The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-11-12
THERE CARRIAGES
GROW LIKE: MAGIC ] |
Rural Retreat, Wytlls County
Ships Millions Of
Heads.
CABBAGE CENTER OF. WORLD
More Raised Thanh Any Other
Part Of the
Globe
Especial TO rhc Times Dispatch.>

Al = Especial 10 me Jinles- DlspntCn.)
ROANOKE, VA. November II. x
Down In lie cSireme part 81 South
west VIrsinlt ana n9the west end OF
Wythe county there Is n little town
designated underline very PASTORAL name
sof Rrral Retreat. rho town In itself is
not much, as it numbers only n few
hundred souls. nil Of them engaged IN
the mercantile or produce business, but
this little town is known throughout the
union us the creates ca bbage producing
town, or rather section. in the United.
States. 4
Within "a radius Of Ten miles, with.
Rural Retreat as Il centre. there Is more
/ cabbage produced annually than any
spot on .hc globe This sounds ra cher
strong, bat the figures OF the shipments
given out by the railroad agents bear
3 this statement out
The cabbage industry has converted
the west crd Of HVythe county from a
community of poor and ,profitless farm
ers 10 one aof the ,-ichestgand most pros
porous sections In the state, and the
present season has been one Of the most
profitable that the people of that sec
ton Fave experienced In a long time, and
has brought Into that immediat 9 section
something like $4,000. which has been
distributed among the small farmers.
era Bling them to pay OF their debts and
have Some money to invest in other
enternrlses.
The recuinritv OF this town is the
fact that the soil In this particular sec
&tton sep,r's to be peculiarly adap'ed to
the growth at the very I'm est cahbs Rc.S
and ten miles in any direction It has
never heer raised rroftahly. although
repeated efforts have been made.
Like a Romance.
The history OF this Industry reads more
like "a romance than actual facts, and
4 Its development to the present state OF
perfection may be directly traced to
the Impetus to the business given by a
couple OF men, who came there and ope-
rated for two or three years. Gswindled a.
large number OF Farmers, but lid hem
4 more gooi In! the end 4 than that Same
amount could have been expended In any
4 other manner.
The fathers OF the cabbage industry
in Rural Retreat Is disputed to certain.
extent, but 1t Is pretty we'll settled that
the honor belongs to Mr.. Henry A..
Eiffert and Mr.. Western DcBoe The
latter has long since been dead, but tho
former still ships a large quantity Of the
vegetable every season, and while being
the father OF the industry, has made
much less out OF 1t than some OF his
SUCCESSORS.
These gentlemen commenced by rails
Ing only 9nall quantity. which was
shipped to the nearby markets. such as
Lynchburg. Roanoke. Baltimore and
Norfolk. They at first got fabulous
price. az the quality OF the vegetable
offered was far superior to that obtain
able anywhere else. and there was soon
demand that drew many Of the farmers
into tile business Of raising cabbage.
The production In very few years was
greatly In excess OF the demand OF the
markets that had been found, and, as a
consequence. the prices got so low that
1t was found Improbable, and the In
dustry was on the decline.
First Carload.
K It was about this time that the two
mon referred to above arrived in the
little town and embarked In the produce
business They were the first ones to
load a solid car Of the vegetable and
ship by fast freight to the southern m ar
kets. Knoxville Chattanooga, Atlanta, !
Birmingham, and even New Orleans and
Jacksonville, were found not to be too
far away that tho cabbage could not be
shipped there and arrive In fairly good
order were the proper care used In pack
ing it. and the heads not overripe when
they were shipped.
& This started the business on better |
basis and from that time on 1t has
grown to be the principal industry of !
that section OF the state, and certainly
the most profitable.
Every ono In that section then COM
to grow CO bbagc on large scale.
rented ground near the station |
as high as SIS per acre. and made money
cultivatinE cabbage. The news OF the |
new industry spread 70 me ADJOINING
towns and Wytheville and Marion tried
It ono sea son.
Tho cabbage grown even at this short
distance from the real centre was lnfe-,
rIor The plants would come UP and
1t would commence to head,
and the promises We're Very Aattering.
cut there was always something to ruin
The CROP, Bugs would eat the small
olants or 1t would not head up like that
grown at Rural Retreat and IN fe"
years the cultivation at these points was
i bandoned and the farmers gaYo their
attention to other products
This industry In the meantime had
made that section prosperous The
'armers were all heavily In debt to the
country stores. 1t was, and still Is, the
custom for farmers to settle with the
only once each year. and
hat Is when they market their crops.
some of these old accounts had been
for years, and We're yearly In
.reasIng, The interest on the notes.
With very small curtailment, was all
hat the best Of them could do, but the
Introduction Of this Industry placed
means In their hands OF settling oft the
I'D scores. and now there is hardly q
armer !n-s that whole section who does
lot own his place unencumbered and is
out of debt.
Induces Education,
1t has been the means OF enabling
hem to send their children to school,
md, as a consequence. there Is a higher
education there than Is found IN a great
many farming sections. The farmers OF
he west end OF Wythe county are mos tly
# Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, and
his Industry appeals to them partlcn-
arly and they have cultivated II to tho
lIglesl degree. 4,
Two years ago 1t was feared that the
industry was doomed on account OF the