University of Virginia Library

CXVI.

CXVI. PHILIP W. McKINNEY.

CXVI. Governor.

CXVI. January 1, 1890, to January 1, 1894.

Philip W. McKinney, son of Charles and Martha Guarrant
McKinney, was born in Buckingham County, Virginia,
March 17, 1832. His early school days were passed in his
native county, but his higher education was pursued first at
Hampden Sidney College, whence he graduated with distinction;
and later, at Washington and Lee University,
where he made the study of law a specialty. After leaving
the University, he entered immediately upon the practice of
his profession.

In April, 1861, he entered the Confederate States Army
as Captain of Company K, 4th Virginia Cavalry, and was
with that regiment in all of its gallant service, until incapacitated
for the field by wounds received in 1863, at Brandy
Station, Virginia. After this he performed local duty for a
year at Danville, and then took his seat as a member of the
General Assembly of Virginia, where he served until the close
of the war. Since that time he has been one of the most prominent
members of the bar in Virginia. He has filled the office
of prosecuting attorney for several terms, has been three times
elector on the Democratic Presidential ticket for the fourth
district in Virginia; was elector at large in 1884; in 1881
was the Democratic nominee for Attorney-General, and in
1885 was a candidate for nomination for Governor of Virginia,
receiving among the several candidates the next highest
vote to that by which Governor Lee was nominated.

In 1889, Mr. McKinney was elected Governor of Virginia
for the term of four years, beginning January 1, 1890.

Governor McKinney has been twice married, and has two

children. His first wife, Miss Nannie Christian, died leaving
one son, Robert C., when Mr. McKinney married, secondly,
Miss Annie Lyle, of Farmville, Virginia.

Governor McKinney's period of administration has been
of special interest in the history of the Commonwealth, embracing
as it does the settlement of the question of the state
debt—a question which for several years had agitated the
public mind in Virginia to a very serious extent.

In developing the internal resources of the state, Virginia,
as far back as 1820, resorted to the policy of building her
canals, railroads, and turnpikes with money borrowed upon
her own credit. For this, she in return issued her bonds,
promising to pay six per cent. per annum until the principal
was returned. Virginia kept her promise faithfully until the
outbreak of the late civil war, when she, whose word was her
bond and whose bond was as good as gold, became hemmed
in by a circle of fire from the outer world, and was the prey
of the devastation and rapine of war within her borders.
Her creditors at the North and in Europe beheld her torn and
bleeding, but they awaited the hour when, true to herself,
she would redeem her pledges.

To complicate the issue, the territory of Virginia had
during the war been dismembered, and fully one third of her
fair domain erected into a separate state, known as West
Virginia. This portion of the state had participated in borrowing
the money and in sharing the benefits with which
Virginia was charged, and it seemed but reasonable that
(though subsequently in altered relations to the Union)
West Virginia's actual and honorable indebtedness should
be unchanged to the creditors of Virginia.

At an extra session of the General Assembly, held at the
City of Wheeling, July 1st, 1861, an Act was passed, July
26, 1861, authorizing the executive to borrow money on the
credit of the state, and "as security for any such loan or
loans, certificates of debt or bonds of the state, irredeemable
for any period not greater than thirty-four years, may be
issued, and the revenue and property of the state, or any part
of either, may be pledged for their redemption." This is

ample evidence of the participation of this portion of Virginia
in borrowing money upon state credit.

In 1871, the principal of the debt of Virginia, with its
unpaid and overdue interest, amounted to the sum of about
$45,000,000.

Of the legislation, litigation, and political divisions in the
state growing out of the settlement of this debt, time fails to
tell, but its final adjustment was accomplished during the
administration of Governor McKinney, as will be seen by the
following, viz.:

AN ACT

Whereas, by a joint resolution of the General Assembly of the State
of Virginia, adopted on the third day of March, eighteen hundred and
ninety, a commission was appointed on the part of Virginia to receive
propositions for funding the debt of the State not funded under the Act
known as the "Riddleberger Bill," approved February fourteenth, eighteen
hundred and eighty-two, from a properly constituted representative of
her creditors; and

Whereas, said Virginia Debt Commission has submitted a report to
the General Assembly, wherein it appears that under a certain agreement,
dated May twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety, lodged with the Central
Trust Company of New York, Frederick P. Olcott, William L. Bull, Henry
Budge, Charles D. Dickey, Jr., Hugh R. Garden, and John Gill, constituting
a committee for certain of the creditors of Virginia, called the
"Bondholders' Committee," have proposed to said commission to surrender
to the State in bulk not less than twenty-three million of dollars
of the public debt, unfunded under said Act approved February fourteenth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-two, in exchange for an issue of new bonds,
as hereinafter specified, the same to be apportioned between the several
classes of creditors by a tribunal which the said creditors have themselves
appointed; and that, in pursuance of said proposal, an agreement has
been entered into unanimously between the said commission and the said
bondholders' committee, subject to approval by the General Assembly,
whereby in exchange for the said unsettled obligations of the State held
by the public, which were issued prior to February fourteenth, eighteen

hundred and eighty-two (exclusive of evidences of debt held by the public
institutions of the Commonwealth pursuant to law and by the United
States), together with the interest thereon to July first, eighteen hundred
and ninety-one, inclusive, aggregating about twenty-eight million of dollars,
there shall be issued nineteen million of dollars of new bonds, dated
July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and maturing one hundred
years from said date, with interest thereon at the rate of two per centum
per annum for ten years from said first day of July, eighteen hundred and
ninety-one, and three per centum per annum for ninety years thereafter
to the date of maturity, said interest to be payable semi-annually; of
which aggregate debt of about twenty-eight million of dollars the said
bondholders' committee represent that they now hold and agree to surrender
not less than twenty-three million of dollars; and

Whereas, said report and agreement contemplate the surrender of the
obligations held by the bondholders' committee as an entirety, and do not
contemplate an apportionment by the General Assembly between the
various classes of creditors so represented by said bondholders' committee,
the same having been committed to a distributing tribunal, as hereinbefore
recited; and

Whereas, it is the desire and intention of the General Assembly that a
settlement of all the other outstanding obligations of the State (except
those issued under the Act of February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-two, the evidences of debt held by the public institutions of the
State in pursuance of law and by the United States) as well as those controlled
by the bondholders' committee, as aforesaid, shall be made under
the provisions of this Act; therefore—

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the commissioners
of the sinking fund, a majority of whom may act, be and they
are hereby empowered and directed to create "listable" engraved bonds,
registered and coupon, to such an extent as may be necessary to issue
nineteen million of dollars of bonds in lieu of the twenty-eight million
dollars of outstanding obligations, not funded under the Act approved
February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, hereinbefore
recited.

2. The said bonds shall be dated July first, eighteen hundred and
ninety-one, and be payable at the office of the treasurer of the State, or at
such agency in the city of New York as may be designated by the State,
on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and shall bear
interest from date, payable semi-annually on the first days of January and
July in each year, at the rate of two per centum per annum for the first
ten years, and three per centum per annum for the remaining ninety
years; the said interest may be payable in Richmond, New York, and
London, or at either place, as may be designated by the State; provided,
that the State may at any time and from time to time after July first, nineteen
hundred and six, redeem at par any part of the principal with

accrued interest. In case of such redemption before maturity, the bonds
to be paid shall be determined by lot by said commissioners of the
sinking fund, and notice of the bonds so selected to be paid shall be given
by publication beginning at least ninety days prior to an interest-due
date, in a newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia, one in New York
City, and one in London, England; and the interest from and after the
next succeeding interest-due date shall cease upon the bonds so designated
to be paid; provided, that no registered bonds shall be so redeemed while
there are any coupon bonds outstanding.

3. The form of the bonds shall be substantially as follows, to
wit:

Issued under act of Assembly, approved ——— day of
——, eighteen hundred and ninety-two.

The Commonwealth of Virginia acknowledges herself to be indebted
to ——— (in case of a coupon bond, to the bearer, and in case
of a registered bond, inserting the name of a person or corporation), or
assigns, in the sum of —— dollars, which she promises to pay in
lawful money of the United States, at the office of the treasurer of the
State, or at such agency in the city of New York as may be designated by
the State, on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and ninety-one, with
the option of payment at par with accrued interest, before maturity at any
time after July first, nineteen hundred and six, and interest at the office of
the treasurer of the State, or at the agencies of the State in New York
City and London, England, or at either place, as may from time to time be
designated by the State, in such lawful money aforesaid, at the rate of two
per centum per annum for ten years from the first day of July, eighteen
hundred and ninety-one, and at the rate of three per centum per annum
thereafter until paid, payable semi-annually on January first and July first
in each year (according to the tenor of the annexed coupon bearing the
engraved signature of the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, in case of coupon
bonds). And this obligation is hereby made exempt from any taxation
by the said Commonwealth of Virginia, or any county or municipal
corporation thereof.

In testimony whereof, witness the signature of the treasurer and the
countersignature of the second auditor of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
hereto affixed according to law.

Treasurer.

Second Auditor.

4. The form of coupon for coupon bonds shall be substantially as follows,
to wit:

Coupon No.—.

On the first day of ——— the Commonwealth of Virginia will
pay to bearer —— dollars in lawful money of the United States, at the
office of the treasurer of the State, or at the agencies of the State in New
York City and London, England, or at either place, as may be designated

by the State; the same being six months' interest on bond number —.
— dollars.

——, Treasurer.

Each coupon to be impressed on the back with its number, in order
of maturity, from number one consecutively.

5. Said commissioners of the sinking fund are authorized to issue
coupon bonds in denominations of five hundred and one thousand dollars
each, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act; provided
that registered bonds may be issued of the denominations of one hundred
dollars, five hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, five thousand dollars,
ten thousand dollars; and they are authorized and directed to issue said
bonds, registered or coupon, in exchange for the said outstanding obligations
up to and including July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one
(exclusive of evidences of debt held by public institutions of the Commonwealth
as aforesaid and by the United States) as follows:

A. Said bondholders' committee may at any time on or before the
thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, present to said
commissioners for verification bonds and other evidences of debt, and
coupons or other evidences of interest thereon, obligations of the State of
Virginia, held by said committee, for exchange as aforesaid; and said
commissioners shall determine whether the obligations so presented are
genuine obligations of the State and whether the coupons or other evidences
of interest represent interest accrued on such obligations (exclusive
of evidences of debt held by public institutions of the Commonwealth
as aforesaid and by the United States).

B. Such of the obligations so presented for verification as may be
determined by said commissioners to conform to the requirements of paragraph
A hereof, shall be sealed in convenient packages as the examination
proceeds. Each of the packages shall be numbered, and upon each
package shall be endorsed the amount and character of the obligations
therein contained. Such endorsement on each package shall be signed
by said commissioners or a majority thereof, and the package shall then
be delivered to said committee or its agent. Said commissioners shall
keep in a book to be provided for the purpose a record of the numbers of
all such packages and of the amount and character of the obligations contained
in each. Such obligations presented by said bondholders' committee
as do not conform to the requirements of paragraph A hereof shall be
returned to said committee; but said commissioners shall keep a record
thereof in the book aforesaid.

C. After said bondholders' committee shall have presented to said
commissioners for verification bonds and other evidences of debt and coupons,
or other evidences of interest thereon accrued on or before July first,
eighteen hundred and ninety-one, obligations of the State of Virginia, all
conforming to the requirements of paragraph A hereof, as determined by
said commissioners, and amounting in the aggregate to not less than twenty-three
million of dollars, after deducting one third of the principal and

interest of such obligations as were issued prior to the thirtieth day of
March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and also deducting one third
of the principal and interest of such obligations as were issued under the
Act approved the thirtieth day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one,
as do include West Virginia's proportion, said bondholders' committee
may at any time on or prior to the thirtieth day of June, eighteen
hundred and ninety-two, present the same in bulk to said commissioners
for surrender and exchange as herein provided. All coupons matured or
to mature on coupon bonds after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one,
or coupons of like class and amount, or the face value thereof in cash
shall be surrendered with such bonds, the said cash to be returned if
proper coupons are subseqently tendered. And when the said bondholders'
committee shall have presented for exchange the obligations
aforesaid to an amount of twenty-three million of dollars or more, if the
engraved bonds hereinbefore authorized are not ready for exchange, the
said commissioners shall, upon application of said bondholders' committee,
issue to said bondholders' committee a manuscript registered bond of
the State of Virginia, substantially of the form of the bond hereinbefore
specified, for the aggregate amount to which the said committee may be
entitled for the obligations so presented under this Act, the said bond to
be exchangeable for the engraved bonds aforesaid of character and amount
required by said committee, as prescribed in this Act, and interest in the
meantime on said manuscript bond shall be paid as herein provided for on
the engraved bonds.

D. The said new bonds shall be issued to said bondholders' committee
by the said commissioners in the following proportion, to wit: nineteen
thousand dollars of the new bonds to be created under this act shall be
issued for every twenty-eight thousand of old outstanding obligations
(principal and interest to July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one), as
aforesaid, surrendered by said bondholders' committee to the said commissioners,
after the deductions provided for in paragraph C of this section;
and a proportionate amount of said new bonds shall be issued for smaller
sums of said outstanding obligations so surrendered; provided that no
certificates issued on account of the proportion of West Virginia of the
obligations of the State shall be funded under this act. When said bond-holdholders'
committee shall have surrendered and exchanged such obligations
as aforesaid to the amount of at least twenty-three million dollars,
said committee may at any time thereafter up to and including the thirtieth
day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, present to said commissioners
for verification, surrender, and exchange additional obligations,
principal and interest, as aforesaid; all coupons matured or to mature on
coupon bonds after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, or coupons of
like class and amount, or the face value thereof in cash, to be presented with
such bonds, the cash, if paid, to be returned if proper coupons are subsequently
tendered. After said commissioners shall have determined that

said obligations conform to the requirements of paragraph A hereof, said
commissioners shall accept the obligations so presented for surrender and
exchange by said committee, and shall deliver to said committee in
exchange therefor new bonds issued under the provisions of this Act in the
same proportion as is set out in this paragraph of this section, after making
the deductions provided for in paragraph C of this section.

E. If on making the exchange provided for in this Act said committee
shall be found entitled to a fractional amount or amounts less than one
hundred dollars in addition to the new bonds delivered to it, said commissioners
of the sinking fund shall issue to the committee a certificate or certificates
for such amount or amounts. Such fractional certificates shall be
exchangeable for the bonds authorized by this Act to be issued in sums of
one hundred dollars, or any multiple thereof, and certificates of like character
shall be issued for any fractional amount which may remain in making
the exchange.

6. For all balances of the indebtedness, constituting West Virginia's
share of the old debt, principal and interest, in the settlement of Virginia's
equitable share of the bonds authorized to be exchanged under this
Act, the said share having been heretofore determined by the Commonwealth
of Virginia, the said commissioners shall issue certificates substantially
in the following form, viz.:

No. —. The Commonwealth of Virginia has this day discharged
her equitable share of the (registered or coupon, as the case may be) bond
for — dollars, dated — day of —, and No. —, leaving a balance
of — dollars, with interest from —, to be accounted for to
the holder of this certificate by the State of West Virginia, without
recourse upon this Commonwealth.

Done at the capital of the State of Virginia, this — day of —,
eighteen hundred and ninety-two.

— —, Second Auditor.

— —, Treasurer.

The certificates so issued under sections five and six of this Act shall
be recorded by the second auditor in a book kept for that purpose, giving
the date and number of the transaction to which it refers, the amount of
certificates, and the name of the person or corporation to whom issued and
delivered; and as such certificates, authorized by paragraph E, section
five of this Act, are exchanged, the same shall be cancelled and preserved
as herein provided in respect to the evidences of debt refunded.

7. The commissioners of the sinking fund are hereby authorized and
required to receive on deposit for verification, classification, and exchange
such of the said obligations of the State as may be presented to said commissioners;
provided, that said commissioners shall not receive on deposit
for the purposes aforesaid any outstanding obligations of the State which
have been once deposited with the bondholders' committee, or may be
hereafter deposited with them; the said verification and exchange for the

new bonds of the obligations so deposited to be conducted in the same
manner as hereinbefore provided with respect to the obligations deposited
with the said bondholders' committee; and the said commissioners of the
sinking fund shall issue to and distribute amongst said depositing creditors
after they have fully complied with the terms of this Act, in exchange
for the obligations so deposited, bonds authorized by this Act as follows,
viz.: To each of the several classes of said depositing creditors the same
proportion, as nearly as may be found in their judgment practicable by
the commissioners of the sinking fund, as the same class shall receive
under the distribution which shall be made by the commission for the
creditors represented by the bondholders' committee: provided, that no
obligations shall be received for such deposit after the thirtieth day of
June, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, nor shall any coupon bonds be
received which do not have attached thereto all the coupons maturing
after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one; but for any such coupons
as may be missing, coupons of like class and amount, or the face
value thereof in cash may be received; the said cash, if paid, to be
returned if proper coupons are subsequently tendered; and each depositor
shall, when he receives his distributive share of the said new issue of
bonds, pay to the commissioners of the sinking fund three and one-half
per centum in cash of the par value of the bonds received by him, or a
commission equal in amount to that which may at any time hereafter be
fixed by the said committee of bondholders upon any bonds deposited
with them, not, however, in any case to exceed three and one-half per
centum; and said sinking fund commissioners shall cover the fund thus
received into the treasury of the Commonwealth.

8. All the coupon and registered bonds issued under this Act shall be
separately recorded by the second auditor in books provided for the specific
purpose, in each case giving the date, number, amount of obligations
issued, and the name of the person or corporation to whom issued, and
the date, number, amount, and description of the obligations surrendered.

9. All the bonds and certificates of debt, and evidences of past due and
unpaid interest, taken in under the provisions of this Act, shall be cancelled
by the treasurer in the presence of the commissioners of the sinking
fund, or a majority thereof, as the same are acquired, and by him
carefully preserved, subject to disposition by the General Assembly; a
schedule of the bonds, certificates, and other evidences of debt so cancelled
shall be certified by said commissioners and filed by the treasurer
for preservation.

10. In the year nineteen hundred and ten, and annually thereafter, there
shall be set apart of the revenue collected from the property of the State
each year up to and including the year nineteen hundred and twenty-nine,
one-half of one per cent. upon the bonds issued under this Act, as well as
upon the outstanding bonds issued under Act approved February fourteenth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-two; and in the year nineteen hundred

and thirty, and annually thereafter until all the bonds issued under
this Act and the said Act approved February fourteenth, eighteen hundred
and eighty-two, are paid, there shall be set apart of the revenue collected
from the property of the State each year one per cent. upon the
outstanding bonds issued under the aforesaid Acts, which shall be paid
into the treasury to the credit of the sinking fund, and the commissioners
of the sinking fund shall annually, or oftener, apply the same to the
redemption or purchase (at a rate not above par and accrued interest) of
the bonds issued under the aforesaid Acts, and the bonds so redeemed shall
be cancelled by the said commissioners and the same registered by the
second auditor in a book to be kept for that purpose, giving the number
and date of issue, the character, the amount, and the owner at the time of
purchase of the bonds so redeemed and cancelled; and in case no such
purchase of bonds can be made, then the amount which can be redeemed
shall be called in by lot, as provided in section two of this Act. All bonds
of the State issued under the provisions of the Act aforesaid, approved
February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and now held by
said commissioners of the sinking fund, shall as soon as at least fifteen
million of dollars of new bonds shall have been issued and delivered pursuant
to the provisions of this Act, be cancelled by said commissioners and
preserved in the office of the treasurer of the Commonwealth.

11. Executors, administrators, and others acting as fiduciaries, may
participate in the settlement of the debt herein specified in the manner
hereinbefore provided, and such action shall be deemed a lawful investment
of their trust fund. Executors, administrators, and others acting as
fiduciaries, may invest in the bonds issued under this Act, and the same
shall be considered a lawful investment.

12. All coupons heretofore tendered for taxes and held by said tax-payers
in pursuance of such tender, shall be received in payment of the taxes for
which they were tendered, and upon their delivery to the proper collector
or the amount thereof in money, the judgments obtained against the said
tax-payers for such taxes shall be marked satisfied; provided the said taxpayers
shall have paid in money, and not in coupons, the costs of said
judgments. All coupons heretofore tendered for taxes and held by the
officers of the Commonwealth for verification in pursuance of the statute
in such case made and provided, shall be received in payment of the taxes
for which they were tendered, and the money collected for such taxes
returned to the parties from whom it was received; provided the said taxpayers
shall have paid in money, and not in coupons, all costs incurred in
legal proceedings to verify said coupons.

13. The treasurer of the Commonwealth is authorized and directed to
pay the interest on the bonds issued under this Act as the same shall become
due and payable out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

14. The plates from which the bonds and fractional certificates authorized
by this Act are printed shall be the property of the Commonwealth.

15. All necessary expenses incurred in the execution of this Act
shall be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated
on the warrants of the auditor of public accounts, drawn upon the
treasury on the order of the commissioners of the sinking fund.

16. The Act entitled "An Act to ascertain and declare Virginia's
equitable share of the debt created before and actually existing at the time
of the partition of her territory and resources, and to provide for the issuance
of bonds covering the same, and the regular and prompt payment of
interest thereon," approved February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-two, and the amendments thereto, to wit: An Act entitled "An
Act to declare the true intent and meaning of, and to amend and re-enact
section five of chapter eighty-four of Acts eighteen hundred and eighty-one
and eighteen hundred and eighty-two, approved February fourteenth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-two," approved August twenty-seventh,
eighteen hundred and eighty-four; and the Act entitled "An Act
to amend and re-enact an Act approved August twenty-seventh, eighteen
hundred and eighty-four, entitled an Act to declare the true intent and
meaning of, and to amend and re-enact section five of chapter eighty-four
of Acts of eighteen hundred and eighty-one and eighteen hundred and
eighty-two, approved February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two,"
approved November twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four,
are hereby repealed.

17. The commissioners of the sinking fund are authorized, if it shall
seem to them for the best interest of the Commonwealth, to make one
extension of the time for the funding of the said twenty-eight million of
dollars of outstanding evidences of debt for a period not exceeding six
months from the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-two.

18. The commissioners of the sinking fund are authorized to exchange
coupon bonds issued under this Act into registered bonds in the denominations
hereinbefore provided, and to arrange for the transfer of registered
bonds. For every bond so issued in exchange a fee of fifty cents shall be
charged by and paid to the second auditor, and shall, upon his order, be
covered into the treasury to the credit of the sinking fund; and bonds so
taken in exchange shall be cancelled in the manner hereinbefore prescribed.

19. This Act shall be in force from its passage.

At this point it does not seem inappropriate to give the
following gleanings from a volume issued by the Commissioner
of Agriculture for Virginia, and published by authority
of law. It pictures the Virginia of today:

Principal Rivers and Branches.

The waters belonging to the Atlantic system drain six-sevenths of the
State. The principal streams of this system are: The Potomac, a wide
and deep river, the northeastern boundary of Virginia, with its large
branches, the Shenandoah and the South Branch, and its prominent
smaller ones, Potomac Creek, Occoquan River, Broad Run, Goose, Catoctin
and Opequon Creeks, draining a large area of each of the sections of
the State. The Potomac is navigable for 110 miles from where it enters
the bay, some 65 miles from the ocean. It has many landings, and lines
of steamers and sailing vessels connect with all portions of the country,
giving great facilities for cheap transportation to a very extensive and valuable
portion of the Northern Neck. The Rappahannock, with its Rapid
Anne and numerous other branches, flows from the Blue Ridge across
Piedmont, Middle and Tidewater, irrigating a large territory. The Rappahannock
is navigable to Fredericksburg, 92 miles from its mouth at the
bay, some 40 miles from the ocean. The Piankitank, draining only a portion

of Tidewater, is navigable for some 14 miles; and Mobjack Bay and
its rivers furnish deep entrances to the Gloucester Peninsula. The York,
with its Pamunkey and Mattapony branches, and many tributaries, flows
through a considerable area of Middle and Tidewater. The York is a
wide, deep, and almost straight belt of water, reaching over 40 miles from
the bay to the junction of the Pamunkey and the Mattapony, which are
themselves navigable for many miles for light-draught vessels. The
James, with the Chickahominy, Elizabeth, Nansemond, Appomattox, Rivanna,
Willis', Slate, Rockfish, Tye, Pedlar, North, Cowpasture, Jackson's,
and many other inflowing rivers and streams of all kinds, gathers from a
large territory in all the divisions, draining more of the State than any
other river. The James is navigable to Richmond. The Elizabeth is a
broad arm of the Hampton Roads estuary of the James, extending for 12
miles, the last four of which are expanded as the superb harbor between
the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. All these flow into Chesapeake Bay.
The Chowan, through its Blackwater, Nottoway and Meherrin branches
and their affluents, waters portions of Middle and Tidewater Virginia.
The Roanoke, called the Staunton from the mouth of the Dan to the
Blue Ridge, receives the Dan, Otter, Pig, and many other streams from
the Valley, Piedmont and Middle Virginia, and then flows through North
Carolina to Albemarle Sound, joining the Chowan. The sources of the
Yadkin are in the Blue Ridge.

The waters of the Ohio, a part of the Mississippi system, drain the
remaining seventh of the State; but they reach the Ohio by three diverse
ways. The rivers are: The Kanawha or New River, that rises in North
Carolina, in the most elevated portion of the United States east of the
Mississippi, flows through the plateau of the Blue Ridge, from which it
receives Chestnut, Poplar Camp, Reed Island and other creeks and Little
River; across the Valley, where Cripple, Reed and Peak's Creeks join it;
across Appalachia, from which Walker's, Sinking, Big and Little Stony
and Wolf Creeks and East and Bluestone Rivers flow into it, and then
through West Virginia into the Ohio, having cut through the whole Appalachian
system of mountains, except its eastern barrier, the Blue Ridge.
The Holston, through its South, Middle and North Forks, Moccasin
Creek, etc., drains the southwestern portions of the Valley and Appalachia;
and the Clinch, by its North and South Forks, Copper Creek,
Guest's and Powell's Rivers, and many other tributaries, waters the extreme
southwest of the Appalachian Country. These flow into the Tennessee.
A portion of the mountain country gives rise to the Louisa and
Russell's Forks of the Big Sandy River, and to some branches of the Tug
Fork of the same river, the Tug forming the Virginia line for a space.
These flow into the Ohio by the Big Sandy.

These are but a few of the thousand or more named and valuable
streams of Virginia. They abound in all portions of the State, giving a
vast quantity of water-power, irrigating the country, furnishing waters

suited to every species of fish, giving channels for the tide and inland
navigation, and enlivening the landscapes. Springs are very numerous,
many of them of large size. Nearly every portion of the State is well
watered.

Virginia has about 1,500 miles of steamboat navigation and as much
more for small boats. Its tide-waters afford 3,000 miles of fishing shores
and over 2,000 of oyster grounds. The chief cities are Richmond, the
capital, population 81,388; Norfolk, the great seaport, population 34,871;
Petersburg, on the Appomattox, population 22,680; Lynchburg, on the
James, population 19,709; Roanoke, in the valley, 16,159; Alexandria, on
the Potomac, population 14,339; Portsmouth, a seaport, population
13,268; Danville, on the Dan, population 10,305; Manchester, across the
James from Richmond, population 9,246; and many smaller and well-situated
cities of over 5,000 inhabitants. These figures are from the census
of 1890.

There are six great natural divisions of Virginia—belts of country
extending across the State from northeast to southwest, nearly parallel to
each other, and corresponding to the trend of the Atlantic coast on the
east, and the Appalachian system of mountains on the northwest. These
grand divisions are taken in the order of succession from the ocean northwest
across the State; 1st. The Tidewater Country; 2d. Middle Virginia;
3d. The Piedmont Section; 4th. The Blue Ridge Country; 5th. The Great
Valley of Virginia; 6th. The Appalachian Country. These divisions not
only succeed each other geographically, but they occupy different levels
above the sea, rising to the west like a grand stairway. They differ geologically
also; therefore, they have differences of climate, soil, productions
etc., and require separate consideration in a description of the State.

Tidewater Virginia

Is the eastern and southeastern part of the State that on the south borders
North Carolina 104 miles; on the east has an air-line border of 120 miles
along the Atlantic; on the west is bounded by 150 miles of the irregular
outline of the Middle Country—(this would be 164 miles if it took in the
mere edge of Tidewater along the Potomac up to Georgetown). The
shore line of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay for 140 miles,
and a line of 25 miles across the eastern shore, separate it from Maryland
on the north. The whole forms an irregular quadrilateral, averaging 114
miles in length from north to south, and 90 in width from east to west,
making an area of some 11,000 square miles.

The latitude is from 36° 33′ to 38° 54′ north, corresponding to that of
the countries bordering on the northern shores of the Mediterranean. The
longitude is from 75° 13′ to 77° 30′ west from Greenwich—that of Ontario,
in Canada, on the north, and of the Bahamas, Cuba, etc., on the south.

This is emphatically a tidewater country, since every portion of it is

penetrated by the tidal waters of Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers,
creeks, bays, and inlets. The united waters of nearly all this section, with
those that drain 40,000 more square miles of country, or the drainage of
50,000 square miles (an area equal to that of England), flow out through
the channel, 12 miles wide, between Capes Charles and Henry, and 50 or
60 miles from the land runs the ever-flowing Gulf Stream.

The Middle Country

Extends westward from the "head of tide" to the foot of the low, broken
ranges that, under the names of Catocton, Bull Run, Yew, Clark's, Southwest,
Carter's, Green, Findlay's, Buffalo, Chandler's, Smith's, etc.,
mountains and hills, extend across the State southwest, from the Potomac;
near the northern corner of Fairfax County, to the North Carolina line,
forming the eastern outliers of the Appalachian system, and that may with
propriety be called the Atlantic Coast Range.

The general form of this section is that of a large right-angled triangle,
its base resting on the North Carolina line for 120 miles; its perpendicular,
a line 174 miles long, extending from the Carolina line to the Potomac;
just east of and parallel to the meridian of 77° 30′ west, is the right line
along the waving border of Tidewater, which lies east; the hypothenuse
is the 216 miles along the Coast Range before mentioned, the border of
Piedmont, on the northwest—the area of the whole, including the irregular
outline, being some 12,470 square miles.

The latitude of this section is from 36° 33′ to 39°; the longitude, 70°
to 79° 40′ west. So its general situation and relations are nearly similar
to those of Tidewater.

The Middle Country is a great, moderately undulating plain, from 25
to 100 miles wide, rising to the northwest from an elevation of 150 to 200
feet above tide, at the rocky rim of its eastern margin, to from 300 to 500
along its northwestern. In general appearance this is more like a plain
than any other portion of the State. The principal streams, as a rule,
cross it at right angles; so it is a succession of ridges and valleys running
southeast and northwest, the valleys often narrow and deep, but the ridges
generally not very prominent. The appearance of much of this country
is somewhat monotonous, having many dark evergreen trees in its forests.
To many portions of the Middle Country the mountain ranges to the west,
of the deepest blue, form an agreeable and distant boundary to the otherwise
sober landscape. There are a few prominences like Willis', Slate
River, and White Oak Mountains farther east, only prominent because in
a champaign country.

Piedmont Virginia

Is the long belt of country stretching for 244 miles from the banks of the
Potomac and the Maryland line southwest, along the eastern base of the

Blue Ridge Mountains, and between them and the Coast Range, to the
banks of the Dan at the North Carolina line; it varies in width from 20 to
30 miles, averaging about 25; its approximate area is 6,680 square miles.

Its latitude corresponds with that of the State, 36° 33′ to 39° 27′ north;
its longitude is from 77° 20′ to 80° 50′ west.

This Piedmont Country is the fifth step of the great stairway ascending
to the west; its eastern edge, along Middle Virginia, is from 300 to
500 feet above the sea; then come the broken ranges of the Coast Mountains,
rising as detached or connected knobs, in lines or groups, from 100
to 600 feet higher. These are succeeded by the numberless valleys of all
imaginable forms, some long, straight, and wide; others narrow and
widening; others again oval and almost enclosed, locally known as
"Coves," that extend across to and far into the Blue Ridge, the spurs of
which often reach out southwardly for miles, ramifying in all directions.
Portions of Piedmont form widely extended plains. The land west of the
Coast Range is generally from 300 to 500 feet above the sea, and rises to
the west, until at the foot of the Blue Ridge it attains an elevation of from
600 to 1,200 feet. The Blue Ridge rises to from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above
the sea; at one point near the Tennessee line it reaches a height of 5,530
feet; its general elevation is about 2,500, but its outline is very irregular.

Numerous streams have their origin in the gorges of the Blue Ridge,
and most of them then flow across Piedmont to the southeast until near its
border, where they unite and form one that runs for a considerable distance
along and parallel to the Coast Mountains, and takes the name of some of
the well-known rivers that cross Middle and even Tidewater Virginia, like
the Roanoke or Staunton, and the James. Some of these rivers break
through the Blue Ridge from the Valley, making water gaps in that formidable
mountain barrier, as the Potomac, the James and the Roanoke;
but they all follow the rule above given in their way across this section.

This is a genuine "Piedmont" country—one in which the mountains
present themselves in their grand as well as in their diminutive forms—
gradually sinking down into the plains, giving great diversity and
picturesqueness to the landscape. Few countries surpass this in beauty of
scenery and choice of prospect, so it has always been a favorite section
with men of refinement in which to fix their homes. Its population is 31
to the square mile, giving some 21 acres each.

The Great Valley of Virginia

Is the belt of limestone land west of the Blue Ridge, and between it and
the numerous interrupted ranges of mountains, with various local names,
that run parallel to it on the west at an average distance of some twenty
miles, that collectively are called the Kitatinny or North Mountains.
This valley extends in West Virginia and Virginia for more than 330 miles
from the Potomac to the Tennessee line, and 305 miles of this splendid

country are within the limits of Virginia. The county lines generally
extend from the top of the Blue Ridge to the top of the second or third
mountain range beyond the Valley proper, so that the political Valley is
somewhat larger than the natural one, which has an area of about 6,000
square miles, while the former has 7,550, and a population of twenty-six
to the square mile. The latitude of the Valley is from 36° 35′ N. to 39°
26′; its longitude is from 77° 50′ to 80° 16′ W.

While this is one continuous valley clearly defined by its bounding
mountains, it is not the valley of one river, or of one system of rivers, but
of five; so that it has four water-sheds and four river troughs in its length
along the Valley from the Potomac to the Tennessee line. These valleys
and their length in the Great Valley, are from the northeast—

           

1st.	The Shenandoah Valley	136	miles
2d.	The James River Valley	50	miles
3d.	The Roanoke River Valley	38	miles
4th.	The Kanawha or New River Valley	54	miles
5th.	The Valley of the Holston or Tennessee	52	miles
		330	miles

As a whole, the Valley rises to the southwest, being 242 feet above the
tide where the Shenandoah enters the Potomac and the united rivers
break through the Blue Ridge at Harper's Ferry, and 1,687 feet where the
waters of the Holston leave the State and pass into Tennessee. The entire
Valley appears then as a series of ascending and descending planes, sloping
to the northeast or the southwest. That of the Shenandoah rises from
242 to 1,863 feet along the line of its main stream, in 136 miles, looking
northeast; those of the James slope both ways, from the Shenandoah summit
to the southwest, and from the Roanoke summit to the northeast, and
so on. This arrangement gives this seventh great step a variety of elevations
above the sea from 242 to 2,594 feet, or even 3,000, in a great enclosed
valley, subdivided into very many minor valleys, giving "facings" in all
directions; for the whole Valley has a very decided southeastern inclination,
to be considered in this connection, its western side being from 500
to 1,000 feet in surface elevation above its eastern, presenting its mass to
the sun, giving its streams a tendency to flow across it toward the east, as
the result of its combined slopes, and making the main drainage way hug
the western base of the Blue Ridge. A moment's reflection will show that
this is a well-watered country, having a wealth of water-power and drainage
and irrigation resources almost beyond estimate.

The aspect of this region is exceedingly pleasant. The great width of
the Valley; the singular coloring, and wavy, but bold outline of the Blue
Ridge; the long, uniform lines of the Alleghany Mountains, and the high
knobs that rise up behind them in the distance; the detached ranges that
often extend for many miles in the midst of the Valley like huge lines of
fortification—all these for the outline, filled up with park-like forests,
well-cultivated farms, well-built towns, and threaded by bright and
abounding rivers, make this a charming and inviting region.

The Blue Ridge Section,

For two thirds of its length of 310 miles, is embraced in the Valley and
Piedmont counties that have their common lines upon its watershed; it is
only the southwestern portion of it, where it expands into a plateau, with
an area of some 1,230 square miles, that forms a separate political division;
still the whole range and its numerous spurs, parallel ridges, detached
knobs and foot hills, varying in width from 3 to 20 miles, embracing nearly
2,500 square miles of territory, is a distinct region, not only in appearance
but in all essential particulars. The river, in the gorge where the Potomac
breaks through the Blue Ridge, is 242 feet above tide. The Blue Ridge
there attains an elevation of 1,460 feet. Mt. Marshall, near and south of
Front Royal, is 3,369 feet high; the notch, Rockfish Gap, at the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad, is 1,996 feet, and James River, where it passes
through the Ridge, is 706 feet above tide, or more than twice as high as
the Potomac at its passage. The Peaks of Otter, in Bedford County, are
3,993 feet, and the Balsam Mountain, in Grayson, is 5,700 feet, and in
North Carolina this range is nearly 7,000 feet above the sea level. These
figures show that this range increases in elevation as we go southwest, and
every portion of the country near rises in the same manner. At a little
distance this range is generally of a deep blue color. The whole mountain
range may be characterized as a series of swelling domes, connected by
long ridges meeting between the high points in gaps or notches, and sending
out long spurs in all directions from the general range, but more
especially on the eastern side, these in turn sending out other spurs, giving
a great development of surface and variety of exposure.

The political division upon the plateau of the Blue Ridge is the
counties of Floyd, Carroll and Grayson, all watered by the Kanawha, or
New River, and its branches, a tributary of the Ohio, except the little valley
in the southwest corner of Grayson, which sends its waters to the Tennessee.
The population of this romantic section is 23 to the square mile.

Appalachian Virginia

Succeeds the Valley on the west. It is a mountain country, traversed its
whole length by the Appalachian or Alleghany system of mountains. It
may be considered as a series of comparatively narrow, long, parallel valleys,
running northeast and southwest, separated from each other by
mountain ranges that are, generally, equally narrow, long and parallel,
and quite elevated. In crossing this section to the northwest, at right
angles to its mountains and valleys, in fifty miles one will cross from six
to ten of these mountain ranges, and as many valleys. As before stated, a
strip of this region is embraced in the Valley counties, as they include the
two or three front ranges that have drainage into the Valley; so that some
900 square miles of Appalachia are politically classed with the Valley,
leaving 5,720 square miles to be treated of here. This, in Virginia, is an

irregular belt of country 260 miles long, varying in width from 10 to 50
miles. Its waters, generally, flow northeast and southwest, but it has
basins that drain north and northwest, and south and southeast. The
heads of the valleys are generally from 2,000 to 2,800 feet above tide, and
the waters often flow from each way to a central depression—that is, from
600 to 1,200 feet above sea level—before they unite and break through the
enclosing ranges. The remarks made concerning the slopes of the Great
Valley apply also to this section, except that the Appalachian valleys are
straighter.

Appalachia is noted as a grazing country, its elevation giving it a cool,
moist atmosphere, admirably adapted, with its fertile soil, to the growth
of grass and the rearing of stock of all kinds.

The geological formations found in Virginia, like its geographical
divisions, succeed each other in belts, either complete or broken, nearly
parallel to the coast of the Atlantic. In fact, the geographical divisions of
the State that have already been given correspond in the main to the different
geological formations, and have been suggested by them; hence,
those divisions are natural.

The formations developed in Virginia, taken in the order in which
they succeed each other and cover the surface, or form the rocks found
with the surface, from the Atlantic at the Virginia capes to the northwest
across the State, are as follows:

Tidewater.—1. Quarternary; 2. Upper Tertiary; 3. Middle Tertiary;
4. Lower Tertiary. Middle.—5. Triassic and Jurassic; 6. Azoic and Granitic.
Piedmont.—7. Azoic, Epidotic, etc. Blue Ridge.—8. Azoic and
Cambrian. The Valley.—9. Cambrian and Silurian. Appalachia.—10.
Sub-carboniferous and Devonian; 11. Silurian; 12. Devonian and Sub-carboniferous;
13. Great Carboniferous.

The character of the soils of Virginia, as of other countries, is dependent
upon its geology.

The mineral resources of the State may be summed up as consisting—

In Tidewater Virginia

Of several kinds of marls, greensand, etc., highly esteemed as fertilizers;
of choice clays, sands and shell limestone, for building purposes.

In the Middle Section

Of fine granites, gneiss, brownstone, sandstone, brick-clays, fire-clays,
soap-stones, marble, slates, etc., for building materials; epidote in various
forms and limestone for fertilizing uses; gold, silver, copper, specular,
magnetic, hematite and other ores of iron in abundance; bituminous
coal, etc.

In Piedmont Virginia

Granitic building stones, marbles, sandstones, brick and fire-clays; epidotic
rocks and limestone, for improving the soil; magnetic, hematite and
other ores of iron; barytes, lead, manganese, etc.

In the Blue Ridge District

Various and abundant ores of copper; immense deposits of specular and
brown hematite and other iron ores; greenstone rocks, rich in all the elements
of fertility; sandstones and freestones; glass sand and manganese;
brick and fire-clays.

In the Valley

Limestones of all kinds, for building and agricultural uses; marbles,
slates, freestones and sandstones; brick and fire-clays, kaolin, barytes;
hematite, iron ores, lead and zinc in abundance; tin, semi-anthracite coal,
travertine marls, etc.

In the Appalachian Country

Limestones, marbles, sand and freestone; slates, calcareous marls, brick-clays,
etc.; various deposits of red, brown and other ores of iron, plaster,
salt, etc., and a large area of all varieties of bituminous coal.

It is very difficult, within the limits of a publication like this, to present
with anything like detail a fair statement of the enormous mineral
resources of the State. For all practical purposes, they are boundless in
extent, and their distribution is such as to warrant the assertion that
before the close of the present century the aggregate product of our mines
will surpass in value those of any other State in the Union.

Between the Atlantic coast and the western boundaries of the State,
the whole "geological column" is represented, from the foundation granite
to the capstones of the upper carboniferous. And in these successive
strata are found the rocks and minerals peculiar to each all over the world,
and usually in greater abundance and of greater excellence than anywhere
else within the same area.

It would require the space of a large volume to indicate all the localities
where these underground treasures are now known to exist, and to
describe their specific qualities and estimate their quantities.

In 1891 the Commissioner of Agriculture reported from statistics that—

"In Virginia there have been found, tested and developed, immense
deposits of minerals richer than in any other land. The coke from her
immense coal fields is higher in fixed carbon and more valuable for smelting
than any other, and has been carried hundreds of miles by rail to
make cheap iron in other States. Her iron for steel, for cannon, for car-wheels,
for stoves, etc., has been given upon test the highest place. Her
immense deposits of manganese stand before the world without a rival.
Her zinc has long had a reputation based on a large contract with the Italian

Government, and both the mines and the smelting are increasing.
Her granite was accepted by the Federal Government for building after an
official test, and the finest pavements in many cities of our sister States
are of her Belgian block. Her large deposits of magnesian lime still furnish
the celebrated James River cement.

"Her Buckingham slate stands without a rival in roofing. These all
have had official and practical tests.

"Add to these, minerals that have been developed and believed to
have shown paying quality and quantity, the pyrite of Louisa, mica of
Amelia, fire-clay and ochre of Chesterfield, gold of the middle counties,
baryta, soapstone, lead, copper, tin, asbestos, plumbago, kaolin, gypsum,
salt, lime, marble, lithographic stone and many others, and Virginia may
well be proud of her mineral wealth."

Iron.

More than half the counties of the State contain mines of iron ore in
ample quantities to give employment to thousands of men for ages yet to
come.

The varieties in different localities are—

Magnetites (magnetic ore, so called because of its polarity, or mysterious
power of attracting the magnetic needle).

Limonites (more commonly called brown hematite), and

Specular, or red hematite ores.

Professor McCreath, in his "Mineral Wealth of Virginia," says of the
iron ores of Southwest Virginia:

"This iron ore region is for the most part embraced in Pulaski, Wythe,
and Smyth Counties, in Southwest Virginia. The ores lie on both sides
of New River and Cripple Creek, and the railroad line following these
streams renders the whole ore supply practically available for market.

"The limestone ores of the Cripple Creek region show as high a general
character as any brown hematite ores mined in the country. The
result of numerous analyses shows an average richness in metallic iron of
over 54 per cent. in the ore dried at 212° F., with about one tenth of one
per cent. of phosphorus. This unusually fine character is found to be very
uniform through all the numerous mines and outcrops examined. It is
somewhat extraordinary that not only is there this regularity in the percentage
of iron, but also that the phosphorus shows a great uniformity in
specimens taken widely apart; and in no case has it been found to exceed
two tenths of one per cent. The quality of the ore is such that it smelts
very easily in the furnace, and it should require a minimum amount of
both flux and fuel.

"The quantity of iron ore in the Cripple Creek region is undoubtedly
very great. The limestone deposits occur in clefts and cavities of the
limestone mixed with clay; but in this district, rarely with any flint.

The method of occurrence is such that the banks will yield widely varying
quantities of ore. Some of them have been worked for many years, and
shafts are reported to have been sunk 100 feet in ore-bearing clays with
bottom of shaft still in ore. Frequently the ore-bearing material is of
unusual richness, yielding in the washer fully one half clean ore."

Coal.

In the immediate vicinity of Richmond, lying on both sides of James
River, the longest worked coal field in the United States exists. The coal
is bituminous, and has long been esteemed as an excellent domestic fuel,
and for foundry and blacksmith work, and the generation of steam. Coal
was shipped from this field to Philadelphia before the Pennsylvania mines
were worked. The field is from ten to twelve miles wide, and from thirty
to forty in length, and in many places the seams are of enormous thickness.
As a convenient supply to Richmond and towns and vessels on
James River, this coal is an important element of wealth in the State.
Over a million tons were taken from this field in twenty years—from 1822
to 1845.

Coal has been said to be discovered in Amelia County, and has been
worked with some success in Cumberland County near Farmville, and coal
is being developed in Powhatan and Goochland. Little veins of cannel
coal have been found in Chesterfield, specimens of which have been brought
to the Department of Agriculture. So far the only certain large deposits
of this beautiful coal are in the County of Wise, a part of the great coal
fields of the Southwest reaching into Kentucky and West Virginia.

In Botetourt, Pulaski, Montgomery, and Wythe Counties are somewhat
extensive deposits of a semi-anthracite coal of local importance and
value, furnishing a good domestic fuel. It is also used in the great zinc-reduction
works at Pulaski, and at the salt works in Washington County.

In Rockingham and Augusta Counties are some irregular seams of
true anthracite, but their extent and commercial value have not been
determined. A Pennsylvania company is now working in Rockingham
County.

The great Virginia coal field lies in the Counties of Tazewell, Russell,
Buchanan, Dickenson, Wise, Lee and Scott. In these counties from eight
hundred to one thousand square miles are underlaid with numerous seams
of as pure and rich bituminous and cannel coal as have been found in the
world. The bituminous coals proper cover the whole area mentioned—the
splint more than two thirds of it, and the cannel coal a much smaller and
as yet undetermined area. These coals are in the Lower and Middle productive
measures. At Pocahontas, in Tazewell, where the mines now yield
about one million tons per annum, only the Lower measures are worked,
where a coal similar to that on New River, in West Virginia, is found in
much larger seams than in West Virginia. In Russell, Buchanan, Dickenson,
Wise, Lee and Scott, there are generally four, but in some places

six seams of unsurpassed coal for all purposes, including coking coals that
make a coke seven per cent. richer in carbon and freer from sulphur and
ash than the celebrated Connellsville coke of Pennsylvania, and four per
cent. better than the Alabama coke, that is so rapidly building up a vast
iron production in that State. Several railroads to and through this
immense storage of the best fuel for metallurgical purposes, for gas production,
steam and domestic use, are projected, and one is built. The
companies are organized, and there is every indication that within the
next ten years the development in that section of the State will surpass
anything in its history. The best of the iron ores above mentioned are in
close proximity to these coals; and the agricultural resources of that part
of the State are adequate to the support of an immense industrial population.

Prior to 1883, comparatively little coal was mined in Virginia, the
output of 1880 being less than 50,000 tons, but during that year the Flat
Top coal regions were opened up mainly by the Southwest Virginia
Improvement Company, the Norfolk and Western Railroad having been
extended to this section. In 1883 this company mined 99,871 tons of
coal, and in 1884, 283,252 tons. There are now several other companies
developing coal mines in the same territory, and the prospects are
good for a very important coal mining interest growing up in that section.
The coal is of excellent quality both for steam purposes and for coke
making, and as the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company have built at
Norfolk, Va., one of the largest coal piers in the world for shipping this
coal, there is no doubt that there will be a large increase in the amount of
coal produced at these mines during the next few years. This will
naturally result in making Norfolk an important coal shipping port and
coaling station for foreign steamships. The distance from these mines to
Norfolk is about 378 miles. For coking purposes, this coal as already
stated, has proved very satisfactory. This statement was made in
1886.

It may with safety be predicted that in a few years Virginia will take
an important rank as a coal-producing State. And she will moreover have
two important coal ports: Norfolk receiving and shipping the steadily
increasing quantity of coal brought from the Flat Top coal field by the
Norfolk and Western Railroad, and Newport News, already doing a heavy
business in West Virginia coal, mined along the line of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad.

Zinc.

At Pulaski City, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, in Southwestern
Virginia, are located the largest zinc works in the South, with a supply of
ore ascertained to be millions of tons. In numerous other localities in the
same section of the state this valuable metal is found, and doubtless will
lead to the erection of other works.

Lead.

In Wythe County lead has been extensively mined for over a hundred
years. These mines were worked in 1773, and more than twenty millions
of tons have been taken from them. The crude ore is found in veins in
the limestone, yielding from 5 to 15 per cent. At present the largest lead
works in the South are carried on there, with an apparently exhaustless
supply to draw from. In some sections other mines of great value have
been found, and means are on foot to develop some of them.

Manganese.

Manganese is found widely disseminated through Virginia in the form
of black oxide and as manganiferous iron ore. The most productive manganese
mine now worked in the United States is that of the Crimora
Company, Augusta County, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains on
the west, near Waynesboro. Other deposits, that are thought to be as large,
have recently been brought to light within a few miles of Crimora, between
the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and the Blue Ridge.

Tin.

In Rockbridge County, tin has been found, with indications that the
mines are extensive. The quality of the ore has been ascertained by
analysis to be excellent, and it is expected from the openings now made,
that the quantity will be sufficient to insure adequate capital for the full
development of the mines.

"The tin field is located in a small area in the eastern part of Rockbridge
County, Virginia. The region is very accessible from nearly all directions.

"The Irish Creek area within which tin ore has been found is about
three miles wide from northwest to southeast, and about four miles long
from northeast to southwest, and therefore embraces some twelve square
miles of territory. It is near three lines of railways.

"The geological and mineralogical conditions of the Irish Creek tinbearing
region are similar to, if not identical with, those of the Cornwall
(England) and other noted tin-producing districts. There are the same
crystalline and metaphoric rocks, broken, fissured, and faulted by dikes of
trap, basalt, and other igneous rocks, thus furnishing similar conditions
for the formation of true, profitable, metalliferous fissure veins, such as are
caused by profound movements of the earth's crust—just such veins as
those in which stanniferous ores of the Irish Creek district are found.

"The exposure of the Irish Creek tin veins, both natural and artificial,
unmistakably leads to the conclusion that these veins compare in general
character, extent, thickness and richness in metallic tin most favorably
with those of the famous Cornwall district of England, while the mining
conditions are better. I may add that no region can offer superior advantages
for extensive mining and metallurgical operations; the climate is all

the year round salubrious and favorable for work. The Blue Ridge proper
of Virginia, unlike most mountain chains, is a very garden of fertility and
varied productiveness, and the same may be said of Piedmont Virginia,
that flanks it on the east, and of the famous limestone valley that flanks it
on the west. The forests of this region can be depended on for charcoal,
and it is not far by direct railway to the best metal-working and coking-coals
in the United States."

Copper.

In Carroll, Floyd, and Grayson Counties, large veins of copper ores,
sulphurets and carbonates exist, and prior to the war some of them were
successfully worked. But their remoteness from railway lines has deterred
capitalists from re-establishing these mining operations. There is some
prospect that at an early day a railroad will penetrate that region, and lead
to the re-opening of these valuable mines.

In several of the Piedmont counties copper ores are known to exist,
but the mines have never been operated, except in Loudoun and Amherst,
where much valuable ore has been raised and shipped to the North, and
considerable quantities of native copper ores have been gotten as a byproduct
from the pyrites of the Arminius mines in Louisa County.

Copper has been discovered in at least eighteen counties in Virginia,
and in many of them considerably developed.

Salt.

In conjunction with the strata banks of north Holston Valley the
celebrated wells of salt exist that have been used for about a century at
Saltville, in Washington County, and during the late Civil War supplied
nearly the whole Confederacy east of the Mississippi with the indispensable
article of salt, of the greatest purity. No diminution in supply or
quality has ever been detected. The production now is about half a million
bushels annually.

The rock at Saltville, possibly 200 feet thick by an unknown length,
may have a different origin from that of the gypsum—possibly may be due
to deposition in a secure basin from brines flowing constantly from the
salt-bearing groups of rocks known to be in the sub-carboniferous series.
The brines are of an unusual degree of purity; have been drawn upon for
many years by the salt works of Saltville, making over 500,000 bushels of
salt annually, without any appreciable diminution of either strength or
quantity.

The brine is drawn from artesian wells about 200 feet deep, rising to
within forty feet of the surface. This brine comes from a solid bed of rock
salt 200 feet below the level of the Holston, and borings have been made
into it 176 feet without passing through it. The supply of brine is not
affected by any operations yet carried on, and at one time during the Confederate
War 10,000 bushels of salt were made there every day for six

months. The present yield is about 360,000 bushels a year, using wood
for fuel. When improvements contemplated bring the coal that is but 40
miles off to these works, there will be a very large amount of salt made
here, as it has the advantage of being so far inland.

The copper ores of Floyd County make it possible to here locate successfully
alkali works. Professor Leibig mentions the fact that a well has
been bored in Tazewell County, and adds: "It must be borne in mind
that the salt wells of Eastern Kentucky get their water from the conglomerate
at the bottom of the coal measures." Therefore, there must be a
salt-water bearing formation several hundred feet below the coal bed at the
bottom of this lode. Salt has been made at works in the southeastern
part of Lee County, on the waters of Clinch River. There is no doubt an
abundance of brine, throughout the region in the formation above named.

Asbestos.

Asbestos of good quality and workable quantity exists in the counties
lying between the upper James and the upper Dan rivers, at several places,
notably in Pittsylvania, Henry and Patrick, and latterly found in several
other counties, very fine specimens of which can be seen in the cabinet of
the Department of Agriculture. Asbestos in its various formations has
been recently developed in Bedford County, and is found in large quantities
and of good quality. In the Blue Ridge division asbestos is found in
connection with most of the mineral formations. In Roanoke and Botetourt
it is very white and pure, though the fibre is short. In Buckingham
the fibre is very long and flexible, but the color is not so good, but the
specimens were taken near the surface. It is said to have been found in
Amelia, Fairfax, Fauquier, Patrick and Pittsylvania.

Soapstone.

Steatite (soapstone) of fine quality for resisting the most intense heat,
is found in Amelia, Albemarle, and some other counties of Middle and
Piedmont Virginia. In Amelia a mine of steatite was successfully operated
a few miles from the county seat. One formation of it is very much
like serpentine, and resists heat successfully. It is frequently called potstone,
and was said to have been cut by the Indians into pots. Two veins
are found in Campbell County, both crossing the James River from Amherst
about ten miles apart. The western one is a beautiful green, cuts easily,
and hardens by exposure, and makes handsome building stone. The eastern
vein is very light grey, polishes well, resists heat, and is much used
for fire-places. Albemarle has large veins of steatite, which are being
worked and marketed successfully at North Garden. The veins of steatite
run across the state from northeast to southwest. They appear to follow
a kind of glade formation, a few miles in width, though other veins are
sometimes found outside this line.

Black Lead.

Plumbago (black lead) is found in Amelia, Patrick, Amherst, Campbell,
Loudoun, Louisa, Albemarle and other counties. Some deposits are
very pure and large in quantity. It appears irregularly in different parts
of the state. In some localities it has been tested by analysis, in others
manufactured into pencils, and in others as a lubricant.

Mica.

The mica of Amelia has been more largely worked than any in Virginia.
It is very abundant, and mines have been profitably worked for
some years past. In the vicinity of the county seat are the Rutherford,
Jefferson and Pinchback mines. Others exist in the same locality, not yet
in operation to much extent. It is also to some extent developed in
Goochland, Henrico, Louisa, Pulaski, Powhatan and Hanover. Near
Irwin station, in Goochland, the deposit is being worked, which is of the
finest quality, and the largest sheets yet found. A recent report says that
large quantities have been taken out and prepared for market. A similar
deposit has been found and partially developed in Hanover. Both are
very convenient to railroads.

Gold.

There is a well-defined belt of gold-bearing quartz running across the
state through the Counties of Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Louisa,
Fluvanna, Goochland, Buckingham, Prince Edward, Charlotte and
Halifax. In many places on this belt mines have been opened from time
to time, and worked with profit and success. With the progress of scientific
improvement in the extraction of gold, it may fairly be expected that
gold mining in Virginia will become an extensive industry. This precious
metal has also been found in Montgomery County. And in the Blue
Ridge range of mountains, in Roanoke and Patrick Counties, silver ores
have recently been found that give promise of valuable results.

Professor Stowe (from a letter written by him in 1873, just after his
return from California and Colorado), regarding his estimate of the value
of the Virginia mines, says: "I am now of the decided opinion that the
ores of Virginia are the richest and easiest to work of any I have ever met.
I have made over two hundred assays of ore from the Atlantic slope, and
have visited in person many of the localities where gold is found, and I
speak from facts." This is a strong opinion coming from an expert mining
engineer.

Major Hotchkiss writes of this belt, including Buckingham: "Here
is a mass of precious metal (enclosed in the rock) which cannot be exhausted
for ages, and in this respect the region in question is the most
important of all known deposits, California not excepted." The celebrated
Overman (practical mineralogist) says: "We have here in Virginia a belt

of gold of unparalleled extent, immense width, undoubtedly reaching to
the primitive rock." In the earlier days very large nuggets were found
by breaking up the quartz rocks with sledge-hammers. One of these, in
Spotsylvania, sold for $438. It was not unusual for farmers, after they
laid by their crops, to direct the overseer to take "the hands" and mine
or wash for gold; and there were times when thousands of dollars were
made per annum this way. Stafford, Spotsylvania, Orange, Fluvanna,
Goochland and Buckingham were regarded gold fields. In several, work
is now going on.

Pyrites.

Immense mines of pyrites are worked in Louisa County, and the
products shipped North, for the use of sulphuric acid manufactories. So
important has this industry become, that branch railroads have been run
to the mines from the main line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad.
Other large deposits exist in the mountain regions bordering on North
Carolina, but need a railroad for their development. New veins of this,
the "fool's gold" of the Colonies, are being discovered, and developed,
and opened in different parts of the State. Some are valuable for the
gold and other metals found in these sulphurets, and this by-product
taken in connection with the large quantity of sulphur found in all, and
the increasing demand for sulphuric acid, is likely to turn this into a true
gold so far as sure profit is concerned. Two fully developed and profitably
worked mines are near Tolersville (Mineral City), in Louisa County. One,
the Armenius mine, has been sunk over four hundred feet, and the Crenshaw,
the other mine, though not so deep, is fully worked. The by-product
secured is native copper ore. Sulphuric acid is made in the City of
Richmond, in two chemical works, for use in the manufacture of fertilizers.
Large quantities are shipped North from the Armenius mines. Valuable
veins of pyrite, bearing gold in fairly paying quantities, and probably
other metals, have been found at other points in Louisa County, and in
Spotsylvania, Fluvanna, Goochland, Buckingham and some other counties.

Barytes.

The barytes of commerce (sulphate of barium) is found in many
counties. It has been mined in Campbell and Bedford, and is ground in
Lynchburg and shipped North. It is also found in the Southwest, abundantly
in Smyth County.

Limestone.

Metamorphic limestones exist in the valley of James River, between
Richmond and Lynchburg. Silurian limestone extends from the Potomac
to Tennessee, in great variety. Since the discovery that building lime
with a large percentage of the carbonate of magnesia, is a poor material to

use in the mortar of large buildings and other permanent works of
masonry and brick, peculiar value attaches to beds of pure carbonate of
lime. Such beds fortunately exist at convenient localities in the great
Shenandoah Valley, and lime-burning is already carried on there at two
points—Riverton, in Warren County, and Eagle Rock, in Botetourt—
where an article is produced entirely free from magnesia, and is in great
demand for city work, where the sulphurous fumes of coal combustion are
so destructive to magnesian-lime mortar. As this pure limestone exists in
many places, the industry is a rapidly-growing and a profitable one.

Most excellent hydraulic cement has been produced for many years
and in large quantity, at Balcony Falls, in Rockbridge County. The stone
is also found in Bedford, near Buford's Gap, but has not been utilized
until recently.

All the various limestones, from the most common building-rock to
the finest marble, are found in Virginia. Her dolamite limestone has been
found so superior for fluxing certain iron ores, that it has been carried
considerable distances by rail, in preference to using common limestone on
the ground. Virginia may be said to be an agricultural lime State.

The whole Valley has the best limestone for burning. The whole of
Tidewater has shell (carbonate) marl. A good vein of limestone runs
across Upper, Middle and Lower Piedmont. Several of the carbonate
marls, mixed with clay, will, by being calcined, make cement like the
Portland that is made in England. The travertine marl of the Valley,
and the highly aluminous clays of that section, should make such cements
very cheaply.

Plaster (Gypsum.)

On the waters of the north fork of Holston River, in the Counties of
Smyth and Washington, there are many miles in length of an immense
ledge of gypsum, as pure as that brought from Nova Scotia. It has been
penetrated to the depth of nearly 600 feet, and no bottom found. We
have here a quantity of this valuable fertilizer, that is practically exhaustless
for centuries to come.

This massive deposit of gypsum, more than 600 feet thick, at Stuart
and Buchanan's Cove, in Smyth County, shows conspicuously; also, at
the Pearson Beds, and at Saltville, in Smyth County, and at Buena Vista,
in Washington County. Many explorations and long continued examinations
led to the belief, at last, that these vast gypsum deposits, showing
for about 20 miles in length, really compose two or more regular strata of
the sub-carboniferous rocks, and have a width, exposed and concealed, of
one mile or more from the fault northward. It has been mined to the
depth of about 180 feet at Saltville and Buena Vista, and its general composition
by analysis is as follows: Lime, 32.50; sulphuric acid, 46.50,
and water, 20.50, showing traces of magnesia, alumina, and iron.

Plaster for clover, grass, and tobacco is universally used by the
farmers of the Valley, Piedmont, and Upper Middle Virginia, sowed

directly on the land—preferring ground plaster to calcined. Grinding
plaster gives a number of mills to the State. Even the Nova Scotia that
comes to the Eastern section is ground in the State. Smyth and Washington
Counties could furnish plaster for the country if they had deepwater
transportation.

Marl.

In many of the Tidewater counties enormous beds of blue and green
sand marl and shells are found but a few feet below the surface, supplying
a fertilizing material at a nominal cost, that is rapidly converting all that
region into the garden spot of the continent for supplying the great cities
of the Atlantic coast with table vegetables of the highest excellence, and
is giving much importance to the peanut culture. A full description of
the geological formation of this alluvial region would not be interesting to
the unscientific reader, but it may be well to call attention to the difference
between the marls of the more recent formations, the pliocene and miocene, which derive their value mainly from the carbonate of lime which they
contain, and the green sands and olive earths which are found in the
eocene in conjunction with the shell or calcareous marl. (Green sand is
sometimes found mixed with the marl of the miocene region.)

The region of eocene marls extends from the falls of the rivers eastward
fifteen to twenty miles. Miocene marl is often found overlying the
eocene, and is easily recognized by the difference in the shells which it
contains—scallops and others not found in the eocene. "Beneath this (Professor
Rogers, quoted by Dr. Pollard, says), and usually separated from it
by a thin line of `black pebbles,' like those occurring on the Pamunkey,
there occurs a stratum of greenish, red, and yellow aspect, containing much
green sand and gypsum, the latter partly disseminated in small grains,
and partly grouped in large crystals. The under stratum, rich in green
sand and containing a few shells in friable condition, extends to some
depth below the level of the river. At `Evergreen' the whole thickness
of the deposit appears to be about twenty feet."

This was said of the James River formation, but will apply as a general
description to the deposits of the Pamunkey, Mattaponi, Rappahannock,
and Potomac, as Professor Rogers says "eocene marl is there found
very similar to that on the James. On the Mattaponi the occurrence of
green sand strata has been ascertained in some places, while in others the
beds containing the substance have been replaced by beds of clay, which
are less likely to prove valuable agriculturally. The olive earth overlying
some of these beds, particularly on the Pamunkey, seems to have lost
some of the carbonate of lime which it once contained, and has but a small
portion of gypsum."

The agricultural report for 1888, speaking of Tidewater Virginia,
says: Not only has this section been blessed with lime beds, brought up

by all its streams from the ocean, placing this valuable deposit of miocene
marl at its doors, but the Rappahannock, the North and South Annas, the
James and Appomattox, rising in the felspar and hornblende ridges and
valleys of Piedmont, and the black rock of Buckingham and Appomattox
crossing through the pyrites and sulphur ledge, have brought down the potash
and mingled it with these sulphates, carrying them to meet the tide,
bringing the shells and fossil bones from the ocean. These, and the dead
marine animals and their coprolites, formed the eocene marl beds, where
the sulphates and shells made sulphate of lime (plaster—the great Ruffin's
"gypseous earth"), and the potash and fossils gave the green sand its
agricultural value.

The lands on the Pamunkey and James that were heavily marled with
the Pamunkey and James River green sand, are fertile and productive
today, although for more than twenty-five years they have had neither
manure or fertilizer. These marls have been tested by chemical analysis
and agricultural experience, and the value of Virginia shell marl as an
agricultural lime, and the green sand marl as an active fertilizer, is put
beyond the possibility of a doubt.

There is considerable interest manifested now in the marl deposit
of the State. The value of green sand as a basis for high-grade commercial
fertilizers, and of the carbonate marls and adjacent clays for cements,
has caused extensive investigation. There are works on James River and
the Pamunkey, preparing green sand marl for sale, now in operation with
good profit.

Building Stone and Slate.

Virginia stands first among the States in the variety and beauty of her
building stones, beginning with her granites and slates in Eastern Virginia,
and extending to her limestones in the West, her brownstones in the
Eastern counties, her marbles in Bedford, Russell, and Scott Counties, and
ending with the beautiful sandstones of the Southwestern coal field, in half-dozen
counties.

Virginia can make an exhibit in this line of which any country might
be proud. At Petersburg are beautiful light and dark granites, in inexhaustible
quarries. At Richmond and Manchester, on opposite sides of
James River, at the head of tide, are the great quarries that stood the test
of stone made by the Government for the Naval Department at Washington.
At Fredericksburg is fine granite, and near there the beautiful white
sandstone of which the "White House" was built. The brown sandstone
of Prince William, Botetourt, Nelson, Craig, and Albemarle will compare
favorably with the best anywhere.

Roofing slate of excellent quality is found on both sides of James River.
That found in Buckingham, near New Canton, on Slate River, yields slate
that compares favorably with the best qualities of imported material, both
in density, texture, and capacity for resisting atmospheric changes. The

Capitol and University buildings have been covered with this slate, and
the quarries have been extensively worked. The rock splits with great
regularity and may be separated with iron wedges into sheets of 100 square
feet, not more than one inch thick.

In Nelson County, on Rockfish and near the mouth of Tye River, a
true marble is found, of beautiful quality, whiteness, and texture, which
renders it susceptible of taking the highest polish. This marble is easily
worked with the chisel. In Campbell, a few miles from Lynchburg, a
good marble is found. Limestone is also abundant. Amherst and Albemarle
have slate quarries, which have been worked, furnishing good roofing
and admirable furniture slate. Loudoun has the finest white marble, and
Botetourt the finest black marble, yet discovered in the State. Lithographic
stone has been found and tested in the James River valley, in the
Counties of Botetourt, Rockbridge, and Alleghany, and a species of steatite
of beautiful green stone suitable for building has been found in several
counties. Virginia abounds in most valuable building stones.

Kaolin.

Kaolin has been discovered in Amelia, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Powhatan,
Louisa, Chesterfield, Amherst, Nelson, and other counties. It has
been developed and analyzed in several of the counties, but it is not
worked to any extent or mined. By both analyses and working tests Virginia
kaolin has been found to be of high quality.

Fire-Clays.

Fire-clay has been found developed and is being worked in Chesterfield,
at Robious; at Dorset, in Powhatan; at Buena Vista, in Rockbridge,
and very fine bricks were on exhibition at the Virginia State fair recently.
Vitrified brick is made at Chilhowie, in Smyth County, and clay has been
found and developed in Louisa County. There are fine tile and brick
works at Chester; terra-cotta and porcelain works at Strasburg, in the
Valley, and Virginia has in large quantity the finest clays of every variety.
Clays and marl are found in close proximity, and in some places intermixed,
which, calcined, make a fine cement, like the Portland and
Roman.

Mineral Springs.

There are numerous mineral springs in Virginia, varying in many
particulars, and they are all valuable. Many of these springs are popular
resorts for pleasure seekers from all parts of the country. Professor
Rogers says in his geological report: "The thermal waters appear to be
indebted for their impregnation to rocks of a calcareous nature, while the
sulphuretted springs derive their ingredients mostly from the pyritous

slate, and that the Warm and Hot Springs discharge a considerable amount
of free gas, consisting of carbonic acid and nitrogen."

Grouped, as these springs are, at a moderate distance apart, presenting,
within the same district, a variety of medicinal character, for which,
in other countries, regions remote from each other require to be visited
in succession, placed at a point equally accessible to the inhabitant of the
sea-board and the great valley of the West, and situated in a region of
grateful summer temperature, of a salubrious climate, and of picturesque
and diversified natural beauties, they are now rapidly attaining a celebrity
and are destined ere long to vie with the long established "character
of the most noted watering places of the world."

Climate.

Virginia, as a whole, lies in the region of "middle latitudes," between
36° 30′ and 39° 30′ North, giving it a climate of "means" between the
extremes of heat and cold incident to States south and north of it.

If Virginia were a plain, the general character of the climate of the
whole State would be much the same; but the "relief" of its surface
varies, from that of some of its large peninsulas not more than ten or fifteen
feet above the sea level, to that of large valleys more than two thousand feet
above that level. Long ranges of mountains from three thousand to four
thousand feet in height run entirely across the State, and the waters flow
to all points of the compass. So diversified are the features of the surface
of the State, within its borders may be found all possible exposures to the
sun and general atmospheric movements. It follows from these circumstances
that here must be found great variety of temperature, winds,
moisture, rain and snowfall, beginning and ending of seasons, and all the
periodical phenomena of vegetable and animal life, depending on "the
weather."

The winds are the great agents nature employs to equalize and distribute
temperature, moisture, etc. Virginia lies on the eastern side of
the American continent and on the western shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
It extends to and embraces many of the ranges of the Appalachian system
of mountains, that run parallel to that ocean shore; therefore, it is subject
not only to the general movement of winds, storms, etc., from west to
east, peculiar to the region of the United States, but to modifications of
that movement by the great mountain ranges. It is also subject to the
great atmospheric movements from the Atlantic that, with a rotary
motion, come up from the Tropics and move along the coast, extending
their influence over the Tidewater and Middle regions of the State; sometimes
across Piedmont to the foot of the Blue Ridge, but rarely ever over
or beyond that range. The numberless lines of mountains from the Blue
Ridge to the Cumberland, all the way across its extent from up in Pennsylvania
down into North Carolina unbroken, protect the State against
the cold winds, and storms, and blizzards of the Northwest. This barrier is

absolutely effectual; they never reach this land. The peculiar formation
of the Appalachian chain running southwest into South Carolina and
Georgia, with ranges bearing west into Tennessee and Alabama, protect us
from the cyclones that form in the heated waters of the Gulf and rush
northeast. The formation of the southern end of this range of mountains
turns the southwest storms and tornadoes either up the Cumberland range
northeast or across the Gulf States to the Atlantic Ocean. It has also surface
winds, usually from the Southwest, that follow the trend of the mountains
and bring to them and their enclosed parallel valleys the warmth and
moisture of the Gulf that clothes them all with an abundant vegetation.

The same causes that produced the magnificent forests of the carboniferous
era and furnished the materials for the vast deposits of coal in the
sixty thousand square miles of the great Appalachian coal field that flanks
Virginia on the west, still operate and clothe the surface of the same
region with an abundant vegetation. The laws of the winds make one
region fertile and another barren. America owes its distinction as the
Forest Continent to the situation of its land masses in reference to the prevailing
winds.

Guyot, a standard authority, says: "North America has in the eastern
half a greater amount of rain than either of the other Northern continents
in similar latitudes." . . "The great sub-tropical basin of the
Gulf of Mexico sends up into the air its wealth of vapors to replace those
lost by the winds in crossing the high mountain chains. Hence, the eastern
portions—the great basins of the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence, and
the Appalachian region—which, without this source of moisture, would be
doomed to drought and barrenness, are the most abundantly watered and
the most productive portions of the continent." "In the eastern half of
the United States the southwesterly winds which prevail in the summer
spread over the interior and the Atlantic plains an abundant supply of
vapors from the warm waters of the Gulf. Frequent, copious showers
refresh the soil during the months of greatest heat, which show a maximum
of rain. Thus the dry summers of the warm-temperate region disappear,
and with them the periodical character of the rains so well marked
elsewhere in this belt."

These quotations show the advantages Virginia has, in this respect,
over the warm-temperate regions of Europe and elsewhere.

Forests.

The forests of Virginia are large, and the timber varied, and the lumber
trade important, and the following is a fair catalogue of the trees of Virginia
now growing wild in the different sections:

The oaks: White oak, post oak, swamp white oak, chestnut oak,
yellow oak, red oak, scarlet oak, black oak, black-jack oak, Spanish oak,
pin oak, willow oak, bear oak, bastard live oak, scrub white oak, water
oak, turkey oak.

The pines: The table mountain pine, white pine, pitch pine, Jersey
scrub pine, yellow pine, loblolly pine, hemlock pine.

Cypress, juniper, bay laurel, red cedar, white cedar (arbor vitæ),
umbrella tree, white wood (white poplar), yellow poplar, Lombardy poplar,
pawpaw (custard apple), linden, fringe tree, catalpa, sassafras, slippery
elm, red elm, water elm, winged elm, sugar berry, horn beam, red mulberry,
white mulberry, moris multicualis, sycamore, black walnut, white
walnut (butternut), shellbark hickory, white hickory, red (mochermes)
hickory, pignut hickory, butternut hickory, chinquepin, chestnut, beech,
water beech, ironwood, cherry birch, red birch, black alder, holly, sugar maple,
red maple, curled maple, bird-eye maple, box elder or ash-leaved maple,
stag horn (sumac), poison elder (thunder tree), common locust, yellow
(mountain) locust, honey locust, red bud (Judas tree), wild plum (Prunus
Americanus), wild cherry—red (P. Penna), wild cherry—black (P. Scrotina),
nine bark (Spirea Opulofolia), southern crab, scarlet fruited thorn,
wild currant (June or Service berry), witch hazel, sweet gum, swamp
dogwood, ailanthus (Paradise), black gum, black haw, laurel (ivy), rose
bay (rhododendron), persimmon, white ash, black willow, weeping
willow, white willow, golden willow, silky willow, aspen, dogwood, lashhorn,
cucumber, cottonwood, buckeye ash, swamp huckleberry, hazelnut,
paulonia, silver maple, spicewood, yew, paper mulberry.

Flowers.

The flowers which cover the untilled fields, and bloom and blush
unseen in forest dells, form no small part of the beauty which makes this
land of blue mountains and silvery streams "the fairest land the sun
shines on."

In springtime every stream is fringed with blooming flowers and
white banners wave on every breeze. Wild roses, ferns, rhododendrons,
forest pinks, and wood violets spring up everywhere, while daisies and
yellow buttercups line every pathway. Of cultivated flowers, everything
grows in the open air that can be raised in a temperate climate.

Fruits.

Every portion of the State is remarkably well adapted to the growth
of fruits that belong to the warm-temperate and temperate climates.

In Tidewater Virginia, apples, pears, peaches, quinces, plums, cherries,
nectarines, grapes, figs, strawberries, raspberries, running and bush
blackberries, gooseberries, currants and other fruits thrive and produce
abundantly, the quality of the products being unsurpassed, as the awards
of the American Pomological Society attest. The value of the small fruits
alone, annually sent to market from Tidewater, is more than the sums for
orchards and gardens. The trade in early strawberries is one of large
proportions. Especial mention should be made of the wild Scuppernong

grapes, peculiar to the Tidewater country near the sea, which spread over
the forests, and bear large crops of excellent fruit, from which a very
palatable wine is made. The originals of the Catawba, Norton's Virginia,
and other esteemed American grapes grow wild in the forests of Virginia.

All the fruits named above grow in every section of the State, except,
perhaps, figs. Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, and the Valley are famous
apple regions. Peaches flourish in all sections, but Middle and Tidewater
may claim some precedence in adaptability. The Blue Ridge is entitled
to the name of the "fruit belt," and its extensive area is yet to become
the most noted wine and fruit-producing section of the United States east
of the Rocky Mountains. All the fruits of Virginia flourish there in a
remarkable manner, and find special adaptations of soil, climate, and
exposure.

Cereals, Cotton, Tobacco.

The flora of Virginia is rich and abundant. Cereals, grasses, and
other plants that have been introduced have found favorable soil and climate.
Here grow and yield abundantly "plants good for food" and
suited for needed manufactures. A comparison of the production of
cereals with the products of other countries presents Virginia in a most
favorable light, while nearness to market gives a most decided advantage.
The climate and soil of Virginia favor the growth of nearly all the useful
and profitable productions of the world. Wheat, corn, rye, buckwheat
and Indian corn are raised in abundance. It is the native home of
tobacco, and from it planters, manufacturers and the general government
realize large sums of money.

Cotton is grown in the southern section, and in all parts of the State
cultivated grasses are successfully grown, and in some parts of the State
the native grasses make the best grazing. Commodore Maury (good
authority) says: "Everything which can be cultivated in France, Germany,
or England, may be grown here equally as well, with other things
besides, such as Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, broom corn, and
sweet potatoes, etc., which are not known as staples there. The climate
and soil of Virginia are as favorable to the cultivation of the grape and the
manufacture of wine, as they are in France and Germany.

Tobacco is a staple product of Virginia. "The Virginia Leaf" is
known the world over for its excellence—the result of manipulation as
well as soil and climate. Piedmont and Middle Virginia lands are best for
the growth of good tobacco; those of Middle Virginia produce the finest
tobacco and most valuable; Tidewater is the region of Cuba and Latakia
varieties, while immense crops of coarse, heavy tobacco are raised in the
upper Counties on the rich lands of the Blue Ridge, the Valley, and Appalachia.
Virginia tobacco cannot be substituted either by new methods,
new varieties, or adulteration; it will always, in a series of years, maintain

its position of superiority in foreign markets. Whenever all restrictions and
burdens are removed from tobacco, Virginia's brights, her sweet-fillers, and
her rich shipping will assert their natural superiority and receive again the
chief place in the market.

Fisheries.

The crab fisheries still continue a fruitful source of revenue to the
people in a limited area of the Chesapeake. The earnings from this
source, reckoned on the basis of men employed and capital invested,
exceed slightly that derived from oysters, and the business seems to be
growing larger and larger every year.

Black bass, silver, white, and sun perch, southern, white, and horned
chub, mullet, carp, pike, suckers, flat-back gar, mason, and whitesides,
and eels can be found of good size in the rivers. Tidewater, independent
of the great herring, shad, and menhaden fisheries (where 100,000 are
caught at a haul), has a fine list of table fish caught and shipped to market
the same day—sturgeon, rock, sheepshead, hogfish, trout, mullet, spots,
bass, chub, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, croker, halibut, and others.

The fish, like the fruit of Virginia, has the advantage of an earlier
opening than the North has for marketing. Oysters are found in all the
tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast, giving to
Tidewater an exclusive territory, where this valuable shell-fish grows
naturally, and where it can be propagated and reared in almost any
desired quantity.

Major Hotchkiss, in his work on Virginia, says that it is estimated
that more than 15,000,000 bushels are taken annually from the beds of
Tidewater Virginia, valued at from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000. In 1869
over 5,000 small boats and 1,000 vessels, of over five tons burthen, were
employed in taking oysters from the water, and 193 State and 309 other
vessels, 18,876 tons aggregate burthen, were engaged in carrying them to
market. For some years the supply has been growing less and the
demand greater. Under the present system of depletion, the supply will
soon be inadequate to the demand, and the prices will be higher. The
person who has a well-stocked oyster shore can command ready sale, at
good prices. There is no reason why the artificial propagation of oysters
should not be conducted on a larger scale. In France there are oyster
farms that pay an annual profit of $500 or $600 per acre. Virginia's
Lynnhaven and Chesapeake stand at the head of the list for market, while
others claim equal excellence. Just now there is much discussion about
protecting the natural beds, and larger planting, if necessary, for increasing
the revenue of the State.

Many interesting details of the fruits, vegetable productions,
animals, poultry, birds, and much of importance concerning

the manufacturing and mining growth of the State
could well be cited, but, enough has been revealed of her
material resources in the above extracts to foreshadow her
wealth and power, and to confirm the glowing description of
an earlier day, given by Ralegh to England's Queen when
she first called the land—"Virginia."