Miscellanea Curiosa, Vol. 3 · Royal Society
_SIR_,
Here it might be worthy an Enquiry into the Nature of Filtration of Plants, since we may hence gather, Particles of the Marine Salt are carried along with the _Succus Nutritius_ of the Plant; concerning which, if it were not too much to deviate from the Matter in hand, I should offer some Reflections of my own, which the Learned Society might perhaps improve: For I think thence might be made many happy Conjectures as to the Virtues of Plants. So where we see Plants, or Trees, of an open Pore growing low, we shall find their Juice has subtile Parts: So have all Vines, whether the Grape Vine, or Briony, or a Smilax, or the like. If a Gummous Plant or Tree, that grows low, and close Pored, it abounds with acid Spirits, as _Lignum Vitæ_, &c. if it grow tall, and be open Pored, it abounds with a subtile Volatile Spirit, as your Firs, and the Turpentine Tree.
But to insist no further herein, than as this may be applicable to the present Discourse: For I have observed, that that which is called Pine-wood Land, tho' it be a sandy Soil, even the Sweet-scented Tobacco that grows thereon, being large and porous, agreeable to Aranoko Tobacco; it smoaks as coarsely as Aranoko: Wherefore 'tis, that I believe the Microscope might make notable Discoveries towards the knowledge of good Tobacco: For the closer the Composition of the Leaf, the better the Tobacco; and therefore the Planters and Merchants brag of the Substance of their Tobacco; which word, did they always take it in a true Sence, for the Solidness, and not mistake it for the Thickness, it would be more consonant to a true Observation: for as I said of the Pine-wood Tobacco, some of it is thick and not Solid, and differs from the best Tobacco, as Buff does from Tann'd Leather; so that if the Tobacco be sound and not Rotten, you may give a great guess at the goodness of Tobacco, when you weigh the Hogsheads, before you see them: For if an equal care be taken in the packing of them the best Tobacco will weigh the heaviest, and Pack the closest.
Now I said, that the Sweet-scented Tobacco most in vogue, which was most fam'd for its Scent, was that that grew on sandy Land; which is true, if you would Smoak it whilst new, or whilst only two or three Years Old; but if you keep the stiff Land Tobacco, which is generally a Tobacco of great Substance five or six Years, it will much excel: For tho' the sandy Land Tobacco abound with a Volatile Nitre at first, yet the stiff Land Tobacco abounds with a greater quantity of Nitre, only that it is lock'd up in its Oyl at first, and requires more time to extricate it self, and become Volatile; but the Pine-wood Land having little of the Nitro-Sulphurious Particles, neither is, nor ever will make any thing of a rich Smoak. Discoursing hereof some days since, to a Gentleman of good Observation, that has been versed with Malting, he assured me, to back this my Supposition, or Hypothesis, he had observed, that Barly that grew on stiff Ground, requir'd more time considerably to Mellow, and come to perfection, than that that grew on light Land. Having proceeded thus far to speak of Tobacco, I shall add one or two things more.
The Planters differ in their Judgments about the Time of Planting, or Pitching their Crops: Some are for Pitching their Crops very early, others late, without any distinction of the Nature of the Soils; and 'tis from the different Effects that they find, in that, sometimes early, sometimes the late Planting succeeds: But they have not the Reason to judge of the Cause, to consider the Accidents of the Year, and the Difference of the Soils. In sandy Grounds they need not strive so much for early Planting, the Looseness of the Earth, and the kind natur'd Soil, yielding all that it can, easily and speedily, and Sand retaining the Heat, makes the Plants grow faster. But in stiff Soils, if the Crops be not early pitch'd, so that during the Season of Rains it have got considerable Roots, and shot them some depth, if early Droughts come, it so binds the Land, that the Roots never spread or shoot deeper, or further than the Hill that they are planted in: For they plant them as we do Cabbages, raising Hills to set every Plant in, about the bigness of a common Mole-hill: observing this on the Plantation where I lived, that it was stiff Ground, I advised them to Plant their Crops as early as possible; and in order thereunto, I tried several ways to further the Plants; but not to trouble you with the several Experiments that I made, in reference thereto: What I found most advantageous was, by taking an infusion of Horse-dung, and putting thereon Soot, and then my Seeds; this I kept Forty eight Hours in an ordinary digestive heat, I had two Beds left me to Sow, in the midst of those the People sow'd, and the quantity of Seed that they generally allotted to the same quantity of Ground; when I sow'd, I mix'd Ashes with the Seed, having decanted the Liquor, that the Seed might sow the evener: The effect was, that my Plants came up much sooner, grew swifter, and I had five Plants for one more than any of the other Beds bore; I left the Country shortly after, and so no certainty of the final Result.
There be had various Accidents and Distempers, whereunto Tobacco is liable, as the Worm, the Fly, Firing to Turn, as they call them, French-men, and the like. I propos'd several ways to kill the Worm and Fly, as by Sulphur and the like; but had no opportunity to experiment it: I shall set down that I had most hopes of, which perhaps may give a hint to others to try or improve. Tobacco-seed is very small, and by consequence so is the young Plant at first, that if gleamy Weather happen at that time, it breeds a small Fly, which consumes the Plume of the Plant; now it being early in the Year when they Sow the Seed, _viz._ about the fourteenth of _January_, they cover the Ground, to secure, as well as they can, their tender Plants, from the nipping Frosts, that may happen in the Nights; they cover them only with a few Oak-leaves, or the like; for Straw they find apt to Harbour and Breed this Fly: I therefore would advise them to smoak Straw with Brimstone, once in two or three Nights, and so they might cover them securely, with that which would preserve them infinitely beyond the Covering with Oak-boughs; indeed, I would advise them to keep peculiarly so much of their _Indian_ Corn-blades, which they gather for their Fodder, for this very purpose, being as I conceive, much the best, there being no Chaff to foul their Beds, and prejudice them when they should weed them.
What they call Firing is this: When Plants are of small Substance, as when there has been a very Wet and Cold Season, and very hot Weather suddainly ensues, the Leaves turn Brown, and dry to dust: the cause I conceive to be hence: The Plant being feeble, and having a small quantity of Oyl, which makes the more solid part of the Plant, the Earth being suddainly heated by the Sun's fiercer Beams, the Roots are rather scorch'd and dried up in the Earth, than nourish'd; so that the Plant consisting only of watry parts, is consumed, as it were, by Fire: sometimes hopeful Plants, when by a sudden Gust some Master Veins are broken, if suddain heat ensues, they likewise Fire: For being not come to maturity, and being deprived of the Supports of Life and Vegetation, they likewise perish, are dried up, and fall to dust. _French-men_ they call those Plants, whose leaves do not spread and grow large, but rather spire upwards, and grow tall; these Plants they do not tend, being not worthy their Labour.
Were they so Critical, I believe, they might have great Guess what Plants were most likely to turn _French-men_, by observing whether the Roots of the Plants run downwards, as those whose Branches are aptest to spire upwards: For tho' I have not made positive proof thereof, I have something more than bare fancy for my conjecture; I have pull'd up some of these _French-men_, and compar'd them with the Roots of some other Plants, and found them much longer than others; and 'tis observable, loose Soils, and sandy Ground, are more subject thereto than the stiff Land. The Country of it self is one entire Wood, consisting of large Timber Trees of several sorts, free from Thickets or under Wood, the small Shrubs growing only on Lands, that have been clear'd, or in Swamps; and thus it is for several Hundreds of Miles, even as far as has yet been discover'd. But that shall be reserv'd 'till another opportunity. _I am_, &c. _Mr. _John Clayton_, Rector of _Crofton_ at _Wakefield_, his Letter to the _Royal Society_, giving a farther Account of the Soil, and other Observables of _Virginia_._
I shall here present you with a continuation of my Remarks on the River, Soil, and Plants of _Virginia_. And first, as to the River on the other side the Mountains, said to Ebb and Flow. I have been assured by Col. _Bird_, who is one of the Intelligentest Gentlemen in all _Virginia_, and knows more of _Indian_ Affairs than any Man in the Country, that it was a Mistake; for that it must run into a Lake, now called _Lake Petite_, which is fresh Water; for since that time a Colony of the _French_ are come down from _Canada_, and have seated themselves on the back of _Virginia_, where _Fallam_ and the rest suppos'd there might be a Bay, but is a Lake, to which they have given the Name of _Lake Petite_, there being several larger Lakes 'twixt that and _Canada_. The _French_ possessing themselves of these Lakes, no doubt will in short time be absolute Masters of the Beaver Trade, the greatest number of Beavers being catch'd there. The Colonel told me likewise, that the common Notion of the Lake of _Canada_, he was assured was a Mistake, for the River supposed to come out of it, had no Communication with any of the Lakes, nor the Lakes one with another, but were distinct.
But not to ramble after hear-say, and other matters; but to return to the Parts of _Virginia_ inhabited by the _English_, which in general is a very Fertile Soil, far surpassing _England_, for there _English_ Wheat (as they call it, to distinguish it from _Maze_, commonly called _Virginia_ Wheat) yields generally 'twixt Fifteen and Thirty fold, the Ground only once plow'd; whereas 'tis a good Crop in _England_ that yields above Eight fold, after all their Toil and Labour. And yet in truth 'tis only the barrennest Parts that they have cultivated, Tilling and Planting only the High-Lands, leaving the Richer Vales unstirr'd, because they understand not any thing of Draining. So that the Richest Meadow-Lands, which is one third of the Country, is Boggy, Marsh, and Swamp, whereof they make little Advantage, but loose in them abundance of their Cattle, especially at the first of the Spring, when the Cattle are weak, and venture too far after young Grass. Whereas vast Improvements might be made thereof; for the generality of _Virginia_ is a Sandy Land with a shallow Soil. So that after they have cleared a fresh piece of Ground out of the Woods, it will not bear Tobacco past two or three Years, unless Cow-pen'd; for they Manure their Ground by keeping their Cattle, as in the South you do your Sheep, every Night confining them within Hurdles, which they remove when they have sufficiently dung'd one spot of Ground; but alas! they cannot Improve much thus, besides it produces a strong sort of Tobacco, in which the Smoakers say they can plainly taste the fulsomeness of the Dung. Therefore every three or four Years they must be for clearing a new piece of Ground out of Woods, which requires much Labour and Toil, it being so thick grown all over with Massy Timber.
Thus their Plantations run over vast Tracts of Ground, each ambitioning to engross as much as they can, that they may be sure to have enough to Plant, and for their Stocks and Herds of Cattel to Range and Feed in, that Plantations of 1000, 2000, or 3000 Acres are common, whereby the Country is thinly inhabited; their Living solitary and unsociable; Trading confused and dispersed; besides other Inconveniences: Whereas they might Improve 200 or 300 Acres to more Advantage, and would make the Country much more Healthy; for those that have 3000 Acres, have scarce cleared 600 Acres thereof, which is peculiarly term'd the Plantation, being surrounded with the 2400 Acres of Woods: so that there can be no free or even motion of the Air, but the Air is kept either stagnant, or the lofty Sulphurous Particles of the Air, that are higher than the tops of the Trees, which are above as high again as the generality of the Woods in _England_, descending when they pass over the cleared spots of Ground, must needs in the violent heat of Summer, raise a preternatural Ferment, and produce bad Effects.
Nor is it any advantage to their Stocks, or Crops; for did they but drain their Swamps, and Low-Lands, they have a very deep Soil, that would endure Planting twenty or thirty Years, and some would scarce ever be worn out, but be ever longer better, for they might lay them all Winter, or when they Pleased in Water, and the product of their Labour would be double or treble, whether Corn or Tobacco; and that this is no fond Projection, (though when I have discoursed the same to several, and in part shewn them how their particular Grounds might be drained at a very easie rate) they have either been so conceited of their old way, so sottish as not to apprehend, or so negligent as not to apply themselves thereto. But on the Plantation where I lived, I drained a good large Swamp, which fully answered expectation. The Gentlewoman where I lived, was a very Acute Ingenious Lady; who one day Discoursing the Overseer of her Servants, about pitching the ensuing Year's Crop.
The Overseer was naming one place where he designed to Plant 30000 Plants, another place for 15000, another for 10000, and so forth the whole Crop, designed to be about 100000 Plants: Having observed the Year before he had done the like, and scattered his Crop up and down the Plantation, at Places a Mile, or a Mile and a half asunder, which was very Inconvenient, and whereby they lost much time. I interposed, and asked, why they did not Plant all their Crop together? The Fellow smiled as it were at my Ignorance, and said, there was very good Reason for it. I replied, that was it I enquir'd after. He returned, the Plantation had been an old planted Plantation, and being but a small Plot of Ground, was almost worn out, so that they had not Ground altogether that would bring forth Tobacco. I told him then they had better Ground than ever yet they had planted, and more than their Hands could manage. He smil'd again, and asked me, where? I then named such a Swamp. He then said scornfully, he thought what a Planter I was; that I understood better how to make a Sermon, then managing Tobacco. I replied with some warmness, tho' I hoped so, that was Impertinence, and no Answer.
He then said, that the Tobacco there would drown, and the Roots rot. I replied, that the whole Country would drown if the Rivers were stopt, but it might be laid as dry as any Land on the Plantation. In short, we discoursed it very warmly, till he told me, he understood his own Business well enough, and did not desire to learn of me. But the Gentlewoman attended somewhat better to my Reasoning, and got me one day to go and shew her how I projected the draining of the Swamp, and thought it so feasible, that she was resolved to have it done; and therefore desir'd me I would again Discourse her Overseer, which I did several times, but he would by no means hearken thereto, and was so positive, that she was forc'd to turn him away, to have her Servants set about the Work; and with three Men in thirteen Days I drained the whole Swamp, it being Sandy Land, soaks and drains admirably well, and what I little expected, laid a Well dry at a considerable distance. The Gentlewoman was in _England_ last Year, and I think Dr. _Moulin_ was by when she asked me.
Now to teach her how she might make her Tobacco that grew in the Swamp less, for it produced so very large, that it was suspected to be of the _Aranoko_ kind: I told her, though the complaint was rare, yet there was an Excellent Remedy for that, in letting every Plant bear eight or nine Leaves instead of four or five, and she would have more Tobacco, and less Leaves. Now you must know they top their Tobacco, that is, take away the little top-bud, when the Plant has put forth as many Leaves as they think the Richness of the Ground will bring to a Substance; but generally when it has shot forth four or six Leaves. And when the top-bud is gone, it puts forth no more Leaves, but Side-branches, which they call Suckers, which they are careful ever to take away, that they may not empoverish the Leaves. I have been more tedious in the Particulars, the fullier to evince how resolute they are and conceitedly bent to follow their old Practice and Custom, rather than to receive Directions from others, tho' plain, easie, and advantageous.
There are many other Places as easie to drain as this, tho' of larger extent, and richer Soil, for some of which I have given directions, and have only had the return perhaps of a flout afterwards: Even in _James Town Island_, which is much what of an Oval Figure, there's a Swamp runs Diagonal-wise over the Island, whereby is lost at least 150 Acres of Land, which would be Meadow, which would turn to as good Account as if it were in _England_: Besides it is the great annoyance of the Town, and no doubt but makes it much more unhealthy. If therefore they but scour'd the Channel, and made a pretty ordinary Trench all along the middle of the Swamp, plac'd a Sluice at the Mouth, where it opens into the back Creek; for the Mouth of the Channel there is narrow, has a good hard bottom, and is not past two Yards deep when the Flood is out; as if Nature had designed it before hand: They might thus drain all the Swamp absolutely dry, or lay it under Water at their Pleasure. I have talked several times hereof to Mr. _Sherwood_, the owner of the Swamp, yet nothing is essayed in Order thereto. And now since we are speaking of _James Town_ give me leave to adjoin some Reflections as to the Situation and Fortifications of the Place. The Natural Situation of the place is such, as perhaps the World has not a more commodious Place for a Town, where all things conspire for Advantage thereof.
_James Town Island_ is rather a _Peninsula_, being joined to the Continent by a small Neck of Land, not past Twenty or Thirty Yards over, and which at Spring-Tides is overflow'd, and is then an absolute Island. Now they have built a silly sort of a Fort, that is, a Brick Wall in the shape of a Half-Moon, at the beginning of the Swamp, because the Channel of the River lies very nigh the Shoar; but it is the same as if a Fort were built at _Chelsey_ to secure _London_ from being taken by Shipping. Besides Ships passing up the River are secured from the Guns of the Fort, till they come directly over-against the Fort, by reason the Fort stands in a Vale, and all the Guns directed down the River, that should play on the Ships, as they are coming up the River, will lodge their Shot within Ten, Twenty, or Forty Yards in the rising Bank, which is much above the Level of the Fort; so that if a Ship gave but a good Broad-side, just when she comes to bear upon the Fort, she might put the Fort into that confusion, as to have free Passage enough. There was indeed an old Fort of Earth in the Town, being a sort of _Tetragone_, with something like Bastions at the four Corners, as I remember; but the Channel lying further off to the middle of the River there, they let it be demolished, and built that new one spoke of, of Brick, which seems little better than a blind Wall, to shoot Wild Ducks or Geese.
If they would build a Fort for the Security of the Town and Country, I conceive it should be on _Archer_'s _Hope Point_, for that would stop the Ships from passing up the River, before they came to the Town, and would secure the Town from being block'd up by Sea. The Channel at _Archer_'s _Hope Point_ lies close by the Shoar, and makes such an Angle there by reason of _Hog Island_, that going up or down the River, let the Wind be where it will, they must there bring the contrary Tack on Board, and generally when they About the Ship as they call it, they are so near the Shoar, that a Man may almost fling a Finger-stone on Board. How much this hinders the motion of a Ship, and what Confusion it must be to them to bring a contrary Tack on Board, whilst they have all the Guns of a Fort playing so nigh upon them, may readily be conceived. _Archer_'s _Hope_ is a Neck of Land, that runs down three Miles long, not much past half a Mile broad betwixt the Main River and _Archer_'s _Hope Creek_, which has large Marshes and Swamps; so that a Citadel built upon the Point, would almost be Impregnable, being it could be attack'd no way but one, which is so narrow a slender Neck of Land, that it would be difficult to take it that way: And it would secure _James Town_ from being block'd, being it would not be past a Mile by Water, to the Point of _James Town Island_. The Island is so surrounded with Water and Marshy Land, that the Town could never be Bomb'd by Land.
But now to return to the Reflections of Improving, and Manuring of Land in _Virginia_; hitherto, as I have said, they have used none but that of Cow-penning; yet I suppose they might find very good Marle in many places, I have seen both the red and blew Marle at some breaks of Hills: This would be the properest Manure for their Sandy Land, if they spread it not too thick, theirs being, as I have said, a shallow, Sandy Soil, which was the Reason I never advised any to use Lime, tho' they have very good Lime of Oyster-shells; but that's the properest Manure for cold Clay Land, and not for a Sandy Soil. But as most Lands have one Swamp or another bordering on them, they may certainly get admirable Slitch, wherewith to Manure all their uplands.
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.