LABOR.

The scarcity of efficient labor is one of the most serious troubles with which the farmers of this County have to cope.  In the northern portion the labor is principally white, while in the southern part there is a greater proportion of the negro race.

Some farmers employ men by the month, paying from $15 to $18 and board, but at a distance from centers of population this transient labor is hard to secure, and even fancy wages sometimes fail to attract a sufficient supply.  In other cases a laborer and his family are allowed to live on the farm, and he is paid by the day for such work as is required of him, the usual wage being 75 cents or $1, with the opportunity of working throughout a considerable part of the year.  The laborer usually pays a small rent for his cottage, but is allowed a piece of ground free for a garden.  Where the farms are small the greater part of the work is done by the farmer and his family, and the situation is less difficult; but with the large farms it is often impossible to secure sufficient labor, especially during harvesting.

The total and average expenditures for labor on farms in 1899, including the value of the board furnished, was $292,150, an average of $149.97 per farm and 93 cents per acre.

FERTILIZERS.

Commercial fertilizers are used extensively throughout Loudoun.  These consist chiefly of phosphatic fertilizers, although some nitrogenous mixtures are used.  Barnyard and green manures are employed to a considerable extent.  Lime is applied freely to many of the soils.  It is brought into the area in cars, hauled from there to the farms by wagon, and thrown in small piles over the land, the usual application being twenty-five or thirty bushels to the acre.  It is almost always put on the land in the fall, and after becoming thoroughly slaked by air and rain, is spread over the land as evenly as possible.  Applications are made every fifth or sixth year.  Where farms are situated at considerable distances from the railroads but little lime is used on account of the difficulty of transportation.

The total amount expended for fertilizers in 1900 was $107,490, an average of $55.18 per farm and 34 cents per acre and amounted to 3.8 per cent of the total value of the products.  In 1879, only one other county in the State, i. e., Norfolk, spent as much for the enrichment of its soils.  The amount expended for fertilizers in that year was $133,349.

EDUCATION AND RELIGION.

Education.