814 



VIRGINIA. 



of aid given during the last four years has been 

 873,542. The State agencies in New York, 

 Philadelphia, and Washington, haye been closed 

 since the 1st of October, 1865. 



Compared with other New England States, 

 Vermont produces, according to the last cen- 

 sus, the most horses, sheep, butter, cheese, 

 wool, wheat, oats, hops, and maple sugar. 

 Compared with the other New England States, 

 according to population, it produces in addition 

 to these products the most barley and potatoes. 

 The maple sugar manufactured in this State is 

 now nearly equal in value to its products of 

 wool. At the present price of sugar, this prod- 

 uct is likely to be largely increased. The av- 

 erage annual product since the last census was 

 taken has, probably, been much greater than 

 before. But one State, New York, makes 

 more maple sugar, Vermont making nearly 

 four times as much, in proportion to the size of 

 the State. The least of the five States that 

 make more butter, Indiana, is more than three 

 times as large as Vermont, and contains more 

 than four times as many inhabitants. Ver- 

 mont, nevertheless, was the only State in the 

 Union whose population was not materially 

 increased during the last census decade. But 

 three States Maine, New Hampshire, and Ver- 

 mont increased less than ten per cent. The 

 gain of a fractional part of one per cent, barely 

 saved Vermont from a loss. Upwards of one 

 hundred thousand natives of the State may be 

 found in other parts of the country, and not- 

 withstanding the facilities offered for sheep- 

 raising, and other branches of rural economy, 

 she seems destined to remain stationary in pop- 

 ulation. a feeder to the new States of the far 

 West. ' 



VIRGINIA. The state of affairs in Virginia, 

 previous to the close of the war, was so inti- 

 mately connected with the Confederate Gov- 

 ernment, whose headquarters were at Rich- 

 mond, that a reference to that title is made. 

 The disappearance of the army of Gen. Lee 

 left the State largely desolated, the inhabitants 

 impoverished, the civil authority powerless, and 

 at the mercy of the Federal commanders. The 

 desolations of the Shenandoah Valley, and in 

 the track of the armies near the Rapidau, were 

 at this time thus sketched : 



We hare also conversed with an intelligent friend, 

 who formerly resided at Edinburg, in Shenandoah 

 County, and who has been compelled to bring his 

 family into a more favored locality, to keep them 

 from starring, and he gives a deplorable picture of 

 the sufferings and privations of these unfortunate 

 people. But a smalt amount of grain is in possession 

 of the inhabitants, and what little they nave it is 

 hardly possible to get ground for want of mills, all 

 having been burned except five or six, in the extent 

 of country of which we speak. In many instances 

 corn has been pounded, baked, and consumed in a 

 rough state, and our informant states that he is famil- 

 iar with instances where the people have mixed mid- 

 dlings with bran and baked it into bread in order to 

 stretch the food. Cattle, hogs, and sheep, have been 

 swept away, and but few horses remain with which 

 to cultivate the ground and raise a crop the present 

 season. It is hard to realize and believe that such a 



state of things exists, but it nevertheless is fearfully 

 true. 



Another says : 



With the exception of small enclosures of one or 

 two acres, here and there, there is scarcely a fence 

 worthy of the name from the Rapidan to Bull Run; 

 and the fields, once the pride of the farmers' hearts, 

 and shut in by " ten rails and a rider," are now broad 

 commons, with old landmarks obliterated, ditches 

 filled up, quarters, cornhouses, and barns in ruins, 

 while the lone and blackened chimneys cf the once 

 happy homestead stand like some grim old sentries 

 on guard until the last. 



The once majestic forests of oak, hickory, chestnut, 

 and pine along the line of the Orange and Alexandria 

 Railroad have disappeared and given place to- the 

 rude huts and cabins improvised by the armies of 

 Lee and Meade ; and instead of whortleberries, chin- 

 quepins, and chestnuts, one kicks up canteens, worn- 

 out knapsacks, odd shoes, bread-boxes, suggestive 

 of the inevitable " hard .tack," bayonet-scabbards, 

 with here and there a stand of grape, a ten-pounder 

 Parrott shell, and everywhere almost the hollow-base 

 "little Minies," whose whistling tones are so famil- 

 iar to us all. 



The village of Raccoonford is a village no longer. 

 Stevensburg is Stevensburg only on the military 

 maps ; and all along the route, crossing and recross- 

 ing the railroad, one sees nothing where man's agency 

 is concerned but utter desolation. 



The people are returning to their once happy 

 homes, after such hardships as refugees only can 

 know, and are patching up any outbuildings at hand 

 for a temporary residence until the "great house" 

 can be rebuilt and former comforts collected around 

 them. 



The negroes in Orange County can be hired for 

 their food and quarters; but this does not pertain in 

 Culpepper and Fauquier, where labor is scarce and 

 in demand, as nearly every negro man, woman, and 

 child left home early in'the war, with the hope of 

 an improved condition in the crowded streets of 

 Alexandria and Washington. The supply, however, 

 will be equal, and perhaps more than equal, to the 

 demand, when the farmers are once more prepared 

 to cultivate their lands, but just now there is a feel- 

 ing of oppressive uncertainty hanging over every 

 man's head; and until courts are established, magis- 

 trates, sheriffs, surveyors, commissioners, etc., are 

 appointed; this feeling will prevail, and tend materi- 

 ally to retard the development of the agricultural re- 

 sources of the country, and of that desire to do their 

 duty as good and loyal citizens, which is the sincere 

 and hearty wish of nine-tenths of the people of Vir- 

 ginia, now that the terrible struggle is over, and which 

 has been decided finally against them. The farmers 

 need nearly every article necessary to a successful 

 cultivation of their lands, and with but very limited 

 means for purchasing them, no credit, and an entirely 

 new system of labor to contend with, the problem of 

 success seems to be one of difficult solution ; but with 

 industry, skill, and integrity, the prolific soil will 

 soon supply their wants, and in a few years one will 

 scarcely be able to recognize this as the classic battle- 

 ground of the two celebrated armies of the Potomac 

 and Northern Virginia. 



When the evacuation of Richmond was de- 

 cided upon, orders were issued to destroy all 

 buildings belonging to or rented by the Gov- 

 ernment, of which there was a large number in 

 the business portion of the city. The orders 

 were too well executed, and an appalling scene 

 of destruction was presented, and the flames 

 were only stayed by the aid furnished on the 

 arrival of Northern troops, many of whom were 

 blacks. 



The defences of Richmond, upon which so 



