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Aveed on the slioros, the plentiful supply of material for home-made fish- 

 guano, the (;liea])ness of oyster-shell lime, aiul the underlying marl so 

 accessible through all this reiiion, offer iertilizers in great variety and 

 practically unlimited (piantity, preclnding the necessity of tlie more 

 costly (!ommercial fertilizers, and enabling the farmer to increase at will 

 the fertility of his lands. 



People begin to think that it may be poor economy to grow corn at 

 ten cents per bushel on cheap western lands — say eighty bushels for 

 $8 — when lands might bc^ had at $30 to $50 per acie, in some i)laces for 

 $10 to $20, that will prodnce tiity bushels, worth $40. The soil is gen- 

 erally a loam ; in some places a samly loam of tine texture and full of 

 organic matter; in others, a clay loam, retentive of moisture and of 

 manure. It is a light, quick soil, which liverally shoots into i)erfection 

 all sorts of products. The climate is propitious, giving earlier results 

 by from two to four \veeks than Delaware and New Jersey. This fact, 

 connected with that of remarkable facilities for cheai) and rapid com- 

 munication to Baltimore and the more northern cities, makes this region 

 the paradise of " truck" growers. The same chea])ness of transporta- 

 tion gives value to the timber, much of which is heavy, making cord- 

 wood, formerly a drug not worth marketing, a valuable commodity. 



We refer to a record of a visit once made to a tract which may be 

 taken as a sample of these Potomac lands : 



Very little expense has been incurred for fertilizers. Twenty bnsliels per acre of 

 cbeap gas lime had been spread upon the gr.-iss land, and the crop is evidentlj'^ fairlj 

 estimated at two and a half tons per acre. The corn was planted late, but its germi- 

 nation and growth have been niaivelous. The soil is a tine chiy loaui, in some places 

 with more of silex, never stiff and heavy, and never inclining tti '' bake" under tlie in- 

 fluence of heavy rains and hot sun. A little further on, ou the lightest soil to be found, 

 are peach trees, ])ut out four years ago, largo enough for six years growth, perfectly 

 healthy and vigorous, and lull of fniit. In the distant wood is one of those bleniishea 

 upon A'^irgiuia agriculture, an old field, exhausted and abandoned. Examination re- 

 veals the fact that the exhaustion is skin deep; the surface had been scratched over, in 

 former years, and spitefully turned out to grass and weeds, upon refusal to yield undi- 

 minished returns with so negligent culture. The soil iunnediately beh)w the surface 

 has long beeu unstirred. It ctintains in a fair degree the elements of fertility, and the 

 subsoil diflers little in appearacce, being a little more ciude, uiiintiiienced as it is by 

 air and frost. An inch or two deeper ]>lowiiig, and a little lime to correct its acidity, 

 would make it comparatively a productive soil, and a green manuring of clover would 

 make it better still. For fruit, sweet potatoes, melons, and market gar<lening gener- 

 ally, it would produce largely. For grass it is scarceb' surpassed, in quantity or 

 (piality. Wheat yields a valuable crop, and corn grows luxuriantly. 



The following letter from Mr. Cbalkley Gillingham, of Accotink, Vir- 

 ginia, a pioneer in the development of the capal)ilities of these soils, in 

 a colony upon a part of the original estate of General Washington, in 

 the vicinity of Mount Vernon, gives a brief statement of the results of 

 that enterprise : 



In the latter ^lart of the year 1846, four or five others besides myself purchased the 

 " Woodlawu" estate, (a part of the original Mount Vernon) theu a neglected estate of 

 2,00l) acres. There was not one white ])erson uiiou it. Our intention was to form a 

 settlement of people aUke iu habits and sentiments. Others were expecting to, join us 

 in the experiment. The tirst thing we did after the purchase was to come down to the 

 property and bring a surveyor with us, and we laid off the whole into lots of CO to 150 

 acres each. There was a very large substantial brick nuinsiou-house on the i)remi.ses, 

 tenautless. We set off 400 acres with the mansion-house, the balairee iu smaij tracts; 

 half of the whole estate was iu timber. We introduced farmers, mechanics, and laborers. 

 Four of us joined together in copartnership, built a large saw-mill, and repaired an 

 ohl Hour-mill on an a<ljoiuing property, which we bought witliin the tirst year, and com- 

 menced sawing up the timljer and grinding grain. Tlie timber went to Piiiladel[ihia, 

 Bath, ilaine,aud otherphices ; the Hour, aftcrsupplying the ccdouy, went to Alexandria 

 and Washington, and the North. Our mills were at the mouth of Accotink Creek, at tide- 

 water, where vessels could load at the mill. A lew of the other members of the colony 

 took su.all farms to themselves ; the remauder of the land for the time being was worked 

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