The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-16

the place was called boswell. in honor
OF the late Thomas boswell a fine
old Virginia gentleman. and a horse
breeder and horse trainer OF national
reputation boswell is a good enough
name l suppose. and Tom boswell was
good man TO be honored. but Han
over Junction in Virginia was historic,
and its name should not have been
obliterated The Maryland or Penn
sylvania Hanover Junction should have
been changed. I do not know but what
1t is time enough yet for the Con-
federate camps and the Confederate
women to enter protest and have
yet another change of name.
Down to Date.
But all of this is history. and some
what ancient history at that, and not
industrial and agricultural lore, and
these latter are my hobbies. am
told that the farmers In this north
west corner of Hanover use very little
fertilizers, and that they make good
crops They raise wheat, twenty
bushels to the acre: corn, sixty bushels
10 the acre. and oats IN abundance.
They also make the finest potatoes,
especially sweet potatoes. TO be found
In the land. and n vell-posted and
Woodworking farmer assured me this
iIIbi iiIiS lHdl tIliS Is the HntSt ITuCR-
ing land in the State. the Eastern
Shore and the Princess Anne and the
Norfolk county regions not excepted
And then those water millions,
CROWN on the vine" Perhaps the
best and most profitable farm product
in this immediate section is tobacco,
for the farms hereabouts make the
very best of the famous sun-cured leaf
tobacco. In late years. that Is, within
the past four or five years. the farmers
have. been giving more attention to
hay than formerly. but they have not
yet caught on 10 alfalfa as vigorous
ly as they might However. learn
that some ten or fifteen miles above
among them Roosevelt Page. have sue
ceeded quite we'll with alfalfa
Natural Weakness.
The trouble. as I see 1t. among the
farmers In this section is that they
have not yet quite mastered the art
of intensive farming. The farmers
own too much land. In the last few
days I have run up with fellows who
are scratching over from 600 to 1000
acres. and making not more than a
common living. They need to sell off
many acres and buckle down to a
smaller space and more intensive
farming.
This weakness. however. is natural.
for have run up with Hanoverites,
as I have run up with big land own
ers in other parts of the State. who
think it a sin to sell off the ancestral
possessions. and they Just will not
do 1t unless hard times force them
to. There are men within the sound
of farm bell from where write
who are holding ancestral estates of
from 500 to 1000 acres and letting
them grow UP to great extent in
weeds. Sentiment, you see. Mis-
guided sentiment.
Change I'm Sight.
Nevertheless. there is change com.
ing over the spirit of the dreams OF
some OF them. and predict that with
in the next few years the northwest
division of Hanover Is going to be
cut up into small farms and the same
worked on the intensive plan. The
farm am now writing from was
once 1000 acre proposition. It has
heen cut down for one cause and an
other until It is now several farms
Five years or more ago Charles Good
loe. leve!-headed business man.
bought the home tract. including the
old house have told about He soon
found that 500 acres was more land
tldIi ne Nduttu. tTlS year ne SOLO
off 400 of them to some Ohio folks.
who will take possession this fall and
cut II up into three farms, each to
be run on the intensive principle by
men who have gotten their training In
Ohio. They are Frank Brown, Aionzo
Pancake and Joseph Pancake. From
a very limited and most carefully con-
Quoted interview I have had with one
of the trio. ! gather the idea that these
Ohioans are going to introduce the
Middle West intensive ideas, and I
have no doubt they will show the old
timers many tricks worth knowing.
Several very large farms have re-
Gently been sold in this section to
people who propose to cut them up
into smaller places and sell off to in
tensive farmers. I can name only one.
Just above here is a 1,000-acre place
that was owned by r. l.. Christian. OF
Richmond. He has sold 1t to a Penn
aty3uEnias synndic s6 q (Which Ia \, o,p .onf