I860.] 



THE 



SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



439 



farm stocked v/hh some capital animals ; among 

 them bis fine Morgan stallion "Black Hawk" — 

 a horse of great power and speed, combined 

 with beauty — a splendid "Abdallali" mare — a 

 filly by " old Black Hawk," and a lot of beauti- 

 ful colts of Morgan, a.m\ " Cleveland Bay" blood. 

 Among the cattle we noticed a very large and 

 handsome Durham Bull. Some Short Horn 

 Cows which Mr. F. brought from Kentucky last 

 year, and several handsome Devons. We also 

 noticed some fine " Chester" pigs. These were 

 all fine of their class, but no better than his 

 large, powerful, riding horse, which for strength, 

 appearance and excellence of gaits, we have 

 rarely seen equalled. 



After a ride to Monticello, and the University 

 of Virginia, both of which are objects of deep 

 interest to us, we took the Cars for Ivy Depot, 

 and made our way to the hospitable mansion of 

 Dr. John R. Woods, who is also a public spirited 

 breeder of fine stock. We spent several most 

 delightful days with the Dr., who has a beauti- 

 ful and highly cultivated farm. We employed 

 our time in looking at the various fine specimens 

 of blooded stock — fields of luxuriant orchard 

 grass and clover, and in talking on agricultural 

 matters generally. 



Dr. Woods has imported from England a no- 

 ble specimen of the Cleveland Bays — a Stal- 

 lion, rightly named "Symmetry," five years old 

 this spring. We saw him soon after his arrival 

 in this country last fall, and were amazed to 

 find him so much grown aind improved since 

 that time. He is very large, notwithstanding 

 which, he has a very graceful, stylish carriage, 

 and is one of the smoothest and most rapid walk- 

 ers, we have ever seen. We hope the Dr. will 

 have him trained to harness, for we should 

 judge from the action displayed in his walk, that 

 he would become a fine trotter with proper 

 handling. We found in the pastures some very 

 fine Brood mares with Colts — the get of Mr. R. 

 H. Dulany's imported Cleveland " Scriving- 

 ton," and "Havelock," (imported by Dr. Woods, 

 and since sold to some gentlemen in the South) 

 — a large flock of sheep, pure Costwolds, and 

 South Downs crossed with Cots wold. This was 

 the finest flock of Sheep we ever saw ; among 

 them was an imported Cotswold Ram, of such 

 size that we had the curiosity to measure him, 

 and found his length from the top of his eyes, to 

 the root of his tail to be four feet ten inches — 

 his girth behind the shoulders, four feet six in- 

 ches, and his width across the shoulders twenty 



inches. His wool had been closely sheared, so 

 that the measurement given above, is that of 

 his carcase. Seven yearling Rams, age consid- 

 ered, we supposed were not inferior to him. 



We observed the preparation of Dr. Wood's 

 Tobacco grounds for this year's crop, which was 

 so thoroughly pulverized and manured, that we 

 no longer wondered ivhy it was that the quality 

 of his last year's crop was so good. 



This neiglibornood is a particularly successful 

 Tobacco growing section, lying on Ivy Creek ; 

 the soil a rich chocolate clay, retentive of man- 

 ures, and well adapted to all of our staple crops. 

 On every farm, we saw fine fields of grass, and 

 we thought it a shame that Virginia should bring 

 from the North, her supplies of hay, when she 

 can grow it of much better quality, than that 

 furnished by the North. The wheat crop is a 

 perfectly disheartening failure throughout this 

 region, as it is also in most of our State, and this 

 has so often been the case of late years, that we 

 believe the best thing the farmers of the lime- 

 stone region could do, would be to raise hay in 

 its stead. We have recently seen Baled hay, 

 raised in Orange county, sold in this market at 

 $1 45 per hundred pounds, and in less than 

 twenty-four hours after its arrival. Would it not 

 pay the farmers of Albemarle, Augusta and 

 Rockbridge, to raise hay instead of Wheat? We 

 think it would. Near Ivy Depot are the farms 

 of the Messrs. Garth, Gilmer, Southall, Noland, 

 Colston, McGee, and others, all of them first rate 

 lands, and if Tobacco was raised as a general 

 thing all over the State, as it is among the gen- 

 tlemen of Ivy Creek neighbourhood, we don't 

 think " Ezekiel's Hair Restorative" could save 

 us from becoming a bald headed set, i. e. if 

 trouble produces baldness and it is as trouble- 

 some a crop there, as it is in Henrico. We saw 

 on one farm, a "Tobacco patch'''' of sixty acres, 

 " or thereabouts." 



The more we saw of the country, the more we 

 were pleased, and the more we felt it to be ex- 

 cusable for Virginians to be proud of the Old 

 Dominion — having within her own borders the 

 elements of wealth, prosperity and greatness. 

 We proved to our heartfelt satisfaction the justice 

 of her claim to unlimited hospitality, and kind- 

 ness to the stranger within her gates. 



The various Colleges and Schools of this 

 charming section of the State, are in a very flour- 

 ishing condition. The "chairs" being filled at 

 the University of Virginia^ the Virginia Military 

 Institute and Washington College, by men of tal- 



