tobacco, adapted to different qualities of soil; named Hudson, Frederick, Thickjoint, Shoestring, Thickset, Sweet-scented, and Oroonoko.

Indian corn is everywhere cultivated on the eastern side of the mountains, and forms a leading article of nourishment. The produce is from twelve to fifty bushels an acre, according to the nature of the soil. Of wheat, which is much cultivated, the greatest produce is about fifty bushels an acre, but the average crop does not exceed fifteen bushels, owing to the previous exhaustion of the soil by tobacco and Indian corn.* White buckwheat, or French wheat, is of late raised in considerable quantities. Oats for the use of horses only. Rice, on the borders of the dismal swamp, where it is very productive. It will probably soon become an article of export. Before the attempt was made to raise it here, it was universally believed, that the climate was not sufficiently hot for the production of this plant. Hemp is cultivated to a considerable extent, and has become a great article of export to the northern states. On the borders of rivers, and between the ridges of mountains, it is raised of such a quality as to bring from 150 to 300 dollars a ton. Cotton.-Almost every planter cultivates cotton for his own use; and along the Roanoke river it is

1817, it fell from nine to fourteen dollars, when Indian corn was sold at two, and wheat at three dollars per bushel, of fifty pounds.

* Mr Parkinson has stated the average crop on General Washington's farms at from two to three bushels per acre.

found to be more profitable than any other crop. From 5000 to 10,000 bags, averaging each 300 pounds, are yearly brought to market, chiefly at Petersburg, and fetch as good a price in Liverpool as any short staple cotton. The culture of indigo is now abandoned. Palma Christi is cultivated for the oil which it affords; and Benné, (Sesamum Orientale,) from the seed of which a fine oil, equal to that imported from Italy, is extracted, in the proportion of three gallons to a bushel. Of esculent plants there are, in the eastern parts, the sweet potatoe, red and white; the common, or Irish potatoe, which is in general use; melons, turnips, pumpkins, parsnips, carrots, artichokes, asparagus, cucumbers, lettuces, onions, the Brassica sempervivens, a species of cabbage introduced by Mr Jefferson, from seed sent him by Professor Thouin of the Paris Garden of Plants; in the western parts, the horse bean and English pea. The fruit trees are, apple, pear, cherry, quince, nectarine, apricot, almond, plum, pomegranate, figs, peaches. The last thrive in the woods; in the mountains the raspberry and strawberry; the mulberry thrives on the eastern side, the vine everywhere. The grasses are, the white and red clover, which grow luxuriantly; the former natural to the country; hay and oats are given for fodder, but not many years ago leaves of Indian corn were chiefly used for this purpose.

*Price of Lands.

From the head of Tidewater to the Capes, the average price,

per acre, is

From Tidewater to the Blue ridge,

(dollars,) 7

19

The horses in this state are of English and African breed, but chiefly of the former; of a middle size, well proportioned, active, and capable of supporting great fatigue. Cattle are fattened in great numbers in the

From the Blue ridge to the Alleghany ridge, not including
the mountains,
(dollars,)
Westwardly, good land, part of which is cleared, and pre-
pared for culture,

10

5

From Richmond, along James river, to the distance of near

Near the salt springs, the lands owned by the heirs of General Washington,

10

In the neighbourhood of Winchester, where, by the application of gypsum, the soil yields from twenty to thirty bushels of wheat per acre, the price has lately increased. At the distance of eight miles from the river Shenandoah, farms of 260 acres, of which one half is cleared, are valued at 20 dollars per acre.

The Dover estate, at the distance of twenty-four miles above Richmond, containing 2800 acres, 600 of which consist of low grounds, was sold two years ago for 80,000 dollars, or about twenty eight dollars per acre.

In 1811, the lands at the distance of thirty miles from Norfolk were valued at from thirty to forty dollars an acre.

The lands above Tidewater have nearly doubled in price dur ing the last twenty years. In 1811 wood for fuel, at Norfolk, was three dollars per cord. A house consisting of three stories was then rented at from 250 to 300 dollars.

In 1817, the rent of a house, at Richmond, not of the handsomest class, was 1400 dollars a-year; of a store, about a third less. Ground for building sold currently at 10,000 dollars per acre, and in some of the streets near the river at 200 dollars per foot in front. (Birkbeck's Notes.)

western parts, for the eastern market. Mules and oxen are now employed in agricultural labours. Of sheep there is a long-wooled breed in this state, which are remarkable for the size of their fleeces. In 1814 two of this species, belonging to Mr Cuftis of New Kent, yielded twenty-one pounds and two ounces from one shearing. The Merino race is now propagated throughout the state; and, since the late war, a sufficient quantity of their wool is obtained for home consumption. The mutton of the common sheep is of a good quality. Hogs are raised in the woods, where they feed chiefly on acorns. Some few weeks before they are killed, they are fed with Indian corn, and their bacon and hams equal those of Westphalia.

The climate is very favourable to all agricultural pursuits; for, during the whole winter, it is calculated that farmers can plough four days in seven. Of late, however, from a change in the climate, vegetation is sometimes injured, by the sudden fluctuations of heat and cold. From the year 1741 to 1769, a period of twenty-eight years, the fruit in the neighbourhood of Monticello was never seen to suffer by the frost. *

Price of Horses in 1815.

A fine race horse from 2000 dollars to 3000; stud horses from 1000 to 6000. There is now one named Florizell, bred in the state, which is valued at 10,000. A good saddle horse from 150 to 200; some of the best have been bought and seld for 500 and 600 dollars; a pair of good carriage horses from 400 to 500; some from 700 to 800; a pair of useful carriage horses may be bought from 250 to 300; a good stout working horse, bred in the mountains, from 60 to 90.

In 1816 the crops of tobacco, wheat, and fruit, were much injured by repeated frosts; the average morning cold of May, from the 1st to the 17th, being 53°, or 10 below the usual temperature; and once the thermometer fell as low as 43°.*

The summits of the highest mountains have been brought into the highest cultivation. Sewell's mountain, 375 miles from the sea, and one of the highest in the United States, produces oats, and red and white clover, of an excellent quality. Here the apples and peaches have not been injured by the frost for twenty years, though they often have been in the valley. Mr Bowden informed the author, that in Peter's mountain, the highest ridge of Carter's mountain, 175 miles from the Capes, and more than double the height of Monticello, he found a fine establishment belonging to Mr Breedlove, with peaches, apples, and crops of Indian corn, of the first quality. The family were clothed with linen and woollen of their own growth and manufacture. They made also their own shoes; and sugar, coffee, and finery, for their daughters, were purchased in exchange for some of the productions of the farm; cattle, maize, fruit, brandy, or cider. In the month of May 1817 the Hessian fly destroyed, in some counties, a third, in others, a fourth or fifth of the wheat. This destructive insect remains throughout the winter in the wheat stalk; and, in the warmth of spring, is transformed into a fly, which goes in search of summer wheat to deposit its eggs on.

* Letter from Mr Jefferson to the Author.