290 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
not so numerous as they were ten years ago, which is attributable to the 
cholera. ‘The Chester is the favorite. Horses and mules have neither 
increased in numbers nor improved in quality. Sheep not extensively 
raised, owing to the partiality people have for dogs. Scott: Improvement 
of farm stock is engaging attention, but only to a limited extent, 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
With all the industry we have used, there remains a number of import- 
ant counties in the State—several in each geographical division—from 
which we have failed to get returns. On the north side of James River 
the tide-water and Piedmont districts are very fairly represented by 
the counties enumerated. It would be gratifying, however, to have 
had reports from Goochland, Fluvatina, and Amherst, on the Upper 
James, in which the system of farming was formerly as perfect as in 
any part of the State, and also from Hanover, Spottsylvania, and 
Rappahannock. Hanover, however, in respect to the lower portion, 
may be classified at the present time with the best counties on tide- 
water; Rappahannock with the neighboring counties of Fauquier and 
Culpeper; and Amherst with Nelson. On the Seuthside the omissions 
are not less to be regretted. Greenville, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, and 
Halifax were formerly distinguished for their productiveness, chiefly in 
the article of tobacco, and largely, also, in wheat. Halifax was the 
largest tobacco-producing county in the State. Bedford, while long 
famed for both tobacco and wheat, is a fine grass country, where grazing 
is, or was, profitably followed. With the exception of the small county 
of Clarke, we miss altogether the lower half of the Valley, embracing 
Frederick, Shenandoah, Warren, Page, and Rockingham. These con- 
stitute a very important part of the State; but as the farmers have 
always been noted for their industry and thrift, and as it is divided, to 
a large extent, into farms of moderate size, we may conclude that it is 
recovering its prosperity in at least an equal ratio with Augusta, Rock- 
ingham, and Botetourt. in Southwest Virginia there is no important 
omission, with the exception of Smythe. It is in this county that the 
celebrated plaster beds are found, which furnish an abundant sapply of 
this mineral to all the adjacent country, as far as it will bear transport- 
ation. Its use, as the reader has been informed, produces wonderful 
results. The condition of agricuiture in this county is very much the 
same as in Washington and Wythe. In Russell the same features pre- 
vail, but in Buchanan and Wise, at the base of the Cumberland Mount- 
ains, they are very distinct. They are outside the grass region, and 
agriculture is at a very low ebb. 
From the Eastern Shore, composed of the counties of Accomac and 
Northampton, no returns have been received. It may be remarked, 
however, that the farm crops consist almost entirely of corn and oats, ~ 
under a three-years’ course. The third year the land puts up the Ma- 
gothy Bay bean, (Cassia chamecrista,) which, though indigenous to 
other parts of the State, grows most luxuriantly in a saline atmosphere. 
It furnishes an abundant crop of green manure, by means of which the 
fertility of the land is indefinitely maintained. The principal market 
crop is oats, which is extensively used in the interior of the State for 
seed and other purposes. Much attention has been paid, of late years, 
to trucking. Sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cabbages, and fruits are 
raised in large quautities. F 
Taken as a whole, the picture presented, though not so flattering as 
could be wished, offers many attractive features. We have taken a 
very close view of the inner life of these old Virginia farmers, and 
