280 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
will probably be extended. In Campbell, a few instances of the intro- 
duction of labor-saving machines are reported, but generally attended 
with disappointment. In Charlotte, none in use; and in Pittsylvania, ~ 
to a very limited extent. From Prince Edward, where the farmers have 
been long noted for their enterprise, we learn that several reapers were 
introduced during the year, and as the surface of the country is highly 
favorable to their use, it is believed the number will be increased from 
year to year. Improved plows are taking the place of hand-hoes on 
almost every farm. In Franklin, improved implements are being used 
to a limited extent, and would be largely if the lands were not too rough 
to justify their adoption. In Patrick, ‘‘labor-saving machines are looked 
upon with suspicion and distrust” by the rural population of this secluded 
county. 
The Valley.—tIn this fertile and highly cultivated district, labor- 
saving implements are coming into very general use. The only excep- 
tion reported is in Clarke, where they have been introduced to only a 
limited extent; but farming in this county is carried on mostly by ten- 
ants. Augusta: A very considerable increase since the war, and as 
much as 25 per cent. within the past year over the preceding year, but 
no test, by way of comparison, seems to have been made to show the 
advantages resulting from their use. Rockbridge: Manual labor has 
been supplanted, to a large extent, by the drill, reaper, mower, corn- 
planter, sulky-rake, and other improved implements, which have been 
introduced all over the county in increasing numbers every year. It is 
claimed by some farmers that the labor of eight men is saved every day 
that a mower or sulky-rake is worked to its full capacity. “A recent 
discussion .on this subject, held by the N. R. Club of Rockbridge, 
resulted in the conclusion” that “the time to ignore the use of such 
contrivances has long since passed.” Highland is well supplied with 
mowers, and to some extent with buggy-rakes and thrashing-machines. 
Improved household machinery is also coming into use. Botetourt: 
Labor-saving implements are extensively used, and with the most satis- 
factory results. As an illustration, “Mr. G., with two boys, puts up 
more hay than Mr. R., with seven hands; and grows more corn, wheat, and 
tobacco, and sells considerably more. The only difference is that G. 
uses improved implements and R. manual labor.” Roanoke: Reapers, 
mowers, drills, horse-rakes, corn-shellers, cutting-boxes, and in fact 
nearly every kind of improved implement, have been introduced 
throughout the county, and with marked benefit. “With the mower, 
one hand with two horses will do as much in one day as eight or ten 
ordinary hands, and the hay-rake, with one horse, as much in propor- 
tion. The reaper, with one hand and two horses, will cut as much in a 
day, in heavy grain, as four men with scythes. The wheat-drill not only 
saves labor in seeding, but leaves the land in better condition for the 
crop. The buggy-plow, with one hand and two. horses, does nearly as. 
much in a day as four men and four horses in the former way of plow- | 
ing, and so with ali other machinery now used on the farm.” The only 
complaint is that the improved machinery costs too much. 
Southwest. Virginia.—Montgomery: ‘Since the change in the labor 
system of the county, the demand for labor-saving machinery of all 
kinds has increased. Mowers of different patents have been introduced 
with great success. Accompanied by the horse-rake, they are now 
regarded in the light of an agricultural necessity. Reapers are used, 
but they are not so well suited to the rough and uneven surface of the 
country. For this reason, and on account of their cost and liability to 
injury in unskilled hands, they will not soon take the place of the cradle. 
