The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-09-11


been described la the columns Of the
Herald more than once, but a. the years
come aud 20 it, conditions are being so
much improved that it should he kept
constantly before our people a. iucent-
i've II not inspiration itself
Asmost OF yourreaders already know,
30 is located IN the county Of Nottoway,
about one mile aud half Southwest
of Burkeville. 10 is large farm too,
consisting Of something less than l,0o
acres, but L. owner and worker, Mr.
4. o. sandy, has not undertaken to I'M
/ prove all the broad acres at once, but
he has enriched them acre by acre un-
+ al now, | should say, he has some 100
acres i'm high state Of cultivation. As
j drove in sight Of the mansion "A scene
of rare rural beauty burst on my vision.
/ To the right 20 acre field Of corn, a.
good a. eyer grew on the bosom Of this
old earth Of ours. In front Of the dwell
. ling an open space Of some six acres,
a. well set 10 grass as any six acres Of
the valley Of Virginia OF any other val
ley Of any other state Of the union.
Here The Hackney colts aud the Hois-
TEN calves and the Dorset lambs were
grazing aud had been grazing all sum
mer, and yet the sod was uninjured
and felt beneath your feet as the thick
est and finest carpet from eastern loom
To the left an eight acre grass plot,
from which two tons Of choice timothy
hay TO the acre had already been cut
this season, ana upon which the milch /.
cows were allowed to Craze at night. /.
Here too, neither the greedy mower,
nor the eager grazer had materially in
jured the luxurious growth Of green /
To the rear Of the house and fronting /
the barn not for tobacco, but for horses /
aud hay found an eight acre lot Of |
corn which just "top- anything have /
yet seen. Mr.. sandy had planted this /
f1r ensilage, and for that reason it was
much thicker than would have been
with corn which was intended 10 ma.
ture, aud yet such has been the season
that from two 10 four well formed
ears were 90 be seen on each stalk. !
undertook % walk through this corn
and 10 was with great difficulty that
could force my way. a neighbor had
been 90 seeit Justbefore my visit aud was
soimprc-sed with il that he determined
with Mr.. Saudy's assistance to count
thc stalks on a given acre, and found
them 90 be- 1861.
Let as suppose 1t would average two
years to a stalk, then We would have 4
%, l2s ears OF corn 10 the acre, and how
many bushels per acre would that mean? 1
/ leave % some of your farmer readers
% answer that question.
Mr.. Sandy estimate, that as eusilage
that eight acres would be worth TO him
at least Sl.900. on course these acres
were not brought % present state Of
fertility Boz one season, but while the
process OF improvement was going on {
profit was being derived from them
year by year How stupid. then,
iu any man 90 bee content to work poor (
land ] have visited many western
farms and those Of our great valley,
aud never have ] seen finer specimens
Of timothy hay than examined in Mr..
Sandy'- barn. suppose there are
SD tons of 10. aud cut from few acres
of Soufh-iGe Virginia land, which
eight years ago would not have sold for
SIX dollars au acre. Ana yet some one
wa. reckles, enough not long since, to
say 90 young men, "Go Vest Turn
deaf year 10 any such suggestion and
live decent life in ; uthside Viz
yinia and in the end die happy.
TO the Westof the barn there spread
out perhaps 800 acres Of peas and grass
maturing for the mower aud getting
ready % make a winter Of plenty.
on inquiry I learned that the wheat
crop 81 this season was dead failure,
but when the wheat was seeded, blue
grass, timothy, herds grass and clover
had also been seeded, and though the !
wheat had been crowded 10 the rear the
had come grandly to the
front and instead Of realizing 10 the I
owner ten dollars TO the acre the re
,eipts were $40 per acre. Mr. sandy ,
has decided in the future to let the
wheat go and stick 10 the more renu-
lucrative grass.
Isn't it passing strange that our
fathers should have labored under the
mistake that tobacco was the only
crop Of this section?
Since my last visit % this farm, the {
Holsteins, the Hackneys, the Dorsets,
the Berkshires end the Plymouth
Rocks have all grown fatter aud finer, {
and as companions Of growing crops do .
make picture upon which the eye
yazes with delight aud never tires.
The dwelling house and surround ,
ug- have been greatly improved too, .
and when saw all this ! was again /
rorcibly impressed with the force Of the J
old saying that busy man always
has time 20 attend to something else G.
Major CoBan, Of Montgomery coun-
.y, and Mr. Ruflin, a successful farmer
Of the lower James river section, visit
ed this farm recently, and ! regret that
could not have been with them to
witness their establishment. one had
been accustomed 20 the never falling ,
sod Of blue grass, the other to nyer
bottoms as rich a. the valley Of the
Nile, but had To- confess that such corn,
and such cattle, aud such grass on q