Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-11-15
FROM souTnIAsIsRN VIRGINIA.

Yesterdays light rain broke the long
esi spell Of dry weather experienced by
our people fcr many years. The swamp
land. are on tirr aud considerable dsm-
age has been done; morc will I've done
unless more rain falls soon, and cousid'
erable of it. The Great Dismal swamp,
which lies to tn southwark of this city,
Il on firr. When the Wind comes up
irom the south the air IL hllcd With
.moke from the burning forests. The
pcaiy nature Of the swamp lands feeds
ih. fire. Tor week. at a time unless
heavy rains thoroughly ssturste the
soil. Thousands of acres are now burn
Ing over. and In many places even the
coll L. being consumed by firc to the ex'
tent of many thousands of cubic yards.
Holes are burpci In the ground of all
.lye., some large enough to contain
gooi-sitci house. In fact, u IL among
the tradiiious Of the Indians Who occu-
pied thi. portion of the state, that q,
oue time, long ago, prior Ia the discoS-
.ry Of America, an unusual drouth pre-
vailed here. until the great swamp ~ss
so thoroughly dried out that the hrr
barping there actually burned out the
bed of lake Drummond Ia the CENTRE oi
the .aid swamp, and II has coniinued
lake to the present time.
The dry weather has prevented the
usual amount oi fall plc~ing, and has
made a shortage of fall crops. The
frost. have be-n light Ia date. Oniy
the most tender foliage has been killcti.
The market l. Yet we'll stocked With
choice tomatoes, aud many other
vegetables. Including green corn. The
oyster crop !. no~ bsing harvested. The
season begin. with september and ex-
tsnd. ;hr,agh each month that has the
letter la Il. One entsrprl.lns oyster
m.n was caught taking oysters In
August. but sustained his action by iD-
.i.iing that .'O-r-g. u-s-t'' ~a. the Nay The
month should be spelled. The oyster,
a. q rule, 1. not good until September or
October. lie l. at his prime In cold
weather, although many are eaten dur
ing the summer. Tue crop L. assuming
great Importance. IL IL e.timsied that
from ls,JpO Ia 1900 hand. are employ
,>i Ia thi. business. Ths catch reschc.
several million bushels annually. ia
,i.l, Ia I.le Of Wight County q lev
d.ys since, We were Informed that Ia
Nsn..nond River alone 3JD,pD bushels
~ oyster. we're planted, which were
maturing for use the ,oming winter sni
.pring. The natural beds" us~i to
furnish most of the oysters for con-
.umpgiou, hut these beds are eccomins
depleted, aud the quality Of the oyster.
from them l. bscomlng more doubifui
each year. Thi. encourages planting In
all priyat. co,e., and In almost all the
s.tlial streams" % the state. Ia Tact,
the oyster crop IL becoming more ani
NOR. important each year. IL grows
without cultivation and without feeding.
II require. only the taking from the
natural beds. and In private water. "
require. only the planting of the Seed
oysters aud the taking up of the same
Sheu ready for market. II may inier-
90, your readers 10 know that the
spawn from q single heslthy oyster
In one ses.on Will reach the amazing
numb-r of i,oD,oo0 or morr young
oysters. Of course only . very small
p.rceni age of this "spswn"-or "'pi
a. n 4. called by the oystermeu-msk--
oy.ter.: the remainder is lost or CON
.amei by the h.h, which come into
th... water. to fed In counties. mil
lions. from sJ,OoO.Ooto ej,Sp,op 10
left la this city each year for the oyster
crop. when drouth oyertake. our tili-
er. of the .oil, they turn to the waters
AMI - nshlng. -
Tue weather has been fine for weeks
clear. cool ani pleasant. Ia short
drive through a body Of woodland ".
.aw due Mild turkeys, quail aud via
duck. Iu the larger bodies of timber'
deer sr. .till found In considerable
hunters, aud ,enl.on is almost weekly
seen on our markets. IL IL also q COM
mon occurrence To find bear In the large
swamp. of Northeastern North Caroi'ns
aud southeastern virginis. We missed
our -auInoctisl storm entirely THIS faii.
10 such case. Ne often get t later on
~ith intere.t-sometimes compound in-
terest.
Corn wholesale at SOC. per bu.; oats,
~ To iJc. hay from slt to sl6.so PET
too. Price. of all farm products are well
.u.tsined.-Correspopdent OF Country
Gentleman.