County Deed Book H-3, p. 226, May 28, 1843.

[44] Fairfax County Deed Book W-3, pp. 424-425, September 10, 1855.

[45] Hannah C. O'Brien v. John W. Green, et. al., Fairfax County,
Virginia County Court, Suspended File No. 10, 1878.

II. ORCHARD AND DAIRY: FOUNTAIN BEATTIE (1878-1917)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA'S AGRICULTURE IN THE 1870'S. By 1870, Virginia
farmers were beginning to recover from the recent war which had
completely disrupted normal agricultural activity. The effects of
the war had been felt keenly in Northern Virginia where the
conflict had not been marked by many of the major battles but had
nevertheless afflicted the area with four years of constant
raiding and skirmishing. The resultant toll of horses, mules, cattle,
and livestock and the dearth of farm machinery were major handicaps
facing the farmer, as were his lack of capital with which to purchase
supplies and equipment from outside his area and the general
shortage of labor.[46] These shortages were overcome slowly. Some
materials for beginning to rebuild the war damage were readily
available from military supplies immediately after the close of
hostilities; and, in this respect, Northern Virginia was fortunate
to be within a few miles of the Union Army supply depots in
Alexandria and Washington, D.C. But, as the confused era of
reconstruction set in, the farmer was thrown mainly on his own
resources of land and labor to rebuild his fortunes.

Poor as his prospects might seem to be, the Northern Virginia farmer
had certain advantages that farmers in other parts of the state
lacked. The farmland was by no means barren or exhausted, although it
had been worked steadily during the previous decade when all efforts
turned to producing the maximum amount of food for subsistence and no
thought could be given to maintaining or enhancing the fertility of
the soil.[47] Also, Fairfax County farmers had relatively easy access
to the produce markets of Washington and Baltimore, both by water and
overland transportation.[48]

[Illustration: Figure 4. Hopkins' Atlas Map, 1879.]

Moreover, agriculture in Northern Virginia had not been dominated by
the plantation system since the mid-eighteenth century. By 1870, even
the great landholdings which had been carved out of the original
proprietary grants had given way to a third generation of farms, still
smaller in size and more diversified. While the owners of these
Northern Virginia farms had, in ma