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and are becoming less bigoted, giving the Freedmen the benefit of the doubt wherever it exists. In this County of Henrico the Freedmen are laboring very faithfully, but receive small wages for their services, many of them are cultivating land for a portion of the crop, and as there is every indication of a good field, the condition of Freedman will be more encouraging than that of the proceeding year. The fruit crop in this county will be unusually large. The only Freedmen who receive aid from the government that are residents of this county are principally old people, who are cultivating vegetable gardens near the city which they prefer doing rather than to be placed in the Asylum at "Howard's Groves." This [[claps?]] of Freedmen although very aged, are able and also willing to provide for themselves whenever an opportunity is given them.
In the County of Chesterfield the Freedmen are equally industrious, and fewer complaints are heard from the Freedmen in this county. Their prospects in cultivating the soil are not so promising as in the County of Henrico . The land is not so fertile, except the portion which borders on James River.
In Manchester I find that the Freedmen are laboring under the same difficulty that exists in Richmond. It is too densely populated for them to secure profitable employment. Under authority of Circular letter dated B. R. F. and A. Lands [[?]] Department Washington D.C. May 15th 1867 I am urging upon the Freedmen the necessity of Organizing Temperance