-Virginia Peninsula. This seems to be a lonely country
through which we are driving, somewhat sparsely settled. And yet between
Cape Charles City and Pocomoke City there are twenty-seven prosperous
banks, they tell us. And here in Accomac County is harvested five per
cent. of the entire sweet potato crop of the United States. The climatic
conditions for fruits and vegetables are almost perfect on this
peninsula, and the soil is extremely fertile. All this country is
destined to be an immense peninsula garden. As we drive along we see
great heaps of yellow sweet potatoes waiting to be packed away in
barrels. We see long rows of baskets filled with scarlet tomatoes,
stretching down the fields, alongside the denuded tomato plants. What
glorious color it is! I should like to come here and paint a tomato
field just after the fruit has been picked, the whole field marked by
lines of color. First a row of green tomato plants, somewhat grey and
dusty in the bright sun; then a row of baskets of scarlet fruit glowing
in the sunshine; then a stretch of brown earth. Then another row of the
grey-green plants and another row of baskets piled high with scarlet
fruit; and so on across many acres of browns and greens and scarlets. We
pass immense wagon-loads of tomatoes being hauled to the canneries and
to the station. The fruit is placed in the wagon in double decker
fashion; the first platform of baskets being surmounted by a second
platform upon which the second rows of baskets rest. The wagons are
drawn by sturdy mules, sometimes four strong. At Pocomoke City we have
an excellent luncheon at the little hotel. We have crossed the Maryland
boundary, and our route is to lead us through Princess Ann and Salisbury
off to the northeast to Easton. The country is less heavily wooded now,
but the soil is of the same fertile quality, and the cultivated fields
are beautiful to see. We are driving along the famous Eastern Shore,
where many people have their country seats. The towns through which we
are passing, from Cape Charles City clear along the peninsula, show
their age. They belong to the days of early settlement.

At Easton we take a day or two to drive about the open country and see
the charming country estates, the houses standing on the shores of
creeks and inlets, and having the double charm of the country and the
sea, just as they do in Tidewater Virginia. We drive out to "The
Wilderness," the home of a Pittsburg gentleman. One appro