Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1907-03-07
Z:
VIRGINIA ! !
N ~:
s.:
As seen by a former Audubon County
Lady, who resides there. Read
the many Bargains. Free
booklet at the Journal
Office.

tsAs we have been requ ested to
write another letter to the Journal,
and had number of questions
asked, will again pen some lines
from the sunny Southland"
We are all we'll and contented,
and if we are spared for few more
weeks, will have epent two winters
!. in Virginia. We had more rain
J last winter than this, and had a
snow this month that stayed on
nearly two weeks The thermom-
eter got down to four above zero
for q few hours and from the con.
versations over the phone that
morning, you would have suppos.
ed it to be at least twenty five
below. The Virginians think it
terrible when it gets that cold.
Excepting when the snow was, on,
we could go to the garden and get
onions and parsnips all winter, and
can have wild water cress greens
any time we chooseto gather them.
So many have asked ue what
kinds of trees grow here. Will try
to name them. Four kinds of oak,
!. pine, cedar, sweet. gum, black gum,
birch, beech, walnut, hickory,
chestnut, maple, ash, box alder,
catalpa, mulberry, sycamore, sly-
anthus, tulip, locust, dogwood,
4 persimmon and holly. wieh that
4 come of you people that love flow
era could see the woods here in the
spring. It is certainly beautiful
sight.
~ Fruit was another question
Hnckle berries, dewberries, black
berries, raspberries, strawberries,
and fox grapes grow wild in abun-
dance. The fox grape is larger
than the Concord tame grape, and
just as good. think there is no
kind of tame fruit that will not
grow here if it is put out. Apples,
pears, peaches, cherries and plums
abound.
So many have asked about ca
tarrh and rheumatism. / think it
is not 80 prevalent ae in Iowa, but
there is some here. As for Mr..
Crow and myself we are almost
we'll of catarrh, and he does not
feel his rheumatism at all. think
{ if the people here would dress in
the winter as the people do there,
instead OF wearing summer clothes
and going without rubbers, rain or
shine, there would be very little of
either disease.
It seeme to me about all this
country lacks to make it one of the
best in the world is more enter
prising people. There are come
here now and they are getting
along as well as the people in Iowa
But there are not enough. So many
of these old eoutherners own such
large tracts of land and do nothing
with it. Perhaps they have two or
three colored families, and as many
s"poor whites" living in little cabins
pretending to farm few acres of
ground, very likely putting the
came land in corn year after year.
Is it any wonder that the conQtry
looks run down!
Right across the river from US,
there lives an old gentleman
Judge WEIGH" His plantation
was over thirteen hundred acres
and before the war he was a very
wealthy man. He and his wife are
now old and POOR. Neither one
ever worked, don't know how. Lit
tie by little ae he is obliged to. to
keep the "wolf from the door" he
cells some of his land, till now he
only has about eight hundred acres.
He wants to sell fifty acres of tim
Der now, but seems to think it's
like parting with friend. This is
only one of many like instances.
But as these old people go. the
land ie being divided, and l am
sure it will be but short time till
this will again be fine country.
Since We came here fifteen of our
old acquaintances have been here
to look at the country; seven of
s4them bargained for farms, five said
{ they liked the country and were
going to sell as quick as they could
and move down. Two went back
with the report that Virginia was
mo good"
We are very anxious to see West
.ern people with push and energy
come and take hold of the oppor.
tunities that are surely here, and
the southern people are just as
anxious ae we are Except few old
fogies) and will meet people more
than half way.