J* 

 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 7 



pictcly ruiued wliatever of prosperity slavery had not yet destroyed. Nature, 

 however, has done everything for the " Old Dominion," and time and free 

 institutions will yet vindicate her ancient generosity, abused and tempted 

 though she has been to the very verge of exhaustion by a false and shiftless 

 husbandry. 



Among the productions of Virginia, as enumerated in the last census, were 

 wheat, corn, rye, oats, tobacco, cotton, rice, wool, pulse, sweet and other pota- 

 toes, barley, hops, flax, hemp, silk cocoons, maple, cane and sorghum molasses, 

 honey, buckwheat, hay, butter, cheese, clover and grass seeds ; the various 

 fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone; superior cattle, sheep, horses, and 

 mules, besides a wealth of game and shell-fish on all the tide-waters of the 

 State. Besides these, Virginia is capable, according to the laws of the iso- 

 thermal zones of climate, of producing a much wider range of products. She 

 is extremely well watered, affording an abundance of moisture to the soil' 

 while her water-power is not surpassed by any State. Her sea-coasts, bays, 

 and navigable streams afford easy access to the best markets, while her great 

 estuary offers sites for cities, whose commerce, fed by free institutions, might 

 rival the chief marts of the country. 



The "mineral wealth of Virginia is equal to that of almost any other State, 

 but it has not been greatly developed. Besides gold, there are numerous and 

 vast beds of iron, copper, and lead ore ; the hematite iron ore of the valley 

 of Virginia especially yielding a very superior metal. Other portions of the 

 State possess vast deposits of gypsum, marl, salt, and coal, with oil wells and 

 mineral springs. 



The valley of Virginia, elevated in position and watered by the Shenan- 

 doah and the affluents of the James, is exceedingly fertile, and, owing to its 

 extensive limestone formations, must ever continue a great wheat-growing 

 region. On the other hand Eastern Virginia is composed wholly of tertiary 

 sands, clay, and marls, the latter deposits being found, of course, along the 

 borders of the Chesapeake and Atlantic. Some of the strata of Eastern Vir- 

 ginia abound in fossil shells, and little altered in appearance from those of 

 living beds along the coast, and furnish most valuable material for fertilizing 

 the worn-out lands. 



The soil of the tide-water region is a light sandy loam, capable, with proper 

 culture, of yielding well ; but at present it is about exhausted under the vicious 

 system of tillage practiced there for several generations. All the worn-out 

 lands of Virginia can be easily brought up to their former fertility by plough- 

 ing a little deeper and by the application of lime to correct the acidity of the 

 soil. Lime decomposes the organic matter in the soil and frees the carbonic 

 acid. It acts, also, upon the silicates and earthy salts, decomposing them 

 and allowing such combinations as the plants require. The free use of gypsum 

 and marl, also abundant in various parts of the State, would soon redeem 

 the exhausted land. 



Without dwelling upon the general agricultural advantages of Virginia, I 

 desire to call attention to one or two special points. The soil and climate of 



