1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



363 



ili\in creek, the former 12 miles and the latter 25 

 miles above Riciiinomi. exiiibit the s;ime general 

 character and natural features — tiiough there wtis 

 coUfiiJerable variety in the quality and value a^ 

 •riven by nature, and much greater hats been pro- 

 duced by the ditierence ol' management under cul- 

 tivation. Without reirarding minor exc-eplions, 

 the soils may be divided into the three classes ol 

 1st. river alluvial, or low ground — 2nd. river hills, 

 or the red hilly lands lying next to the river, or to 

 the low-grounds Ibrming its margin — and 3rd. the 

 poor back lands, more distant iroin, though still 

 near to the river. The two last classes are ver-y 

 nearly the saoie with the divisions more common- 

 ly designated by the residents as the "red land" 

 and "irray land." 



1. The low ground being all of alluvial ibrma- 

 tion, and deposited principally by the floods of the 

 same river, could not vaiy greatly in composition, 

 or natural ti^rtiiity. Though these lands are gen- 

 erally al»oiit twenty feet above the ordinary height 

 of the river, they are entirely formed of the depo- 

 sne ot" the rich mud brought by It-eshets from the 

 mountains, and other high lands; and the only 

 existingdilierences must be caused bj'' the course 

 of the current, which causes difi'erent degrees of 

 velocity, and thence, differences in the quantity and 

 quality of the mud deposited. Freshets still serve 

 to increase the height of the lower parts; but more 

 often injure than improve the higher, by washing 

 them, and sweeping of!', at some times, more of 

 the old soil, than they leave of the new deposite 

 at others. Notwithstanding this loss, these visi- 

 tations, so destructive to the crops and present 

 profits of the projirietors, must, on the whole, he 

 improving to this very valuable and extensive body 

 of land. 



The soil of the low-grounds, is a dark brown 

 loam, not deficient in any one of the inyrcdients 

 necessary to constitute an excellent soil. Tlie 

 limestone lands, from which so much of the depo- 

 site of mud is derived, and the limestone waters, 

 which pour in great quantity into all the upper 

 branches of the river, as well as the peculiar 

 quality of this low-ground soil, all attest that it 

 must have a good proportion of lime, as one of its 

 constituent parts. Yet, as in most other cases in 

 the fine natural lands of V^irginia, and the other 

 Atlantic slates, thai lime is not found in the form of 

 the carbonate, for that state in which an acid will 

 cause eflervescence, but is concealed Crom any che- 

 mical search yet made, and from the modes of inves- 

 tigation usually prescribed and received as correct 

 by chemists, by the lime being (as I think, and 

 have elsewhere treated of at length,) conbined with 

 some other acid than tlie carbonic. However, it 

 will suffice here to say, that these soils contain 

 not a particle of the carbonate of lime, the princi- 

 pal if not the sole form in which we are tauirht, by 

 the writers on agricultural cheraistrj^, to expect to 

 find it — though, there is abundant reason to be- 

 lieve that there is a considerable proportion oJ' 

 lime in some other, and as yet unknown form. 

 Of course, the soil is "neutral" — that is, does not 

 show any excess of the acid ingredient, or quality, 

 which has combined with the lime — and which, 

 when in excess in any soil, produces sheep-sorrel, 

 and poisons and retards the growth of every use- 

 ful crop. 



The natural fertility of this soil is equal to that 

 of any land in Virginia, and perhaps, to any in 



the world; and its earihy constitution is sufficiently 

 (iivorable to crops of almost every kind. It is 

 light and mellow enough for corn, and stiff enough 

 lor wheat and clover — dry enough (except in the 

 rarecasosof overflowing by freshets,) for all tillage 

 crojis, and yet moist enough for grass. It is sel- 

 dom that soil is found so hajipily constituted as this. 

 It wants only putrescent matter, where exhausted 

 of its natural abundant supply, and would certainly 

 be the better, every where, for more lime being ad- 

 ded, (as would be every soil containing no carbonate 

 of lime,) though it must be so well supplied byna- 

 fural causes with. that ingredient, that it would not 

 exhibit striking evidences of improvement from 

 new additions of lime. These low-grounds have 

 been estimated, and so bought and sold, at one 

 hundred dollars the acre, in both former and present 

 times; and this valuation is well sustained by the 

 actual products and profits derived. If all good 

 land in Virginia was not depressed in price, by 

 the long prevalent madness for western emigra- 

 tion and speculation, this land would sell still hiffh- 

 er. When the land-madness prevailed in Vir- 

 ginia, (caused by the fraudulent banking, and j9a- 

 per speculations, during and following the war 

 of 1812,) these low-grounds were valued at two 

 hundred dollars the acre, or more — and though 

 that estimation was founded on wild speculation, 

 and was certainly too high, it was )'et lower, if 

 compared to products, than the prices of most of 

 the poor lands of middle and lower Virginia, at 

 the same time. Still, the liability to damage, and 

 sometimes the total destruction to crops, from fresh- 

 ets, present most important grounds for deduction 

 from what would otherwise be the value of these 

 fine lands, 



2. The soil of the river hills, is red clay loam, 

 lying on a very red subsoil. All of this narrow 

 strip of lands was originally fertile, though not 

 equally so. The value seems, generally, though 

 by no means uniformly, to be found better as 

 we proceed up the river; and the Beaverdam farm, 

 at the outlet of the creek of that name, (the pro- 

 perty of Corbin Warwick,) is said to be the best 

 soil of all tlie range of river hills, and even to near 

 (he. first mountain range. The best kind of this 

 general class of soil is not so much a red, as a 

 brown or chocolate colored soil; and the whole of 

 these lands, more or less, approach, though the 

 best are still inferior, to the remarkable value and 

 peculiar characteristics of the red lands of the 

 South West Mountains — which were described at 

 page 234 of vol. ii. They agree in these res- 

 pects; the surface being hilly, and liable to be 

 washed under tillage, yet the red sub-soil improva- 

 able, and easily converted to soil — and the suitable- 

 ness of clover and gypsum to aid greatly the im- 

 provement of both the soil and the exposed sub- 

 soil. I have before mentioned the apparently si- 

 milar appearance and qualities of the lands of 

 other and distant sections, and it is to be hoped 

 that the region of this rich red land, with easily 

 improvable sub-soil, is very extensive. But it is 

 certainly very different fi-oni, and very superior to 

 the clays, and not omitting the reddest clays, of 

 lower Virginia, in the tide water region. 



All of this class of land is very irregular in sur- 

 face, and often very steep. There is scarcely a 

 single acre, any where, that deserves to be called 

 level — the whole surface being a succession of 

 hill-sides, and narrow ridges sejiarated by still 



