The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-10-31
Virginia Farms
Are Attracting
WideAttention

In last weeks issue of the Country
Gentleman. the leading article by Har-
ry Snowden Stabler has to do with a
Bedford County farm. This does not
mean anything much to the casual
reader. but it means to students Of the
advantages of Virginia farms that
what Virginia really offers progress
sive farmers is az good as the offer
ings of An other State in the Union.
In other words, apply to Virginia
soil the same methods that are given
to prairie farms OF the West and the
results probably will be in favor OF
the old State.
A little way north of Bedford. on
the Peaks of Otter Road. s. II. Saun-
ders and his wife have one of the best
dairy and stock raising farms in the
State. The feminine end OF the firm is
mentioned purely because 1t deserves
mention and the masculine end &C
knowledges this truth.
" Mr.. Saunders started twenty years
ago with nothing but the knowledge
that farms in Bedford lacked the SCI
entif1c and thorough methods that OBJ
tanned in other sections where agri-
culture was on high plane. He gain
ed this knowledge. after having been
raised on . Bedford County farm, by
5R8HuAHB u tAll0 III lu0 prairie COun-
try OF Missouri, where nature WAS not
depended upon for anything
Confident that the soil of Bedford
was hospitable to the willing ana pro-
greseive hand, Mr. Saunders came back
to Virginia, married and started out
as q tenant on $3.50 split with the
owner, He had nothing but energy. the
will and a wife of the same calibre,
added to the firm after he came back
from the West
Today. after twenty years. Mr.. Saun-
ders and his brother own one of the
finest grazing and dairy farms in Viz
ginia- More than 500 acres is the exc
tent of their domain and 1t is divi-
dend- paying investment
Where Roanoke Is interested In the
story is where Mrs. Saunders comes in,
esta hlishes a dairy plant and ships the
cream to Roanoke. This dairy Is under
Inspection of the Roanoke Health De-
partment and is visited frequently by
Inspector Price. The product shows
up well in The monthly srahlnss Of
the department and shows tina. there
is a market for good dairy produces in
Virginia cities Of modest population
as well as In the metropolitan districts.
Reading the history OF the Saunders
AMI wife enterprise as seen by Mr..
Sta Ter. he or she who has leanings to-
wa, d the soil receive renewed courage
and begin TO have visions. Wncn more
iof these visions become realities Viz
-iaia will have come into her own, an a
the day LIS not lar distant.
In land where blue grass is a pro-
life and natural crop, where any for
age or grain crop known to agriculture
can be grown az well as anywhere else,
IL the soil Is given due attention and
protection from erosion. the ruri. vo-
cations are bound to rsc,ive recruits
and that is all this section of virginia
needs--tireless enthusiasts and we'll
foothills OF the Blue Ridge on the
east and the piateaus and valleys oil
the Blue Ridge and Allegheny sections
wesr in Virginia will be Garden Spots
In American agricultural life.
Nowhere on the continent is there
greoter opportunity for disersssication.
Think up anything that can Ire grown
anywhere else in the country. except
the strictly tropical fruits and yexe-
IA bies. try them in virgi,lia soil under
pr orer conditions and The Virginia re-
sui ". excel the pattern
And In II all Roano.e valley stands
OIL, as the most inv'ti ag s.'eae OF
actual results. not exre-ir1ents. results
in q multiplicity OF instances similar to
those obtained by Saunders aui Com
pany" OF Bedford. Virginia needs
more such firms and they are bsins
organized right along.