Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1901-08-28

cover the whole State as il is to-
day, there is a climate unsurpassed
for its sweetness and uniformity in
those qualities which tend most to
health and comfort. The normal
annual temperature ranges between
so and CO.. The average tempera-
ture for the spring months is $3.50:
summer months, 1859; autumn,
52.30; winter, 4l.2o.
"Of the annual precipitation over
Virginia, averaging 10 inches, only
l s per cent. falls IN snow, being an
average for the whole state of depth
of about 20 inches. OF this, howev-
er, IL inches fall in tidewater, 1913
inches In the middle counties and
25.1 inches in the Great Valley. At
tentlon was also called TO the fact
that the precipitation is distributed
with fair degree of uniformity, the
official figures showing that for the
spring months Virginia has 3.S5
inches: !, r the summer, 1858; autumn
3.37, and winter, 3.S2. The extreme
fuctuation on an average for the
year is but l.96 inches, being be-
tween the lowest, in November, 2.4S.
and the highest in May, 4.44 inches.
"With such varieties of soil and such
benign climate it was not surpris-
ing that Virginia's agricultural
products should be of the greatest
number and of superior quality.
Virginia grows the finest tobacco
IN the world, from the bright leaf
for cigarettes to She famous "Hen-
ry county filler" for chewing. The
tobacco crop of Virginia, which is
capable of indefinite development
amounts to at least 125, 100000
pounds, worth $7,5OO,0O0.
''The State is also a considerable
producer OF cotton. AS her peanuts
are the finest in the world, so Nor
folk, her chief seaport, is the largest
peanut market in the world.
Gas for her fruits, 81 have myself
seen on the shores of the Chesapeake
the pomegranate and the fig come to
perfection in the open air. All the
other fruits more common to our
Middle States are produced in pro-
fusion. In the Piedmot region,
grapes, which makes the finest wines.
cover the hillsides, while the peerless
Albermarle pippin is found alone on
the southeastern slopes of the Vir-
ginia Blue Ridge. There is absolute
ly no portion of the State that NAV
not be said to be peculiarly adapted
to some sort of splendid fruit.
CAS- for live stock. Virginia's
reputation as breeder of horses is
being maintained for the turf, the
saddle and harness, and her breeds
from the southwest are said to be
the best that are carried to the Lon
don market. The Virginia hog gives
the world its sweetest hams.
"Of the 45 States in the Union
Virginia ranks fifth in the produc.
ton of iron, four States only taking
precedence over her-Pennsylvania.
Ohio, Illinois and Alabama. In 1900
Virginia produced 49O,617 tons of
iron, while her furnaces, if all in
operation throughout the year, have
a capacity of about 100000 tons.
"The iron pyrites mines of Louisa
county produce an output whose an
nual value is 100000. The gold
mines of Buckingham produce quartz
worth from 50 to $25 ton and are
prof table.
"The product of the zinc mines
of Pulaski county, with a vein of ore |
10 feet thick and supplying ore
yielding 45 per cent, is smelted in
the furnaces at Pulaski City.
1.-The lead of Virginia is chiefly |
found in Wythe county, where it has !
been mined more than 100 years, and |
at present the largest lead works in |
the South are carried on with an ap- |
parently inexhaustible supply of ore. |
virginia is also large producer of |
copper. The copper district is in
the county of Halifax, and last year
the output was 1900 tons of copper |
ore valued at $4,000.
"The coal industry of Virginia
was for long time confined to- the
region lying in the immediate vicini-
ty of Richmond on both sides of the
James river, which is the longest
worked coal field in the United
States and is still being worked.
But the great production of coal now
comes from Southwest Virginia.
where the celebrated Pocahontas
mines are situated on her borders.
The coal from this region, both from
Virginia and across the line in West
Virginia, has enabled Norfolk to
claim that she has the largest coal
ing station in the world, and the
opinion of the United States Govern