54 AGRICULTURAL RErORT. 



perish in tlie same way Butter or fresh meats are preserved here almost in- 

 dolinitely. At the base of this bed of ice flows forth a spring of intensely cold 

 vater ; and yet these rocks are exposed to the rays of the sun after 9 o'clock 

 in the morning. 



The hanging rocks near Romney, 400 feet high, are notable curiosities. 



In Morgan county, two and a half miles from St. John's run, on the Balti- 

 more and Ohio railroad, and thirt3"-.six miles from Winchester, are the Berkeley 

 Mineral springs, much frequented, as they have been since the days of 1777 

 when Generals Washington and Gates, and Charles Carroll, of CarroUton 

 attested theii* virtues, and built cottages there for summer residence. Twelve 

 hundred gallons per minute are said to flow through the bath-rooms of the 

 present establishment. The baths are much celebrated from their character 

 and quantity and agreeable temperature, (74°,) and the scenery around is highly 

 picturesque. The Maryland Gazette, in 1784, sa^ of it: "In Berkeley county 

 live bathing-houses, with adjacent dressing-rooms, are nearly completed. An 

 assembly room and theati'e are also constructed for the innocent and rational 

 amusements of the polite who assemble there." Near these springs is a foun- 

 tain of chalybeate waters, which stimulate like strong tea. 



In Hampshire county are the medicinal waters known to travellers as the 

 Capon springs, four miles from the Cacapon river, on the west side of the North 

 mountain. The Shannondale springs, near the Shenandoah river, a few miles 

 above Harper's Ferry, have been celebrated for their efficacy in scorbutic 

 aflections. Several ebbing and flowing springs exist in this region, and a sub- 

 teiTanean river, an affluent of the Shenandoah, is said to furnish a winter resort 

 for millions of the finny tribe, multitudes being caught in fall and spring as 

 they enter and return. 



The valley is mainly of a limestone formation, with some sandstone and 

 patches of red and black slate. The Opequon runs through a narrow strip of 

 slate soil, of inferior fertility to the fine limestone region on either side of it, 

 in Jeffei-son and Berkeley. These counties, it liks been said, " contain a 

 greater portion of fertile lands than any other section of the State." The sur- 

 face of the mouth of the valley between the Blue Ridge and Little North 

 mountain was originally a broad rolling prairie, with fringes of timber on water- 

 courses. Some portions of this district towards the mountains contain a pro- 

 portion of what is termed "liver soil" by the farmers, productive in wheat and 

 grasses. The South Branch valley has a soil noted for its fertility, its superior 

 wheat, and the perennial freshness and succulence of its summer verdure. The 

 markets of Baltimore and Washington and the stock-dealers of Maryland and 

 Virginia attest the fatness and the flavor of stock reared and fattened in this 

 mountain valley. 



The valley lands of this section, in various locations and states of improve- 

 ment, have commanded from $30 to $150 per acre ; highlands under pultiva- 

 tion, from $5 to $50 : wild lands, from 25 cents to $10 per acre. The highlands 

 are in high esteem as she«p farms, and have contributed much in this branch 

 of husbandly to the wealtu of this region. 



