60 AGRICULTURAL EEPORT. 



Pubsiding, and settling through the gravelly substratum with a rapidity almost 

 coincident with the subsidence of tlie river itself. If the vine were potted by a 

 Bkilful gardener, the drainage would scarcely be superior. In such a soil a 

 great expense for trenching ia an entirely unnecessary part of the labor of 

 preparing ground for a vineyard. The island at Wheeling, known as Zane's 

 i.-fland, and owned by descendants of the original owner and pioneer of that 

 name, has a large vineyard, which gives annually a yield greater than the 

 average yield of American vineyards. When new vines are added, the ground 

 is broken thoroughly sixteen inches deep, with three horses, then furroAved, ar.d 

 holes dug one foot deep in the fiuTOws for the reception of the vines. C. L. 

 Zane, one of the proprietors, claims au average product of 500 gallons of wine 

 per acre. 



A fine vineyard of J. B. Ford and others, a few miles below Wheeling, on 

 the breast of one of those heavy slopes, is a good illustration of the capabilities 

 of the bluff lands for grapes. Being covered with a heavy forest growth, the 

 expense of stoi'tiug the vineyard was much higher than it otherwise would have 

 been. The timber felled, and the stumps dug out, a furrow of twenty inches 

 deep was cut with a mammoth plough, and the roots so effectually eradicated 

 that no sprouts have ever appeared. The soil was a clayey loam, with an ad- 

 mixture of shale. The vineyard comprises 14i acres, and with enclosures and 

 building improvements cost about S500 per acre exclusive of the land, which 

 overlies a coal mine. The product of the fourth year from planting was 2,000 

 gallons of wine, mainly Catawba; the fifth year (1863) yielded 4,000 gallons, 

 or nearly three hundred per acre. 



Few localities in the country can claim so large and sure results of vine cul- 

 ture during ten years past as are shown in this county. It is an interest rap- 

 idly growing here, and evidently destined to continue in prosperity. 



Other fruits succeed here admirably. Among pears, the Bartlett, Seckel, 

 and Duchess d'Angouleme seem to be farorites, and some, when asked to name 

 six most desirable varieties, would duplicate the three already given. The 

 Winter Xelis gives high satisfaction as a winter pear. 



The favorite apples are the Yellow Bellflower, Rambo, Putnam, Russet, Rome 

 Beauty, and Northern Spy. The Rambo is the most productive on the bottom 

 lands. For early marketing, the Yellow Juuc-eating is highly regarded, being 

 t, heavy bearer every year. 



The fertility of the soil is plainly shown by the size of forest trees, and the 

 rapidity of their growth. The writer has noticed in the grounds of L. Lims- 

 ford, a tree twelve years old, which is twenty-two inches in diameter. From 

 the ashes of log heaps spring up locusts with great rapidity. A sedate and 

 truthful man alleges that they have been knov/n to grow to the height of 

 one foot before the log heap had done burning. An opening in the woods, M'ith 

 the least exposure of the surface to the sun, is immediately covered with a 

 carpet of green. Vegetation is everywhere luxuriant as the farmer could desire. 



Brooke county lands are of equal fertility and value, and show a similar range 

 of products, with a larger yield of wool, corn, and wheat, and a greater value 

 of live stock and slaughtered animals. 



Of the peculiar adaptation of the mountain slopes and valleys of Virginia t« 

 sheep hushiindry, there is abundant evidence. Where circumstances have 

 favored population, this interest, by inevitable gravitation, has settled dov/n 

 into a permanent and jtrominent place in farm industry. The " Panhandle" 

 fui-nighes a notable illustration : 



