Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1907-01-03
iad4 ~ tror, q Goodies, Virginia, i
Dec. %. 1906.

ss.a Having seen quite number of
letters from different parts of the coun-
try, thought perhaps some of the Jour
nal readers would like to hear what
the Grow and Ribble families think of
Virginia, after having spent a little
more than a year there. The time
has seemed unusually short, and has
certainly been enjoyed by all of us. g
cup to February last year we felt
nothing to remind us that winter was
upon u.s. Then came four days that
the; thermometer registered about four
degrees ABOVE zero. Soon after. that
came spring, and pen can not describe
Eit. The woods were one mass of bloom
Z till about the middle Of May. The
summermonths were not so hot as we
have been accustomed to in the north.
t'Old S0Bh beams down ON one with q
vengeance fora few hours each day,
but almost always there is q cool breeze
and never q hot one. III ~
We had garden vegetables much
earlier tifan yotiica have them there
tNeWef Had as good a garden in our
lives as7 we chad this summer Our
largest potato weighed over five
| pounds. This country, has been abused
| for years, but give it even half a
| chance and it will more than repay
you fol, your labor. ,sa4.
We certainly have four advantages
\ which are ahead of any country we
ever lived in,-cliinate, wood, good
I soft water and fruit. We have all had
4 perfect health during our stay here and
are convinced that this part of Vir-
iginia at least, is a very healthful eoun-
ttry. Do not think it advisable to 10
Mate on low ground that is submerged
,aby tide waters.
\ You western people could hardly be-
lIieve us, if we would tell you how most
Iof' the southern people farm here, with
Eheir little ponies, or more likely one,
land implements that western man
lwouldn't ;deign to look at; but as you
l&travel along, here and there, just often
tenpugh for you to see what this old
IasSntry really, might be-, you see a
I'm that, but for the color of the soil,
Ilmakes you think you have reached a
IIprosperous Iowa home. Quite likely
IEfyou make inquiries you will learn
That the owner is a western man, or an
snergetic southerner, who is not afraid
G4ork. You may be sure it is not
Muse the land is better than the run
Zee right across the way, but because it
sshandled differently. The soil res
bonds to fertilization readily, for in
stance, on the farm we bought, fifteen
| icres were rented to a saWmill man
lyho keeps twenty-siX mules and sew
| lral horses. Three years ago the land
/ lielded about five bushels of corn per
| lcre. The next year he covered the
| round with a coat of manure and
| aised about thirty bushels of corn per
ere. This year did the same and had
bout fifty bushels per- acre. This is
My one of the examples that can be
! wen. Cow peas serve the same pur-
Ose, but the southern people as rule
aink it entirely too hard work to raise
aem.
1.-The southern people are sociable and
bspitable, but few of them know how
iwork. ~ When one considers the fact
\ lAtshe gets almost double the price for
TsIhat he raises here, and that the land
" be bought for from, ,fyet to twenty
itysdollars per acre; with pretty good
D IMPROVEMENTS, he is ahead OF the west
even though he does not raise as much
as there. The timber alone on many of
thefarnls that are for sale, will pay for
the land if you market it, yourself. il 1
\ There are good church privileges but
~ Baptist; There are drawbacks
(Which We, feel that we should
e.flon as well as the. good, things.
;, Irst and most prominent is the road
a,Sestion, there being no Intelligent
s-saaaaort to improve them, and their being
constantly used by the sawmil7 men,
who draw heavy 1fonr-mule loads of
lumber in all kinds ofsdweather. 90 The
school buildings sin, the country, ere
hold i sS School but sipp i've months during I ths
year. Otis settled by the patrons of
the district, +, The, teachers 3qftclh are fully
up-to-date and the, town, schools, and
colleges are 'excefie,It. 1.-The negro
> 12rs5 n might be considered draWH
all, !, and is, but nbt ssor mach ase 9ne
a!suppose, for thgy faresa class dis'e
In themselvessdihv hvings ithAif~ 'oWpO