[Transcriber's Note: This eText was produced from _Agriculture inVirginia, 1607-1699_ as published in 1957. Extensive research did notuncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication wasrenewed. ] Agriculture in Virginia, 1607-1699 By LYMAN CARRIER Professor of Agriculture, Ferrum Junior College VIRGINIA 350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CORPORATION WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA 1957 COPYRIGHT©, 1957 BY VIRGINIA 350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CORPORATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet Number 14 Agriculture in Virginia, 1607-1699 Various events in the latter years of the sixteenth century did muchto shape the future destiny of the English nation. With thedestruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, England rose from a minorposition in world affairs to one of major importance. One of thefirst changes was reflected in her attitude towards trade andcommerce. England was no longer penned up on her "tight little isle, "and her ships could sail the high seas in comparative safety. Expansion of her foreign trade seemed the only answer to herambitions, but foreign trade required a two way transfer of products. In order to sell goods, it was necessary to buy in exchange. Worldcommerce had already become well stabilized among friendly nationsmaking it difficult for outside businessmen to share in theseestablished commitments. So England was soon to direct her attentionstoward America. It was with eyes focused on future trade that the businessmen whocomposed the London Company contributed the huge sums that wererequired to finance the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Agriculture was not of prime importance. At that time England wasself-sufficient so far as the production of grains and livestock wasconcerned. Ordinary farm products would not pay the cost oftransportation across the ocean. Of course, it was expected that thecolonists would eventually produce their own food stuffs; however, until that stage of development occurred it was expected that theLondon Company would supply the needs of the colony direct fromEngland. The men of the first expedition were not farmers and took littleinterest in farming. A good many came, hoping to share in riches, that their imagination had created. Fantastic tales about theAmericas had been circulated in Europe during the century followingtheir discovery. The most authentic of these foreign travel journalshad been translated into English and published around the turn of thesixteenth century. Reports also of rich prizes, laden with gold, captured on the Spanish Main by English privateers, had inflamed theEnglish mind. If the Spaniards could find such vast treasures inAmerica, why should not the English do the same? Then too, as the first colony of Virginia lay between 34 and 41degrees north-latitude, the same approximately as Italy and Spain, itwas expected that the much desired warm weather products enjoyed bythe Mediterranean people, such as oranges, lemons, sugar, and spicescould be produced equally as well in America. Jamestown eventuallycontributed great financial benefits to the Mother Country fromagricultural accomplishments. These benefits could not in 1607 bevisualized. To understand the vicissitudes which beset the colonistsin the early years of the settlement, one should be familiar with theagricultural practices of both the Old World and the New, for it wasby combining the farming wisdom of both sides of the Atlantic into anew agriculture, that the colony became firmly established. OLD WORLD AGRICULTURE European agriculture reached a high degree of efficiency two thousandyears ago in the scrub-forest region around the Mediterranean Sea. Tothe Greeks that part of the world alone was considered fit forhabitation by human beings. Farming by the Romans was regarded as ahighly respectable and honorable occupation. Some of their mostlearned scholars wrote books on husbandry. The Romans have given usby far the most complete and satisfactory accounts of theiragriculture of any ancient people. During the "Revival of Learning, "these old masterpieces were rediscovered, constituting the principalagricultural literature of Europe, prior to the eighteenth century. Most of the early English books on husbandry were mere translationsof the Roman books on that subject, with a few original observationsadded. AGRICULTURE IN ENGLAND The northern or colder parts of Europe were many centuries behind theMediterranean nations in agricultural achievement. At the time of thediscovery of America, England and most of the nations of Europe werecontrolled by the feudal system. The arable land was owned in largeestates or manors by feudal barons, the actual labor on the farmsbeing performed by serfs. These farm laborers belonged to the landand were exchanged with it when there was a change in ownership ofthe real estate. Farming was looked upon as necessary to existence, but not as a business enterprise. Since trade and transportation infarm products were extremely limited, consumption took place near thefields of production. It was more economical for a baron to move hisfamily and retinue of servants to different parts of his domain thanit was to transport the food stuffs to one central habitation. Thepossibility of serfs becoming land owners was too remote forconsideration. CONTINENTAL INFLUENCES Farming practices in England before the eighteenth century werelargely adaptations from other European countries. The Romans, aboutthe beginning of the Christian era, took their husbandry to theBritish Isles. The Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century, brought in fromthe mainland their farm practices. Likewise the Normans in theeleventh century brought over their methods of tillage. Owing to theclose proximity to France, Flanders and Holland, agriculturalinnovations in those countries were not long in gaining attention andtrial by the British farmers. The long hours of sunlight during shortsummers, with the opposite conditions prevailing in the winters, haveinfluenced the development of plant species in all northernlatitudes. Such seasonal conditions have also made necessary adistinct type of farming. Many crops of the Mediterranean region donot survive in north European countries. People in the colder regionsalso require a different diet than do those living in the warmerclimates. By the seventeenth century an agriculture adapted tonorthern Europe had come into general practice. The implements usedin farm work were, by modern standards, very crude and werecustomarily made by the local smith. A few hoes and mattocks, scythes, reaping hooks, spades and wooden plows with iron points andshares complete the list. The entire supply of tools for an averagesized farm could have been hauled in one load on one of theirtwo-wheeled carts. CROPS GROWN The chief grains of northern Europe were wheat, rye, oats, barley, and buckwheat. The common grasses, clover and turnips, were raisedfor forage. It should be noted that all of these crops werebroad-cast seeded, none required row planting or intertillage. A few American products had been brought to England prior to thesettlement at Jamestown. They apparently came by the way of Asia. Maize was first called Turkey wheat. The great American bird wasnamed Turkey. Thomas Tusser in 1573 in his "Five Hundred Pointes ofGood Husbandrie" enumerates the meats suitable for a Christmas dinnerwith the following verse: "Beef, mutton and pork. Shred pies of the best Pig, veal, goose and capon And Turkey well drest. " No earlier mention of anything strictly American in Englishliterature has come to light. INDIAN AGRICULTURE Let us turn now and take a look at the farming accomplishments of theAmerican Indians. The oft repeated statement that the Indians livedmainly by hunting and fishing so far as it pertains to the Virginiatribes is far from the truth. The bitter struggles between the white men and the Indians duringthe colonial period created animosities and prejudices which haveovershadowed the beneficial contributions the red men have made tocivilization. As plant breeders, the American Indians rank with themost skillful of the world. Take for instance, maize or Indian corn. There is nothing closely comparable to it known to botanists. It hasbeen domesticated so long that its wild prototype is unknown. Maize, now, could not exist anywhere in the world without the aid of man. The Indians had all the varieties that are now known, such as dent, flint, sweet, early, late, pop, and other special sorts which are nolonger grown. They had developed varieties that matured all the wayfrom the tropics to the St. Lawrence River in Canada. The Indians also practiced a mixed culture such as corn, beans, andsquashes all in the same hill; they had created a large number ofvarieties of beans (_Phaseolus genus_): the white, red, black, andspotted sorts now so commonly grown, and many others. INDIAN TILLAGE The Indians were able to clear fields, of several hundred acres inextent, without the aid of metal tools, using fire as their chiefagent. Trees, too large to be cut with their stone hatchets, werekilled either by building a fire at the base or by girdling the bark. The trees in dying furnished fire wood for domestic use. Plantingbegan among the dead trees wherever enough loose dirt could bescraped together to make a hill for seeding. In the course of timethe fields became entirely free from forest growth. These fields werecropped in most cases until their fertility was exhausted and thenabandoned. If there was no more available fertile land in thevicinity, the tribe moved to a new location. The early white settlerson the Atlantic Coast found many of these abandoned clearings. Because of their unproductiveness they were called "poisoned fields. " The Indians had only the crudest sorts of farming tools. Near thecoast, sea shells were the most efficient implements they possessed. The fresh-water clam-shells came next in usefulness. Where thesenatural scrapers were not available, pointed sticks, and pieces offlat rock served the purpose. One writer describing the IllinoisIndians' method of farming says: This tillage consists in breaking up just the surface of the earth with a sort of wooden instrument, like a little pickaxe, which they make by splitting the end of a thick piece of wood, that serves for a handle, and putting another piece of wood, sharp pointed at one end into the slit. This instrument serves them instead of a hoe or spade, for they have no iron tools. INDIAN VS. OLD WORLD CULTURE Attention has been called to the fact that all of the field crops ofGreat Britain, at the time of the English settlements in America, were broad-cast seeded. The Indians had developed a far differentcultural treatment for their crops. In their most common method, thatof hill planting, the soil in the intervening spaces was not broken. The hills, two to four feet apart, were from 12 to 20 or more inchesin diameter. The soil in these hills was all that was stirred orloosened. All weeds, both in the hills and the intervals betweenthem, were kept cut or pulled out. Four to six grains of maize andtwo or three beans were seeded in each hill, separately spaced. Squashes and pumpkins were sometimes seeded with the corn and beans. This mixed seeding is a unique feature of American agriculture. The Indians were fortunate in not having to contend with many of theweeds, insects and plant-diseases which now plague farmers andgardeners. Practically all of these pests, some of quite recent date, are of Old World origin and have been introduced by white men, intoAmerica. Birds and small animals gave the Indians more concern than all theirother pests combined. It was customary to build in their gardenssmall watch-houses in which the young folks took turns in staying toscare away crows and other troublesome birds. The same hills were used year after year and became in time quitesizable mounds, remains of which have persisted, in some localities, until modern times. In the southwestern parts of Michigan, the earlysettlers found large tracts of ridged land, evidently relics ofIndian agriculture. It is now thought that these areas were cornfields in which the seeding was made in continuous rows instead ofhills. A French artist in Florida in 1564 pictured the Indiansseeding their crops in rows. After a few years of failure in their attempts to grow Americancrops, the English colonists adopted the Indian method of seeding, but usually neglected the weeding, and were subjected to ridicule fortheir shiftlessness by the painstaking squaws. In using work-animalsfor cultivating corn, it was found advantageous to destroy the weedsby stirring the ground in the intervening spaces. THE SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN On the 26th day of April, 1607, three small ships carrying 105colonists passed between Cape Charles and Cape Henry into ChesapeakeBay for the purpose of founding a colony in the land called Virginia. The voyagers took seventeen days to investigate the advantages anddisadvantages of that region for such an undertaking. First consideration for selecting the site was its possibilities fordefense against a foreign foe, especially the Spaniards, in Floridaand the West Indies. This was no idle fear. Spain and England had formany years been in conflict. Moreover, Spain claimed all of theAmericas by the right of discovery. The second most important thing for consideration was adequate harborfacilities. In both of these particulars, the site selected aboutthirty miles up the James River left little to be desired. TheJamestown peninsula jutted out into the river far enough to give anunobstructed view for several miles. The character of the land oneither side of the river would have made difficult any attempt at anoverland attack. The James was sufficiently deep to take care of any ocean goingvessels of that time. The heavily forested surroundings furnishedprotection from violent storms. The channel ran near the shore. Shipscould be moored by cables to trees on the land. From the standpoint of raising food stuffs, the colonists couldhardly have picked a more unfavorable situation. The peninsula wasconnected with the shore to the north by a narrow neck of land"thirty yards over. " As this narrow strip of land was usually floodedduring times of high water, the peninsula was for most purposes anisland by which designation it is generally known. There were about eight hundred and fifty acres of heavily timberedforest lands on the island and about eight hundred acres of marshcovered with coarse reedy grasses but there was no cleared land readyfor seeding. Clearing forest lands even with modern tools and equipment is a slowlaborious process. Cutting down the trees is only a beginning. Thestumps with their interlocking root systems have to be removed. Ittakes many years for hardwood stumps to rot to a condition that theymay be easily destroyed. Although the trees on Jamestown Island werelarge, they could be cut, and those with straight grained boles rivedinto clapboards, or the logs rolled into piles and burned for theirashes, a product that was in demand in England for use in themanufacture of soap. The soil on the Island may not have been very fertile. The fact thatthe Indians had never cleared any of the land indicates they did notconsider it of the best quality. FIRST ATTEMPTS AT FARMING Captain Newport assigned a third of the settlers, or aboutthirty-five men, to husbandry. Nothing came from their labors. At oneof their first attempts to plant corn, probably English grain, theywere assaulted by a few venturesome Indians which so discouraged thesettlers, that they made no further efforts to provide crops for foodthat season. One of the colonists complained about the difficultiesof preparing land for corn. Another mentions that some made gardens. The growing season was too far spent when they finally settled atJamestown to allow for clearing land for spring-seeded grains. By mid-summer their food supply was becoming seriously depleted. Fortunately the Indians remained friendly. Captain John Smith informsus that in July: It pleased God to move the Indians to bring us corn ere it was halfe ripe to refresh us and in September they "brought us great store both of corne and bread ready made. " They had four acres of ground prepared the following year which theyseeded to "corn" (wheat, barley or peas). No details are given exceptthat nothing came from their efforts. Two growing seasons had passedand not a bushel of grain had been produced for their sustenance. LIVESTOCK Greater success came from their attempts to raise animals thanattended their efforts to grow crops. A few animals were brought in. Reverend W. Simmonds states that: "three sowes in eighteene moneths, increased sixty and odd piggs. And neere 500 chickens brought upthemselves without having any meat given them. " More livestock was evidently brought in the two supplies whicharrived in 1608 as it was reported, at the time Smith left the colonyin the fall of 1609, that they had "six mares and a horse; five orsixe hundred swine; as many hennes and chickens; some goats somesheepe. " Captain John Smith during his two years with the colony wasremarkably successful in obtaining from the Indians several hundredbushels of corn and beans in exchange for English manufactured goods. The fertile bottom lands of the rivers north of the James yieldedbountiful harvests for the Indians as they have since for Virginians. Glass beads and tinkling bells intrigued the natives. The white man'sclothing was also a source of wonderment. It was Smith's contentionthat the white laborers should devote their time to getting outclapboards, pitch and soap-ashes to ship to England and depend on theIndians to keep the colony supplied with food. Smith was not afarmer. He little realized that the Indians' desire for trinketswould soon be satisfied. Then, too, public opinion in England, aroused by the Las Casas exposures of Spanish cruelties in the WestIndies would not sanction forced enslavement of the natives. With thedeparture of Smith, in October, 1609, the lucrative Indian trade cameto an end. No other member of the colony had the courage, forsometime, to visit the tribes along the York and Rappahannock riversfor the exchange of products. FIRST WHITE FARMER IN VIRGINIA The first experienced English farmer to come to the colony wasWilliam Spence, who arrived on the _Phoenix_, April 20, 1608. He wasvariously described as a laborer, gentleman, and ensign. Ralph Hamorcertified to his character as "an honest, valiant, and industriousman. " Spence survived the ordeals of the early years and was a memberof the first House of Burgesses, in 1619. He probably lost his lifein the Indian massacre of 1622. Five persons, names not given, werekilled at that time on the Spence farm. Alexander Brown states thatEnsign Spence is reported lost in 1623 but he may have been living incaptivity. It appears from this meager evidence that William Spence lived on hisfarm outside of the fortified area. If such were the case, he mayhave set a precedent that has had a pronounced influence on thedevelopment of this country. It was the belief of the authorities inthe London Company that the colonists would all live in smallcommunities for mutual protection and perform their tillageoperations, if any, outside the settlement. These communities, sometimes under the name of "particular plantations" and sometimes"hundreds" were necessary in the early days. But from the beginningthere were a few independent plantations, or farms, like that ofWilliam Spence. Mention has been made of the impossibility of a farmlaborer in the Old Country ever attaining land ownership. But, herein America with its boundless acres, that great boon seemed withintheir reach. When allotments of land were finally made to individualsit was found advantageous for the owner to live on his farm, ratherthan to operate it from a remote village. Freedom, independence, andthe importance of the individual, which are characteristics of theAmerican farmers, came into existence. The common storehouse for provisions, tried at first in Jamestown, created friction and illwill and in a few years was abandoned. Themembers of the Council were accused of favoritism and self indulgencein using the food and other products in the storehouse. To have andto hold a parcel of land and to enjoy the fruits of one's own laborshas been a compelling force in changing a wilderness into a mightynation. That force had its inception in the infant colony atJamestown. A CHANGE IN POLICY The two years of failure to produce crops was convincing evidencethat English methods of farming were not suited to Virginiaconditions. The colonists were ready to try something else. Theyturned to the Indians to learn the secret of their successful farmingoperations. A fortunate event occurred in the early spring of 1609. Two youngIndians, by the names of Kemps and Tussore were taken prisoners inretaliation for the depredations of other Indians. At the time oftheir arrest they were described as "the two most exact villaines inthe countrie, that would have betrayed both their king and kindredfor a piece of copper. " That this statement was not deserved wasproven later. These two young Indians liked the Englishmen and theEnglish way of living. It is also stated that while they werefettered prisoners they "did double taske and taught us how to orderand plant our fields. " Food scarcity became in 1609 a serious problem. The eagerly lookedfor supply ships from England did not come. To relieve the tension"Many were billetted among the salvages, whereby we knewe all theirpassages, fields and habitations; how to gather and use their fruitsas well as themselves. " Kemps and Tussore were given their liberty soon after corn plantingtime. "But so well they liked our companies they did not desire togoe from us. " Nothing further is recorded as to the fate of Tussore, sometimescalled Kinsock. Strachey, Secretary of the Colony who was in Virginia1610-1611, mentions having obtained certain information from One Kemps, an Indian, who died the last year of the scurvye at Jamestown, after he had dwelt with us almost one whole year, much made of by our lord generall and who could speake a pretty deale of English, and came orderly to church every day to prayers, and observed with us the keeping of the Sabaoth both by ceassing from labour and repairing to church. STARVING TIME Dire disaster finally struck the colony. Food supplies wereexhausted. Starvation became a reality. A general drought blanketedeastern Virginia. The Indians too were on short rations. Smith, theprovider, who had been injured by an explosion of gunpowder, hadreturned to England. It was one of the most cruel experiences everendured by a group of men. The climax came during the winter of1609-10. A few quotations from the records of that period paint the picture inits most terrible colors. Lord De La Warr who arrived in 1610 just intime to save the colony from abandonment reported to the LondonCompany: Our people, together with the Indians (not to friend), had the last winter destroyed and kild up all our hoggs, insomuch as of five or six hundred (as it is supposed), there was not above one sow, that we can heare of, left alive; not a henn nor a chick in the forte (and our horses and mares they had eaten with the first). [Illustration: A NEW INSTRVCTION OF PLOWING AND SETTING OF CORNE, HANDLED IN MANNER, OF A DIALOGVE betweene a Ploughman and a _Scholler_. _Wherein is proved plainely that Plowing and_ Setting, is much more profitable and lesse chargeable, than Plowing and Sowing. By EDVVARD MAXEY. Gent. _He that withdraweth the Corne, the people will curse him: butblessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth Corne. _Prou. 11. 26. Imprinted at London by _Felix Kyngston_, dwelling in Pater nosterRowe, over against the signe of the Checker, 1601. Photo by Thomas L. Williams] [Illustration: Indians boiling maple sap below and planting cornabove. Picture by Lafitau, 1724. ] [Illustration: The earliest picture of Maize. Copied from Leonhard Fuchs 1542. ] And Reverend William Simmonds states in regard to this same starvingtime of the winter of 1609-10: as for our hogs, hens, goats, sheepe, horse, or what lived; our commanders and officers did daily consume them: some small proportions (sometimes) we tasted, till all was devoured. Thus after three years they had nothing of a material nature to showfor their efforts. Their most valuable achievement had been theiracquired knowledge of the Indians' methods of farming. To make a badsituation worse the Indians began to make trouble. Lord De La Warrspeaks of their "late injuries and murthering of our men. " It was notuntil 1611 that real farming got under way at Jamestown. Then cornplanting and fence building began in earnest. GOVERNOR DALE TAKES CHARGE Sir Thomas Dale with "three ships, men, and cattell (100 kine, 200swine)" arrived in Virginia May 10, 1611. Dale had seen militaryservice in the Old World and was a severe and strict disciplinarian. The surviving colonists received a jolt in their manner of living. From habits of indolence into which they had fallen, owing to the hotclimate and lack of food, after the departure of Captain John Smith, they were with little ceremony put to work. "His first care thereforewas to imploy all hands in the setting of corne at the two forts atKecoughtan, Henry and Charles, " wrote Ralph Hamor "and about the endof May wee had an indifferent crop of good corne. " This corn wasplanted near what is now Hampton where Strachey says, "so much groundis there cleared and open; enough with little labour alreddy preparedto receive corne or make viniards of two or three thowsand acres. "With corn planting completed, two palisaded forts were built for theprotection of a few men left to care for the crops. They made anotherplanting across Chesapeake Bay on the Virginia Cape. They had learnedthe hard way that clearing the heavily timbered land at Jamestown washopeless for immediate results. Dale then returned to Jamestown"where the most companie were, and their daily and usual works, bowling in the streets. " This game was interrupted and the men put towork felling timber, repairing their houses and providing pointedpickets for fencing a new town, which Dale proposed to build, eightymiles above Jamestown. HENRICO SETTLED In August, 1611, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with "six tall ships withthree hundred men, and one hundred kine and other cattel. " Gatesthoroughly approved of Dale's plans and policies and let him selectabout three hundred of the best workers in the colony to build atHenrico, now Farrar's Island, at Dutch Gap. Within ten or twelve daies he had invironed it with a pale, and in honour of our noble Prince _Henry_, called it _Henrico_. The next worke he did, was building at each corner of the towne a high commanding watch-house, a church, and store-houses: which finished, hee began to thinke upon convenient houses for himselfe and men, which, with all possible speed hee could, he effected to the great content of his companie, and all the colonie. This towne is situated upon a necke of a plaine rising land, three parts invironed with the maine river, the necke of land well impaled, makes it like an ile; it hath three streets of well framed houses, a handsome church, and the foundation of a better laid (to bee built of bricke), besides store-houses, watch-houses, and such like. Upon the verge of the river there are five houses, within live the honester sort of people, as farmers in England, and they keepe continuall centinell for the townes securitie. About two miles from the towne, into the maine, is another pale, neere two miles in length, from river to river, guarded with severall commanders, with a good quantitie, of corne-ground impailed, sufficiently secured to maintaine more than I suppose will come this three yeeres. APPOMATTOX LANDS SEIZED The Appomattox Indians, at the time of the Jamestown settlement, werelocated on a neck of land lying between the James and AppomattoxRivers. Dale wanted this land. It was cleared, fertile, and easy tofence, so we are told: About Christmas following in this same year 1611 in regard of the injury done us . . . Without the losse of any except some few salvages tooke it and their corne. This newly acquired land he named New Bermudas and he divided it intoseveral tracts known as "hundreds. " The term hundred was a relic ofthe feudal system. It meant a political subdivision smaller than acounty. It appears to have been Dale's intention that these hundredsor group plantations, often referred to as "particular plantations, "should include the land that could be worked conveniently by thefarmers from their homes in a village or a town. This plan was notpopular. As has been previously stated the colonial pioneers muchpreferred to live on the land they tilled. The term "hundred" lostits significance. Ralph Hamor described the operations at New Bermudas in thefollowing: In the nether hundred he [Dale] first began to plant, for there is the most corne-ground and with a pale of two miles cut over from river to river, whereby we have secured eight English miles in compasse. . . . Rochdale, by a crosse pale wel nigh foure miles long, is also planted with houses along the pale, in which hundred our hogs and cattell have twentie miles circuit to graze in securely. Outstanding were the accomplishments of this taskmaster, GovernorDale, in one year, with men many of whom were unaccustomed to manuallabor. While some were engaged in fence building and the constructionof houses, others were employed in getting out clapboards. Stillothers were gathering pitch and tar from the pine trees and burninglogs to make soap-ashes. The London Company had incurred heavyexpense in the settlement and was asking for something in return. Products from the forests were all that were available. It is nowonder that the colonists complained bitterly about their hardshipsin their letters to the folks back home. It was not Gov. Dale's purpose to develop an agricultural colony. Surplus from food products would not pay the cost of shipment acrossthe ocean. His plantings of corn were purely for local consumption. He limited the number engaged in farming, and to each of those soengaged, he allotted three acres of corn land. These farmers were notallowed to devote their entire time to crop-raising. The livestock aswe have seen was allowed to run at large in the fenced ranges. In aletter dated June 14, 1614, Gov. Dale reported that he had set thecolonists to the task of "husbanding our corne securely, whereof weehave above five-hundred acres set, and God be praised in moreforwardness than any of the Indians that I have seen or heard of thisyeare. " When Capt. Argall, as deputy governor superseded Dale in May, 1617, George Yeardley having been acting governor from April 11, 1616, hereported that the colony had about four hundred people but not over200 fit for husbandry and tillage. As for livestock, they had 128cattle, 88 goats, and a large number of hogs. As to cattle there wereabout "fortie bulls and oxen but they wanted men to bring them tolabour and irons for the ploughs and harnesse for the cattell. " Theyhad tried again to grow some small grains. Thirtie or fortie acres wee had sowne with one plough, but it stood so long on the ground before it was reaped it was most shaken. This was a pitiful showing for the ten years that had elapsed sinceCapt. Newport established the colony. It had been a decade offrustration and heart-breaking disappointments, a decade of gruellingtoil and misery. No blame should be attached to the colonists. Theywere thrust into a situation for which they were woefullyunprepared. Virginia was destined to develop agriculturally. Attempts to suppressthat industry only served to prolong the colony's troubles. Therewere no natural resources except the forests in the tidewater region;no Indian trade of any great value; no gems to be picked up at will;no minerals to be exploited. When the situation seemed most hopeless, the culture of a crop new to English farming completely changed theirmental and pecuniary outlook. Despair changed to violent optimism. John Rolfe is generally credited with having been, in 1612, the firstVirginia planter to engage in the growing of tobacco. Governor Daleat the time frowned on its culture and ruled that two of each man'sallotment of three acres of land should be seeded to corn. Hence thechange in governorship was a momentous event. CHANGE IN POLICY When Sir Thomas Dale left, in 1616, George Yeardley took over themanagement of the colony as Acting Governor. He lost no time inputting an end to the restrictions on tobacco culture. The next year, 1617, saw a remarkable transformation in the colonists' way of life. Inertia gave way to frantic activity. "The market-place and streetsand all other spare places were set with the crop and the coloniedispersed all about planting tobacco. " Nor is this surprising. Tobacco alone promised them surcease from poverty and want. Hope fora bountiful harvest spurred them on as it has spurred farmers in allgenerations. TOBACCO IN ENGLAND Many fantastic tales have been written about the introduction of theuse of tobacco in England. Some of the most authentic historicalitems follow: The Spaniards found the natives in the West Indiesusing the plant both for chewing and smoking. They took seed toEurope where its use soon spread to other countries around theMediterranean Sea. The first Englishman to report on the addiction of the AmericanIndians to the use of tobacco appears to have been John Sparke whowrote the account of the voyage of Sir John Hawkins who, in thecourse of his travels, spent some months, in 1565, with an ill-fatedFrench colony in Florida. Sparke reported "The Floridians when theytravell, have a kinde of herbe dried, who with a cane and an earthencup in the end, with fire, and the dried herbs put together, doesucke thorow the cane the smoke thereof, which smoke satisfieth theirhunger, and therewith they live foure or five dayes without meat ordrinke, and this the Frenchmen used for this purpose. " It is quitelikely that the sailors under Hawkins command acquired the habit andtook some of the "dried herbs" back to England. Sir Walter Raleigh is often credited with the introduction of the useof tobacco in England. While he may not have been responsible for itsintroduction, he apparently played an important role in the spread ofthe tobacco habit among the English aristocracy. Raleigh's interestin tobacco was no doubt aroused by the report of his protégé, thefamous sixteenth century mathematician, Thomas Hariot. Hariot spent ayear, June, 1585-June, 1586, with the Raleigh Colony on RoanokeIsland. On his return to England he reported on the Indians' farmingoperations in Eastern North Carolina. For tobacco he wrote in part"We ourselves, during the time we were there, used to sucke it aftertheir manner, as also since our returne, and have found many rare andwonderful experiments of the virtues thereof, of which the relationwould require a volume by itselfe: the use of it by so many, of late, men and women of great calling, as els, and some physicians also, issufficient witnesse. " Raleigh later made a voyage to the Island of Trinidad and the OrinocoRiver in South America from whence had come the most desirable sorts. Spain and Portugal monopolized the European tobacco trade with thesemild varieties since the tobacco grown by the Virginia Indians had asharp, biting taste. Plantings of these better sorts were made inEngland. A violent controversy was soon raging. King James I whodetested Raleigh and all his activities, issued a _Counter Blaste_against tobacco. This was a most bitter tirade as the followingquotation shows: A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless. Since the days of King James, millions of words have been writtencondemning the use of the "tawny weed. " The opposition of King James to tobacco led to the imposition oftaxes on its import into England: that from Spain and Portugal was 2da pound; that from Virginia 6s. 10d. In spite of all this array ofevidence as to the detrimental effects of tobacco on the human bodyits consumption has steadily increased and spread over the entireworld. Colossal fortunes have been made in its processing and trade. No product of the soil with the exception of grains used in themanufacture of alcoholic beverages has ever returned such bounteousrevenues to the United States government. In the fiscal year endingJune 30, 1954 there was paid into the treasury of the United States, the gigantic sum of $1, 580, 299, 000 from taxes on various tobaccoproducts. Of this vast total, Virginia tobacco manufacturers thatyear contributed 356, 867, 000 dollars. Municipal and other local taxesare not included in these figures. Tobacco culture in America was a highly profitable enterprise forEngland. The colonists produced and sold the raw product. Very littletobacco is used in the raw state. Before tobacco is ready for themarket it must be processed into the various forms demanded by thetrade. It was estimated that one man engaged in tobacco growing inVirginia kept three Englishmen employed, that is, sailors engaged intransportation, processors and tradesmen. The English government alsoderived considerable revenue on the surplus tobacco products resoldon the European market. TOBACCO BECAME MONEY One of the needs of the colony was a medium of exchange: somethingthat could be used for money. As the balance of trade was heavily infavor of the Mother Country, there was no opportunity for anaccumulation of English money in America. So tobacco becameacceptable for goods, services, and the payment of debts. Salarieswere fixed in pounds of tobacco. FLUCTUATING PRICES The value placed on tobacco in England varied with the supply anddemand. With the introduction of Negroes in 1619, and the greatlyincreased immigration from England, the acreage devoted to theculture of tobacco expanded rapidly. The first serious effects ofover-production occurred in 1630, when the price fell from threeshillings, six pence to one penny a pound. This calamity proved to bea blessing in disguise. The next year, a boat of "18 tons burden, "loaded with corn and tobacco disposed of its cargo at Salem, Massachusetts, then but recently settled. The corn brought sixshillings a bushel. This started a brisk trade and a Dutch ship, in1632, took 2, 000 bushels of corn from Virginia to New England. In1633, it was estimated that 10, 000 bushels of corn from Virginia weresold in Massachusetts besides a number of beef cattle, goats, andhogs. In spite of the ruinously low prices which sometimes prevailed, the amount of tobacco shipped overseas continued to increase. In1639, 1, 500, 000 pounds were exported from Virginia alone. GROWTH OF THE COLONY Captain John Smith summarized the condition of the colony in 1629 inthese words: Master Hutchins saith, they have 2, 000 cattle, and about 5, 000 people; but Master Floud, John Davis, William Emerson, and divers others, say about five thousand people, and five thousand kine, calves, oxen, and bulls; for goats, hogs, and poultry; corne, fish, deere, and many sorts of other wild beasts; and fowle in their season, they have so much more than they spend, they are able to feed three or foure hundred men more than they have. Starving times as a rule were over. Periods of short rations occurredinfrequently and then only in times of disaster such as the aftermathof the Indian massacre of 1622 or when the planters became soengrossed in growing tobacco that they neglected to plant maize orother grains. Each succeeding crop was new wealth, something that hadnot existed before. Gradually, harvest after harvest, the colonistswere able to add to their possessions additional tools and equipment. He was a shiftless man indeed who could not provide ample food forhis own needs. The history of Virginia during colonial times wasintimately connected with the tobacco crop. The general welfare ofthe people rose and fell with the value placed on the leaf inEngland. EFFORTS TO SUSTAIN HIGHER PRICES With the over supply of tobacco the English market became extremelydiscriminating in regard to the quality of the leaf it wouldpurchase. The colonial government from time to time resorted tolegislative expedients to prevent the shipment of inferior grades. Governor Wyatt, in 1621 ordered that "for every head they shouldplant but 1, 000 plants of tobacco and upon each plant nine leaves. "John Rolfe also stated, in 1619, that, "An industrious man nototherwaies imploied may well tend foure akers of corne, and 1, 000plants of tobacco. " A thousand plants would give each worker about112 pounds of tobacco a year. In 1628, an inspection law was enactedand in 1640, it was ordered that all bad tobacco and half the goodshould be destroyed. Governor Berkeley, in 1664, made several ineffectual attempts to formagreements, with the planters of Maryland and North Carolina, torestrict the production of tobacco. The planters of each colony werewilling for those of the other to stop planting, or to destroy asmuch tobacco as they pleased; but looking to their own selfishinterests they would increase rather than decrease their crop. TheVirginia General Assembly, in 1666, prohibited all culture of tobaccobut the Maryland authorities complained that the law was ignored bythe Virginia planters. The Virginia colonists developed a keen rivalry among themselves inefforts to improve the quality of the leaf grown. Reverend JohnClayton, in 1688, says: "For there is not only two distinct sorts ofsweet-scented and Aranoko tobacco but of these be several sorts, muchdifferent, the seeds whereof are known by distinct names, of thosegentlemen most famed for such sort of tobacco, as of prior seed etc. " The Aranoko, probably from the Orinoco river region in South America, was grown on the heavy clay soils. The product was a strong tobaccothat was most in demand in Germany and other North Europeancountries. The sweet-scented was grown on the lighter sandy soils andalthough the yield was less it brought a better price on the market. Hugh Jones, in his _Present State of Virginia_, in 1724, mentions oneof the many localities in Virginia which became noted for aparticular variety of tobacco grown there. To quote: "For on YorkRiver in a small tract of land called Digges Neck, which is poorerthan a great deal of other land in the same latitude, by a particularseed and management, is made the famous crop known by the name of EDees, remarkable for its mild taste and fine smell. " Topping the growing tobacco plants was a practice originated by thecolonists. The main purpose was to limit the production to the largelower leaves and to do away with the small immature leaves at the topof the stem. The General Assembly often specified the number ofleaves which could be left; the number, varying with the value placedon the leaf in England, ranged usually from six to nine. Tobacco is a soil exhausting crop. The Jamestown planters soonlearned that continuous crops of tobacco, on the same land, soonreduced both the quantity and quality of the leaf. The only resourceleft to the tobacco farmers was to clear new fields. The morewell-to-do planters began to seek favorable locations of unclearedland. The depleted fields were abandoned and the task of restoringtheir productivity was usually left to nature. Much of the besttobacco soils of Virginia have been cropped and then allowed to goback to brush and tress and again cleared several times. Finding theremains of old tobacco rows out in dense woods is not an uncommonexperience. This exhaustion of tobacco lands had a beneficialinfluence on the agricultural development of Virginia. By the timethe fields were abandoned, most of the stumps had decayed and thesoil could be prepared for seeding to other crops with plow andharrows. It was found that these depleted fields were still capableof producing satisfactory crops of grain. Many of the colonists whowere not financially able to clear new grounds could often buy orrent these abandoned fields for a nominal price. CROPS OTHER THAN TOBACCO While tobacco played a very important part in building a prosperouscolony at Jamestown, there were several other staples that alsocontributed to this result. Of prime importance should be rated maizeor Indian Corn. Maize saved the colony from starvation on severaloccasions. Maize became an export commodity to the New England andWest Indian colonies when the price for tobacco fell below the costof transportation to Europe. Maize aided the colonists in theproduction of valuable livestock products. This crop has done more topromote the wealth and welfare of this country than all the naturalresources, water-power, and forests put together. In order toincrease the production of grain in 1623, the General Assemblyordered: "For the encouragement of men to plant store of corne, theprise shall not be stinted but it shall be free for every man to sellit as deere as he can. " This law had a wholesome effect. It soincreased the production of maize that seven years later as hasalready been noted, the colonists had a surplus of this product toexport to New England. This is perhaps the first law passed inAmerica for the direct benefit of the producers. It stands out instrong contrast to some legislative enactments. There were many othergrain laws put on the statute books but the majority of them eitherfixed the maximum price for which the grain could be sold or elseprohibited its exportation. The authorities in England werecontinually clamoring for products to supplement the tobacco exports. Until 1685, each succeeding Governor as he sailed to Virginia wasinstructed to "use every means in his power to encourage theproduction of silk, wine, hemp, flax, pitch and potashes. " The reasonfor finally omitting this clause is interesting. The King wasconcerned about the revenue the government was deriving from tobaccoand did not wish for the colonists to engage in any enterprise thatmight diminish the volume of leaf that was coming to England. Theomission of this clause marked a new era in the relation of thecolony to the Mother Country. During the sixty years the clause wasin force, several Governors, notably Wyatt, Harvey and Berkeley, hadtried to comply with the wishes of the authorities in England, withextremely meager results to show for their efforts. SILK CULTURE There is very little justification for including silk culture as anenterprise in the agricultural history of the Jamestown Colony. Itwas one product that was usually placed first in recommendations ofthe authorities who sponsored the settlement of Virginia. In keeping with the improved status of the social and economic lifeof England, in the latter years of the sixteenth century, came adesire for finer and more lustrous fabrics in their articles ofdress. Serges and tweeds, woven from the fleeces of theircoarse-wooled sheep, no longer satisfied the fastidious tastes of theruling aristocracy. Even calicos from far-away Calcutta were esteemedfit for royal inaugural gowns. Silk was the last word in luxuriousgarb. Silkworms had been reared in the Orient from ancient times. Thesemoths had been domesticated for so many years they had become fullydependent on human aid for existence. They could crawl but could notfly. While silk brought fabulous prices on the world's market therewere numerous reasons why its culture never succeeded in America. Thehandling of the creeping, crawling, ill-smelling worms wasobjectionable to anyone not accustomed from childhood to the task. Old people and young girls who were the ones employed in rearingsilkworms in the Orient received the equivalent of a few cents a dayfor their labor. Such cheap help was not available in Virginia. Perhaps, the most serious objection of all was the lack of a suitablefood supply for the worms. A silkworm from the time it hatches fromthe egg till it spins its cocoon devours a mass of green forage. Leaves of the mulberry tree are its favorite diet. In fact, without asupply of mulberry trees, successful silk culture is out of thequestion. Growing a crop of trees had to precede the rearing ofworms. This took several years. Nevertheless, the directions of theLondon Company urged in season and out that the colonists shouldproduce silk. Governor Wyatt, in 1621, was instructed: "Not to permit any, but thecouncil and heads of hundreds, to wear gold in the clothes, or towear silk till they make it themselves. " Nothing came from thisorder. In 1656, the agitation for silk became so intense, the GeneralAssembly was forced to take action. First, an experienced silkgrower, an Armenian by the name of George, was sent to the colony, and the General Assembly was ordered to give him four thousand poundsof tobacco to keep him in the country. Another law, passed that year, ordered that each planter set out ten mulberry trees for each onehundred acres of land he owned. These trees were to be fenced, toprotect them from horses and cattle, and to be kept weeded. This lawwas repealed, two years later, as it "seems rather troublesome andburthensome than any waies advantageous to the country. " The law wasre-enacted in 1661 but given a three years delay as it was impossibleto get mulberry trees. The General Assembly, in 1657, voted a bountyof 5000 pounds of tobacco to any planter producing 100 pounds ofwound silk. There were no claimants. Two years later, the bounty wasincreased to 10, 000 pounds of tobacco and the amount of silk requiredwas reduced to 50 pounds. Again the results were negative. Then abounty of fifty pounds of tobacco for each pound of silk was ordered. The effects from all these orders are summed up in an act of theGeneral Assembly in 1663 which reads: George, the Armenian, having proved the making of ten pounds of wound silk, it is ordered there be paid him for his encouragement in the levy according to act. It is assumed that George received 500 pounds of tobacco. What becameof the silk is not recorded. A few years later the price per pound ofwound silk was fixed by the General Assembly at 20 shillings or twohundred pounds of tobacco. HEMP AND FLAX Two plants, the culture of which was strongly urged by the Englishauthorities, were hemp and flax. In this case, greater success wasrealized than occurred with most of the demands that came from acrossthe ocean. It had been ordered in 1658, by the General Assembly:"That what person or persons, soever, shall at any time hereaftermake, in this colonie, so much silke, flax, hopps or any other staplecommodities (except tobacco) as is worth two hundred pounds sterling, or English wheate to the value of five hundred pounds stirling in oneyeare, and exporte the same or cause the same to be exported, orshall first make two tunne of wine raized out of a vineyard made inthis collonie, shall have given him by this country, for anencouragement, ten thousand pounds of Virginia tobacco. " Apparently no one qualified for the bounty on flax for, in 1661, provision was made for importing some flax seed from England. Noprice was fixed, in 1666, on "flax by reason of the uncertainty ofthe quality. " In 1682, bounties were offered: "For every peck of flaxseeds, four and twentie pounds of tobacco, and for every peck of hempseed twenty pounds of tobacco. " Bounties were also offered for hempand flax woven into cloth. It was also ordered that every tithableperson should produce one pound of dressed hemp and one pound ofdressed flax or two pounds of either annually. From that time onconsiderable hemp and flax were raised in Virginia, but most of thecrop was used at home. Linen cloth was highly prized. There was alsoa demand for cordage made of hemp fibers for ships. ENGLISH GRAIN As already noted, the initial attempts of the colonists to grow thegrains with which they had been accustomed in England came to naught. They were familiar with wheat, rye, barley and oats. To makesatisfactory yields, these grains had to be broadcasted on wellprepared seed beds. Newly cleared forests left the soil full ofstumps and roots. The wooden plows of those days were useless onthese newly cleared lands. Preparation of the soil, for tobacco ormaize, could be accomplished with a hand hoe or shovel. These plantsrequired space in which to develop their full growth. A tobacco plantcould be set or a hill of corn planted wherever a little loose dirtcould be found. Some English grains were seeded in the cleared landnear Hampton and Newport News but these old fields, abandoned by theIndians, were also near to exhaustion. An "indifferent crop" wasreported. In 1627, Abraham Piersey had 200 acres each in wheat and barley. From these crops he was able to furnish food daily to sixty persons. How much of this seeding was on land that had been abandoned fortobacco, or was old Indian fields, is not stated. When DeVriesvisited Virginia in 1643, he found the planters putting down, inEnglish grain, lands which had been exhausted by successive crops oftobacco. The General Assembly had ruled in 1639, that corn (probablywheat and maize) could be exported whenever the price fell belowtwelve shillings a bushel. Large exports of this valuable cereal werethen being made to the near-by colonies of Maryland, Manhattan, Carolina and the West Indies. It was estimated by Edward Williams, in 1650, that two able-bodiedlaborers could seed sixty acres in wheat in the course of one seasonand reap the grain when it was ripe. The yield from such an area hada market value of four hundred and eighty pounds sterling. It wasreported that these fields which no longer produced the best gradesof tobacco were better for wheat than newly cleared land. As theseexhausted fields could be rented or purchased at moderate costcompared with prime tobacco new ground, many poorly financedcolonists were able to get a start towards prosperity withoutresorting to the almost universal practice of growing tobacco. LIVESTOCK As already shown, the domestic animals brought to the Colony, in thefirst few years of its settlement, were turned out in the woods tofend for themselves. The original breeding stocks were of ordinaryquality and the lack of care given them contributed to theirinferiority. Predatory animals such as wolves, bears, panthers andwild cats exacted a heavy annual toll of young animals. Until Governor Dale constructed his miles of picket fences there wasnothing to keep the animals from wandering up into the highlandswhere the colonists did not dare to venture. In spite of thehandicaps all classes of domestic animals increased in numbers whennot slaughtered for food. This was especially true of swine. [Illustration: 1 _Hoscyamin Perimianus. _ Tabaco or Henbane of Peru. 2 _Sana Sancta Indorum. _ Tabaco of Trinidada. Two varieties of tobacco as pictured by Gerard in 1597. The seeds ofthese two varieties were taken to Virginia by the JamestownSettlers. ] [Illustration: Photo by Thomas L. Williams Trenching Implements, Seventeenth Century] [Illustration: Thomas L. Williams, Photo Seventeenth Century Plows] SWINE Hogs contributed more to the material welfare of the Jamestown Colonythan historians have generally recognized. Hogs have many advantagesover other breeds of livestock. They multiply much faster than anyother domestic animal except poultry. They make faster gains anddouble the weight for the food consumed than do cattle, sheep orgoats. When slaughtered, hogs dress out about 75 percent edible meat, as compared with 55 to 60 percent for cattle. When given wide openrange in humid climates such as prevailed in the Tidewater, they dofairly well without other feed than what they can find forthemselves. In summer, at Jamestown, they obtained most of their living in thenumerous fresh-water swamps. Tuckahoe, a flag-like swamp plant, withan enormous root system, was their favorite hot weather forage. Theroots of tuckahoe, often as large as a man's arm, contain acrystalline acid that burns the mouth of a human being like fire. After a few trials, hogs seem to relish it. While tuckahoe is not afattening feed, hogs eating it make satisfactory gains in weight. In the fall when the acorns and nuts ripened, the hogs put on weightat a rapid pace. The woods were stocked with oak, hickory, chestnut, beech, chinquapin, and persimmon trees and shrubs, the fruits ofwhich were all grouped under the general term _mast_. There is onedifference between pork produced from grain-fed hogs and thosefattened on mast. The lard of the latter group melts at a temperatureof about ten degrees below that of those fed corn. To the connoisseurof well cured hams and bacon this low melting point is not adetriment but a distinct improvement. The colonists adapted the Indian practice of using smoke to aid inthe curing of meat. The natives built platforms of poles supported byposts about six feet from the ground. The meat to be cured was saltedand spread on these poles. A small fire was built underneath tofurnish the smoke. This arrangement was called by the Taino Indians, a _barbacoa_ from which we get the English equivalent, _barbecue_. By 1636, hogs, sheep and goats had increased in such numbers thatships coming to Jamestown could supply their needs for meat from thecolony's surplus. This was advantageous to shipmasters and furnisheda market for a product of a growing industry in the colony. Prior tothat time ships coming to America from Europe had to take on foodstuffs for the round trip. Another benefit accrued to the colony. The combined curing process ofsalt and smoke imparts a delicious flavor to hams and bacon that hasnever been excelled by any other method. This applies especially tomeat from hogs fattened on mast or peanuts. Virginia hams and bacon soon became noted for their excellence allover the world. The fame of these products has never waned. Unfortunately, most hotels and restaurants in the United State nowuse the term "Virginia ham" on their menus to designate this sort ofmeat regardless of its origin or cure. New England ships, plying acoastwise traffic with the Caribbean countries, frequently stopped inJamestown for cargoes of salted meats. This trade was especiallydesirable during times when the price of tobacco fell to ruinouslevels. Most of the hogs ran wild. Some planters marked their animalsby ear-cuts, and then could claim an entire drove, if they had anumber of their branded hogs in it. CATTLE Neat animals were kept near Jamestown in the early years, but they, like the swine, had to gather their own living. A few were trainedfor draft purposes. In new grounds where stumps and roots prevail, oxen are more useful than horses. They do not get in a panic whenobstacles interfere. Then too, they can be slaughtered for beef whenthey become too old for work. During the period under study, cattle, in Virginia, often brought good prices. Many were purchased by theNew England colonists as it was cheaper to buy animals, in America, than to go to the expense and loss of animals by shipping them acrossthe ocean. There was a market for oxen in the Caribbean region, where they wereused for power, in the sugar mills. In the first thirty years, some of the cattle went wild in the backcountry, but many of the cows were kept in the vicinity of theJamestown headquarters. While not notable as dairy cows, theyproduced enough milk so that Virginia gained a reputation among shipcrews for its excellent butter and cheese. In 1649 it was estimatedthat there were twenty thousand cattle in the Colony. GOATS AND SHEEP Flocks of goats and sheep became noticeable to visitors about themiddle of the century. Many were brought to Virginia. In the earlyyears the numbers killed by wolves made them unprofitable. Heavybounties paid for wolf heads eventually reduced the depredations ofthis predator until sheep and goats were fairly safe. As producers ofmeat and wool for clothing sheep contributed to the general welfareof the colony. By 1649, the number of sheep was estimated at threethousand; and of goats at five thousand. HORSES Of all the domestic animals brought from England to Jamestown in theearly days of the settlement, the most expensive to transport and themost useless after they arrived in Virginia were horses. The estimateof the number in the Colony in 1649 is 200. There was no purpose forthem to serve. The fragile wooden plows of the seventeenth centurywere of no use among the stumps and roots in newly cleared forestlands. Horses were of no value for transportation as there were noroads through the forests or bridges over the rivers. They were oflittle use as beasts of burden as there were few burdens to carry. Ahorse was no match for an able-bodied man on Indian trails throughtimbered country. As late as 1671, the Batts and Fallam expedition, consisting of five white men and seven Indians, who were thediscoverers of New River, had horses for the white men when they leftPetersburg. All of these animals were dead before they reached themountains. The colonists did all they could afford to do with the horses broughtto them and that was to turn them loose to shift for themselves. In avery few years there was a band of wild horses roaming the woods inthe back country. Eventually these wild horses provided a great dealof recreation for the younger planters. Capturing and breaking to thesaddle wild horses became a popular sport. As soon as a horse wascaught and accustomed to a rider the most natural thing was to try itfor speed. Horse-racing began with local contests but developed into a majorsport. King Charles II is credited with having imported Turk andArabian horses to England. Some of this blooded stock may have beenshipped to Jamestown. At any rate Virginia saddle-horses at an earlydate began to attract attention because of their speed. Two other colonies, Rhode Island and New York were famous for theirfast horses. Racing became an inter-colonial sport. The first regularrace course was the New Market on Hempstead Plains, Long Island. There the fleetest horses of Long Island were brought together tosettle all arguments by actual trial. This famous race course wasdescribed in 1670 by a contemporary, Daniel Denton: "Toward themiddle of Long Island lyeth a plain sixteen miles long and fourbroad, upon which plain grows very fine grass, that makes exceedinggood hay, and is very good pasture for sheep or other cattel; whereyou shall find neither stick nor stone to hinder the horse heels orendanger them in their races, and once a year the best horses in theisland are brought hither to try their swiftness, and the swiftestrewarded with a silver cup, two being annually procured for thatpurpose. " Horse-racing became of economic importance to these colonies. Thesugar planters, in the Caribbean region, also became interested inthis "sport of kings" and sent agents to buy the fastest horses theycould find. High prices were sometimes paid for prize winninganimals. Governor Francis Nicholson in 1690, "gave prizes to those that shouldexcell in riding, running, wrestling and cudgeling. " Of these sports, riding became by far the most popular. Interest in horse-racing, fox-chasing, steeple-chasing, and riding tournaments has neverentirely died out in Virginia. CONCLUSION A great deal has been written about the events that occurred duringthe ninety-two years that elapsed, from the settlement of the colonyon Jamestown Island, and the change of capital site to Williamsburg. Judging from the recorded observations of visitors during thatperiod, no great difference in the general appearance of thelandscape had taken place. It still looked very much like awilderness. Much forest land had been cleared, farmed for a fewyears, and then turned back to nature. The mammoth trees with scantyundergrowth, that the firstcomers found, had been replaced with aluxuriant second or third growth. If the top-soil is not eroded awaya new forest can be produced in Virginia in thirty or forty years. One of the most noticeable improvements was in the dwelling houses. Substantial brick and frame buildings had replaced the hurriedlyconstructed shacks of the early days. The accumulated wealth from the surplus products resulting from theirfarming activities was reflected in their flocks and herds of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and poultry. Dire famine no longerstared them in face. Through insistence that only the best qualityproducts should be shipped abroad, favorable trade relations had beenestablished in the commerce of the world. Perhaps the greatest achievement of all was the creation of the farmhome where a family could own, in fee simple, the land they tilled, live in peace, and enjoy the fruits of their own labor. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Beverley, Robert. _History of Virginia_ . . . Reprinted from theauthor's 2nd. Rev. Ed. , London, 1722. Richmond, Virginia, 1855. 2. Brown, Alexander. _The Genesis of the United States. _ Boston andNew York, 1890. 2 Vols. 3. Bruce, P. A. _Economic History of Virginia in the SeventeenthCentury. _ New York, 1895. 2 Vols. 4. Bullock, William. _Virginia Impartially Examined_ . . . London, 1649. 5. Campbell, Charles. _History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion ofVirginia_ . . . Philadelphia, 1860. 6. Clayton, Rev. John. _A letter_ . . . May 12, 1688. _Giving anAccount of Several Observables in Virginia_ . . . Reprint in Force, Peter. Tracts . . . Washington, 1836-46. Vol. 3. 7. Devries, David Peterson. _Voyages from Holland to America. _ NewYork, 1853. 8. Force, Peter. _Tracts and Other Papers_, Relating Principally tothe Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies of NorthAmerica. Washington. 4 Vols. Gray, Lewis C. History of Agriculture in the Southern United Statesto 1860. Washington, D. C. 2 Vols. 9. Hakluyt, Richard. _Collection of Early Voyages, Travels andDiscoveries of the English Nation. _ London, 1809-12. 5 Vols. AlsoEdinburgh, 1885-90. 16 Vols. 10. Hamor, Ralph. _A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia_. . . London, 1615. Albany, J. Munsell, 1860. 11. Hariot, Thomas. _Narrative of the First English Plantation ofVirginia. _ London, 1588. Reproduced after DeBry's illustrated editionprinted in Frankfort in 1590, the illustrations having been designedin Virginia in 1585 by John White. London, B. Quaritch, 1893. 12. Hening, W. W. _Virginia Statutes at Large_, 1619-1792. 13 Vols. 13. Jefferson, Thomas. _Notes on the State of Virginia. _. Richmond, J. W. Randolph, 1853. 14. Purchas, Samuel. _Purchas his Pilgrims. _ London, 1626. 5 Vols. 15. Smith, Captain John. _Works. _ Edited by Arber, 1884. AlsoEdinburgh 1910. 2 Vols. 16. Spotswood, Alexander. _Official Letters_, 1710-1722. Ed. By R. A. Brock. Virginia Historical Society Collections. Richmond, 1882-85. 2Vols. 17. Strachey, William. _The Historie of Travaile Into VirginiaBritannia_ . . . London. Printed for the Hakluyt Society, 1849. 18. Swem, E. G. _Virginia Historical Index. _ Roanoke, Virginia. 1934-36. 2 Vols. 19. _Virginia Company of London. Abstract of the Proceedings of theCompany_ . . . 1619-1624. By Conway Robinson. Edited by R. A. Brock. Virginia Historical Society, 1888-89. 20. _Virginia Truly Valued. _ In Force's Tracts, Vol. 3. APPENDIX I A PLOWMAN'S DAY This is an extract from Markham's _Farewell to Husbandry, or theEnriching of all Sorts of barren and Steril grounds in our Kingdome_, a well-known book on farming as carried on in England in the earlyyears of the 17th century; it is presented here in order to show whatthe daily tasks of a farmer were at that time, and what might beexpected, according to this standard, of a settler coming toVirginia. The author, Gervase Markham, issued several editions of thework. This extract is from the fourth edition, printed in 1638, ofwhich a title-page is reproduced in this booklet, from the copy inthe William and Mary College Library. Markham's book has anadditional interest, for the reason that in the supplies sent by ship_Supply_ in 1620 to Berkeley Hundred, a copy of the current editionwas included. Having thus generally runne over (in a short computation) the labours of the husbandman, I will now briefly as I can, goe over the particular daies labours of a farmer or plowman, shewing the particular expence of every houre of the day, from his first rising, till his going to bed, as thus for example: We will suppose it to be after Christmas, and about plow-day (which is the first letting out of the plough) and at what time men either begin to fallow, or to break up pease earth, which is to lie to bait, according to the custome of the country; at this time the plough-man shall rise before foure of the clocke in the morning, and after thankes given to God for his rest, and the successe of his labours he shall go into his stable, or beaste-house, and first he shall fodder his cattell, then cleanse the house, and make the booths cleane, rub downe the cattell, and cleanse their skins of all filth, then he shall curry his horses, rub them with clothes and wisps, and make both them and the stable as cleane as may be, then he shall water both his oxen and horses, and housing them againe, give them more fodder, and to his horse by all meanes provender, as chaffe and dry pease or beanes, or oat-hulls, pease or beanes or cleane oates, or clean garbage (which is the hinder ends of any kinde of graine but rye) with the straw chop'd small amongst it, according as the ability of the husbandman is. And whilst they are eating their meat, he shall make ready his collars, hames, treats, halters, mullens, and plough-geares, seeing everything fit, and in his due place, and to these labours I will also allow full two houres, that is, from foure of the clocke till sixe, then hee shall come in to breakfast, and to that I allow him halfe an houre; and then another halfe houre to the gearing and yoaking of his cattell, so that at seven of the clocke hee may set forward to his labour, and then he shall plow from seven of the clock in the morning, till betwixt two and three in the afternoone, then he shall unyoke, and bring home his cattell, and having rubb'd them, drest them, and cleansed away all durt and filth, he shall fodder them, and give them meate, then shall the servants goe in to their dinner, which allowed halfe an houre; it will then be towards foure of the clocke, at what time hee shall goe to his cattell againe, and rubbing them downe, and cleansing their stalls, give them more fodder, which done, he shall go into the barnes, and provide and make ready fodder of all kinds for the next day, whether it be hay, straw, or blend fodder, according to the ability of the husbandman: this being done, and carried into the stable, oxe-house, or other convenient place, he shall then goe water his cattell, and give them more meate, and to his horse provender, as before shewed; and by this time it will draw past sixe of the clocke, at which time he shall come in to supper, and after supper, he shall either by the fire side, mend shooes both for himselfe and their family, or beat and knock hemp, or flaxe, or picke and stampe apples, or crabs for cider or verdjuce, or else grind malt on the quernes, picke candle rushes, or do some husbandly office within dores, till it be full eight a clocke: then shall he take his lanthorne and candle, and goe to his cattell, and having cleansed the stalls and plankes, litter them downe, looke that they be safely tied, and then fodder and give them meate for all night, then giving God thankes for benefits received that day, let him and the whole household goe to their rest till the next morning. [Illustration: MARKHAMS Farewell to HVSBANDRY; OR, The Enriching of all sorts of Barren and Steril grounds in ourKingdome, to be as fruitfull in all manner of Graine, Pulse, andGrasse, as the best grounds whatsoever. Together with the annoyances, and preservation of all Graine andSeed, from one yeare to many yeares. As also a Husbandly computation of men and Cattels daily labours, their expeences, charges, and utmost profits. The fourth time, revised, corrected, and amended, together with manynew Additions, and cheape experiments: For the bettering of arable Pasture, and wooddy Grounds. Of makinggood all grounds againe, spoiled with overflowing of salt water bySea-breaches: as also, the Enriching of the Hop-garden; and manyother things never published before. _LONDON_, Printed by EDVVARD GRIFFIN for IOHN HARISON, at the signeof the golden Vnicorne in Pater-noster-row. 1638. Photo by Thomas L. Williams] Now it may be intended, that there may be in the houshold more servants than one; and so you will demand of mee, what the rest of the servants shall be imployed in before and after the time of plowing: to this I answer, that they may either goe into the barne and thrash, fill or empty the maltfat, load and unload the kilne, or any other good and necessary work that is about the yard, and after they come from plowing, some may goe into the barne and thrash, some hedge, ditch, stop gaps in broken fences, dig in the orchard or garden, or any other out-worke which is needfull to be done, and which about the husbandman is never wanting, especially one must have a care every night to looke to the mending or sharpening of the plough-irons, and the repairing of the plough and plough-geares, if any be out of order, for to deferre them till the morrow, were the losse of a daies worke, and an ill point of husbandry. APPENDIX II THE TRANSPORT OF GRAIN In the early years at Jamestown, much grain was shipped from Englandfor the use of the colonists. The extract, which follows, is fromMarkham's _Farewell to Husbandry_, 4th edition, 1638. The term "corn"as used by Markham does not mean maize (Indian corn), but wheat, barley, rye, or oats. And first for transportation of graine by sea, it is two waies to be done, as either in great quantities for trade and the victuallyng of other nations, or in smaller quantity for victualling the men in the ship, prepared for a long and tedious voyage. For the transporting of graine for trade in great quantities, it is to be intended the voyage is seldom long, but from neighbor to neighbor, and therefore commonly they make close decks in the ships to receive the graine, faire and even boorded, yet if such decks be matted and lined both under and on each side, it is much the better, and this matting would be strong and thinne; there bee some which make the decks only of mats, and sure it is sweet, but not so strong as the boord, therefore the best way of transportation is to have strong boorded deckes well matted, and then spreading the corne of a reasonable thicknesse, to cover it with matting againe, and then to lay corne on it againe, and then mats againe, that betweene every reasonable thicknesse of graine a mat may lie, the profit whereof is, that when the corne with his owne heate and the working of the sea shall beginne to sweate, which sweat for want of aire to drie it up, would turne to putrifaction, then the mats thus lying betweene, will not only exhale and sucke up the sweate, but also keep the corne so coole and dry, that no imperfection shall come unto it: and here is to be noted, that these mats should rather be made of dry white bents, than of flagges and bulrush, for the bent is a firme, dry, crispe thing, and will not relent or sweat of it selfe, but the flag or bulrush is a spungy and soft substance which is never empty of his own and other moystures. Now for transporting of graine, for victualls for the ship, which is in much smaller quantity, because it is best for the private use of a few within the ship; the only best and safest way, is, to take salt-fish barrells, or any caske in which any salt-fish hath beene piled, as cod, herrings, salmon, sprats, or any other powdred [_i. E. _, _salted_] fish; and whilest the vessels are sweet, you shall calke them both, within and without, plaster [and] daubing them all over; then into them put your graine of what kinde soever it be, and head them up close, and then stow them in such convenient dry place of the ship, as you shall thinke fit; and questionlesse, if beliefe may be given to the worthiest authors, which hath writ in this kinde, you may thus keepe your graine sweet, sound and in full perfection from one yeere to an hundred and twenty yeers; but certainly daily experience shows us, that all kind of graine thus put up and kept, will remaine sound and sweet, three, foure, and as some say, seven yeeres, for so far hath lately been try'd; and what here I speake of [on] ship-boord, the like may be done in any town of war or garrison, whether besieged, or not besieged, or in any other place, where any necessity shall compell; the proofe of this manner of piling or putting up of graine, serveth as well for land as sea.