The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1894-10-05
WESTERN MARYLAND.

WEAvERToN. Washington County.
DEAR Observation-Disclosures my last have
been at this place. rs my base of operations,
and have made excursions through the
county in prosecuting the business i'll hand.
In this way much of the farming lands has
been seen and good view of the country
obtained. To say 1!at the region abounGs
in beauty is to draw the description in
brief words, but mildly. To be fully ell.
ioycd and appreciated, it must be visited.
The little town in which | stopped is di
rectlv upon the main line of the b. Il O.
Railroad few miles below Harper'S
Ferry. Here there i a combination of the
great forces of nature rarely to be seen.
First, the power of steam, as ii drives
swiftly along the ponderous freight, har-
messed, so as to be at the full command of
man; just below it, the canal with its tow
path. and its ever faithful mule. harnessed,
to drag along the sleepy waters, its huge
boat, trcigbtcd to its gun wales with the
product of the mines and fields; just below
the canal, the rushing waters of the Poto-
mac, laughing at both as they leap from
rock to rock over its bed. in their wild joy
to the sea In the mi DIST of this busy com
motion, the mule and the tow path have
an unpoctic fascination and remain the
same that they were when Horace of old
described his journey to BrunduSium. The
life of the mule must be one Of misery, as
he plodS his way along the journey
between Georgetown and Cumberland,
a distance of $50 miles. 1t would
seem that this slow method of trans
portation must give place to rapid
transit, and perhaps the day is not far dis
tant when some railroad will be laid along
the bed of the canal. This seems to be its
ultimate end and fate, and the people
along its line speak hopefully of the time
when it will be done. Just now the farm
erS are busy with preparation for wheat
sowing There will not be 50 large a crop
put out this fall as usual as many have be
come discouraged from the low market
price of grain. The corn crop is generally
good and considering the long drouth,
W
section. shows the wonderful fertility of
the soil. Much lime is used, which appears
strange since their lands are mostly of Il
lime stone formation, vet it is said that
much better results are obtained from its
use Strange too, is the use of Il CONNER
cial fertilizer upon their wheat crop. This
crop was very large the past season as
much as - bushels to the acre having
been obtained from a large acreage. But
many persons here have gone into the
peach business and thousands of trees have
been planted out within the past two or
three years. There is scarcely any fruit
this season, but his causes no discourage
ment or abatement in tree planting. To
give some idea of the extent of these or
chards a few days ago, standing upon
prominent hill, was told that i'll Il small
area could be counted 40, GOO trees Indeed,
the slopes Of the mountains, which are the
dotted with peach trees. These orchards
are carefully cultivated SO as to keep down
all weeds and noNious growthS, and the
loss of crop is no small matter consider
inc the outlay in money and labor that
their care entail With all these Difficult
ties, these people are hravcly contending
and their strong faith seems almost as en-
during rs their mountains II.