Page images
PDF
EPUB

town there is a Catholic bishop; but of this, and the Episcopalian profession, the number is very small.

Agriculture. The great object of all who establish themselves in this state is agriculture, for in this employment the poorest labourer soon finds ease and independence. In Lexington and the neighbouring counties, the average produce of wheat and rye is about thirty bushels an acre. In high rich grounds that of Indian corn is from fifty to sixty, and, in a very abundant season, even seventy-five bushels. This latter grain, which is much cultivated, grows to the height of ten or twelve feet. The produce of other grain is proportionally great. The first quality of land is too rich for wheat, until it has been reduced by other crops during four or five years. Rye and oats arrive at greater perfection than in the eastern states. The former is employed for the distillation of whisky, the latter for the use of horses. In 1816, the produce of the barrens between Green and Cumberland rivers was from forty to fifty bushels per acre of Indian corn, fifteen of rye, thirteen of oats. Hemp and 0 flax are now cultivated to a considerable extent; the former sells at the rate of eighty dollars per ton, the latter at fifteen dollars per cwt.; the ordinary produce is from 700 to 1000 pounds weight per acre. Cotton may be cultivated as far north as Green river, in latitude 37° 31'; but the climate is not sufficiently warm for this plant, nor for the sweet potatoe. The culture of the vine has been of late extended by a com

*

Nile's Weekly Register, Vol. VII. p. 339.

pany associated for this purpose, (in 1803,) with a capital of 10,000 dollars, under the direction of a native of Switzerland. The harvest generally takes place in the first days of July. The bear and the grey squirrel* are very destructive to the crops, especially of maize; and on this account the farmers wage perpetual war against them. A large tract of the barrens, or natural meadows, have been lately purchased for the rearing of sheep by a company at Lexington, who commenced in 1815 with a stock of 10,000. In the month of January of that year, the wool of the fullblooded Merinos was from one and a half to two dollars a pound; of the mixed breed from three-quarters to one and a quarter; of the common sheep, half a dollar. Hogs are so numerous that some farmers have flocks of several hundreds. They wander in the woods, except when attracted to the farm-house by the Indian corn. The principal fruits are apples and peaches. From the former cider is made; from the latter peach brandy, of which there is a great consumption.

Price of Horses and Cattle.-In 1815, the price of a good working horse was fifty dollars; that of a good saddle horse a hundred dollars; a yoke of cattle cost about fifty dollars; a good cow from ten to twelve; a sheep from one and a quarter to one and a half dollar. Every wealthy farmer has from ten to thirty good horses. Cattle are raised in great numbers for the consumption of the new settlements and the mar

*Sciurus Carolinianus.

kets of the Atlantic ports. Oxen are not much used for agricultural purposes.

Price of Lands.-In 1817, prime farms of first and second rate land, sufficiently cleared, and having a suitable house and offices, could be purchased for forty or fifty dollars an acre, within five miles of Lexington. * In 1816, improved land near the Tennessee boundary line brought from ten to twenty dollars an acre, according to the quality. † Several rich tracts, owned by Virginian non-residents, are valued at thirty dollars the acre.

Provisions are cheap and in great abundance. The price of all manual labour is high. Journeymen mechanics have from one to one and a half dollar per day, while their boarding costs them but two dollars a week. Boatmen of the Ohio gain twenty-five dollars per month. The author of the Western Gazetteer states, that a tailor will charge from five to ten dollars for making a coat, (p. 95.) The rent of a house, containing five good rooms, is from 100 to 200 dollars a year; a house for mechanics from thirty to fifty dollars. The price of a stout healthy negro, from fourteen to thirty years, is from 350 to 400 dollars.

Products of Mineral Substances in 1810.

[blocks in formation]

During the last war, the quantity of nitre produced exceeded 400,000 pounds a year, and that of gunpowder 300,000 pounds. The produce of salt-works is more than equal to the consumption.

Products of Vegetable Substances.

[blocks in formation]

Manufactures of cotton wool and hemp have been established on a large scale in different towns, with machinery driven by steam. In 1815 there were six steam mills in operation at Washington; two for grain, one for cotton, one for wool, and another for other purposes. At Lexington there is a woollen and a cotton manufactory, on an extensive scale, employing 150 hands each, and several of smaller size; an oil cloth and carpet manufactory; a steam rope manufactory; four nail factories, which make seventy tons of nails yearly. Two copper and tin manufactories, three steam grist-mills, three steam paper-mills, several rope-walks and bagging manufactories, which consume 14,000 tons of hemp yearly. The manufactures of hemp at Lexington, in 1811, were valued at 900,000 dollars.

The whole amount of manufactures, in 1810, was

*Western Gazetteer, p. 111.

estimated at 6,181,024 dollars, besides the doubtful articles, valued at 1,033,180, and consisting of maplesugar, saltpetre, &c. At Maysville there is a glass factory; at Paris, several cording machines; at Danville, several mills, factories, and rope-walks ; at Frankfort, hemp manufactories, powder-mills, a grist and saw-mill; at Cynthiana, ten grist and sawmills; at Newport, an arsenal; at Louisville, several manufactories; at Shipping Port, a rope-walk, 1250 feet in length; at Vaugeville, a salt manufactory, at which a bushel of salt is obtained from 300 gallons of water. Several large brigs have been built at Frankfort, and sent to New Orleans, and 500 hogsheads of tobacco have been shipped for the latter place in one year from the town of Henderson, on the Ohio river. In the month of September 1817, an association was formed at Lexington, for the encouragement of domestic manufactures.

Commerce.The foreign commerce of this state is yet inconsiderable, owing to its great distance from the sea, and the consumption of its staple productions by new settlers. The exports consist chiefly of wheat, rye, barley, hemp, tobacco, live cattle, whisky, and peach brandy. The introduction of steam-boats has removed one of the great objections to this country as a place of residence. Other evils which existed about the year 1793, the uncertainty of land titles, the labours and dangers of the militia service, from Indian hostility,* have also ceased; and the mildness

Some information respecting America, collected by Thomas Cooper, late of Manchester. London, 1 vol. in 8vo, 1794, p. 24.

« PreviousContinue »