The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-01-31
MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

D
MECKLENBURG COUNTY.
THE FARMERS AND LABOR-TuE NEGRO As A
LABORER-v VARIOUS LAND sALES-RAlL-
RoAD--ygw NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. AND
| CROPS-A PLEA FOR TOBACCO.
Correspondence Of tho Richmond Dispalch.l
GAINESVILLE, VA, January y, 1851.
! This has been month noted Tor cloudy,
rainy. and sleety weather. but still! the
streams have not been very high or the at
mospherc extremely cold. supply OF zee
I has iecn generally secured. Trade has re-
yived TO some extent, the tobacco market
/ opened, and the sale days well attended.
/ The large farmers in this section have eX-
pcricncCd some difficulty in employing adj
equate labor for another year. The young
and able-bodied c0l0red Inen have gone in
numbers to works Of internal improve
ment and the cOtton-plantatiOns further
south. The pay is greater there than our
/ short crops with low prices will justify,
and public works and new fields have a
| great fascination for the negro, and his
/ views Of his Importance and wages have
! been considerably ENLARGED.
! For this section and our products and
mode of cultivation there is no labor ,upe-
I
accommodations than that OF the old-fa>h
toned Virginia negro. lie is unmindful OF
weather, easily suited i'm provisions and
buildings, and absolute proof against the
scorching rays Of the summers sun. To
see him in July, with the Thermometer at
9So, minus everything except pants and
shirt. driving his mules to the plOw
through the foreground corn, when all
D 4.1 flaforpssp1
intensity Of heat, he appears the cmbOdi-
ment o. suitability and in the realization Of
perfect happiness. | know one who says
the best feeling Of the year to him is when
he mounts the stack to pile mp straw from
the threshing-machinc the hottest day in
June without hat or shirt.
The island between the StauntOn and
Dan rivers. extending four miles up from
here. containing about 900 acres, OF which
about 600 acres are culliyatabe, has re-
Gently been sold by Grey Skipwith, Of Hen
rico county. 10 Me>srs. George and Lewis
Giniland. Of GAINESVILLE, FOR $1,000. "Mus-
kiie" island below here, i'm the Roanoke,
formerly TOwneS'S, containing about 300
acres. has been sold TO Mr.. Il. Il. Lewis for
$1,000. The Puliiam estate, near here,
comprising a large body Of valuable land,
colt. OF this place. Several smaller tracts
have been sold, and there seems TO be IN
increased DISPOSITION on the part Of capital
lists to invest in real estate.
Great interest is manifested i'm the con-
,truction Of the keySyile and GAINESVILLE
railroad, and every assurance has been
given by the Richmond and Danyille Rail-
road COMPANY that work on it will COM
moncc at an early day. and no doubt
fastened TO completion before the cXpra-
ton OF the present year.
Several new liquor saloons have recently
opened here, and they are considered in
the West ominous OF increased business
and the forerunncrs OF an influx Of 4 new
population.
Notwithstanding the shortncsS OF last
years corn-crop the people have ccono-
missed and managed to keep their stock in
lair condition. There is considerable SCAT
city Of money, and the severity OF the early
frost OF last fall seriously injured the to-
bacco and lessons the price for that CONF
modify. Corn Is eighty cents per bu,hcl,
pork eight cents per pound, butiorage is in
demand and difficult to purchase. But
our farmers should be encouraged 10 make
tobacco; it is the only sure money crop,
md certain ba,i, Of credit. and can be- re-
lied on to bring some cash for any cmcr-
gcncy at any time. our lands will produce
some tobacco when uniayorahle seasons
cause failure in all other things. As
an illustration take last year: An mprc-
cedcutcd drought prevailed. and corn, cot
ton. oats, and potatoes were insignificant
productions in this locality; but still the
tobacco crop would have been one Of fair
to 4 u lttIf p IL
Structiye and unusually early frost OF the
9Th IL October. Tobacco has been much
opposed and greatly-abused plant in all
times. 1t is seldom that any one has the
hardihOod 10 say its use is beneficial for any
thing or any person. II seems 10 have
been the subject OF oppression ever since
its discovery, like it, first friend and con-
sumcr. the Indian. 1t has been denounced
by voice and pen, in the pulpit and the
press, by men and women. 1t has been in
terdicted, taxed. aduIterated, burnt, and
prohibited: but il has supported more gov
ernments. settled more countries. cleared
more forests, built more cities. paid more
taxes, made more fortunes, than any other
plant. and is rs near king aS cotton. Vii
lagos ant. towns spring up where ii is sold,
and money and banks follow tobacco ware
houses and factories like the sunilower
follows TO the orb Of day. Sir Walter
Raleigh INDUCED in its use in the presence
OF royalty. King James Of England pro-
hibitcd it, but his courtierS pulled smoke at
him behind his back. Religious bodies
have passed resolutions in regard to it,
deadly effects, to be told by the oldest,
ablest, and most holy that they have used
It for half century. Physicians, preach
ers, and women have vented their maledlc-
tons on the weed, and yet it has stood the
storm. It's cultivation and consumption
increase every year. Pennsylvania now
comes into line as the third producing to-
bacco State. Virginia pays immense taxes
10 the Federal Government on her largest
product, and its increased production and
improved quality will enable her to de-
yelop other resources, invite dealers from
other sections 10 furnish capital, erect
warehouses and factories, and put the pro-
ducer rs well as the manufacturer on the
high road to prosperity. i. ID. j.
Virginia Postal News.
81 ho,. 4