The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1888-07-21

had subsidized it was found much of
the land that had been inundated
was rendered worthless because of
the salt Though nearly II years
have elapsed since the land was
salted, tracts can now be seen where
not a sign of vegetation is visible.
Tracts of hundreds of acres are thus
worthless. 1t can be reclaimed
however by heavy fertilizing, but
whether it would repay either renters
or owners is q matter of conjecture.
Corn thrives well ON the clay and
sandy soil, and vegetables of all
kinds grow in abundance. Some
little wheat is raised by nearly all
farmers. but I noticed that it was by
no means the leading product, al
though on some farms of superior
worth, it was raised in great guam
titles. On one farm of 200 acres,
the owner told me he raised a year
or so ago, 1000 beshels for sale, and
told me the number of acres he had
in, which figures l have forgotten,
but remember upon examination
at the time, his farm, valued at 5000
per acre compared favorably with
land of the same price in New Cas-
tie County for raising this cereal.
Principal among small fruits, straw
berries, currants, etc, are raised,
whilst plums, peaches and pears
take the lead among the larger fruit
products. Apple orchards are as
scarce in Dorchester county as peach
orchards in the upper part of Della
ware or Maryland. The pine grows
in great abundance, in fact of this
tree alone, the lower part of the
county is wooded. Cattle and hogs
run loose in great quantities, and few
farms are fenced in entirely, in the
general only the land in vegetables
or cereals is enclosed. You can ride
through acres and acres of pine for
ests, marshy tracts and grazing
lands and not see vestige of fence.
The people are of the southern type.
Pick out native of lower Dorches-
ter county and you have II typical
Southerner in every respect. Read
er you ask what has been the pro-
gress made in Dorchester county.
| answer, his educational advantag-
es have been limited, and as re-
suit he is in nearly all the old ruts
that his ancestors plodded in before
the war. OF course there are ex-
ceptions to this rule. Enlarge mans
stock of knowledge by an education
and his ideas are enlarged. There
are plenty of people in Dorchester
county who have been educated, and
as result his manner of living can
be compared favorably with those
of like qualifications in the North,
or anywhere else. In the general
however, the people are in the ruts,
and it can be truthfully said Of them
they are fifty years behind the times.
Houses a stories in height, carpet
less floors, stables in front of the
houses, etc, etc. and an almost ex-
elusive lack of knowledge of the val
ue of the paint and whitewash
brush, bears out the statement made
above. Though the Dorchester
Countian is behind the times, will
we censure him? Not at all. For
we must remember he lives ON the
very border-land of war-territory,
where the greater part of the lighting
was done, and no section of country
ON the face of the earth felt the eff
fccts of the war like that very terri
tory. For it was there, the po. as
it was, where sectional strife boiled
over where sentiment resented SEN
timcnt as nowhere else. And whilst
YOU remember all of this, compare
the progress made by the sunny
southland with that OF Dorchester
Comfy, and you will find, that
though the latter have had thu bur
d,ns to bear, not only in the heat oi
the fray, but ever since the fray, yet
she compares lavorahly with the
general average Of advancement
along ull the lines. Never will |
forget the kindness OF Dorchester
Countians toward me. Those ten
days spent with them can be com
pared as stopping at an oasis in a
journey across the desert of Sahara
For genuine hospitality the South
erners excel any other class of pco-
I pie.
On Friday a drive from near Tay-
lor's Island to the county seat, Cam
bridge, via Church Creek, distance
of 20 miles, gave the writer an op'
portunity to see for himself the up
per part of the county, and from oh
servation, facts concerning it are
drawn. Cambridge, town of somt