The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1885-09-10
EDITORS coRREspoNDE NcE
BnsvARD, N. C., Sept. s, 1885.

1taA Aet tA1AS SSAAtC ~ ~ O4A p hCy
were joined here BY Mr.. Kope Elias from
FTanklin, and .Messrs. Osborne; Jones,
Smith and Posey of the Henderson bar.
Thos ID. Johnston Esqs Is here. partly
IN professional capacity but mainly in
his character of new Congressional
serYant to assure his constft ftuents how
well he is going to serve them, and to
give them proof Of the wisdom Of their
choice. -.
The State docketi is small one, there
being only fsaEieen cases upon il. It has
however occupied the two days of the
six constitutins the term of the court
the defendants being very stoutly cared
for by their counsel The Offences ire
breaches of the moral Code, and offences
of carrying concealed weapons. The
Grand Jury has some crime Of more
gravity under inkes tigation. One Gallo
way has been arrested and bound over
for his appearance on the charge of
burning a school house in Gloucester
township some tlnle ago. That charge
| is now being Investigated. g.
I 1t is very pleasant to see the fine eff
fects of good and seasonable rains upon
the crops. From Ashevil1e to this point
the eye is greeted with such corn as has
not been seen in many years. The beau
tiful valley of Mill river seems a granary
in itself, the Boilston valley through its
whole length seems one vast field of
corn, surpassed by the exuberant pros
pect along Davidson river.
In Buncombe and in Henderson, q
nnH dn dnnl Of fr6
condition. The acreage of this crop in
Transylvania is small. Mr.. Young tells
me he has six acres in cultivation, which
promises well; but this is the only ex-
ample in this county, of any thing larger
| than patch There has been surpris-
ing increase in the cultivation ofSorghum.
Some farmers will make from 800 to 500
gallons of syrup. A. w. Connell, not far
| from Brevard has a field of ten acres. The
cutting and boiling will begin next week
Several varieties ofseed have been plant
ed, all of which has different period of
maturity. The Liberian believe is the
earliest. ttt s@st a.
noticed in Buncombe and the north
ern part of Henderson large fields of
buckwheat, but none in this county
along the road. There is much rye sow
ed in Transylvania for winter and early
spring pasturage. Farmers SOW from 40
to 100 acres. They are seeding now, and
some crops are already up. y trf' '.,l
1t is only a question of time when the
No-Fence law will be adopted here. The
sentiment of the people is steadily grow
ing in favor of the adoption of such law.
The fact that this market is not sought
now as eagerly as it had been by South
Carolina buyers of beef cattle, because
they need not now go abroad for supplies
owing to the Improvement of stock un-
der the operations of the fence lawsis an
argument that cannot fail in its forcible
presentation of the question. Another
argument has grown to have some weight,
Of late many head of cattle have been
killed in the range, whether as trespass-
ers, or from malice cannot be known.
| But it suggests danger that cannot be
guarded against only in one way. Cattle
must be kept under the eye of the owner.
l have seen little fruit here. 1t is too
early for fine apples. The frost of the
10th of May did much Injury to apples,
| think the crop is small one Few
| peaches are to be- seen. Grapes seem to
thrive, though I have only seen what
Jasper Orr was kind enough to present
me. He brought me yesterday section
of vine about two feet long 80 thick set
WIN OuASllC0 co W appear Ike OIlC large
cluster. The cluster weighed four and
half pounds and there was not defec-
tive berry among the whole. It was the
Concord grape. have always thought
this section peculiarly suited to the grape
and the production of wine. Mr.. Lucas
| from his vineyard succeeds in making q
real and a very excellent wine. -
1t is very easy to appear extravaga MT
In writing of Transylvania. 1t is surely
a most beautiful country with its strong
contrast of wild or majestic mountains
and unbroken forest. and of broad and
peaceful valley, margined with fine
dwellings and well cared for farmsteads;
with grain and grasses, and shrubbery
and flowers and ever animated shade
tree, and groupings of picturesque and
stately white pine, which seems to de-
| light as a transplanted tree In the soil
OF this and Henderson county; aud then
to'these things may be added the large
herds of cattle which are the wealth and
the ornament of the valley farms. ,
The county is also rich in the pictur.
esque. scenery and in the number of OBJ
jects in nature grand and beautiful.
There are probably more waterfalls of
beauty and of magnitude than in any
other part of the mountains, and most
of these are within few miles of Bre-
ward. Those on Little river, eight or
ten miles away are perhaps the finest, as
having the largest volume of water, and
perhaps the highest falls. But quite as
beautiful, while much nearer, are the
Maiden Hair Falls, three miles away
Conestee Falls, eight miles (which visit.
Tomorrow Hooking Glass Falls, up on
Davidson's river, ,Toxaway Falls, and
number of others, the supplies of which
come from high up in the Blue Ridge,
the Balsam, and its offshoots, leaping out
when half fiedged from their rocky nests
to sport themselves in the placid valleys
below. 1t is the country for the tourist
insearch of the beautiful and picturesque
at the expense possibly of roughing it
sometimes in somewhat seduestered re-
cesSes.
! Besides the exuberance of vegetable
| nature in this country have no ques-
ton there will be much mineral treas
ure to reward research when the will
derness shall have been laid barea little
more. 1t is. reasonable to expect that
| gold and other metals will be discovered
besides mica, corundum, asbestos, &c.
Latterly, a gold vein has been opened
about mile from the Courthouse, just
beyond the farm of Mr.. Lucas, andeit is
creating some excitement. Col. Clayton
tells me of an old work he was familiar
with in his younger days. It was tun-
mel on the side of Little mountain, five
miles north from here, run evidently in
search of metal. Tt was run in to the
depth of about 500 feet, and was the
work of men using iron in excayating.
Iron tools, or rather the fragments oi
iron furnaces were found The work
was done anterior to tho settling up Of
the country BY our people Old people