The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-05-27
a gentleman has passed ont Of the
hands of it's former owner

The houses were built In former
age with no reference to railroads and
modern conditions; the lands were
poor, markets inaccessible; and with
tho new conditions the ability of the
owners to maintain themselves per-
ishcd and, after long struggling, they
submitted pcrfOrcc, and new owners
came in and took possession. These
were OF the class which, if they made
little, spent nothing-the small farmer
class which work with their own hands.
One of the handsomest houses in the
country in which I was reared and
which once was the home of culture,
elegance and princcly hospitality, is
now ill the possession of tenant. Not
long since gentleman passed through
the place and stopped there A din
ner pot boiled in the old drawing
room, hung on spike driven into Il
crack i'll n fine old marble mantcl
Another such house in n ncighboring
county, where ! used to visit as
youngstcr, comes to my mind. 1t had
been owned for many generations by
the old Virginia family which at that
time still made it one of the most
charming homes in the state. A bcvy
of lovely girls, transmitting the tradi
tional beauty of their mother. (Which,
indeed, though faded with years and
sorrow, still spoke for itself made it
one of the most popular places in Nir-
ginia. The old flower garden, filed
with old-fashioned roses, Iilacs. holly
hooks and other flowers in profusion,
stretched wide around it, with walks
and bowers which many lovers blessed
n tbny had Al.
horscracks and stables were never
empty of visitors horses; whilst with
in and all about were n sweetness and
charm which have never been sur
passed. A friend, whom | first met
there, told me he was there not long
ago. He found the mansion divided
up and occupied by two or three fami-
lies of foreigners, whose women went
barefooted and whose children
sprawled in rags and dirt about the
once polished floors.
There are some who never hear the
word gentleman without thinking it
an insult to themselves, and who will
perhaps say that the place serves n
better use now than in the days when
plenteous hospitality and elegance had
their home there, This might be so
could the several families not obtain
food and shelter elsewhere; but had
the family come by natural evolution
into the first mentioned mansion they
would not have cracked the mantel
When they shall develop, if they ever
develop, they will want marble mantels
uncracLcd; but it will be long before
they reach that point. Meantime the
families which once occupied these old
houses and used marble mantelS have
passed away or gone far off. These
are no exceptional cases. 1t is easy to
find similar instances throughout the
entire south; indeed, it is hard not to
find them.
Agriculture in the south has for
many years been at so low an ebb that.
speaking generally, no one has been
able to live by it, except the laborer.
The small farmer, who works with his
own hands, and whose children do the
same, makes living. But his
emoluments are, after all, not large:
and his success is due not less to the
smallncss of his expenditure than to
the energy of his labor If lie has
ambitions beyond the most moderate
physical wants he must seek other
fields of enterprise.
Agricultural products have unques-
tionably increased, and are increasing;
but that the net returns from them is
increasing is not certain. The increase
would appear from the returns to
have reached the point of over pro-
duction: and the expenditure increases
as well as the income. The outlay in
the single item of fertilizers is simply
enormous.
The facs is that, after having trav-
cled throughout the south. am COM
PEELED to admit that, speaking from the
agricultural standpoint, and speaking
generally. she is not rich she is poor.
Her wealth has to come in the future
from other sources. OF course, certain
portions are rich; but her present con-
tlitions do not permit her to obtain the
full benefit from even these
What wealth there is at the south has
come not from agriculture, but from
other sources. Her natural resources
are great; her mineral districts are
enormously extensive and rich; her
timber has offered and still offers in
almost every state an immense field for
enterprise; she must become the great
fruit and vegetable producing section
of the country, and manufacturers must
continue to seek in the future, as they
have already begun to do, the immc-
diate neighborhood of the raw product.
Upon this as upon an Improvement in
her agricultural conditions, the south
must depend for her future prosperity
and advancement. Up to the present
the sparseness of her population. the
distance between the towns, the char
actcr of her roads and the competition
of the richer lands of the northwest.