Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1912-02-16
ROCkCASTLE
As Seen bY the Editor of
North &. South

-
Tie February mum Der of the
North & South, a Magazine pub
lished at Louisville, has this 10
say of Rockcastle:
shortly after passing Crab Or
chaed Springs the county of Rock
Castle is entered and one begins
to catch glimpses of the hills,
which III a great many places
Tartalle of the dignity and height
Of m0nntairS.
While the country is very much
broken the river and creek val
leys are strong and very fertile.
1t is only the eastern portion of
the county which is rough, the
western part beng uudulatlng
and very rich.
The staple products Of The couu-
ty are corn, wheat. rye, oats
potntOes anu turnips. The grass
Is mostly cultivated are timothy,
blue grass, red top. orchard grass
and clover. A profitable item has
been fOuEd by some farmers 10 De
the raising Of clover seed.
AN OBRTCT LESSON.
AS an indication of what can be
done in this county by homeSeek,
ers the following is an object les
son. Some years ago J w.
Moore farmer from AkrOa y ,
bought run down. practically
abandoned farm. The fences We're
down and the soil SO impOverished
that it would scarcely sprOut the
proyerbial black-eyed pea. One
good thing about it was the price
which was insignificant.
The old timers sympathizpd
with the new arrival and in theu
| goodness Of heart tried to dis
suade him from attempting the
| hopeless task he had before him
Moore, like most buckeyers
! however, had a streak Of perSis
t9ncy, or perhaps stabbornness
in hrs composition SO ne kept oil
clearing the hriarS and 1rushe
of his poor apology of farm, re
built the fences, cultivated it al
as though it were a kitchen gar
den and to-day there is no farm
in the famous Flre Grass section
I of Garrard or Lincoln coantie
/: that MIR. Moore thinks can SUI
: pass his mOuatain home,
, Moore raises wheat, corn. GA ;
and hay, and ali kinds of iiv
stock. He has a splendid orct
ard and some Of his summer AZ
e PIES fatten his bank account ~
" probably every year.
MANY SOURCES OF WEALTH
We had the pleasure of spend
ing a day with MIR. James Mare
General Manager of the ROcl
castle Telephone Co, who is
veteran resident of the count
and exceedingly we'll posted as
its resources and oppOrtunitiei
Mr.. Maret said:
"ROckcastle county is locate
u on the main highway between I'll
e mOuntains,and the blue grass Sc
z tons and has a surplus of thing
trat both sections need and mu:
1 have.
t tMt. Vernon, the county sea
= has a five-foot ledge of beautf
n building stone that contains
y inches of photographic stOnein ii
: conter. Small cubes .ef the stor
"a compare favorably with liz
samples # the best Germa
o stOne.
lie eve recall only a few veal
Is back when a bunch of men wit
pick and shovel, crOwbar an
u sledge hammer. and half doze
., , rappinghammers had a mOnOpol
~ of the stone business In tn
If county. Now the rock prOduc
le go cut by train loads daily ar
IF vet the business is only in i
NJ infancy.
M mo better fert liz"r can
a made ii al can be found rig
e here. The raw limestone can
Sc ground to q powder aud lave
small ger cent of nitrate of so
k or ammonia added, according
the crop for wLich it is desir'
is "Rockcastl, county couli 81
b, ply the world with clays for C
10, turies without becoming
-or hausted.
io .Srhete is enough stone in