The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-06-30
Wheat Crop Of Virginia is a
Good One.
THE FIRST BINDER BUILT
Rockbridge County Was the Home Of
Its nventor-Monumen May Rise
TO Him There-The Epic of
Corn.Bread.
Especial from a stan Correspondent

ley and Piedmont, Is far better than ING
average. Within the past ten days have
been through more than a dozen OF the
wheat counties OF Virginia. and have
talked with hundreds OF farmers. Almost
without exception they unite In saying
the crop is good; many Of them have told
me that 1t has not been better In ten
years. One OF the largest wheat growers
OF Page county told me he did not re-
member having had finer crop Since
the war 1t would be hard to find in this
country, think, fields of finer wheat
than those which have Just been har-
vested In the vicinity Of Luray. The
shocks dot the fields so thlckly 1t looks
as though 1t would be difficult to drive Il
wagon among them The crop In Rock
ingham is fine, but 1t appeared TO me that
the appearance OF the wheat in Augusta
county Indicated better crop.
was riding through Augusta the other
day with Hon. w. E. Rhea, former rep
resentative from the Ninth District, and
Bs the train slipped along through that
beautifully rolling county, with hundreds
of acres OF yellow grain stretching away
on either hand, waving in the gentle
breeze and cleaning golden In the sum-
uier sunshine, Mr., Rhea was enchanted.
This Is Gods country" he exclaimed
TO me. and TO another travelling compan-
lon. a resident Of Norfolk. And VIC
agreed with this ardent Southwest Vir-
glnia man that 1t did indeed appear as
II tho Creator were specially blessing the
great Valley this year.
The Rock bridge wheat Is excellent. The
acreage Is ttought to be larger than
IS Usual. and the yield. according to a dozen
farmers, will be far above the average.
Of course. there are some farmers who
express the opinion that the crop this
year Is not SO good az many seem to
think. but ] have before had occasion
d tcrmention IN The Times. Dispatch that
4 working in the soil seems to make grum-
blers of men. do not believe the farmer
Is really respondent and dissatisfied with
Z his crop. but there is in his mind the
idea that modesty requires him to disa-
gree with the man who expresses the
opinion that IL Is fine one. otherwise
1t would appear that he was encouraging
a compliment upon his own skill and In
dUstry.
IN PIEDMONT SECTION.
There is good wheat crop in Fauquier
and Loudoun this year. have not seen
IN any county much finer wheat than that
growing on the magnificent farm OF Mr..
Bedford Glasscock, which extends from
10 fine crop also on the celebrated
estate of the late Colonel Robert Beverly,
3 a few miles to the east, and Colonel B. H
Dulany has a splendid crop on his great
estate. The Loudoun crop Is hardly so
Z good, 1t is said. as the crop in Fauquier.
The crop Of AlbemarIe county is not up
to the average of other counties this year,
according to appearances and the testi-
i mony of farmers. Senator Martin usually
has a fine crop OF wheat on his beautiful
farm, Scottlands. near scottsville. but he
says 1t Is very light this year. Culpeper
wheat Is fine, and farmer of that coun-
~, whom I saw in Fauquier the other
day. said he thought the crop about as
good as that OF the latter county.
But there can be no doubt that the
81 shenandoah Valley Is the wheat-growingb
section Sc Ion q Ct virginia. though the counties
west bear off the palm la Tar grass era it
mont that they combine the cultivation OF
to Jar greater Extent tt than hal do do their
brethren over in the Valley. am told
byLmany Valley farmers, however. that
eral in that section in the past five
The scarcity of labor in the three sec.
tions named Is. perhaps. a more serious
problem thar. In any other of the coun-
ties OF the State There were always
scsa e eaffs W e han
GINA. and now a large percentage OF the
comparatively few negroes have gone 70
mines. The result is that as farm hands
are, procured with such difficulty. much
Of the labor is being done by machinery. IN
bridge saw dozen binders at work In
wheat fields. several of them on land over
which 1t would have been thought Inn
possible to operate a reaper a few years
facturers of farm machinery appear to
fSy ycs se Of ha bes anS Rs
sdes Of The nep easy than
BY grain fffs' FiR IL Sh RH Sla fays'
It should not be forgotten that. the first
reaper. was built in this county BY, a. ma
gentleman who resides near Lexington
remembers seeing It being hauled 70
farm for tGa aaa ans
countered by Mccormick In perfecting
his invention. He remembers hearing at
4 period utterly unable to devise lsnlfe or
Schuyler Bradley, The blacksmith engaged ed
ent sickle--knlves with two edges instead
Of one and the problem y was 81, solved t%a
hss g dvnes and
military leaders 1t has given the world,
but nothing is risked y saying that not
on one c!vil li than Cyrus Mccormick.
Without this Rockbrdge mans, reaper.
the great NaW Hsaana dhe any Nest i
Gould not have been MILLIONS Of people
who now live in cities would have to be
on farms growing wheat Tor bread ,. for , fhe
does the work of many men, and puts it
In the power OF two or, three to produce
Hoing to be q great monument to Nc
tormick erected here or out IN that field
a few miles away where the first reaper
was tested and proven a success. WAlen
afterwards grew so great as to dazzle the
whole world
One is struck by the fact that the nuns
Der OF Touring mills In this section is
decreasing Wheat Is sent to distant
markets and In many instances flour
!, ground In those same cities Is brought
back for family use Many of the mills
Abeing operated grind little more than
Renough flour to supply the family needs
|of their patrons. I am at loss to eX-
4 plain the decrease In the number of mills,
except o nthe ground that contingencies
Sfiour does not bring as good a price az
What ground by large city mills, which
have brands well known to the public.
AS they receive hetter prices for their
-four, the proprietors of the city mills can,
OF course. afford to pay the farmer more
for wheat,