQet
means, can better prepare for early seed.
ing, and use more system in his opera.
lions. But even here little attention is
given to improved methods Of cultivation,
The ordinary yield on good lands without
fertilizers, is from ten to twenty bushels
and the entire product finds II ready homG
market.
The other cereals we need not particular
ize, as soils that will produce good yields
OF corn and wheat will generally grow
equally good crops OF rye, oats and barley
RpGkwheat, however, may be specially
mentioned. II is extensively cultivated
along the Ohio river and the mountain