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or sun-burnt, moon-burnt, house-burnt, stunted by growth, torn by storms of hail or wind, injured or killed by frost. There are seven different kinds of

bacco is unsaleable, it is publicly burnt, and the certificate refused. If a portion be good, it must be separated by the owner, who receives for the quantity a transfer note. From June to September, it is shipped for Europe; if embarked at an earlier period, it too soon undergoes what is called the sea sweat, by which it is softened and weakened, and the climate to which it is transported is too cold to restore it to its natural state. The finest flavoured tobacco is produced on a new and kindly rich soil, with an undulating surface. The second crop is inferior to the first, as the third is to the second. The best quality is raised from about twenty miles above Sidewater to the Blue ridge; a tract which, including a small portion of North Carolina, is about 150 miles in length, and from sixty to eighty in breadth. The Virginia tobacco is preferred for chewing or for snuff, for which purposes it is exclusively used in the United States, where the annual consumption is estimated at 10,000 hogsheads a year, and that of Great Britain at 15,000. The culture has of late greatly diminished, owing to its introduction into Kentucky and Louisiana, and to the small difference of increased price which it brings in Europe. Farmers have ascertained, that it is better to raise wheat at one dollar a bushel, (sixty pounds,) than tobacco at eight dollars per cwt.; for it is observed, that those who cultivate the former soon become comfortable, and gradually acquire wealth by the increase of slaves and stock, and agricultural improvements; while the lands of the tobacco planter in a few years are exhausted, his slaves become sickly, and his stock unproductive; for he has every thing to purchase, whereas all the wants of the former are supplied from his own resources. Even the high prices of tobacco in 1815 and 1816, from sixteen to thirty-five dollars per cwt., did not tempt more than half the farmers to resume its culture and fortunate were those who refused; for in February

England, France, Holland, and the north of Europe

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

12

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

(dollars,)

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

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

10

5

[blocks in formation]

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 during 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 Curtis 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 suffi cient 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, végetation 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 sold 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.

*See Jefferson's Notes on Virginia.

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