72 
nies. 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 eensus proves that many a 
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 neces- 
sary 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. Ina recent address before the Border Agri- 
cultural 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.” 
7. 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, aud small fruits of all sorts, grow 
well in nearly all. parts of the State. The only general exception, as to profit- 
able 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 occa- 
sional 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 abun- 
dantly. 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 re- 
munerative 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 pro- 
duce a crop. Cherries are grown considerably, and are a very certain 
crop. The strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry are produced in great abun- 
dance, the latter two growing wild in every uncultivated piece of grounds 
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 a 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, Eminent pomologists are persuaded that the Blue Ridge, from Virginia 
