Misc. Records

Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869

VIRGINIA.

        This noble State is conspicuous, not only for its great resources, delightful climate, and the generous hospitality of its people, but also for the number of patriots and statesmen who have sprung from its soil, chief among whom was Washington, whose name will be revered through all time, and whose hallowed ashes still repose at Mount Vernon, in the bosom of his native State. Virginia suffered much throughout the late war as a prominent theater of action for the contending armies, and as the scene of some of its most memorable and decisive battles and no Southern State now affords greater inducements for immigration, or more urgently invites it.

        If the emigrant prefers to remain near the blue waters which perhaps floated him to our shores, he may find lands at reasonable prices near Chesapeake Bay, or the sea-coast. Would he penetrate the interior, Virginia invites him to the fertile banks of the Potomac or the James, or other of her magnificent rivers, or, still farther inland, among the Blue Ridge Mountains, or to the far-famed valley of the Shenandoah.

        In its excellent harbors and navigable rivers, Virginia is endowed with pre-eminent facilities for both foreign and inland commerce. Water-power is abundant for manufacturing purposes, and, in addition to a soil of great natural fertility, the State possesses an almost illimitable wealth of mineral treasures. Gold, copper, lead, iron, vast fields of both anthracite and bituminous coal, salt, lime, marl, gypsum, soapstone, marble, and slate, may be enumerated as among her resources, under this head, which for the most part have remained comparatively unsought for. Virginia also abounds in mineral Springs, many of which have long been noted for their curative qualities; and possesses many natural curiosities of great interest, one of the most remarkable of which is the Natural Bridge, in Rockbridge County, in the midst of the wild scenery of the Blue Ridge region. According to Thomas Jefferson, this is "the most sublime of nature's works. It is an arch reaching across a narrow ravine, which extends for some distance above and below, at the height of 215 feet above the stream which flows under it, 80 feet wide, and 93 feet long—so beautiful, and arch, so elevated, so light, and springing, as it were, up to heaven—the rapture of the spectator is really indescribable."

        Madison's and Weir's caves, near Staunton, are also well known as points of interest to the tourist and lover of nature. The latter is the most extensive, being 2,500 feet in length; it consists of a succession of spacious apartments, one of largest of which is 260 feet in length, 33 feet high, and 20 feet wide. These large halls are hung with stalactites of rare beauty, formed by the trickling lime-water. These are frequently of the most fantastic shapes, sometimes resembling stiffened waterfalls, columns, thrones, towers, and statues.

        All around the mountain borders of the great valley of Virginia are to be found many natural wonders and much grand and sublime scenery.

        There are now no Government lands in Virginia subject to settlement under the pre-emption or homestead laws. Farms, however, which were formerly dependent upon slave labor, for their cultivation, and whose owners have no longer the means to work them, may be bought in almost every part of the State at very low prices. The people of Virginia urgently desire immigration, and will cordially welcome among them all worthy settlers. The State is distant from New York only a few hours by rail or steamship, and may be visited with little expenditure of time or money.

        From a pamphlet upon the resources of Virginia, prepared last December, for the "information of Europeans desiring to emigrate to the new world," and sent us by J. D. IMBODEN, Domestic State Agent of Immigration for Virginia, we extract the following:—

        No State in the Union presents a greater variety of surface and climate than Virginia—from the mountains of the interior and the rugged hills east and west of them, to the rich alluvions of the rivers, and the sandy flats on the sea-coast. The greatest extent of mountains, and the greatest variety of timbers are found in this State. White Top Mountain, in Grayson County, attains an elevation of six thousand feet.

        The State is by nature divided into five districts or regions, viz.: the Lower or Tide-water, the Piedmont, the Valley, the Alleghanies, and the Trans-Alleghanies. We will glance at them in their natural order.

        LOWER OR TIDE-WATER DISTRICT—Thirty-seven counties, mostly bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, compose this district. It is generally level, not more than sixty feet above tide, even in the highest places. Great navigable streams traverse it in a southeastern direction, such as the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, with a multitude of smaller streams. The great slope which forms this district is "divided by natural boundaries into no less than twelve principal peninsulas," says General Wise, of Virginia, in a recent address, replete with valuable information, "the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, that between the Potomac and Rappahannock; between the Rappahannock and Piankatank; between the Piankatank and York; the York and James; the Mattapony and Pamunkey; the Chickahominy and the James; the Nansemond and Dismal Swamp and the Ocean; the Nansemond and James and the Blackwater; the Blackwater and the Nottoway; the Nottoway and Meherrin; the Meherrin and the Roanoke."

        This favored region contains every variety of soil. The delta of these rivers "in the borders of Virginia is richer and rarer in every production than the garden of the Nile." There is nowhere near it any "arida nutrix leonum," says Gen. Wise, "and its only quags of swamp, even in the Big Dragon of the Piankatank, and on the Chickahominy, and around the fire-fly camp of Drummond Lake, are capable of being converted into a New Holland, by dyke and ditch of easy spit and drain, or horticulture of every fruit and vegetable, where drought can not parch, and of a temperature milder than that much farther south. Vegetation is confined to no one class of plants and trees, and flower, and fruit, and cereal, and staple crops of every variety flourish with a beauty and a fullness and a flavor to cheer industry and art with luscious plenty at home and a paying profit at the markets of every Eastern city. There is a navigable stream at almost every door. There are eligible sites on every creek and river in this region, not only for all the more common fruits, such as apples, peaches, pears, cherries, berries, plums, and melons, but for the rarer and more delicate fruits—such as grapes, figs, pomegranates, apricots, nectarines, Persian cantelopes, strawberries, and cranberries. According to Prince, there are no sites on the continent so Italy-like for fruits, as some of these peninsulas of lowland Virginia.

        The crops of grain and vegetables are still more various, and the lands the easiest tilled in the world, with mines of marl and shell, and fossils and muck for manure in every part. It is a great mistake to suppose that this section is not equally good for stock-raising of its kind, and for clothing as well as for food. It has the finest ranges in its savannas and salt marshes, for small cattle of the Devon breed, and the best for hogs and sheep—and the hardiest blooded horses. The ponies of the Chincoteague Island, will sell for a higher price than any horse in America, proportioned to his girth; and the best racers of the two last centuries were foaled from the blood the south side of the James. Flax and hemp may be grown to any extent, and cotton has been grown profitably. Its forests furnish the choicest ship-timber from its salt sea atmosphere in thirty miles of the coast. Its Hampton Roads is the largest harbor of the continent, to which the eastern rivers converge from every point of the compass for commerce. And, everywhere, on land and water, nature has provided a meat-house of fisheries and game, venison, wild turkeys, quails and woodcock, rabbits, squirrels, robins, soya, reed-birds, shell-fish, wild ducks, scale-fish, terrapins, turtles, swans, wild geese, brant, wild ducks, and plover innumerable, and indestructible.

        The salubrity "of its climate," says General Wise, " will compare with that of any region since drainage and liming of the lands began to remove the causes of malarial fevers chiefly at the point where the tides of salt water meet the currents of the fresh water at the rivers."

        The entire region is favorable to the growth of the finer kinds of tobacco, offering great inducements for the settlement of growers from the various portions of European tobacco regions. There is no reason why the finest Cuban tobaccos should not grow here, and with the now spreading cultivation of the Latakia tobacco plant, brought by Bayard Taylor from Palestine, and successfully introduced already by him in Pennsylvania a great future is open for this staple in Virginia. Mr. Taylor, thinks this variety incomparably better than the finest Yara or Cuba ever grown, and states that it does not deteriorate by being transplanted, but retains perfectly all its delicious characteristics.

        Market gardeners near Norfolk cultivate early vegetables for the markets of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, having their produce ripening from three to four weeks earlier than in those more northern latitudes. They have been known, on from five to ten acres in cultivation, to make per annum from $2,500 to $5,000 clear profit. By the Anamessic line of railroad, which now in thirteen hours' travel connects the city of Norfolk with the metropolis of New York, market gardeners and farmers on the lower Chesapeake Bay, especially those who live in Accomac and. Northampton counties, may directly, and those of Princess Anne, Norfolk, York, Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, Lancaster, and Northumberland may, by means of their own little schooners, in one night's travel across the bay, offer their produce for sale within twenty-four hours, in the best market on the American continent. The fisheries on these coasts are world-renowned. On the whole line of the counties above mentioned, fish manure can be abundantly obtained for the labor of carrying it away. Wheat and other cereals flourish. During the war in this section, the inhabitants felt no apprehension on the score of living; they could find fish and oysters, and wild ducks, everywhere, and in plenty. In Nansemond County, in the celebrated Dismal Swamp, peat has, been discovered. It is now being cut, molded, and shipped to the Northern cities, and found to be extremely profitable.

        By allowing one hundred inhabitants to the square mile, and giving sixty acres as a homestead to each family, the lowlands of Virginia can maintain a population of one million and six hundred thousand souls.

        PIEDMONT DISTRICT.—At the foot of the mountains, stretching away to where the navigation of the rivers which traverse the lowlands ceases, a region embracing thirty-two counties, lies, more diversified in surface than the lowlands—and, of course, more elevated, with a genial, healthful climate. Mere are found the greatest inducements for the erection of manufacturing establishments,—natural water-power being everywhere abundantly at command. This land is the Piedmont of Virginia—like the vinous land of Italy, though not so naked. As General Wise says: " For hill and dale, and grove and meadow, for lawns and orchards, and mountain spires and undulating surface of waving wheat-fields and greenswards, and buoyant springs and sparkling fountains, and bracing air—it surpasses all classic lands of Arcadia." It is divided by the James into North and South Piedmont, from the Point of Rocks to Lynchburg, and from Lynchburg to the North Carolina line. The difference in these two divisions of the Piedmont is attributable more to the difference in the past habits of cultivating the two than to any great variation of soil or climate. Though one is farther north, yet the climate of each is much the same as that of the other, both being nearly affected by a mountain atmosphere. The northern has the stiffest clay, and cultivates wheat and. corn and artificial grasses, and raises live stock; the southern cultivates mostly tobacco and corn, though wheat also largely, and grazes but little. Both are beautiful and fertile and fit for farming—capable of the highest culture; are cool and bracing in temperature and blessed with health.

        This district has an area of ten thousand square miles, and is capable of maintaining a population of one million souls. It is not generally a lime land, but portions of it are very rich, viz.: Loudoun, Fauquier, Albemarle, and Bedford counties. The tobacco which is raised in the southern section of Piedmont, south of 38°, is known as shipping tobacco. The fine tobacco counties in this section are Albemarle, Henry, Pittsylvania, Halifax, Campbell, &c.

        Before we reach the third principal region of Virginia we must cross the Blue Ridge, where we find still some of the most beautiful forests of America, and an atmosphere of surpassing salubrity. The productions of this magnificent mountain-belt are similar to those regions on its sides. Waving wheat-fields and pastures and charming valleys, with grazing cattle and hardy husband-men, may everywhere be met. Vineyards are everywhere springing up, and its honey finds now, and its wines will soon find, a market in the world.

        To the sturdy emigrant this ridge offers still thousands of acres of virgin lands, and nowhere in America will he have nature's assurance of a long life so plainly indicated as here. This ridge alone contains at least two thousand square miles, or one million two hundred and eighty thousand acres—enough to divide into six thousand four hundred farms of two hundred acres each, and to support a population of fifty thousand more than it has now.

        VALLEY DISTRICT.—Crossing the Blue Ridge mountains we come to the celebrated valley of Virginia (Shenandoah and South Branch), not only renowned for the fertility of its soil—eight thousand square miles in area and capable of supporting eight hundred thousand people—but for the splendid characteristics of its inhabitants—originally English, Germans, Scotch, and Irish, now intermixed in one brave race. A continuation of the fruitful Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, it stretches between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains the entire length of Virginia, obliquely from northeast to southwest, nearly three hundred miles, and is from twenty-five to thirty miles wide. Possessing the finest grazing country in the world, and having throughout a limestone foundation, its lands yield from twenty to forty bushels of wheat, and from forty to fifty bushels of Indian corn is by no means an extraordinary crop.

        To show the remarkable permanency of its fertility we cite the following from a traveler in the last century. Burnaby, in his travels, describes the condition of the Germans on the Shenandoah as follows: "I could not but reflect with pleasure on the situation of these people, and think if there is such a thing as happiness in this life they enjoy it. Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most delightful climate and richest soil imaginable; they are everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and silvan scenes, lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally robust and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want and acquainted with but few vices; their inexperience of the elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the means of enjoying them; but they possess what many princes would give their dominions for—health, content, and tranquillity of mind." Seventy years later, Bernhard, duke of Saxe-Weimer, says of this valley: "The country was pretty well cultivated, and by the exterior of many country houses, we were induced to believe their inhabitants enjoyed plenty." Daniel Webster, twenty years after this, in a public oration in the Shenandoah Valley, said "he had seen no finer farming land in his European travels than in that valley." Still twenty years later, and the Northern troops when they entered it victoriously, after its great defender, Stonewall Jackson, had fallen, exclaimed: "Here is a second Canaan, let us rest here and pitch our tents." What gives particular interest to this valley and to the Blue Ridge to the European and Northern emigrant is the fact that there have never been many negroes within them—at this day the land is cultivated almost entirely by white laborers.

        THE ALLEGHANIES.—Beyond this valley westward rise the Alleghanies. Their range runs northeast and southwest 250 miles, by 50 miles of average width—making of mountains, valleys, and dales, 12,500 square miles. Besides their aspect of rocks, ridges, caves, valleys, slopes, healing springs, streams, and fountains, they present to the eye a most luxuriant indigenous verdure of blue-grass spread over forests and fields, which offer grazing to live stock on nature's pastures without cost of clearing or cultivation. North of the High Knob and Haystack there are no negroes. The whole region of these mountains abounds in minerals of every description, which wait for capital to develop them. Wheat, rye, oats, and other grains, and the fruits of northern latitudes grow luxuriantly everywhere in the valleys, dales, plateaus, and on the slopes of these rugged mountains, and offer a most inviting home to a Swiss, a Scot, a Swede, a Norwegian, &c. There is room enough in these mountains for one million two hundred thousand immigrants of every kind of occupation.

        FARMS—HOW DIVIDED, &C., IN VIRGINIA.—The cultivated. land is divided into farms, as follows:―

         2,351 farms of 3 and under 10 acres. 5,565 farms of 10 and under 20 acres. 19,584 farms of 20 and under 50 acres.  21,145 farms of 50 and under 100 acres. 34,300 farms of 100 and under 500 acres. 2,882 farms of 500 and under 1,000 acres.  641 farms of 1,000 acres and over.  86,468 farms in all.

        The 3,500 large tracts being under cultivation, parts of which are now in the market, lie scattered over the entire State. There are still some public lands in Virginia; but the local land offices have long since been closed, and there are at this time none for sale. We have seen, however, that barely one-fourth of the State is cultivated, the remainder still being virgin soil. The residents are now working but one-half, in many instances less than one-half, of what they did in 1860. Good lands lying idle, together with those that have never been cleared, can now be purchased at from two to twenty dollars, per acre, on part payment and credit, or rented, or leased for a term of years on the most advantageous terms and for low prices, or on shares.

        Virginia can, with confidence, repose upon her generous soil and salubrious climate. Her present political troubles are but temporary, and need in no way affect the immigrant; they are being rapidly dispersed by the sunshine of a brightly dawning future. We have already welcomed people from the Northern and Southern sections of our Union, who have made here permanent homes, and we have received the Northerner in the same spirit of kindnesss with which we provided a home for the exiled Poles, in Spottsylvania County, last year. Much remains to be said of her mineral resources, of her growing and extending manufactories, all inviting alike the energy and capital of the world. Of the advantages she offers over the other States of the Union, north, south, west, &c., only a few additional remarks can be made. The list of mineral treasures includes gold, copper, iron, lead, plumbago, coal, salt, gypsum (in vast beds), porcelain, clay, fine granite, slate, marble, soapstone, lime, water-lime, umber, and fire-clay. The ore of Manassas Gap Mine, Fauquier County, seventy miles from Alexandria, yields seventy per cent of pure copper. But the greatest sources of wealth in this State are her homelier minerals, coal and iron; they are found in the entire extent of the Blue Ridge, Alleghanies, and in Piedmont. In Southwestern Virginia, in the county of Montgomery, coal and iron are found in such juxtaposition—and such is the case along the line of the James River and Kanawha Canal—as to make the manufacturing of iron exceedingly profitable. Here is a vast field for Northern and European enterprise and capital. In Chesterfield and Goochland are the most valuable coal mines, extend­ing over almost the entire counties, which have been for years worked most successfully, and supply Richmond, Petersburg, and the entire surrounding counties, and millions of bushels are shipped north every year. In Wythe County, in Southwestern Virginia, are lead mines apparently inexhaustible, which, for the last two years of the war, alone, supplied the Confederate armies, yielding 150,000 pounds per month, as is stated by Col. W. Leroy Broun, a distinguished ordnance officer of the Confederate service. The mines of Nelson County are also very rich.

        The mineral springs of this noble State are among the wonders of the world. Settlements all round them are practicable, and would be quite remunerative, numbers of visitors from all parts of the United States congregating there annually. Petroleum springs are also found; but this branch of industry, as all others in the State, is yet undeveloped. There are vast marl deposits—very valuable in the restoration of land—in the counties of King William, King & Queen, New Kent, Hanover, James City, &c. It is a fact that these deposits exist in many places in these counties, within a few inches of the surface.

        As regards the real advantages of Virginia over the other States of the Union, they have been stated impartially in an address of the Colony of New Poland to their countrymen in Europe, dated August 25, 1867. In the resolutions adopted by these colonists occurs the following: "The congeniality of its climate with our constitution; the ascertained productiveness of its lands, and its adaptation to a greater variety of crops than is the land of the Northwestern States and Territories; the hospitality of its people, and the consideration that its local laws extend the same political rights and equal protection to the native and naturalized citizen, and to all religious creeds, in connection with the man's natural disposition to go there in search of the means of living and competency for his family, where their acquisition is easier and. more probable, were our only guides in selecting Virginia as our adopted State. We assert now upon the evidence of our own personal experience, acquired since we settled here, that the denial of the existence of these advantages, and better chances of success in Virginia, which can make an agriculturist independent and contented, must be attributed either to gross ignorance of the letter-writers, or to some ill and malicious design." "That the quality of our cleared land is inferior to the newly-cleared land at the Northwest is admitted; but its inferiority is only its exhaustion, caused by bad cultivation; it can, therefore, be improved at less labor and expense, and in shorter time than the clearing of Northwestern land requires. As to our woodland soil, it is not inferior to the Northwestern." "Here in Virginia, the winters being shorter and milder, we have in the year four months' longer working season." "And in this State the typhoid and typhus fevers attach to no section, and are almost unknown, whilst in the new Northwestern settlements they destroy prematurely thousands of lives every year." "We desire to inform our countrymen in Europe that in the selection of Virginia for our adopted State, we were influenced only by the foregoing considerations of advantages."

        INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.—Internal communications in Virginia and facilities for sending off produce to the great markets at her very doors, are not inferior to those in the Atlantic States; superior to all of the more recent Western States, and not equaled by any of the States south. From Virginia the traveler may proceed to all parts of the Union by railroads; and direct lines to the West to connect the harbor of Norfolk with Cincinnati are in contemplation and progress of execution at this time. The railroad, known as the Virginia Central, penetrating the entire breadth of the State, is to be extended from Covington, Va., through West Virginia, thence to the mouths of the Big Sandy and Kanawha rivers, on the Ohio, to the cities of Cincinnati, Louisville, &c., the whole route to Cincinnati being about six hundred and ninety miles in length. The establishment of this great thoroughfare appears no longer to be a matter of doubt, and its importance to all Virginia can not be over estimated. Another road, to go through Kentucky (an extension of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad) is in contemplation, to connect Norfolk with Cairo and Louisville, Kentucky, and Hickman and Nashville, Tennessee. Of the harbor of Norfolk, Mr. Robert W. Hughes, the President of this proposed road, speaks pointedly that "it possesses over all Northern seaports the advantage of being nearer by overland route to the centers of Western trade; and over all Southern seaports the advantage of being nearer by the ocean route to all European ports." Lieutenant Maury, the greatest authority in such matters, is quoted by Mr. Hughes in regard to Norfolk, as follows: "As to natural advantages of position, depth of water, and accessibility by land and sea, Norfolk has no competitor among the seaport towns of the Atlantic. Its climate is delightful, and it is exactly of that happy middle temperature where the frosts of the North bite not, and where the pestilence of the South walketh not." There were in Virginia, in 1860, 1,771 miles of railroad, constructed at a cost of $64,958,807. Nor has Virginia been behindhand in the construction of canals and river improvements. The Chesapeake and Ohio, the Alexandria, the James River and Kanawha, the Dismal Swamp and the Albemarle and Chesapeake canals constitute a length of line of 381½ miles.  The Potomac is navigable for the largest ships to Alexandria, one hundred miles from the Chesapeake Bay, which latter is daily whitened by hundreds of sail; the Rappahannock to Fredericksburg for vessels of 140 tons; the York and its branches to Yorktown, and thence to its head, for the largest ships; the James to Richmond for vessels of 1,200 tons, and the Appomattox to Petersburg for vessels of 100 tons. In many parts of the State are "turnpikes;" innumerable smaller roads traverse every county, and if they are not quite as passable as similar roads in Europe and the Northern States, there are none worse than some we may see at the present day in France and Germany.

        INHABITANTS.—Virginia is among the seven States which were migrative in 1850, and have since changed to be receiving States; since the war, as already said, people, from both north and south of her, are immigrating. The population in 1860 was composed of 1,047,299 white, 58,042 free colored, 490,865 slaves, and 112 Indians, together amounting to 1,596,318. There were among the white population 35,058 foreigners, of which, 5,490 were Scotch and English, 10,512 German, 16,501 Irish, 571 French, &c. Among the cities of over 5,000 inhabitants in 1860 are:—

        Emigrants coming to Virginia will, therefore, not be as isolated as in other Southern States south of Virginia, and representatives from nearly every nationality on the globe may be found here."

        VIRGINIA CROPS FOR 1866.—From the Report of the Depart­ment of Agriculture:—

        In 1867, Mr. PETERS was appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to travel through the South, and distribute seeds to the destitute: we extract from his Report the following:―

        "But a small part of the Cotton Belt is found in Virginia. A few counties in the southeastern corner, south of the James River, and along the North Carolina line, embrace all the available cotton lands in the State. *     *     *     As compared with last year, the breadth seeded is nearly double, but as compared with the year before the war, it is not one-half. The want of means, both for paging hands and supporting the working force of the plantation in food and forage, has been the great drawback.

        "Tobacco is the great commercial staple of the State. *    *     The price of the product makes it profitable to cultivate. *     *     Its successful cultivation is practically better understood than in any other State, except perhaps Kentucky, and there the Virginia method is more or less followed."

THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

        The great Valley of Virginia is about 120 miles long by about 25 miles wide, and embraces nine counties, with something over one million acres of improved farms, besides farm woodland. In 1860, the average cash value of these rams was $26.69 per acre. The population of the valley in 1860 was 130,356, of which 26,596 were colored. The climate of the valley is salubrious and delightful. The heats of summer are tempered by its elevation and position among the mountains, which also shelter it from the intense cold of winter.

        The production of the four great cereals—wheat, corn, rye, and oats—was in 1860 more than 48 bushels to each inhabitant, or between six and seven millions of bushels. It is stated that for years flour made from wheat grown in this valley has commanded in the markets of Brazil $3.60 more per barrel than that from any other portion of the United States. Barley, buckwheat, Irish and sweet potatoes are raised in abundance. Many horses, cattle, sheep, and swine are raised, and much butter and cheese are made. There are 291 churches in the Valley, of denominations as follow, viz.:—

        It is claimed that there is no portion of the country with the same area and population, that has yielded as much from agriculture, with the same amount of labor, and where there is as much exemption from sickness of all kinds, as the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

        Mr. DODGE, of the Agricultural Bureau, says of this Valley:―

        For the variety and fertility of its soils, fine water-power, salubrious and delightful climate, beauty and grandeur of scenery in plain and on mountain, it can literally and with severity of truth, be said to be unsurpassed, if equaled, in the United States; or as a farming region in which to make homes of comfort, opulence, and refinement.

        The following is from the Report of the Agricultural Department:—

PRESENT VALUATION OF LANDS AS COMPARED WITH 1860.—

Two-thirds of the counties report a decrease in the value of land since 1860, ranging from ten to sixty per cent, and averaging thirty-five; the remainder, with two or three exceptions, make the present price in currency no greater than the valuation in 1860. An average decrease for the entire State may be placed at twenty-seven per cent. This makes the depreciation, in comparison with the date of the last census, about the same percentage as the appreciation which was reported in New York—that is, property worth $100 in 1860, in now valued at $73 in Virginia, and $128 in New York. Yet this reduction is more apparent than real; at least it is not permanent, and is far less marked to-day than it was a year ago. Very few sales were made at prevailing prices; yet such has been the dearth of money, and almost every thing except land, that more frequent sales—apparent sacrifices—would have been better for the people. Those who are able to hold their land, and many who are not, refuse to sell at less than former prices; still there are thousands of farms or uncultivated tracts of land that can now be bought for less than their intrinsic worth; and there are opportunities, at forced sales or under stress of immediate want, to obtain valuable property for a trifling consideration. In a portion of Loudon, especially the Potomac and Loudon valley, and Clarke County, adjoining, prices are already higher, in consequence of Northern immigration, than in 1860; and such will be the result throughout the State when farms are subdivided and occupied by an enterprising people.

        The causes of depreciation assigned are numerous: first of all is the want of labor which is universally noticed; the lack of capital; the large amount of land offered for sale to reduce the size of farms; State enactments forbidding a higher rate of interest than six per cent, tending to drive capital to cities and out of the State; the stay law; neglect of agriculture; and, finally, reconstruction not in accordance with the judgment or prejudices of reporters. In many sections, there is a prevalent disposition to sell all surplus area of farms above 100 to 200 acres.

        Advance in price is noticed in many counties. In Middlesex, on the Rappahannock, land that could have been purchased two years ago for $10, will now command $30. In Pulaski, in the southwest part of the State, while the decline, as shown by the few sales made, is sixty per cent, holders generally are not disposed to sell at less than former rates. This is the fact to a great extent throughout the State, and it gives a wide range to prices, and makes an estimate of an average a very difficult undertaking. The prices are made by the necessities of the sellers.

        In 1860, a portion of the Shenandoah Valley, a part of the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, the James River region, and some other sections, were cultivated, improved, highly valued, and prosperous. Jefferson County averaged $52 per acre, by the official assessment, and probably $80 by real valuation, while the average assessed value of Ohio farms was but $26. Loudon, with 220,266 acres improved, and 75,876 unimproved, was valued at $10,508,211. Mountainous sections, the upper portion of the valley of Virginia, the tide-water region, and the western slopes of the Alleghanies, were less valuable, ranging from $5 to $30, and much higher with valuable improvements, according to location and All the various circumstances which usually affect prices. Farms at $100 per acre, and even $150, were often purchased, and the same prices will soon be reached when losses of population and property have been repaired.

        PRICE OF UNIMPROVED LAND.—Such has been the waste of war, that "unimproved" lands have encroached upon cultivated areas until nearly all the State is "wild" land. The tracts in original forest, or thrown out of cultivation and covered with new forest growths, will be included in this branch of the subject. In Patrick and other southwestern counties the price is quoted at $1; in Carroll, fifty cents; in Nelson, twenty-five cents; in Botetourt, $1 to $3; in Tazewell, $2.50; in Highland, $2.75; in Clarke, $3 to $6; in Washington, $2 to $3; in Buckingham, $2 to $5; in King George, $4 to $10; in Stafford, King William, Norfolk, and Craig, $5; in York and Middlesex, $6; in Lancaster, $5 to $25; in Smyth, $10 to $25. This shows the range of reports. In the tide-water counties, prices range from $5 to $15 for wild lands, except on navigable water, where the value depends on the amount of wood and timber, sometimes reaching $50.

        Lands at $1 per acre in Patrick, are reported "mountainous, heavily timbered, and highly productive. Coal lands, four miles from the railroad, in Montgomery, can be bought from $3 to $5 per acre, and for $1 to $2, ten miles from the railroad. Mines of great intrinsic value in several counties in this part of the State, are unworked and unopened for want of capital, enterprise, and knowledge of the business of mining. In Wythe, wild lands are "almost valueless except in the neighborhood of iron works," one of a class of facts everywhere appearing in Virginia, which illustrate the creation of values in all of a group of products by utilizing one of them. In Tazewell are tracts of thousands of acres, some of them at lower prices than Government lands. On these mountain slopes and in valleys the pasturage is unsurpassed in the country, and much of it is excellent land for tobacco, grapes, and fruit. Among the mountains are also rough and rocky areas, of little value, except for minerals, in which this county is peculiarly rich. The reporter says of its soil and timber growth: The greatest source of wealth in this county is from blue-grass. Large portions are used entirely for grazing purposes, as after the timber is deadened and cleared of the undergrowth, the blue-grass springs up at once without sowing or breaking the surface of the soil. It becomes better by use, and if not too closely pastured soon forms a sod that nothing but the stoutest team and most improved plow can break. Formerly a large quantity of sugar was manufactured from the sugar-maple. This from various causes has declined, the two principal reasons being the destruction of the trees, and the labor devoted to its manufacture having to be performed in the early portion of the spring, that should be devoted to preparing for the summer crops. The sugar-maple is fast disappearing. Formerly it predominated. It is the best indication of blue-grass, to which it is rapidly giving way, and is now only found, to any extent, on steep mountain sides, or in groves specially reserved and called sugar orchards. We have the usual variety of the oaks indigenous to this climate. White and blackwalnut, chestnut, buckeye, beech, &c., in their proper locations. Timber is only valuable for building and fencing purposes, as there is no transportation for sending it to market." In King William, on the Pamunkey and Mattapony, are lands subject to overflow, obtainable at $5 per acre, "consisting of both forests heavily timbered, and high woody flats, having the most luxuriant vegetation, and furnishing the finest pasturage for cattle and hogs. As the greater portion of this land is alluvial, rich, loamy soil, its capabilities would be very great if made available by dikes and canals, which would be easily practicable."

        The wild lands of the Blue Ridge are exceedingly desirable, from their climate, soil, and location, with reference to markets. They can now be obtained for one-fourth to one-half the price of improved farms. The growths are oaks of several varieties, chestnut, hickory, dogwood, poplar, &c.

        A fair indication of the quality of the tide-water lands may be obtained from the following concerning King George County: "A large proportion is of good quality, covered with a good growth of oak, hickory, locust, cedar, pine, &c. Where underlaid with marl, as in the western section, though hilly, it is fertile, easily tilled, and produces finely natural and cultivated grasses. The same, to a less degree, may be said of the unimproved lands in other parts of the county. All are susceptible of high improvement by the use of marl, lime, clover, plaster," &c. Of wild lands in Amelia, held at a nominal price, it is said: "Their capabilities for improvement are excellent, and at small cost they might be made to produce corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco. To get them in the road to self-improvement, requires the capital to purchase grass-seed, and 250 pounds of guano to the acre, to start this vegetation, to make them self-sustaining, and improve the land, by green manuring, to a high degree of productiveness." In Buckingham: "There are large bodies of wild or uncultivated lands, varying in price from two to five dollars per acre, according to their proximity to market facilities. These lands lie well, and abound in oak and pine timber, and are well watered by small streams. The soil is generally gray, soft, and lively, and, when cleared and brought into cultivation, is susceptible of the highest improvement, producing all the crops common to this latitude."

        TIMBER.—The wood and timber of Virginia cover a large portion of her area. Much of the eastern and central forests have been culled, and large areas of arable land have grown up in pine and. other growths; yet there still, remains, even on the navigable waters, which are estimated to have a coast line of fifteen hundred miles, a large amount of timber suitable for ship-building, cooperage, and various manufacturing purposes. On the Blue Ridge, within a few miles of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, are some forests of original growth, which are never utilized, but deadened, and left to decay, when the soil is wanted for the purpose of agriculture. They are too far from the road to pay for hauling; but for manufacture upon the spot, into a thousand useful forms of domestic or farm utensils, they would prove a source of wealth. In Middlesex: "The Dragon Swamp, which divides this from Gloucester County, is a vast belt of cypress timber, extending nearly thirty miles, with an average width of one-half mile. Very little effort has been made for the development of this vast source of wealth. At the head of navigable water, no enterprise offers a better investment for capital."

        MINERALS.—It is scarcely necessary to refer to the mineral wealth of Virginia. To mention even the names of the counties, in connection with the several minerals discovered within their boundaries, would occupy the allotted space. The whole valley of Virginia, for instance, is full of iron; various ores of which are so common that they have been used for making walls instead of fencing. From Botetourt, through Roanoke, Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe, Smyth, Carroll, and Washington, to the southwest corner of the State, iron, of fine quality, is found in great abundance. It has been practically and successfully tested, for many years, at a few points. Several furnaces are now in operation in Wythe and other counties, and more are in contemplation. In Pulaski, is found "iron-ore in great abundance of the finest quality. There has been until recently, no effort to develop it. A company from Pennsylvania have purchased several tracts, and are now building houses, with a view to commencing operations in the spring. They have purchased very low, and I have understood the property, if located in Pennsylvania, would command several millions." Since the war, a company from Connecticut has purchased property in Carroll, and have erected a smelting furnace, costing some $100,000, and will shortly commence working it. They have raised a large amount of ore, said to be very rich.

        The Bath furnace property, in the Shenandoah Valley, with several thousand acres of woodlands in the vicinity, is offered, under compulsory circumstances, for a short time, at a price nearly nominal; and there are other iron-bearing tracts of, perhaps, equal cheapness. But this condition of things is now rapidly disappearing, and prices are advancing as the pressure of adverse circumstances is removed.

        Gold is found in Stafford and other counties, and has been worked to advantage at various points. Copper is seen in the mountains of the Blue Ridge, and is abundant in the upper portion of the valley of Virginia, and is mentioned particularly in Louisa and Smyth. Coal is found in all the southwestern counties. In Pulaski, as is claimed, the coal beds underlie 100,000 acres. Lead has been discovered in Wythe, Smyth, and other counties; zinc in the same counties; and plumbago in Smyth. Salt is abundant in Washington, Smyth, and other southwestern counties. Barytes is reported in Smyth and Montgomery. Gypsum, slate, marls, ochers, kaolin, pipe and fine clay, limestone, and serpentine, are very abundant in many sections. The minerals of Virginia will soon be a source of wealth to individuals and the nation.

        CROPS, &c.—There are few specialties in Virginia agriculture, except tobacco and wheat, and stock-growing in mountainous regions. The scarcity of money, and despondency, caused either by defeat in the late war, or from losses sustained in it, have operated to depress enterprise. A correspondent expresses the general feeling thus: " There is not energy enough among our farmers or laboring classes to make a specialty of any thing, except to get bacon and corn-dodgers enough to drive starvation from their doors. Stock is about the only resource upon which we depend for what little money we require. Farms are large, averaging from 500 to 3,000 acres, and we hold on to them with a death-grip, as if our interest in heaven depended upon our broad acres, and will not cultivate it ourselves, nor allow others to do so." This is the case, to some extent; yet the evidence is abundant of a growing disposition to sell, to invite immigration, to welcome business men and farmers, and even to take hold with energy, and push new enterprises to success. Wheat, dry and heavy, yielding superior flour, may be considered a specialty in the Shenandoah Valley, and in many of the central and eastern counties. Corn, for cattle feeding, has been produced largely on the north branch of the Potomac, in the valley of Virginia, and it has been a prominent crop in Norfolk, Gloucester, York, and Lancaster, on tide-water. Our correspondent on York River illustrates the capabilities of this coast-region as follows: "One hundred and ten bushels of corn, forty of wheat, and sixty-four of oats, have been made to the acre. The oats were grown and harvested by myself, on light black land, never manured, and was the second crop of small grain, and the sixth of its cultivation. The other two parcels of land, on which the corn and wheat grew, were heavily manured. The profit was large in each case."

        The time of sowing has a wide range; generally through September, and a part of the whole of October, and on the sea-coast to December first. In Pulaski County, the range is through October and November; in Carroll, from August 15th to November 1st. The commencement of sowing, in most of the counties, is during the latter half of September; and the close, upon an average, is from October 15th to 20th. The average for the date of commencing the harvest is June 21st, for the tide-water region, and June 25th for the whole State. The harvest, in most localities, is continued to July, but rarely extends beyond the first week, though sometimes continuing to July 10th, and, in some cases, to July 15th. Late sowing is often practiced to suit the time of corn-ripening, the corn being cut, and the wheat harrowed in. In Wythe, the first half of September is preferred for sowing, "as the wheat gets a better root, is not so liable to be winter-killed, or to rust the next year." In Clarke, "either the Lancaster or Mediterranean sown upon a dry soil, and drought prevailing, with warm weather, are liable to destruction by the fly; but if sown upon a damp soil, in moist weather, escapes the ravages of the fly." The modes of culture are various, and, like those of other parts of the country, generally careless and imperfect. In most of the counties a very small portion s drilled. In a few "valley counties" the drill is considerably used. In Craig it is common to turn over sod-land with a two-horse plow, then put in wheat with a shovel-plow, or harrow, and sometimes both; and, in corn land, to sow while the corn is standing. In Lancaster County," many farmers cut off the corn, and sow upon the same land, but the greater number, and the best farmers, sow upon fallow." In Greene it is put in with the single and double-shovel plow, the harrow, or double-cultivator.

        Blue-grass, white clover, crabgrass, and red-top, everywhere abound for the pasturage of cattle. The average length of the season for exclusive feeding, is nearly eight months, and in mild seasons, in some localities, cattle obtain a subsistence without feeding throughout the year. Provision should be made, however, as it will be by good farmers, for a partial supply for four months or more. Far less hay or other feeding material is required, during this period, than for the same months in more northern latitudes, The price of pasturage varies greatly, ranging from $3 to $16 for the season, according to location and other circumstances. The average is less than a dollar per month. It is high in the neighborhood of Winchester, where lands are high, and grazing is not the principal business and low on the mountain slopes of the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies. The winter grazing is often good where the summer grass is not pastured till late in the fall. The following statement of the value of Virginia for grazing is entirely reliable: "The advantages of the valley and mountain glades of Virginia for stock-rearing are remarkable. The census proves that many county, with large herds, has averaged less than a hundred-weight of hay to each head of cattle ! Winter feeding is required but for half the period necessary in New England and New York, and less food suffices during that time, by reason of the mildness of the climate. Beef or mutton can be produced at less than half the cost of northern-grown meat, and cheese made at a saving which would more than double northern profits. Already have cheese factories been started with flattering success. In a recent address before the Border Agricultural Society of Virginia and North Carolina, F. G. Ruffin says he has made, the present year, 180 per cent. profit on a flock of 200 sheep. Fortunes await enterprises in every branch of stock production."

        FRUITS.—Reports from every county, without exception, are extremely favorable as to capabilities for fruit of nearly all kinds known in the temperate zone. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, and small fruits of all sorts, grow well in nearly all parts of the State. The only general exception, as to profitable yield, is the plum, which is destroyed by the curculio, as elsewhere. In a few localities in the upper part of "the valley," frost is mentioned as an occasional drawback in peach cultivation: Pears are generally of vigorous growth and productive habit. With few exceptions, in localities near Washington, Richmond, and Norfolk, fruit-growing has never been engaged in as a business; and the fruit-trees upon farms, which have in many cases been numerous and in great variety, have rarely been cultivated or cared for, and seldom has the fruit been marketed, except when dried or distilled. There is a general disposition now prevalent to utilize and extend the production, as one of the surest and most speedy means of increasing the wealth and prosperity of the State. A correspondent in Clarke County says: "The soil of the valley of Virginia, throughout its whole extent, is admirably adapted to the growth of the apple and pear, but more especially the apple; the tree grows large and bears abundantly. The apple has not been cultivated heretofore with a view to market, but I think will be hereafter. The truth is that apple-orchards have not been considered property. The peach is a very uncertain fruit, rarely producing remunerative crops oftener than once in three or four years, the trees not living more than seven or eight years. When the season is favorable, they grow abundantly. Improved plums are largely cultivated, but scarcely ever produce a crop. Cherries are grown considerably, and are a very certain crop. The strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry are produced in great abundance, the latter two growing wild in every uncultivated piece of ground. Grapes are only grown as garden fruit, and not in regular vineyards; they are very certain to bear. The apple crop in this county was very large this year, and was sold for fifty cents per bushel, and sent to Baltimore." The average yield of a well-cultivated, full-grown apple-tree, in Loudon County, is placed at eight bushels. Large quantities of apple-butter and apple-brandy are reported from Craig. In Scott, peaches and apples have almost been the staple of the county." Botetourt "is capable of producing, and does produce, vast quantities of fruit, in great perfection, and can be made, with proper culture, one of the finest fruit-growing counties on the continent." In Montgomery, the reporter says, are lands at very low price, that would yield great profits in grape culture, or any variety of fruit production. There are similar lands in almost every county in the State. The slopes of the Blue Ridge afford not only a suitable aspect, in a very favorable climate, for development of rich grape juices, but soils admirably adapted, in geological composition, texture, and drainage facilities, for vineyards, especially with reference to the production of wine.

        We invite attention to the following communications and extracts from some of the many scores of letters we have received from Virginia, commencing with that of General IMBODEN, Domestic State Agent of Immigration for Virginia.

CORRESPONDENCE.

                                                                                                                                                                                                RICHMOND, VIRGINIA,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    July 31, 1868.

FREDERICK B. GODDARD, Esq., New York:―

        DEAR SIR:―I am the regularly appointed Domestic State Agent of Immigration for Virginia. Mr. Sharp, the postmaster of this city, a brother-in-law of General Grant, has placed in my hands your letter to him of yesterday's date.

        I will forward to your address with this letter some documents, prepared under official sanction, that contain much of the information you desire of a general nature, and that I need not repeat in this letter. I will, therefore, only reply to some of your inquiries not sufficiently answered by these documents.

        1st. The price of farms in Virginia. They range from $5 per acre up to $150. The high-priced lands being in the celebrated Shenandoah valley. The region of this State best suited to European Emigrants' wants, is the country lying on the south side of James River, extending from. this city to the Atlantic coast, and thence westward along the northern boundary of North Carolina to the Tennessee line. There is room in this part of the State for 100,000 immigrant families. The lands are good, water excellent and abundant, timber in great variety and abundance, railroad facilities ample, and the general healthfulness of the country equal to any part of this continent. The crops are of great variety, including cotton (in some portions), tobacco, wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, grasses, sweet and Irish potatoes, garden vegetables of all kinds, flax, hemp, beans, and peas. The fruits are apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, figs, apricots, nectarines, strawberries, cranberries, currants, gooseberries, and grapes of several of the best wine-producing varieties. *     *     *     It is the opinion of intelligent Swiss and Germans, who, since the war, have traveled here, that at no distant day, this "Southside Virginia " will be the great grape-region of America.

        Nuts that are abundant are, the walnut, English and American, pecan, shell-bark hickory-nut, hazel-nut, and. filbert. Melons of all kinds abound. The domestic animals all thrive and reach great perfection with but little care or attention. Wool growing is particularly profitable. The hop grows wild along many of the streams, and when cultivated yields most abundant crops. The excessive cultivation of tobacco for nearly 200 years with negro labor in nearly all this region exhausted a great deal of the original fertility of the soil under cultivation, but it is very easily and rapidly reclaimed, and more than half the entire country is still in original forest growth, and when cleared will be found very productive. The lands are generally held in large tracts of from 500 to 5,000 acres. This fact is very favorable to immigration, as the planters all desire to sell off their surplus lands, and thus large bodies in compact form can be obtained for the settlement of colonies of 100 families, or more, together. Farms can be purchased all through this section at from $5 to $20 per acre. The average would be under $10, for lands partly cleared and part in woods, and with some buildings and very fair fences. The present inhabitants do not wish to quit the country, and of course will retain their mansion-houses and principal buildings with that portion of land they expect to cultivate themselves.

        The desire is universal for immigration. Nineteen-twentieths of the inhabitants are native Virginians, generally of English or French extraction, or African. The latter are mere laborers, who own no land, and are rapidly going to the towns, and dying off from diseases engendered by idle, vicious habits. Nowhere will a more cordial welcome meet the immigrant. The farmers and planters in the several counties are forming companies to offer lands at low prices to actual settlers. They will wait four or five years for large part of the purchase-money, and help the newcomer to get started in the world by all the means in their power. In one of these counties—Amelia—about 30 miles from this city, a Holland colony is about to settle. They have had three delegations to visit the county since last March, and are so much pleased that they have commenced purchasing lands preparatory to moving in August and September. I would advise all colonists to do as these Hollanders did, send two or three of their friends here in advance to examine the lands, see the people, and judge for themselves. There is a German society formed in this city to protect and advise their countrymen. I know the gentlemen connected with it, and would advise a correspondence with them, if a personal visit is impracticable.

        The class of immigrants most desired are small farmers, who can purchase 50 or 100 acres of land and set up for themselves. The demand for mere laborers is not large, for the reason that a few old faithful negroes stick by their former masters, and work for about $12 per month and their food and houses for their families. Our farmers and planters will not turn these faithful people adrift in the world, and as their fortunes suffered greatly by the war, they are generally not prepared to employ many hired laborers—a few could get employment, and from $12 to $15 per month wages and their board.

        There are no free schools, but in every neighborhood are schools and churches supported by voluntary action of the people.
        I have confined my remarks mainly to one portion of the State, because in other sections the population is more dense and land too expensive for immigrants. There are no public lands in Virginia. In the mountain counties there are large bodies of land, in some instances over 100,000 acres in a tract owned by individuals, which can be purchased at from $1 to $5 per acre.

        The great mineral region of the State is in the mountain districts, and there are magnificent openings there for capitalists who wish to engage in mining, erection of furnaces, &c.

        I need not give you the price of agricultural products, inasmuch as they do not vary far from the New York markets. There are large steamers plying regularly between this city and New York, and even garden vegetables are shipped there in large quantities and at very low rates. We are about to establish a direct steam line between Norfolk, Virginia and Liverpool, so that all the district of country I have described will be in easy communication with Europe. In view of all the facts I have stated I believe that at this time Virginia is the most inviting field on this continent for the industrious immigrant either of large or small means.

        This too will always be a white man's State. The white male population of voting age exceeds the negroes more than 40,000 in the State, and the majority will rapidly increase as white population flows in, and the negroes move southward, as is now their tendency. They will be harmless here. No immigrant need fear any trouble from them, and the whites will welcome all you can send with open arms.

        It will afford me pleasure at any time to furnish you any more specific information if desired. I am a native of the State, of German-Swiss ancestry. I know the whole State well.

                                                                                                                Very respectfully,

                                                                                                                                J. D. IMBODEN.

        Mr. HENDERSON writes from Loudon County, which lies at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, thirty or forty miles only from Washington City, that lands vary in price from ten to one hundred dollars per acre, the latter well improved.

Mr. BUFORD, of Bedford County, writes:―

        I do not hesitate to say that this is one of the most picturesque and beautiful portions of the world, is rolling and bountifully supplied with springs and streams, &c., *     *     *     but we have no labor and no money. *     *    A great deal of our land is being sold under decrees of the courts. *     *     *     It sells very low, for we have no money here with which to purchase. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad runs through the center of our county. We are only about 22 hours' ride from New York City.

        From Liberty, Bedford County, Mr. J. P. HURLEY writes, under date of August 1, 1868:—

        *     * The price of land in this State is nominal, ranging from $3 to $50 per acre; fine lands can be had at from $10 to $20 per acre. *     *     We have now no organized system of labor *     *     The colored population has become trifling and useless, and will not work. *     *     Nature has done every thing for Virginia, art nothing. *     *     I am a Northern man, and can attest that well-ordered and well-disposed citizens, from the North or anywhere else, are as safe here, or throughout the South, as at home.

From Staunton, Va., July 31, 1868, Messrs. ECHOLLS & Co. write:―

        That labor in the valley is scarce; good farm hands, gardeners, carpenters, and good girls for housework would command the very best prices. We pay good laborers from $1 to $1.50 per day, &c., &c. *     *     We have any quantity of iron, and are only about 100 miles from the great coal fields of Virginia. *     * Schools are abundant and tuition low. *     *     A railroad is now building throughout the length of our valley. *     *

        Mr. R. M. KENT writes us from Louisa Court-House:—

        *     * Some of our land is very fine, some poor, but susceptible of improvement; price ranges from $5 to $30 per acre. We have but little labor now except black; price $8 to $12 per month, and not reliable. Northern men will be gladly received. *     *

        Mr. G. W. READ writes us, under date of August 1, 1868, from Danville, as follows:—

        *    * Most of the lands hereabouts very improvable; red clay subsoil; well timbered and watered; prices from $2 to $10 per acre. Most of our agricultural products are still raised by the negroes. Before the war the cultivation of tobacco was more profitable than cotton, and nearly all its producers became rich. The tax and other causes have made it now less profitable. "Manufacturing" tobacco now sells here from $15 to $100 per 100 lbs. in the crude leaf state. *     *     I consider the country between this place and the Blue Ridge the most eligible for immigrants in the United States. *     *     Men from the North, who are entirely neutral, without decided political preferences, are treated socially as other citizens; and a decided "radical," who is known to be a gentleman, meets with no asperity of treatment from any one. *     *     The South earnestly desires an increase of respectable white population from every quarter of the globe. *     *

From Prince Edwards County, under date August 1 1868, Mr. F. N. WATKINS writes:—

        *     * Within twenty miles, circumference of Farmville may be found every variety of soil from fertile to barren. *     *     There is no fixed price for lands. *     *     Recently propositions were made to some of our planters by the agent of an English company to purchase 15,000 acres contiguous; a judiciary committee made a valuation, and fixed the average at $7 in gold.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.