The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-09-24
A Drou ght.

After long, long rains and cherries
days, one thinks of clear and golden day
as one of Gods choicest gifts. How Sc
rene the radiant morning, how glorious
the noon, how gorgeous the going down of
the sun through ranks ssand regiments of
embattled clouds Oh, that there may be
another such day Another comes, and
another. and week full. The heart
laughs. Such days fill out ones life and
are better than Davidian oil and wine for
the head and heart. One follows another,
but never two alike. Not cloud to-day,
not speck, but only blu e-deep, wide
universal blue Tomorrow, too, is ra-
diant, but all along the horizon lie hazy
clouds, and gray and ghost-like films and
patches stretch out far into the blue, yet
without yelling the sun, whose light suf-
fuses all space, and pours down through
the scuds as if nothing was there.
Another brilliant day! But this time
great rolling masses of snow-white clouds
move through the air. They are whatever
your fancy paints them. Islands of the
blessed in the great ocean of ether. Nov
ing mountains of ice, broken from their
Northern home and floating down to the
South these, and score Of fantastic
images pass through ones vacant mind,
in lazy hours when, on ones back, the
listless dreamer gazes into the sky.
Meanwhile how everything loves the
cupch;naf Tho doxu dropc vx,; nh op1 h1iuE
at each other in innocent coquetry. The
grass and leaves solace themselves as with
wine. The birds glitter, as beating the
air, the sun flashes from back and wing.
The trees battle their busy heads in the
fullness Of light. The fences are golden.
The very stones shine in mellow light
Blessings on the summer. sun!
But when two unclouded weeks, and
three and four have passed. without rain
or shower, every one begins to grow weary
of proitless sunshine. The earth grows
thirsty. Clouds of dust rise from the
roads. Grass ceases to grow and turns
dingy brown. Small fruits jump into ripe
ness without chemistry enough to perfect
their juices. Flowers rush headlong
through poisoning to seed. Streams
shrink, and lull the hours with less and less
liquid music. and finally dry away entirely.
Wells give out. Springs dry up. Everybody
signs for rain.
Now comes daysin long succession, every
one walking in sunshine. We are tired Of
brightness. Wehail the leaden clouds that
gather and promise rain. They only mock
us. No rain-only wind. We hear of
rains all around us, on the north, on the
south, east and west, but none here.
Even the Fourth of July passed on with
out rain, though vivid flashes along the
horizon marked distant thunder showers.
How dreary is sunshine How fair and
beautiful would be the face of rainy days
We are.tired of light We are tired of in
finite depths of blue. Even the dry moon,
walking with unmoist feet through the
barren sky, has lost its charms. We love
blackness. We long for dizziness. In this
choking dust we remember mud with a
glow of enthusiasm. Can it be possible
that we ever condemned it, and spoke evil
things of it /? Now we hail the thoughts
of it!
Let it cling to our boots, and clasp the
wagon wheels, and lie in patches on our
very garments. 1t cannot, like dust, fill
the eyes, choke the throat, powder the hair,
tickle the sneezing nose. Oh, for rain, and
dripping leaves, and sodden grass, and
plashy pools, and soft and genuine mud =
Henry Ward Beecher.
VIM. A. VICAR, Mt. Scion, Virginia, says
he used Powell's Prepared Chemicals for
wheat and got good crop of wheat and
grass. He has since used high priced fer
tilizers on same land and failed in grass.
This year he bought Chemicals again,
having proved to his satisfaction they are
best as well as cheapest. Powell's Prepar-
ed Chemicals cost $500 per bbl., suf-
ficient quantity to make one-half ton of
complete fertilizer. Brown Chemical Co.,
manufactures, Baltimore, Md.