Morning journal and courier., 1882-01-07
Letters From West Virginia.
No. Z.
Price of Land-ServeIess Propr1etors Profits of a General store-Large ship ments Of Produce-s'Gfnseng''- Money Maker, SSe., &e.
 HAYWOOD, Fayeste Co.,, ". Va,

Price of Land-yerveIess Proprfetors - i Profits of a General store-Large ship 1 ments Of Produce-ssGfnseng''- Money Maker, SSe., &c.
 HAYWOOD, Fayette Co.,, ". Va, | Dec. 27, 1881. I came to West Virginia in 1877, and in 1 the following year, after thorough explora- ton of my triangle, purchased farm on the top of Big Sewen Mountain, 3,200 feet above | tide water. My new home was fifteen miles from the nearest station on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad. The place contained nomina1ly 473 acres but it is fair to say, for
 the benefit of those who wish to form an es-
 timate of the price of land, that the acreage
 of tracts in this section is purely nominal
 figure and that careful survey will invaria-
 ply advance the figure from ten to fifty per
 cent. There were about sixty acres of my
 farm cleared at the time of purchase and 8
 large log dwelling badly out of repair, but no
 fences, went with the land The price was
 S1, ,5O0. I should add that this was regarded
 as cheap purchase at the time, and land
 has since advanced somewhat in price, My
 cleared land was mostly in excellent condi-
 tion as regards the quality of the soil, as my
 recent crops of hay and grain have snoHu;
 but the fields were badly o7errun with vege-
 table filth. The timber land WAS perhaps a
 little below par as regards the standing tim
 Der; but we have hauled out to the mill
 poplar and lind, and I estimate that about
 500, 900 feet still remain. In addition, there
 are quantities of the finest white oak, red
 oak chestnut oak, hickory, sugar marle.
 chestnut and locust, with some ash cherry
 and white walnut, (butternut) This de-
 scription will show the soil to be of good
 quality, and give it as a fair sample of the
 ordinary run of lands open to the purchaser
 in this section. Every farm around here.
 that know of, suffered from the depreda-
 tions of the soldiery at the time of the war.
 and after the war the owners had neither the
 money nor the energy to put their places in
 repair, preferring to live from hand to
 mouth, while the land ran to waste in the
 vain hope of a cash purchaser. This state of
 things has continued for sixteen years. but
 now, with the extension of the Chesapeake
 and Ohio railroad and the building of new
 lines of railway and the fast increasing num-
 Der of enterprises for the development of
 mineral wealth, there appears to be every in- 'dication of these farm lands passing out of
 the hands of their present nerveless posses
 BOTS.
 Shortly after opening up our enterprise at Haywood q had two partners), we were obliged, in self defense, to open general store. The number of stores in the country is too few for the convenience of the com munity. and what few there are are carried on with ridiculousIy small capital and sell goods at prices wnich, if the goods had been properly bought, would be extortionate. One of my partners was quick b recognize the opportunity offered, aad without delay we invested small capital (Ss00) in general store, which for three years we carried it on did business of something over s, 900 a year at net profit of 8 per cent. OF sales. A small general store of this character plays directly into the hands of the owner of a stock farm. The small farmers of the neighborhood obliged to trade their grain, hay, bacon, butter, eggs, wool and surplus stock at the store for all such sups plies as they are unable to raise themselves The farmer-merchant can then feed to his own stock all the farm produce which he re- ceives in this way, except the products of the dairy and poultry yard, and these he ships to Richmond, where, by the way, more gener- ous price is realized for an inferior quality of produce than in any other market 1 know of. As above described, the business of small store in connection with a stock farm affords the method which spoke of in my last letter of buying grain at less than the cost of production. As mat ter of course, some judgment must be exer- cised in the selection of a location in which to carry on double business on the above plan but no fear need be entertained of any difficulty In finding large numbers of eligible situations within the bounds of my triangle.
 The opportunities offered by this section for store keeping by itself appear at present to be almost unlimited, and the capital re- 4uired even by the cash buyer need not be large. In fact, know of but two or three stands where a capital of over S, 900 could be profitably employed; and from that sum all the way down to S40o could be used n any one of fifty locations that I could men .ion with profits surprising when compared with the amount of capital invested and would secure an amount of business in exact pro portion to the judgment and skill of the man n turning over his money rapidly.
 It should be borne in mind tat in these mountains the cost of living is reduced to minimum and the expenses of one or two young men establishing 8 store, keeping bachelors hall, and doing their own chores, cannot be heavy. The man who comes into these baekwoods without an independent in- come must be prepared to dispense with hired labor in such simple matters as he can perform himself. In fact, why come to the if you expect to keep up 5ubur- pan establishment with corresponding expen- 'es? One of the beauties of this life for the inclined is the possibility of wearing cottonnade at twenty cents yard With good supply of old clothes and with eggs at seven cents dozen and butter from sight to ten cents pound in summer, it will pc seen that the expenses of bachelors hall cannot be heavy.
 One of the most profitable articles of trade n which the West Virginia store keeper deals s ginseng" commonly called sang" This pot is little known or heard of outside of he trade. It grows in West Virginia, Ten nfa as.1 a.,a Eo.- localities in other parts of the Union. The entire product is exported to Jhlna. This root IS taken at the stores either fried or in 8 green state. When received green the storakeeper is at the slight trouble of drying it in the sun. The price paid in goods will vary, according to the locality, rom Sl. .25 to $ 90 in 8 dry state, and the ar icle will bring in Philadelphia g. 8 pound. We bought a quantity of the root at our store turing the past season, paying $l. 90 pound n goods, and this was the highest price paid n this section, and we realized $2.35 pound n Philadelphia last month. It is needless to Jay that the amount SO handled was not very arge or I should not now be dating these let .ers from West Virginia.
 The quantity of trade" which some of she stores could take if they knew how to handle it is simply enormous. At a store thirteen miles from this place I know of their shipping 5000 pounds of dressed poul- .Iy lo NS" 1OIk III one ms store, during two years that it was. carried on by two young men from New Jersey, shipped such large quantities of produce that one of the largest commission houses in Richmond thought 1t worth while to send an agent to solicit it's patronage. Ten miles from May wood is store kept by a man who, eight years ago, began business on a borrowed cap- tal of $500. To-day he pays cash for his goods in Baltimore, one of the most expen- sive wholesale markets in the country, car ries $1 800 worth of stock and Is worth not less than S35, ,0O0. His net profits are not less than $4, 900 year and they would be larger if he knew where to buy. It is fair to state that he has not made all his money in but that, as soon as his store had placed him ahead, he joined to his store business the very profitable occupation of cattle raiser. Another man came here from Virginia seven years ago with a wagon and team, wife and lot of children and S6O. He opened store in a very humble manner, and to-day he does very fair business and owns neat house and a well-kept farm l might give other instances. Failures in this - line of business are few, for the men who start such enterprises in country like this ara prepared to rough it for while and to reduce personal expenses to minimum. A man is not eaten up by his rent and custom is bound to come if he can keep cheerful and detect petty swindling with put losing his temper. J.W.
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