The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-01
WINSTON COUNTY IS FINE
 PLACE FOR YOUR VACATION
BY WALTER HARPER

ately into one of the most interesting sec- | tions of Alabama.
 | You are more than 1400 feet above sea | level and bouquet after bouquet of the most fascinating landscape is presented to you in ever-changing degree of mild and | fierce suDlimity.
 | Blue hills and green valleys futter be- | fore youf eyes like futed prairies. You
 are now driving through rocky gorges | and then after a stiff, exhilerating climb
 you are following a wooded ridge with | far-reaching keleidoscopes of dancing
 views on either side and among the trees. Just at the edge of town you pull up l your horses to contemplate the symetrio | beauty Of perhaps the most attractive
 peach orchard in the state of Alabama. It | belongs to Dr. R. W. Wood, and is the second largest in the state. It contains | 5000 trees and they cover at least dozen slight elevations or hills like mantle of green. But they are practically bar ren of fruit this year. The cold winds of one night in March shriveled the embryo peach and Dr. Wood walked out next morning to find that thousands of dollars of good money had been swept almost from his grasp.
 Did he weep? No one can say posi- lively. What you'd you have done? But it was the first failure on this mountain for 37 years, and Dr. Wood did not lose heart. He is cultivating his orchard and setting new trees just as though it was full of golden fruit for harvest time that
 will be barren.
 | Just down the road after crossing
 mountain stream on an old dam just
 above an old mill with it's old-fashioned
 water wheel and race, you come to neat,
 well-managed farm with an attractiye | farmhouse. | In front of the house across the road is
 an orchard of 5-year-od apple trees. They l are bearing their first crop this year Tn this orchard there are 500 apple and 200
 peach and pear trees. Every tree has
 been carefully trained by pruning and spraying. They are as trim and hand | some ornamental tsrubbery in your yard. The sight is inspiring. The home | Is painted white. It is roomy and att
 traetive. This is the home and estab- 1 lshme'lt of Robert Mccoy. He Is g.
 good. armer He makes his bread and
 mea fat home.
 LE's nearest neighbor, John Finley, is
 /so good farmer. He, too. has good lSrchard. indeed have all these moun- tain farmers. They at least grow all the fruit they need at home and many of them grow largely for the market.
 This is the condition you find all the way to Double Springs. You had heard that 5 Winston was a wild and undeveloped< q country. You are agreeably surprised tn Along the ttldSe Road Dy RSHrluge, Som route you take, you are never ou.aynh,la sight of a well-tilled field or an ko,s>-~ ' tive home, well painted and pr0
 looking. -
 This is contrast to the conS Son tbps. tpss
 existed 10 years ago when ro,,te
 farms could be seen on the
 s:s s s1sa % 5S ' ss %;' ;S Il;
 of the old days. Z,,,, ,,.t ,ro,+ cracks 1t IS between 0neep0ems tS These had been
 ,tIa5 .;t, ,,. .Ybut most of this has
 oaooed a,o'hloS wi,n d,,t 'n9He door shutters are bangino loose yhd there are great holes in the slab 3wnere tne @ ram mn mas poured tnd tba sIZ Old puncheon. pole-legged Iea bspcbes sbe Tittled and marked by tn ,,oo,,nto yNchoolboy. are still in place, but tha,, t,[e just been deserted for hand sn,,, kw frame school building near the cenZ of the district. The new building. ,..Yare told cost something like s70o. 1TE state gave $200 with the understanding sTat the people of the district raised Another s2OO. Their effort to raise the s2OO resulted in raising even more.
 This gives you a fair example of what Is being done in many of the most pro- g1essve sections of Winston county. About 15 of these new buildings have taken the place of antequated shacks in the county.
 Stop and take 2 snapshot of the old log schoohouse 1t is a relic of an era that is rapidly passing in most sections of this state
 On the way down to Double Springs you pas sthrough farms that produce from 30 to 50 bushels of corn and more than one bale of cotton to the acre with ordi- nary cultivation and fertilization. It is a sandy loam with clay subsoil. wonder fully responsive to careful cultivation. Scientific methods of farming are being introduced and the results are wonderful. You can hardly believe that great deal of this land was sold less than 10 years ago at 50 cents an acre.
 At a slight dent in the landscape you stop to inquire the way and find that you are in the heart of Double Springs, the capital of the free state of Winston.
 And you have covered the first lap of your journey.
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