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66

—the annual amount of cotton produced in North América was com-
paratively inconsiderable ; butsince that period, thereis probably nothing
recorded in the history of industry, including its manufacture. in this
country and Europe, that would compare with its subsequent increase,

In the Eastern hemisphere, the growth of cotton is principally restrict-
ed to the maritime countries lying between the 40th degree of north
Jatitude and a corresponding parallel south. On the easterly side of the
Western Continent, this plant will perfect its growth in most of the dis-
tricts adjacent to the tidal waters, including the regions bordering on
the Mississippi, the Amazon, and the Parana, between latitude 89
degrees north and-40 degrees south; and on the west coast of America,
between the 40th parallel north and a corresponding degree south.

The growth of this staple is chiefly confined to India, China, Japan,
Australia, Persia, Turkey, southern Europe, Arabia, Egypt, Algeria,
southern and western Africa, the southern section of the United States,
British Guiana, New Granada, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, the
West Indies, and numerous.other ocean isles.

According to Dr. Royle, who has recently investigated the subject,
the different varieties of cotton’ may be classed under four distinct
species, in the following manner:

1. Gossypium indicum, or herbacewm—the cotton plant of India, China,
Arabia, Persia, Asia Minor, and some parts of Africa.

2. Gossypium arboreum—a. tree cotton, indigenous to India.

8. Gossypium barbadense—the Mexican or West Indian cotton, of which
the Sea Island, New Orleans, and upland Georgia, are varieties. It
was long since introduced into the island of Bourbon, and thence into
India; hence it acquired the name of ‘Bourbon cotton.”

4, Gossypium peruvienum, or accuminatum—which yields the Per-
nambuco, Peruvian, Maranham, and Brazilian cotton, especially dis-
tinguished by its black seeds, which adhere firmly together. ‘This
variety has long since been introduced into India.

The chief varieties cultivated in the United States are the black seed,
or Sea Island, (G. arboreum,) known, also, by the name of “long-
staple,” ftom its fine, white, silky appearance and long fibres; the
green seed, (G. herbaceum,) called “ short staple,” from its shorter, white
staple, with green seeds, and commercially mown by the name of
* upland cotton;” and two kinds of Nankin or yellow, (G. barbadense,
the Mexican and Petit gulf. The average yield is about five hundr
pounds per acre.

The earliest record of sending cotton from this country to Europe is
in the table of exports from Charleston, in 1747~’48, when seven bags
were shipped; another parcel, consisting of 2,000 pounds, was shipped
in 1770; and a third shipment of seventy-one bags was made in 1784,
which England seized, on the ground that America could not produce
a quantity so great. The amount exported from the United Sates in
1791 was 189,816 pounds; in 1798, 487,600 pounds; in 1794, 1,601,760
pounds; in 1795, 6,276,300 pounds; in 1800, 17,789,803 pounds ;
in 1810, 93,261,462 pounds; in 1820-21, 124,893,405 pounds; in
183031, 276,979,784 pounds; in 184041, 530,204,100 pounds; in
1850-51, 927,237,089 pqunds.

According to the Census returns of 1840, the amount cultivated was

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60

lumbus, as well as in most other places in America first explored by
ee he successful attempt of the English in North America to cuk
tivate this graim was made on James river, in Virginia, in 1608. ‘The
colonists gent over by the “Landon Company adopted the mode then
practised’ by the Indians, which, with some modifications, has been
pursued ever since. The yield at that time is represented to have been
from two hundred to more than a thousand fold. The same increase
was noticed by the early settlers in Illinois. The presént yield, east
of the Rocky mountains, when judiciously cultivated, varies from,
twenty to one hundred and thirty-five bushels to an acre,

The varietics of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting many
grades of size, color, and conformation. Among these are the shrubby
reed, that grows on the shores of Lake Superior; the gigantic stalks of
the Ohio valley; the tiny ears, with flat close-clinging grains of
Canada; the brilliant, rounded little pearl; the bright-red grains and
white col of the eight-rowed hematite; the swelling ear of the big
white; and the yellow gourd seed of the South. ,

From the flexibility of this plant, it may be acclimatized, by gradual
cultivation, from Texas to Maine, or from Canada to Brazil; but, in
either case, its character is somewhat changed, and often new varieties
are the results. The blades of the plant are of, great value as food for
stock, and form an article but rarely estimated sufficiently, when
considering the agricultural products of the southern and southwestern
States especially.

The increase of production from 1840 to 1850 was 214,000,000
bushels, equal to 56 per cent. The production of New England has
advanced trom 6,993,000 to 10,377,000 bushels, showing an increase
of 8,384,000 bushels—nearly 50 per cent. New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland increased 20,812,000 bush-
els—more than 50 percent. Inthe production of this crop, no State has
retrograded. Ohio, which in 1840 occupied the fourth place asa corn-

roducing State, now ranksas thefirst 3 Kentucky, second ; Illinois, third ;

ennessee, fourth. ‘The crop of Ilinois has increased from 22,000,000
to 57,500,000 bushels, or at the rate of 60 per cent. in ten years.

Of the numerous varieties, some are best adapted to the southern
States, while others are better suited for the northern and eastern.
Those generally cultivated in the former are the southern big and
sinall yellow, the southern big and small white-flint, the yellow Peru-
viau, and the Virginia white gourd seed. In the more northerly and.
easterly States, they cultivate the golden Sioux, or northern yellow-flint,
the King Philip, or eight rowed yellow, the Canada early white, the
Tuscarora, the white flour, and the Rhode Island white flint.

‘The extended cultivation of this grain is chiefly confined to the east-
ern, middle, and western States, though much more successfully grown
in the latter. The amount exported from South Carolina in 1748 was
39,808 bushels; from North Carolina, in 1753, 61,580 bushels; from
Virginia, for several years preceding the Revolution, annually, 600,000
bus! els; from Philadelphia, in 1752, 90,740 bushels; in” 176768,
60,205 bushels ; in 1771, 259,441 bushels,

‘he total amount exported from this country in 1770 was 578,349



70

excellent fodder to milch cows, and the straw, when cut green and con-
verted into hay, as well as the ripened seeds, are fed to cattle, poultry,
and swine. Itis believed to be a native of central Asia, as it is suj
posed to have been first brought to Europe in the early part of
twelfth century, at the time of the Crusades for the recovery of Syria
from the dominion of the Saracens; while others contend that it was
introduced into Spain by the Moors, four hundred years before.

This grain appears not to have been much cultivated in this country
prior to the last century, as it is not often mentioned by writers on
America previous to that period. Holm, in his History of Pennsylvania,

(Nieu Swedeland,) published at Stockholm in 1702, mentions it among

the productions of that province; and Kalm, the Swedish naturalist,
who visited this country in 174849, speaks of it as growing in Penn-
sylvania, New Jersey, and New York; and several American writers
on agricultural subjects have treated of it since.

The cultivation of buckwheat, in one or other of its species, is prin
cipally confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Nether-
lands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Tartary, Japan, Algeria,
Canada, and the middle and northern portions of the United States.

Jn this country, from thirty to forty-five bushels per acre may be con-
sidered as an average yield in favorable seasons and situations, but
sixty or more bushels are not unfrequently produced.

his grain heretofore has never entered into our foreign commerce.
According to the Census returns of 1840, the annual quantity raised in
the United States was 7,291,748 bushels; of 1850, 8,956,916 bushels,

Barley—Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt
for more than three thousand years; and it was not until after the
Romans adopted the use of wheaten bread, that they fed this grain to *
their stock. It is evidently a native of a warm climate, as itis known
to be the most productive in a mild season, and will grow within the
tropics at an elevation of three or four thousand feet above the level of
the sea. It is one of the staple crops of northern and mountainous
Europe and Asia. .

The introduction ‘of barley into the North American colonies may be
traced back to the periods of their settlements. It was sown by Gos-
nold, together with other English grains, on Martha’s Vineyard and
the Elizabeth islands, in 1602, and by the colonists in Virginia in 1611.
By the year 1648, it was raised in abundance in that’ colony; but soon
after, its culture was suffered to decline in consequence of the move
profitable and increased production of tobacco. It has also been
sparingly cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States
for malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being hulled,
as a substitute for rice. Although believed to have been indigenous to
the countries bordering on the torrid zone, this grain possesses the re-
markable flexibility of maturing, in favorable seasons and situations, on
the Eastern Continent, as far north as seventy degrees, and flourishes
well in latitude forty-two degrees south, Along the Atlantic side of
the continent of America, its growth is restricted to the tract lying be-
tween the thirtieth and fiftieth parallels of north latitude, and between
thirty and forty degrees south. Near the westerly coast its range lies
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51

troduced there, In 1611, Sir Thomas Gates brought over to the same
settlement one hundred cows, besides other cattle. In 1610, an edict
was issued in Virginia, prohibiting the killing of domestic animals of any
kind, on penalty of death to the principal, burning the hand and loss
of the ears to the accessory, and twenty-four hours’ whipping to the
concealer. As early as the year 1617, the swine had multiplied so
rapidly in the colony, that the people were obliged to palisade James-
town, to prevent being overrun with them. In 1627, the Indians, near
the settlement, fed upon hogs which had become wild, instead of game.
Every family in Virginia at that time, who had not an abundance of
tame hogs and poultry, was considered very poor. In 1648, some
of the settlers had a good stock of bees. In 1657, sheep and mares
were forbidden to be exported from the province. By the year 1722,
or before, sheep had somewhat multiplied, and yielded good fleeces.

The first animals introduced into Massachusetts was by Edward
Winslow, in 1624, consisting of three heifers and a bull. In 1626,
twelve cows were sent to Cape Ann. In 1629, one hundred and fif-
teen cattle were imported into the plantations on Massachusetts bay,
besides some horses and mares, several conies, and forty-one goais.
They were mostly ordered by Francis Higginson, formerly of Leices-
tershire, whence several of the animals were brought.

The first importation into New York was made from Holland, by the
West India Company, in 1625, comprising one hundred and three ani-
mals, consisting of horses and cattle for breeding, besides as many
sheep and hogs as was thought expedient,

In 1750, the French, of Illinois, were in possession of considerable
numbers of horses, cattle, and swine.

The present stock of the United States consists of the offspring of
the animals first introduced, the crosses of the original breeds with one
another, or the intermixture of the progeny of these crosses with those
of more recent importation, and the pure-blooded animals brought
directly from Europe, or the crosses of these with one another.

‘The principal breeds of horses, adapted for specific purposes, in the
middle, northern and western States, are the Norman, the Canadian,
the Morgan, the Conestoga or Pennsylvanian, the Virginian, and the
Kentuckian. For carriages of heavy draught the Conestogas are re-
garded by many as the best. For the saddle, draught, and other useful
purposes, the Morgans are highly prized, especially in New York. For
roadsters, the Normans and Canadians are frequently sought. For
blood, the Virginians and Kentuckians generally take the lead.

Among the various races of cattle existing among us, where strict
regard is paid to breeding with a definite object in view, a preference
is given to the Durhams or shorthorns, the Herefords, the Ayrshires,
and the Devons. The Durhams, from their rapid growth early matu-
rity, and capability of taking on fat, are adapted only for high keeping,
or to the richest pastures of the middle and northern States, and those
of Ohio. Kentucky, and other parts of the West. The males, when
judiciously crossed with the other breeds; or with the common cows of
the country, often beget the best of milkers, and for this purpose they
have been especially recommended. The Herefords, on the contrary,
from their peculiar organization, are better adapted for poor or indif-



81

quires to be replanted every year. ‘Within the tropics, as in the West
Indies, and elsewhere, the ratoons frequently continue to yield abund-
antly for twelve, fifteen, and even twenty-four years, from the same roots,

The cultivation of this plant is principally confined to the West In-
dies, Venezuela, Brazil, Mauritius, British India, China, Japan, the
Sunda, Philippine, and Sandwich islands, and to the southern districts
of the United States. The varieties most cultivated in the latter are
the striped blue, and yellow ribbon, or Java; the red ribbon, or
violet, from Java; the Creole crystalline, or Malabar; the Otaheite,
the purple, the yellow, the purple-banded, and the grey canes. The
quantity of sugar produced on an acre varies from five hundred to
three thousand pounds; averaging, perhaps, from eight hundred to one
thousand pounds 2

Hitherto the amount of sugar and molasses consumed in the United
States has exceeded the quantity produced; consequently, there has
been no direct occasion for their exportation. In the year 1816, it was
estimated that the sugar made on the banks of the Mississippi, alone,
amounted to ten million pounds. In 1818, the entire crop of Louisiana
‘was only twenty-five million pounds; in 1850, it had reached the enor-
mous quantity of 226,001,000 pounds, besides about twelve million
gallons of molasses. 7

According to the Census of 1840, the amount of cane and maple
sugar was 155,100,809 pounds, of which 119,947,720 pounds were
raised in Louisiana. By the Census of 1850 the cane,sugar made in
the United States was 247,581,000 pounds, besides 9,700,606 gallons
of molasses;‘ maple sugar, 34,249,886 pounds, amounting to 281,830,-
886 pounds, showing an increase, in ten years, of 126,730,077 pounds,

Hay and Fodder —The hay and fodder crops, including the dried
blades, shucks, and tops of Indian corn, as well as of the succulent corn

lants and other green forage, cultivated solely for soiling, or for drying
into fodder, chopped straw, the haul of beans, peas, potatoes, &c.,
which are by no means inconsiderable, are far the most valuable of any
in the United States. The culture of hay is at present principally
confined to the eastern, middle, and western States, trom which the
southern markets are mainly supplied in the form of pressed packages
or bales,

In the earlier settlements of the Atlantic States north of Virginia, the
cattle of the inhabitants were chiefly dependent upon the wild indigen-
ous grasses—such as the white clover, herd’s grass, (red top,) wire
grass, Indian grass, (Andropogon,) and the coarser herbage of salt
marshes, beaver meadows, and other swampy grounds, In the middle
and southern colonies they foraged upon the wild herbage of the coun-
try, in the same manner as the existing cattle do on the buffalo grass
of Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, &c., as well as on the leaves,
boughs, and fruit of trees.

‘The principal indigenous grasses which have been successfully cul-
tivated in the United States are the Kentucky blue grass, the red top,
(herd’s grass of. Pennsylvania,) the white clover, and the fowl meadow,
or bird grass; the latter of which formerly grew in abundance around
Massachusetts bay, and was much relished by the cows, horses, ‘hogs,
and goats of the early settlers, and upon which they thrived.

6 .


67

790,479,275 pounds; of 1850, 987,449,600 pounds; showing an in-
crease of 196,970,325 pounds.

It appears that the culture of cotton is rapidly diminishing in Vir-
ginia and North Carolina. Jn those States it is doubtless giving place
to other productions of the soil. There has been a very heavy falling
off, also, in Louisiana, and no appreciable increase in Mississippi; but
the diminution in the former State, and the failure of any advance in
the latter, are accounted for by the terrible inundations of the Mississippi
and its tributaries. But for that calamity, it is probable that their in-
creased yield would have equalled that of Alabama, which now oc-
cupies the first place as a cotton-planting State, and has almost doubled
its production since 1840. Immense as the extent and value of this
crop has become, it is not extravagant to anticipate a rate of increase
for the current decennial period, which will bring up the aggregate for
the year 1860 to 4,000,000 bales.

The average annual yield for the five years ending with 1835, was
estimated at 1,055,000 bales; for the same period ending in 1840,
1,440,000 bales; for a like period terminating with 1850, 2,270,000
bales. Had no disturbing cause interrupted the progressive advance,
the amount of 1850 would have exceeded 8,000,000 bales.

Wool——Analogous in the uses for which it serves to cotton, wool is
a product of‘only less importance to the prosperity of the country than
that leading staple of our agriculture and commerce.

It is a very gratifying fact that though the number of sheep has in-
creased in ten years but 12 per cent., the aggregate weight of their
fleeces has augmented 46 per cent.

In 1840, there were 19,311,374 sheep, yielding 35,802,114 pounds of
wool, equal to 1.84 pound per head. .

In 1850, the average weight of each fleece was 2.43 pounds, from
which it would appear that such an improvement had taken place in
the various breeds of the American sheep as to increase their average
product about 32 per cent. throughout the United States. And acritical
analysis of the returns of sheep and wool proves not only that our breeds
are capable of such improvement, but that it has actually taken place.

Tn Vermont, the greatest attention has'been given to sheep-breeding ;
time, money, and intelligence having been freely applied to the great
object of obtaining a breed combining weight and fi
These efforts bave succeeded so well, that although the number of sheep
in that State had declined nearly one-half in the period from the Sixth to:
the Seventh Census, the yield of wool remained nearly the same. The
average weight of the fleece in this State in 1840 was 2.2 pounds, and in.
1850 it had increased to 3.71, the gain being almost equal to 70 per cent.

In Massachusetts, also, where strenuous exertions have been made—
though not on so large a scale as in Vermont—to improve their sheep,
a correspondingly beneficial result has been obtained, and the average
weight of the fleece has been increased from 2.5 to 3.1 pounds.

e State of New York produced 226,000 pounds more wool in 1850,
from 3,458,000 sheep, than from 5,118,000 in 1840, showing that the-
weight of the fleece had been raised from less than two to nearly three
pounds.

Our imports of wool during the past ten years have varied as follows:

ineness of fleece..



qnly appeared in nearly every part of our own country, but has spread

dismay at times throughout Great Britain and Iyeland, and has been felt
more or less seriously in every quarter of the globe. To the greater
uncertainty attending its cultivation of late years, from this cause,
must be attributed the deficiency of the crop of 1849 as compared
with that of 1839, This is one of the four agricultural products
which, by the present Census, appears smaller than it was ten years
since,

Sweet Potato—The sweet potato (Batatas edulis) is a, native of the
East Indies, and of inter-tropical America, and was the “potato” ot
the old English writers in the early part of the fourteenth century. It
was doubtless introduced into Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, soon
after their settlement by the Europeans, being mentioned as one of the
cultivated products of those colonies as early as the year 1648. It
grows in excessive abundance throughout the southern States, and as
far north as New Jersey and the southern part of Michigan.

The varieties cultivated are the purple, the red, the yellow, and the
white, the former of which is confined to the South.

The amount of sweet potatoes exported from South Carolina in
1747—48 was 700 bushels; that of the common potato exported from
the United States in 182021, 90,889 bushels; mn 1830~’31, 112,875

, bushels; in 1840-41, 136,095 bushels; in 185051, 106,842 bushels,

According to the Census returns of 1840, the quantity of potatoes, of
all sorts, raised in the Union, was 108,298,060 bushels; of 1850,
104,055,989 bushels, of which 38,259,196 bushels were sweet.

American Wine—The extent of our territory over which the wine
culture may be advantageously diffused, has long afforded a subject of
much speculation. It early attracted the attention of the first colonists,
who not only attempted to form vineyards of the European vine, but
to make wine ftom our own native grapes. Although the subject has
been zealously and sedulously pursued at various periods since,
those dwelling on the easterly alt of the continent who have made trial
of the foreign grape, have never been able to bring their designs to per-
fection ; and those who have tested their skill in our native varieties
have only met with partial success, yet, a degree of perseverance and
enthusiasm seems to have pervaded all the votaries of this delightful
pursuits and a warm and mutual interchange of views and sentiments

as existed among them, which has been comparatively unknown in
other species of culture. Although the operators in recent times, from
being ainterspersed over so great an extent of territory, are conse-
quently more widely separated, still the connecting link, by a friendly
co-operation in one common cause, may justly and appropriately as-
similate their united exertions to that joyous period in the history of
France. when, during the reign of Probus, thousands of all ages and
sexes united in one spontaneous and enthusiastic effort for the restora-
tion of their vineyards. Indeed, when the far greater limits of our do-
main are considered, the combined efforts of our fellow-countrymen
cannot fail to produce effects even more important, from the great ex-
tent of their influence, and cause each section of our republic recipro-
cally to respond to the efforts of others, with all their attendant advan-

tages and blessings. 4



ican colonies were by Captain Gosnold, in 1602, who planted them
on the Elizabeth islands, near the coast of Massachusetts, where they
flourished well. . They were also cultivated in Newfoundland as early
as the year 1622; in New Netherlands in 1644; and in Virginia prior
to 1648. French, Indian, or kidney beans were extensively cultivated
by the Indians of New York and New England long before their settle-
ments by the whites; and both beans and peas, (calavances,) of various
hues, were cultivated by the natives of Virginia prior to the first land-
ing of Captain John Smith. Among these were embraced the cele-
brated cow pea, (Phaseolus,) or Indian pea, at present so extensively
cultivated at the South for feeding stock, as well as for the purposes
of making into fodder, and for ploughing under, like clover, as a fallow
crop.

The varieties of beans cultivated at present in the United States, as
field and garden crops, are too numerous to admit of repetition in this
report. For field culture, the common small white, the red-eyed
China, the turtle-soup, the Mohawk, and the refugee are preferred; for
garden culture, the Mohawk, the early six-weeks, the early Valentine,
the yellow six-weeks, the black Valentine, the royal white kidney, the
Carolina, or Sewee, the cranberry, the London horticultural, and the
Dutch caseknife. The yield usually varies from thirty to sixty bush-
els per acre, weighing sixty-three pounds to the bushel.

he common pea is supposed to have been indigenous to the south
of Europe, and was cultivated both by the Greeks and Romans. Its
introduction into the British North American colonies probably dates
back to the early periods of their settlement by Europeans, as it is
enumerated in several instances among the cultivated products of this
country by our éarly historians.

The cultivation of the pea, as a field crop, is principally confined to
the middle, eastern, and western States, the varieties of which are dis-
tinguished as the early and the late ripening. The early varieties are
generally small and dark-colored, among which the grey and grass are
the most common. The yield varies from twenty-five to forty bushels
per acre, weighing sixty-four pounds to the bushel. The marrow-fats
are among the richest of the field peas, which are much preferred for
good lands. The small yellow are thought to be best for poorer soils.
A very prolific “ bush pea’ is cultivated in the southern States, bearing
pods six or seven inches in length, which hang in clusters, and are

filled with fine white peas, much esteemed for the table, either green
or dry. .

The amount of peas exported from Savannah, in 1755, was 400 bush-
els; in 1770, 601 bushels; from Charleston, in 1754, 9,162 bushels;
from North Carolina, in 1753, 10,000 bushels; annually from Virginia,
before the Revolution, 5,000 bushels; annually from the United States,
twenty years preceding 1817, 90,000 bushels. The amount of beans
annually exported during the last-named period from 30,000 to 40,000
bushels.

Buckwheat—Buckwheat is cultivated in almost every part of the
temperate and arctic climates of the civilized world for the farinaceous
albumen of its seeds, which, when properly cooked, affords a delicious
article of food to a large portion of the human race. It also serves as


82

Among the foreign cultivated grasses in this country, the Timothy,
(herd’s grass of New England,) ranks pre-eminent. It is said to have
received the name of Timothy from its first introducer into Maryland,
Mx. Timothy Hanson. It is a native of England, and is cultivated as
a favorite in Sweden and other parts of northern Europe. ‘The next
in extent of cultivation among our forage crops of foreign origin is the
common red clover, which is widely naturahzed, and is diligently cul-
tivated by all good farmers. The precise period of its introduction is
not known; but, on the authority of Watson, in his “Annals of Phila-
delphia,” John Bartram had fields of it prior to the American Revolu-
tion; and, according to Dr. William Darlington, it was introduced
into general cultivation in Chester county, Pennsylvania, between the
years 1790 and 1800. Its congener, the creeping white clover, indi-
genous or naturalized in Europe, is extensively cultivated in the middle
and northern States from imported seed. The other European grasses,
which have been only partilly introduced into this country, and which
have met with favor, are the cock’s-foot, or orchard grass, and the
perennial ray grass. The latter affords a tolerably good pasture, and
makes a handsome sward for a yard or lawn; but as a meadow grass
for hay it is regarded as inferior in value to any of the preceding.

According to the Census returns of 1840, the hay crop of the United

States was 10,248,1083 tons; of 1850, 13,838,579 tons, showing an
increase of 3,590,470 tons.


64

individuals, interested in the colony, contributed to induce that taste
for it which had already been diffused among all classes.

Tn 1611, tobacco was first cultivated in Virginia by the use of the
spade; previous to which, it had only been raised after the rude manner
of the Indians. In 1616, it was cultivated in that colony to so alarm-
ing an extent that even the streets of Jamestown were -planted with it,
and various regulations were framed to restrain its production; but ev
admonition to the settlers was disregarded. James I. attempted, bi
repeated proclamations and publications, to restrain its use, but his
efforts had very little effect; and the colonists continued to experience
a more rapidly-increasing and better demand for this staple than for
any other in the province.

Previous to the war. of Independence, its culture had spread into
Maryland, Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, from which nearly all Eu-
ropé was supplied ; but at present, most of the sovereigns of the Old

orld derive a considerable part of their revenue from the cultivation
of this plant.

Independent of its production in the middle and southern States of
the Union, tobacco is extensively cultivated in Mexico, the Spanish
Main, Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad, St. Domingo, Turkey, Persia, India,
China, Australia, the Philippines, and Japan. It has also been raised
with success in nearly every country in Europe, Egypt, Algeria, the
Cape of Good Hope, the Canaries and numerous other islands in the
ocean, Canada, New Brunswick, and on the western coast of America.

The principal varieties cultivated in the United States are the Vir-
ginian, the large-leaved, the dwarf, the Cuba, and the common green
tobacco.

Tn 1622, there were raised in Virginia 60,000 pounds. The amount
exported from that colony in 1639 was 120,000 pounds; annually for ten
years preceding 1709, 28,868,666 pounds; annually for several years
prece ling the Revolution, 55,000 hogsheads; in 1758, 70,000 hogs

eads ; from North Carolina, in 1758, 100 hogsheads ; from Georgia, in
1772, 176,732 pounds. The amount exported from the United Colonies
in 1772 ‘was 97,799,268 pounds ; in 1780, 17,424,267 pounds; from the
United States, in 1787, 99,041,000 pounds; in 1791,'101,272 hogs-
heads, 81,122 pounds manufactured, and 15,689 pounds of snuff’; in
1800, 78,680 hogheads, 457,713 pounds manufactured, and 41,463
pounds of snuff’; in 1810, 84,184 hogsheads, 495,427 pounds manufac-
tured, and 46,640 pounds of snuff; in 1820~21, 66,858 hogsheads,
1,382,949 pounds manufactured, and 44,552 pounds of snuff; in 1880-
*81, 86,718 hogsheads, 8,639,856 pounds manufactured, and 27,967
pounds of snuff; in 1840-41, 147,828 hogsheads, 7,503,644 pounds
manufactured, and 68,553 pounds of snuff; in 1850-51, 95,945 hogs-
heads, 7,285,358 pounds manufactured, and 37,422 pounds of snuff,

According to the Census returns of 1840, the amount of tobacco raised
in the United States was 219,168,319 pounds; of 1850, 199,752,646
pounds; showing a decrease in its culture of 19,410,673 pounds.

_ Cotton.—Cotton, which administers so Dountifully to the wants of
civilized as well as to savage man, and to the wealth and economy of
the countries producing it, stands pre-eminent in the United States, both
as regards its superior staple and the degree of perfection to which its

aghast ne



56

in 1661, it-was not much cultivated for more than a. century after, in
consequence of the ill-directed attention to the culture of tobacco.

Wheat was introduced into the valley of the Mississippi by the
#« Western Company,” in 1718, where, from the careless mode of cul-
tivating it by the early settlers, and the sudden alternations of tempera-
ture, it would only yield from five to eight fold, running to straw and
blade without filling the ear. In 1746, however, the culture had so far
extended, that six hundred barrels of four were received at New Orleans
from the Wabash; and by the year 1750, the French of Illinois raised
three times as much wheat as they consumed, and large quantities of
gtain and flour were sent to the same place.

Prior to the Revolution, the primitive soils of New York, New Jer
sey, and of New England, appear not to have rewarded the cultivation
of this grain much, if any, beyond the wants of the inhabitants. Con-
siderable quantities were raised on the Hudson, and in some parts of
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which were exported to the West Indies,
and New England, and to Great Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain
in years of scarcity, previously to 1728.

In 1776, there was entailed upon this country an enduring calamity,
in consequence of the introduction of the Hessian or wheat fly, which
‘was supposed to have been brought from Germany in some straw _em-
pryed in the debarkation of Howe’s troops, on the west end of Long

sland, From that point this insect gradually spread in various diree-
tions, at the rate of twenty or thirty miles a year, and the wheat of the
entire regions east of the Alleghanies is now more or less infested
with the larvae, as well as in large portions of the States bordering oa
the Ohio and Mississippi, and on the great lakes; and so great have
been the ravages of these insects that, the cultivation of this grain in
many places, has been abandoned.

The geographical range of the wheat region in the Eastern Continent
and ‘Australia, lies principally between the thirtieth and sixtieth parallel
of north latitude, and between the thirtieth and fortieth degrees south,

’ being chiefly confined to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, Greece,
Turkey, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Nether-
lands, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern and Southern Africa,
Tartary, India, China, Australia, Van Dieman’s Land, and Japan.
Along the Atlantic portions of the Western Continent, it embraces the
tracts lying between the thirtieth and fiftieth parallels; and in the coum
try westward of the Rocky mountains, one or more degrees further
north. Along the west coast of South America, as well as in situations
within the torrid zone, sufficiently elevated above the level of the sea
and properly irrigated by natural or artificial means, abundant crops
sare often produced.

The principal districts of the United States in which this important
grain is produced in the greatest abundance, and forms a Jeading article
of commerce, embrace the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, In-
diana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Jowa. The chief varieties

-eultivated in the northern and eastern States are the white flint, tea,
Siberian, bald, Black sea, and the Italian spring wheat; in the middle
“and western States, the Mediterranean, the Virginia white May, the



9

lishing filatures of silk was renewed in various parts of the Union;
and. the subject was deemed to be of so much importance that it not only
attracted the attention of Congress, but afterwards received encourage-
ment from the legislatures of several States, by bounties offered for
all the raw silk produced within their limits for certain periods of time.
The business soon began to be prosecuted with extreme ardor, and con-
tinued for several years, resulting in the establishment of several nurse-
ries of mulberry trees, and ending in the downfall of the famous
“Morus Multicaulis speculation,” in 1845.

The amount of raw silk exported from Georgia in 1750 was 118 ;
pounds; in 1755, 188 pounds; in 1760, 558 pounds; in 1766, more ‘
than 20,000 pounds; in 1770, 290 pounds. From South Carolina, in ;
1772, 455 pounds. In the year 1765, there were raised on Silk Hope
Plantation, in South Carolina, 630 pounds of cocoons; in Mansfcli,
Connecticut, in 1798, 265 pounds of raw silk; in 1827, 2,480 pounds;
in 1831, 10,000 pounds; in Connecticut, in 1844, 176,210 pounds; in
the United States, the same year, 396,790 pounds. (See Patent Office

eport.

Receding to the Census returns of 1840, the amount of silk cocoons
raised in the United States was 61,5524 pounds; of 1850, 10,843 pounds.
From the above, it is obvious that the production of cocoons has de-
creased, since 1840, 46,789 pounds; and since 1844, 882,027 pounds,

Sugar.—Sugar, so extensively used in every country of the habitable
globe, and forming, as it does, one of our chief staples, supplies its com-
mercial demand mainly from the juice of the cane, which contains it
in greater quantity and purity than any other plant, and offers greater
facilities for its extraction. Although sugar, identical in its character,
exists in the maple, the cocoanut, and the beet-root, and is economically
obtained to a considerable extent, yet it is not often sufficiently pure
to admit of ready separation from the foreign matter combined with it,
at least by the means the producers usually have at hand. :

The history of cane sugar, like that of many other necessaries of
life, is involved in great obscurity. It appears to have been imper-
fectly known to the Greeks and Romans, as Theophrastus, who lived
820 ‘years before Christ, describes it-as a sort of “honey extracted
from canes or reeds.” And Strabo, who states on the authority of
Nearchus, the commander of the fleet in the expedition of Alexander t
the Great, says that “reeds in India yield honey without bees.” We i
are also informed that sugar candy has been made in China from very
remote antiquity; and that large quantities of it have been exported
from India, in all ages, whence it is most probable that it found its
way to Rome. .

Sugar cane occurs in a wild state on many of the islands of
the Pacific, but in no part of the American Continent, notwithstand-
ing a contrary opinion has been expressed. Its cultivation and the
manufacture of sugar were introduced into Europe from the East,
by the Saracens, soon afier their conquests, in the ninth century.

It is stated by the Venetian historians, that their countrymen imported i
sugar from Sicily, in the twelfth century, at a cheaper rate than they i
could obtain it from Egypt, where it was then extensively made. The i

Paeimeneem


16

colonies soon after their settlement by the English. They are men-
tioned as growing in New England prior to 1682, and bounties were
offered for their cultivation in Virginia as early as 1751. Captain
Matthews sowed, yearly, both hemp and flax, which he caused to be
spun and woven, prior to the year 1648. In 1662 an edict was passed
requiring each poll in Virginia to raise annually and manufacture six
pounds of linen thread; but, from the change of the laws and the ces-
sation of the bounties, the culture declined.

Jn the late Exhibition at London of the Works of Industry of All
Nations, both of these materials held a conspicuous rank. Flax was
exhibited, the growth of Great Britain, Ireland, Holland, Belgium,
France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Prussia, Germany, Poland, Russia,
Turkey, Egypt, India, Van Dieman’s Land, Canada, and the United
States, and hemp from all of these countries except Britain, Ireland,
Canada, and Van Dieman’s Land.

The fibre of flax and bemp has never been produced in this country
in sufficient abundance to form much of an article of foreign com-
merce, but flax-seed was formerly shipped to Europe in large quantt-
ties. There were exported from New eersey, in 1751, 14,000 pounds
of hemp; from Savannah, in 1770, 1,860 pounds; from the United
States, in 1850-61, 4,769 hundred weight. The amount ot flax seed
exported from Philadelphia in 1752 was 70,000 bushels; in 1767,
84,658 bushels; in 1771, 110,412 bushels; from New York, in 1755,
12,528 hogsheads; from the British North American colonies, in 1770,
312,612 bushels; from the United States, in 1791, 292,460 bushels;
in 1800, 289,684 bushels; in 1810, 240,579 bushels; in 182021,
264,310 bushels; in 183031, 120,702 bushels; in 1840-41, 32,243
bushels; in 1850-51, 9,185 bushels,

According to the Census returns of 1840, there were raised in the
United States 95,2512 tons of flax and hemp; of 1850, 35,093 tons of
hemp and 7,715,961 pounds of flax.

The correctness of the returns as to hemp, in the Seventh Census,
has not yet been perfectly verified. There has been some doubt
whether, in a number of instances, the marshals have not written tons
where they meant pounds. If, however, the returns are allowed to
stand without reduction, it would appear that the cultivation of hemp
or flax has materially changed since 1840.. In the returns of that
year, as stated above, both of these articles were included under the
same head. In 1840, those of Virginia gave 25,594 tous of hemp and
flax together. In 1850, only 141 tons of hemp and 500 tons of flax
were returned, Such a falling off would amount to almost an aban-
donment of the culture of hemp in that State, which there is no reason
to suppose has taken place.

The discovery of new methods for separating the fibrous from the
woody parts of the flax plant has doubtless given a vigorous stimulant
to its cultivation in the United States. The process of Chevalier
Clausen first attracted general attention among us in 1850. Though
considerable quantities of flax have been produced in former years, it
has been raised_principally for the seed, which commanded a remune-
rating ptice. The want of a cheap and speedy process for separating



53

ears was 559,053. It is presumed the greatest increase has occurred
in the number of mules. Many suppose that the great extension of
railroads has a tendency to dispense with the use of large numbers of
horses; but one very good reason for the small apparent increase in the
number of horses exists in the fact that the enumeration of 1850 omits
all in cities, and includes only or mainly such as are employed in agri-
culture, or owned by farmers. In the State ot New York, where there
are less than a thousand mules, there appears to be a decline im the
number of horses and mules together of 26,566; in Pennsylvania, of
about 13,000; in New England, of 77,000, or more than 25 per cent.
while in all these States railroad conveyance has almost superseded
the use of horses for travelling purposes along main routes of travel,
‘We would more readily attribute the apparent diminution to the omis-
sion to enumerate the horses in cities and towns, than to any superse-
ding of horse power, which the opening of railroads would often bring
into requisition in various other operations not required previously. In
Ohio and the new States of the Northwest, the increase of horses has
kept pace with that of the population. The four and a quarter millions
of these noble animals in the United States constitute a proportion ot
one to five of the inhabitants. New York has one horse to seven_per-
sons, Pennsylvania, one to six and six-tenths, Ohio, one to four, Ken-
tucky, one to three free inhabitants. The number of horses in the Uni-
ted States is more than three times as large as that in Great Britain.
Asses and Mules—As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, we
find in the tables of 1840 no basis of comparison in regard to the rais-
ing of asses and mules. By the returns of 1850, it is shown that the
number of these animals in the Union is 559,070, of which all but
30,000 are found in the southern States. For various employments
the mule is far better adapted to that region than the horse. Extreme
and long-continued heat does not enfeeble him, and the expense of his
subsistence and general care is much less in comparison with the ser-
vice he is able to perform. In some northern States a considerable
number was reared formerly for export, and a brisk trade was
kept up with the West Indies in this kind of stock. What are now
exported from the points which formerly monopolized this branch of
traffic, are brought from the South. Tennessee is the largest producer
of mules, of which the number in that State, in 1850, was 75,303.
Kentucky stands next, having 65,609. In New Mexico the number
of mules was 8,654, greater by nearly four-fifths than the horses re-
turned for that Territory. Much attention has been given:to the im-
rovement of mules in some of our southern States, and those sent
‘om Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, to be employed in army
transportation in Mexico, were often not inferior in height to the horses
of that country, and were at all times superior to them in strength, en-
durance, ahd usefulness. .
Milch Cows.—Under the general term of “ neat cattle” were embraced
in the Sixth Census the three descriptions of animals designated in that
of 1850 as milch cows, working oxen, and other cattle. The aggre-
gate of the three classes, in 1840, was 14,971,586; in 1850, 18,355,287.
The increase, therefore, between the two periods, was 3,383,701, or
about 20 per cent. They appear to be distributed quite equally over



52

ferent pastures, and regions subject to continued drought; andfor this
reason they are well suited for California, New Mexico, Texas, and
other parts of the South. The oxen of this breed are good in the yoke,
and the cows, when properly fed, give an abundance of milk, The
Ayrshires are best suited for a cool, mountainous region, or a cold,
rigorous climate. They succeed well in Massachusetts, New Hamy
shire and Vermont, and are highly prized for their tameness, docile
tempers, and rich milk. The Devons, from their hardihood, compara-
tively small size, and peculiar structure, appear to be adapted to almost
every climate, and to all kinds of pasturage. From their stoutness,
good tempers, honesty, and quickness of action, they make the best
teams, and in this respect their chief excellency consists. The cows
make fair milkers, and their flesh very good beef. They also possess
great aptitude to take on fat.

The kinds of sheep most sought for are the pure-blooded Merinos,
the Saxons, the Cotswolds, the Leicestershires, the Oxfordshires, an
the South Downs. The Merinos, (including the Rambouillets,) the Cots-
wolds, the Leicestershires, the Oxfordshires, and the Saxons, are the
most highly prized for their wool. The South Downs are particularly
esteemed for the excellence of their flesh, and their wool is. valuable
for mony purposes on account of the facility with which it can be
wrought. :

The prevailing breeds of swine in the middle, northern and western
States, are the Berkshire, the Leicestershire, the Suffolk, the Essex, the
Neapolitan, and the Chinese. From these and other varieties various
crosses have been produced, the more important of which are the By-
field, the Woburn, the Bedford, the Grass, and the Mackay. The Nea-
politans are particularly well adapted for a southern climate.

Tn 1627, the plantations on James river contained about 2,000 head
of horned cattle, goats in great abundance, and wild hogs in the forest
without number. In 1639, there were in Virginia 30,000 cattle, 200
horses, and 70 asses; and in 1648, there were 20,000 cows, bulls, and
calves, 200 horses and mares, 50 asses, 3,000 sheep, 5,000 goats, swine
both tame and wild, hens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, innumerable.
‘There were exported from Savannah, in 1755, 48 horses, and 16 steers
and cows; in 1770, 845 horses, 80 mules, and 26 steers and cows; and
in 1772, 186 steers and cows. In 1820-21, there were exported from
the United States 863 horses, 94 mules, 5,018 horned cattle, 11,117
sheep, and 7,885 swine; in 1830-31, 2,184 horses, 1,640 mules, 5,881
cattle, 8,262 sheep, and 14,690 swine; in 1840-41, 2,930-horses, 1,418
mules, 7,861 cattle, 14,639 sheep, and 7,901 swine; in 1850-51, 1,364
horses, 2,946 mules, 1,350 cattle, 4,357 sheep, and 1,030 swine.

According to the Census returns of 1840, there were in the United
States 4,385,669 horses and mules, 14,971,586 neat cattle, 19,811,374
sheep, and 26,301,293 swine; of 1850, 4,835,358 horses, 559,229 asses
and mules, 28,360,141 horned cattle, (including 6,392,044 milch cows
and 1,699,241 working oxen,) 21,721,814 sheep, and 30,316,608 swine.

‘Horses.—In the tables of' 1840, horses, mules, and asses were re-
turned together; in those of the late Ceusus the number of horses is
given in one column, and asses and mules in another. The increase in
the aggregate number of these three'classes of animals during the ten

esetnitersrronnanen


65

cultivation has been brought, Oue or more of its species is found grow-
ing wild throughout the torrid zone, whence it has been disseminated,
and become an important object of culture in several countries thereto
adjacent, from time immemorial. . It is mentioned by Herodotus as
growing in India, where the natives manufactured it into cloth; by

Theophrastus as a product of Ethiopia; and by Pliny as growing in
Egypt, towards “Arabia, and near the borders of the Persian Gulf. Nieu~
hot, who visited China in 1656, says that it was then cultivated in great
abundance in that country, where the seed had been introduced about
five hundred years before. Columbus found it in use by the American
Indians of Cuba in 1492; Cortez, by those of Mexico, in 1519; Pizarro
and Almagro, by the Incas of Peru, in 1532; and Cabega de Vaca, by
the natives of Texas and California, in 1536.

- Of the precise period of the first introduction of the cultivation of
this plant into the North American colonies, history is silent. In a
pamphlet entitled “Nova Brittania offering most excellent fruits by
planting in Virginia,” published in London in 1609, it is stated that
cotton would grow as well in that province as in Italy. It is also
stated, on the authority of Beverley, in his History of Virginia, that Sir
Edmund Andros, while governor of the colony, in 1692, “gave particular
marks of his favor towards the propagating of cotton, whieh, since his
time, has been much neglected.” It further appears that it was culti-
vated for along time in the eastern parts of Maryland, Virginia, Caro-
lina, and Georgia, in the garden, though not at all as a, planter’s crop,
for domestic consumption. In another pamphlet, entitled “A State of
the Province of Georgia, attested upon oath, in the Court of Savannah,”
in 1740, it was averred that “ large quantities have been raised, and it
is much planted; but the cotton, which in some parts is perennial, dies
here in the winter ; which, nevertheless, the annual is not inferior to
in goodness, but requires more trouble in cleansing from the seed.”
About the year 1742, M. Dubreuil invented a cotton gin, which created
an epoch in the cultivation of this product in Louisiana. During the
Revolution, the inhabitants of St. Mary’s and Talbot counties, in Mary-
land, as well as those of Cape May county, New Jersey, raised a suf-
ficient quantity of cotton to meet their wants for the time. It was for-
merly produced in small. quantities, for family use, in the county of
Sussex, in Delaware, near the headwaters of the Choptank.

The seed of the Sea Island cotton was originally obtained from the
Bahama islands, in about the year 1785, being the kind then known in
the West Indies as the “Anguilla cotton.” It was first cultivated by
Josiah Tattnall and Nicholas Turnbull, on Skidaway island, near Sa-
vannah; and subsequently by James Spaulding and Alexander Bisset,
on St. Simon’s island, at the mouth of the Altamaha, and on Jekyl
island, by Richard Leake. For many years after its introduction, it
was contined to the more elevated parts of these islands, bathed by the
saline atmosphere, and surrounded by the sea. Gradually, however,
the cotton culture was extended to the lower grounds, and beyond the
limits of the islands to the adjacent shores of the continent, into soils
containing a mixture of clay; and lastly into coarse clays, deposited
along the great rivers, where they meet the ocean tides. .

Previous to 1794—the year afier the invention of Whitney’s saw gin

5


55

vania, Delaware, and Maryland, there was a decrease from 7,402,861
to 5,641,391, equal to 1,761,460, or about 224 per cent. In Pennsyl-
vania there was a gain, however, during this period, of 155,000 sheep.

We see that while there has been a positive diminution of 3,408,000
in the States above named, there has been an augmentation of 5,717,608
in those south of Maryland and west of New York. Ohio has gained
most largely, having been returned as pasturing in 1840, 2,028,401; and
in 1850, 3,942,929; an increase of 1,914,528, or nearly 100 per cent.

In each of the States south and west of the lines above indicated,
there has been a very large proportional increase in this kind of stock,
and there is reasonable ground for the opinion that the hilly lands of
Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and’ the prairies ot
Illinois, Iowa, and Texas, will prove highly favorable for the rearing
of sheep for their wool and pelts. . .

New Mexico has the extraordinary number of 377,271 sheep—more
than six to each inhabitant; proving the soil and climate of that Territory
to be well adapted to this description of stock, and giving promise of a
jarge addition from that quarter to the supply of wool. The importance
of fostering this great branch of national production is shown by the
fact, as assumed by an intelligent writer on the subject, that our popu-
lation annually consumes an amount of wool equal to seven pounds for
each person.

If this estimate be even an approximation to correctness, we are yet
very far short of producing a quantity adequate to the wants of the
country; and it is equally clear that we possess an amount of unem-
ployed land adapted to grazing, sufficient to support flocks numerous
enough to clothe the people of the world. :

Value of Live Sto Lhe very large sum representing the value df
live stock in the United States cannot be considered extravagant, in
view of the immense number of animals returned. It is an item of
agricultural capital which affords a good indication of the wealth and
prosperity of the country. .

Wheat.—W heat, where the soil and climate are adapted to its growth,
and the requisite progress has been made in its culture, is decidedly
preferred to all other grains, and, next to maize, is the most important
crop in the United States, not only on account of its general ‘use for
bread, but for its safety and convenience for exportation. It is not
known to what country it is indigenous, any more than our other culti-
vated cereals, all of which, no Sout, have been essentially improved
by man. By some, wheat is considered to have been coeval with the
creation, as it is known that upwards of a thousand years before our
era, it was cultivated, and a superior variety had been attained. It has
steadily followed the progress of civilization, from the earliest times, in
all countries where it would grow.

The introduction of this grain into the North American colonies dates
back to the earliest periods of their settlement by Europeans. It was
first sown, with other grains, on the Elizabeth islands, in Massachusetts,
by Gosnold, at the time he explored that coast, in 1602. In 1611,
wheat, as well as other grains, was also sown in Virginia, and by the
year 1648 there were cultivated many hundred acres in that colony
Although premiums were offered as an encouragement of its growth,



71

Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate districts
and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. In Spain, Sicily,
the Canaries, Azores, and Madeira, two crops are produced in a year.
In North America, its growth is ‘rineipally confined to Mexico, the
middle, western, and northern States of the Union, and to Canada,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

The barley chiefly cultivated in the United States is the two-rowed
variety, which is generally preferred, from the fulness of its berry and
its freedom from smut. ‘The yield varies from thirty to fifty, or more,
bushels per acre, weighing from forty-five to fifty-five pounds to the

ushel.

Barley has never been much exported from this country, as we have
been consumers rather than producers of this grain. In 1747-48,
there were shipped from Charleston to England, fifteen casks.

The consumption of barley for the past year in the manufacture of
malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 bushels.

According to the Census returns of 1840, the annual amount of barley
ised vin the United States was 4,161,504 bushels; of 1850, 5,167,016

usheis.

Potatoes——The common English or Irish potato, (Solanum tubero-
sum, ) so extensively cultivated throughout most of the temperate coun-
tries of the civilized globe, contributing, as it does, to the necessities of
a large portion of the human race, as well as to the nourishment and
fattening of stock, is regarded as of but little less importance in our
national economy than maize, wheat, or rice. It has been found in an
indigenous state in Chili, on the mountains near Valparaiso and Men-
doza; also near Montevideo, Lima, Quito, as well as in Santa Fé de
Bogota, and more recently in Mexico, on the flanks of the Orizaba.

‘The history of this plant, in connexion with that of the sweet potato,
is involved in obscurity, as the accounts of their introduction into Europe
are somewhat conflicting, and often they appear to be confounded with
one another, The common kind was doubtless introduced into Spain
in the early part of the sixteenth century, from the neighborhood. of
Quito, where, as well as in all Spanish countries, the tubers are known
as papas. The first published account of it we find on record is in La
Cronica del Peru, by Pedro de Cieca, printed at Seville, in 1553, in
which it is described, and illustrated by an engraving. From Spain it
appears to have found its way into Italy, where it assumed the same
name as the troflle, It was received by Clusius, at Vienna, in 1598,
in whose time it spread rapidly in the south of Europe, and even into
Germany. To England it is said to have found its way by a different
route, having been brought from Virginia by Raleigh’s colonists in 1586,
which would seem improbable, as it was unknown in North America
at that time, either wild or cultivated; and, besides, Gough, in his
edition of Camden’s Brittania, says it was first planted by Su Walter
Raleigh on his estate at Youghall, near Cork, and that it was culti-
vated in Ireland before its value was known in England. Gerard, in his
Herbal, published in 1597, gives a figure of this plant, under the name
of Batata Virginiana, to distinguish it from the sweet potato, Batata Ed-
ulis, and recommends the root to be eaten as a “delicate dish,” but not
as a common food. “The sweet potato,” says Sir Joseph Banks,


47

Agriculture.—As agriculture is a branch of industry coeval with the
history of mankind, its connexion with the general welfare of the nation
so intimate, its reciprocal bearing on manufactures so immediate—both
admitted to form the base of prosperity and power of the people, as it is
a branch of science, the prosperity of which, in all its resources, affects
individuals of every order, and without which there could be no. com-
merce—it has seemed proper, while exhibiting the actual condition of
agricultural industry in the middle of the century, to present, in con-
nexion therewith, some history of the character, introduction, and in-
crease, of the most important of the agricultural productions. of our
country, and of their former and present commercial consequence to
oursélves and other governments. Realizing that all human life is
dependent upon it, and that the earth would be nearly depopulated by
a year’s failure, nearly all the nations of the earth, from the remotest
period, have maintained institutions pre-eminently calculated for the
promotion of agriculture, honoring husbandry, and encouraging the
advancement of the science.

Agriculture is now fostered by the nations on the continent of Europe,
is publicly taught in institutions designed for this special purpose, as
well as in many of their colleges, and the result has been that, as
formerly, while the ancients encouraged agriculture and it received
the attention of orators, and its praises and precepts were recited by
the bards and sung by poets, and monarchs participated in its labors,
learning and agriculture went hand in hand, so that the greatest
geniuses of the age identified themselves with its promotion; so in
these later years, where properly fostered and encouraged, it has re-
ceived the attention of some of ‘ihe greatest intellects and scholars, who
have striven to throw most light upon this “ grand art of rendering
mankind happy, wealthy, and powerful.”

In view of what has been done by other nations, of the little which
has been accomplished by the official documents of our country; and
in view of the fuct that we possess no regularly organized office for the
dissemination of agricultural information—although such an establish-
ment was urged by Washington, and many of his successors in office to
the present time—it is hoped that the devotion to this subject of more
space than that needed for a mere table of figures representing our
products of agriculture will be tolerated, and that you will approve of
the short history attempted for each of our great productions of agri-
culture, well calculate , as such an account will be, to make our people
better acquainted with the importance of their productions recipro-
cally, and lead to a more general and perfect sympathy among our
citizens, The subject is one worthy more able pens, and we would
shrink from the task, conscious of inability to do it justice, were it not
supposed that this feeble effort may present points of practical value
for embellishment by others better adapted to the duty.

Improved land—The statement under this head in the agricultural
table shows that the average quantity of improved land, by which is
meant only such as produces crops, or in some manner adds to the pro-
ductions of the farmer, is about ‘74 acres to each inhabitant ; but as per-
haps two-fifths of the population live in towns and villages, arid are en~
gaged in other pursuits than those of agriculture, the proportion of im-



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58

the almost universal returns of “short crop,” by the marshals in that
State, in 1849, which fell below that of 1839, 2,000,000 bushels, and
the ascertained crop of 1850, we are fully satisfied that the average
wheat crop of Ohio, would appear 30 per cent. greater than shown by
the Census returns. The same causes which operated to diminish the
wheat crop of Ohio, were not without their effects upon that of other
States bordering on the upper portion of the valley of the Mississippi.

In the London Exhibition very little wheat-was exhibited.equal to
that from the United States, especially that from Genesee county, in
the State of New York—a soft, white variety—to the exhibitor of which
a prize medal was awarded by the Royal Commissioners, and recently
transmitted to Mr. Bell by the President of the United States, the
chairman of the American Executive Committee. The red Meditera
nean wheat exhibited from the United States attracted much attention,
The wheat from South Australia was probably superior to any exhib-
ited, while much from our own country fell but little behind, and was
unquestionably next in quality.

‘Eye This rain is supposed to be a native of the Caspian Cauca
sian desert, and has been cultivated in the north of Europe and Asia
from time immemorial, where it constitutes an important article of
human subsistence, being generally mixed with barley or wheat. Its
introduction into western Europe is of comparatively recent date, as
no mention is made of it in the “ Ortus Sanitatis,” published at Augsburg
in 1485, which treats at length of barley, millet, oats, and wheat.

Rye was cultivated in the North American colonies soon after their
settlement by the English. Gorges speaks of it as growing in Nova
Scotia in 1632, as well as of barley and wheat. Plantagenet enume-
rates it among the productions of. North Virginia, (New England,) in
1648, and alludes to the mixing of it with maize in the formation of
bread. It was also cultivated in South Virginia by Sir William Berke-
ley previous to that year.

Geographically, rye and barley associate with one ariother, and grow
upon soils the most analogous, and in situations alike exposed. It is
cultivated for bread in northern Asia, and all over the continent of
Europe, particularly in Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany,
and Holland; in the latter of which it is much employed in the manu-
facture of gin. It is also grown to some extent in England, Scotland,
and Wales. In this country it is principally restricted to the middle
and eastern States, but its culture is giving place to more profitable
crops.

The three leading varieties cultivated in the United States are the
spring, winter, and southern, the latter differing from the others only
from dissimilarity of climate. The yield varies from 10 to 30, or more,
bushels per acre, weighing from 48 to 66 pounds to the bushel.

The production of rye has decreased 4,457,000 bushels in the ag-
gregate; but in New York it is greater than in 1840 by about 40 per
cent. Pennsylvania, which is the largest producer, has fallen off from
6,618,378, to 4,805,160 bushels. Perhaps the general diminution in
the quantity of this grain now produced may be accounted for by sup-
posing a corresponding decline in the demand for distilling purposes,
to which a large part of the crop is applied,

adsense



87

blue stem, the Indiana, thie Kentucky white bearded, the old red’chaff,
and the Talavera. The yield varies from ten to forty bushels and up-
wards per acre, weighing per bushel, from fifty-eight to sixty-seven
unds,
Pe appears that on the whole crop of the United States there was a
gain, during the ten years, of 15,645,878 bushels. The crop of New
England decreased from 2,014,000 to 1,090,000 bushels, exhibiting a
decline of 924,000 bushels, and indicating that the attention of: farmers has
been much withdrawn from the culture of wheat. Grouping the States
from the Hudson to the Potomac, including the District of Columbia,
it appears that they produced, in 1849, 35,085,000 bushels, against
29,936,000 in 1889. (In Virginia there was an increase of 1,123,000
bushels.) These States embrace the oldest wheat-growing region of
the country, and that in which the soil and climate seem to Be adapted
to the permanent culture of the grain. The increase of production in
the ten years has heen 6,272,000 bushels, equal to 17.4 per cent. The
area of tilled land in these States is 36,000,000 acres, only 30 per cent.
of the number of acres returned for the whole United States, while the
proportion of wheat produced is 46 per cent. of the entire crop of the
couniry. In North Carolina there has been an increase of 170,000
bushels ; but in the southern States generally there was a considerable
decrease. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin contributed to the
general aggregate, under the Sixth Census, only 9,800,000 bushels; un-
er the last they are shown to have produced upwards of 25,000 000
bushels, an amount greater than the whole increase in the United
States for the period.

When we see the growth of wheat keeping up with the progress of
population in the oldest States of the Union, we need have no appre-

ension of a decline in the cultivation of this important crop.

The amount of flour exported from New Jersey, in 1751, was 6,424
barrels ; from Philadelphia, in 1752, 125,960 barrels, besides 86,500
bushels of wheat; in 1767, 198,816 barrels, besides 367,500 bushels
of wheat; in 1771, 252,744 barrels ; from Savannah, in 1771, 7,200
pounds ; from Virginia, for some years annually preceding the Revolu-
tion, 800,000 bushels of wheat. The total exports of flour from the
United States in 1791 were 619,681 barrels, besides 1,018,339 bushels
of wheat ; in 1800, 653,052 barrels, besides 26,853 bushels of wheat ;
in 1810, 798,431 barrels, besides 325,924 bushels of wheat; in 1820-21,
1,056,119 barrels, besides 25,821 bushels of wheat; in 1830-31,
1,806,529 barrels, besides 408,910 bushels of wheat; in 1840-41, 1,515,-
817 barrels, besides 868,585 bushels of wheat; in 1845-46, 2,289,476
parrels, besides 1,618,795 bushels of wheat; in 1846-47, 4,382,496
barrels, besides 4,399,951 bushels of wheat; in 1850-51, 2,202,335
barrels, besides 1,026,725. bushels of wheat.

According to the Census of 1840, the wheat crop of the United
States amounted to 84,823,272 bushels; in 1849, according to the
Census of 1850, 100,503,899 bushels, although in some of the largest
wheat-growing States the crop of 1849 fell far below the average.

In the State of Ohio, especially, there was great deficiency, as was
made apparent by the returns of the wheat crop for the ensuing year,

made in pursuance of an act of the legislature of that State. From -

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78

year 1651, the rearing of silkworms again became a subject of interest:
in Virginia, and premiums were offered for its encouragement; but it
does not appear that the business was ever prosecuted to any extent.

The silk culture was introduced into Louisiana, in 1718, by the
“Company of the West.” . .

In the infant settlement of Georgia, in 1782, a piece of ground be-
longing to government was allotted as a nursery plantation for white
mitfberry trees, and the attention of some of the settlers was soon en-
gaged in rearing silkworms. In 1726, a quantity of raw silk was
yaised in that colony, which was manufactured into a piece of stuff,
and presented to the queen. .

In 1749, an act of Parliament was passed for encouraging the growth
of silk in Georgia and Carolina, exempting the producer from the pay-
ment of duties on importation into London. A bounty was also offered
for the production of. silk, and a man named Ortolengi, from Italy, was
employed to instruct the colonists in the Italian mode of management.
A few years before the Revolution, considerable quantities of raw ma-
terial began to be raised, which was said to be equal, in some cases,
to the best Piedmont silk, and worked with less waste than the Chinese
article,

Tn Carolina, the culture was undertaken by the small farmers. In
1766, the House of Assembly of this province voted the sum of £1,0D0
towards the establishment of a silk filature at Charleston, under the _
direction of Mr. Gilbert.

In Connecticut, attention was first directed to the rearing of silk-
worms in 1760. Dr. Aspinwall, of Mansfield, from motives of pa-
triotism, used his best exertions to introduce this important branch of
rural economy. He succeeded in forming extensive nurseries of the
mulberry at New Haven, Long Island, Pennsylvania, and other places.
Half an ounce of mulberry seeds was sent to each parish in the colony,
with such directions as his knowledge of the business enabled him to
impart. In 1783, the legislature of Connecticut passed an act grant-
ing a bounty on mulberry trees and raw silk. Phere may be stated
to the honor of Connecticut, that she is the only State in the Union,
which has continued the business without suspension, and probably has
produced more silk, from the time of her commencement up to the
year 1830, than all the other States.

In the year 1769, on the recommendation of Dr. Franklin, through
the American Philosophical Society, a tilature of raw silk was established
in Philadelphia, by private subscription, and placed under the direc-
tion of an Jnvetgent and skilful Frenchman, who, it is said, produced
samples of reeled silk not inferior in quality to the best from France and
Italy. In 1771, the managers purchased 2,300 pounds of cocoons—all
the product of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. ‘The enter-
prise was interrupted by the Revolution. A similar undertaking was
again attempted in Philadelphia, in 1830, under the supervision of

. J. D’Homergue, and cocoons were brought in abundance to the es-
tablishment from various parts of the country, and so continued for some
time afterwards; but, for want of capital, the enterprise failed.

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17

the textile from the refuse parts of the stalk has occasioned a vast an-
nual loss of useful material to the country. Should the attempts which
have lately been made to apply Clausen’s invention succeed, the pro-
duction of flax in the United States may become of great importance,
and be advantageously used, not only alone, but in the manufacture of
mixed fabrics, as it appears capable of being spun with wool, silk, and
other fibres. . .

Silke Cocoons——The culture and manufacture of silk, like many pro-
ductions of nature and art, are difficult to trace from their origin. “All
that we know concerning them is, that they have come to us from the
East in a state of comparative perfection.” It seems to have been in
Asia that silk was first known, and was called Serica, from the name
of the country in which its use was supposed to have been discovered.
The Chinese claim to have manufactured this delicate luxury as early as
2,700 years before the Christian era, at whichtime their attention was first
attracted to the operations of the silk worm on wild mulberry trees.
It was soon after found that they thrived much better in rooms than in the
gpen air, and produced cocoons of much larger size and superior qual-
ity. From that period the culture of silk rapidly increased, and sub-
sequently became a source of great wealth, and spread from China to
India, Persia, and Arabia, where, down to the present time, it has con-
tinued to be abundantly produced.

The éxpedition of Alexander the Great into Persia and India, first
brought silk to the knowledge of Europeans, about 850 years before
Christ. About the beginning of the sixth century, after the Roman
Empire had been transferred to Constantinople, two monks arrived in
the court of the Emperor Justinian, from a mission into China, bring-
ing with them the seeds of the mulberry, and communicated the dis-
covery of the mode of rearing silk worms. Although the exportation
of the eggs of the insects from China was prohibited on pain of death,
by the liberal promises and persuasions of Justinian, they were induced
to undertake to import some from that country ; returning from the expe-
dition through Bucharia and Persia, in the year 555, with the eggs of the
precious insect, which they had obtained, concealed in the hollow of
their canes, or pilgrim staves. From Constantinople, the silk culture
spread into Arabia, thence into Spain and Portugal, Greece, Sicily
Italy, and other parts of Europe. .

‘The introduction of this culture into the North American colonies,
dates back to the first settlement of Virginia. James I., who was anx-
ious to promote this branch of industry, several times urged the ‘ Lon-
don Company” to encourage the growth of mulberry trees, and ad-
dressed a letter to them on the subject; in 1622, conveying strict in-
junctions that they should use every exertion for this purposes and
stimulated the colonists to apply themselves diligently and promptly to
the breeding of silkworms, and the establishment of silk works, bestow-
ing their labors rather in producing this rich commodity thanto the growth
of tobacco—an article to which his majesty had recorded and published
his violent aversion. The company thus incited, showed much zeal m
their eiideavors to accomplish the king’s wishes. A considerable num-
ber of mulberry trees was planted; but little silk was produced, owing
to difficulties involved by their dissolution soon after. In about the

‘


54

the Union, The amount of butter produced gives an average of some-
thing over 49 pounds to each milch cow. The average productioa of
cheese to each cow is 16% pounds. As with horses, the same allowance
must be made, on account of the omission of cows, except in connexion
with agriculture. The only schedules in which the live stock of the coun-
try could be enumerated, were those used for obtaining the agricultaral
products of farms. From the fact that the schedules for enumerating
agricultural productions and live stock were not used in cities, their live
stock was necessarily omitted.

Butier and Cheese.—The Census of 1840 furnishes us no statistics
from which we can accurately determine the quantity of butter and
cheese then produced. ‘The value of both is given under the heading
of “ value OF the products of the dairy” at the sum of $33,787,008.
Itis presumed that the marshals made their returns in accordance
with the prices governing in their respective districts, which would
differ so widely as to render any assumed average a mere conjecture,
New York is far in advance of any other State in the productiveness of
its dairies. They yield one-fourth of all the butter and nearly one-
half the cheese produced in the Union. Pennsylvania, which makes
40,000,000 pounds of butter, is less prolific in cheese than several smaller
States. In this latter article, Ohio is before all other competitors, ex-
cept New York.

The following table shows the amount of dairy products exported
from the United States for several years past:

Yeare. Butter—pounds. | Cheese—pounds. Value.
1820-21 .. 1,069,024 766,431 $190,287
1830-31 1,728,212 1,181,817 264,796
1840-41 3,785,993 1,748,471 504,815
1841~42 2,055,183 2,456,607 385,185
184243 3,408,247 8,440,144 508,968
184344 8,251,952 7,848,145 758,829
184445 . 3,587,489 7,941,187 878,885
1845-46 . 3,436,660 8,675,390 1,063,087
184647 . 4,214,483 | 15,673,600 1,741,770
184748 2,751,086 | 12,913,305 1,361,668
1848—49 8,406,242 | 17,483,682 1,654,159
1849-50 8,876,175 | 13,020,817 1,215,463
1850-51 . . -| 8,994,542 | 10,361,189 1,124,652

_ Sheep-—There was between 1840 and 1850 an increase of 2,309,108
in the number of sheep in the United States. It will be useful to ob-
serve with some closeness the progress of sheep-breeding in different
parts of the country. We perceive that in New England there has
occurred a remarkable decrease in their number. There were in that
division of the Union in 1840, 8,811,307; in 1850, the number had de-
clined to 2,164,452; being a decrease of 1,646,855, or 45 per cent.

In the five Atlantic middle States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsy+

scatman



68

Quantity and value of wool imported into the United States from 1841 w
18650, inclusive.

Date. Quantity in pounds, | Value in dollars,

15,006,410 $1,091,963

11,420,958 797,480

3,517,100 245,000
14,008,000 851,460
23,833,040 1,689,794
16,558,247 1,134,226

8,460,109 555,622
11,841,429 857,034

17,869,022 1,177,347
18,669,794 1,681,691

By this statement it is shown that the quantity of wool brought into
the country of Jate years amounts to almost one-third of that produced
in it, while at former periods, as from 1841 to 1845, the amount was
nearly one-half. The largest proportion of this imported wool came from
Buenos Ayres and the neighboring States on the Rio de Ja Plata, and
is of a coarse and cheap variety, costing from six to eight cents per
pound. It always will be cheaper to bring this kind of wool from re-
gions where sheep are reared without care or labor, than to produce it
at home; but there is no country in the world in which sheep may, by
judicious treatment, be made a source of greater wealth and comfort to
its inhubitants than the United States.

The importations of wool in 1850-51 exhibit a remarkable increase
over the preceding or any former year, amounting in quantity to
82,548,693 pounds, and to the value of $3,800,000.

Beans and Peas—Vurious kinds of pulse, from the facility with
which they are produced in almost every country of the globe, and the
highly nutritive properties which they usually possess, have been a
favorite food for man and animals among all nations, and in every age
of the world. Thus we find that the Athenians employed sodden
beans in their feasts dedicated to Apollo, and that the Romans presented
them as an oblation in their solemn sacrifice called “Fabaria.” Pliny
informs us that they offered bean-meal cakes to certain gods and gud-
desses in these ancient rites and ceremonies; and Lempriere states that
bacon was added to beans in the offerings to Cama, not so much to
gratify the palate of that goddess as to represent the simplicity of their
ancestors.

The bean came originally from the East, and was cultivated in
Egypt and Barbary in the earliest ages of which we have any records.
It was brought into Spain and Portugal in the early part of the eighth
century, whence some of the best varieties were introduced into other
parts of Europe, and finally into the United States.

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14

The earliest attempt to establish a vineyard in the British North Amer.
ican colonies was by the “London Company,” in Virginia, prior to
1620. By the year 1630, the prospects were sufficiently favorable to
warrant the importation of several Frenchvignerons, who, it. was alleged,
ruined them by bad management. Wine was also made in Virginia in
1647; andin 1651, premiums were offered for its production. On the
authority of Beverley, who wrote prior to 1722, there were vineyards
in that colony which produced 760 gallons a year.

Beauchamp Plantagenet, in his ‘Description of the Province of New
Albion,” published in London in 1648, states that the English settlers in
Uvedale, (now in Delaware,) had vines running on mulberry and sassa-
frastrees, and that there were fourkinds of grapes. “ The first,” says he,
“cis the Tholouse Muscat, sweet scented; the second, the great foxe and
thick grape, after five moneths reaped, being boyled and salted, and
well fined, it isa strong red Xeres ; the third, alight claret; the fourth,
a. white grape, creeps on the land, maketh a pure gold-color wine:
Tenis Pale, the Frenchman, of these four, made eight sorts of excellent
wine; and of the Muscat, acute boyled, that the second draught will
fox [intoxicate] a reasonable pate, four moneths old; and here may be
gathered and made two hundred tun in the vintage moneth, and
replanted, will mend.”

An attemptto establish a vineyard near Philadelphia was made by
William Penn, in 1683; also by Andrew Dore, in 1685}; but neither
succeeded,

In 1769, the French settlers on Tlinois river. made upwards of 100
hogsheads of strong wine from the American wild grape.

‘he quantity of wine annually produced in the United States has
become a subject of some discussion since the appearance of the return
in the Seventh Census on that interest. The Census of 1840 gave
124,000 gallons as the produce of that year. It has been stated in the
public prints that since that period the culture of the grape, and the
manufacture of wine therefrom, have grown into a business of consid-
erable importance in the States bordering on the Ohio river, and that
several hundred acres have been planted in vineyards in that valley,
which yield at the rate of more than 45,000 gallons of winea year. The
total product of the Union, in 1850, was given at 221,249 gallons. But
during the intervening period there had been added to our own territory
California and New Mexico, which, in the latter year, produced 60,718
gallons. This quantity deducted from the aggregate, leaves 160,531 gal-

ns for the portion of the Union covered by the returns of 1840—indi-
cating a gain of only 86,000 gallons. This is probably an understate-
ment, but it seems to prove that no considerable progress has yet been
made towards supplying, by a home production, the demand, to meet
which, importations of foreign wines to a very large amount are annu-
ally. made. .

‘he consumption of wine in the United States, though by no means
general, amounts in the aggregate 1o a large sum. ‘The imports dur-
ing the year ending June, 1851, were 6,160,000 gallons, of which, pro-
bably, three-fourths consisted of the wines of France, The value or
invoice cost of the article was $2,370,000. The average consumption
of foreign wines was, therefore, in quantity, but about one-quarter of



50

have been exercised in their preparation as is evinced by our me
chanics and husbandmen. ; ;

In some portions of the Old World, where the necessity of improve-
ment is felt and acknowledged by the intelligent, a predominating pre-
judice not unfrequently exists among others in the community against
‘what is new, and prokibits the introduction of anything not ‘stamped
with the approval of their ancestors. Here, however, no such senti-
ment influences the farmer to reject a useful invention.

No greater delight was enjoyed by foreigners in London, during the
great Industrial Exhibition, than that by Americans on the trial of' the
reaping machines, and the triumphant success of the American reaper,
Of the whole sum expended in articles of this character, New York
has invested $22,084,926; Pennsylvania, $14,722,541; Louisiana,
$11,576,938, (perhaps to a great extent in machinery for crushing
ane cane;) Ohio, $12,750,585; Kentucky, $5,169,037; Virginia,

7,021,772. “

Domestic Animals —When we consider the social condition of nations
Jong congregated and civilized, and necessarily existing under the im-
pulses of utilitarianism, it is not surprising that man, whether possess-
ing a permanent abode, or having emigrated to a distant land, should
become attached to those animals which have proffered to him their
perfect obedience, sagacity, courage, strength, velocity, milk, fleeces,
flesh, &c., and should regard them with admiration, gratitude, and even
affection. Such, doubtless, was the case with most of the adventurers
who first sought a new home on our shores, and brought with them
those animals-which would render them the most assistance and sub-
serve the best purposes for clothing and food.

The first animals brought to America fiom Europe were imported
by Columbus, in his second voyage, in 1498. He left Spain as Admiral
of seventeen ships, bringing a collection of European trees, plants, and
seeds of various kinds, a number of horses, a bull, and several cows.

The first horses brought into any part of the territory at present em-
braced in thé United States were landed in Florida by Cabega de
Vaca, in 1527, forty-two in number, all of which perished or were
otherwise killed, The next importation was also brought to Florida,
by De Soto, in 1589, which consisted of a large number of horses and
swine, among which were thirteen’sows, the progeny of the latter
soon increasing to several hundred. :

The Portuguese took cattle and swine to Newfoundland and Nova
Scotia in the year 1558, Thirty years after, they had multiplied so
abundantly that Sir Richard Gilbert attempted to land there to obtain
supplies of cattle and hogs for his crew, but was wrecked.

Swine and other domestic animals were brought over to Acadia by
M. L’Escarbot, a French lawyer, in 1604, the year that country was
settled. In 1608, the French extended their settlement into Canada,
and soon after introduced various animals.

In 1609, three ships from England landed at Jamnestown, in Virginia,
with many immigrants, and the following domestic animals, namely:
six mares, one horse, six hundred swine, five hundred domestic fowls,
with a few sheep and goats. Other animals had been previously in-

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61

bushels; in 1791, 2,064,936 bushels, 351,695 of which were Indian
meal; in 1800, 2,032,435 bushels, 338,108 of which were in meal; in «
1810, 1,140,960 bushels, 86,744 of which were in meal. In 1820~21,
there were exported 607,277 bushels of corn and 181,669 barrels of
Indian meal; in 1830-31, 571,312 bushels of corn and 207,604. barrels
of meal; in 1840~'41, 535,727 bushels of corn and 232,284 bariels of
meal; in 1845~’46, 1,286,068 bushels of corn and 298,790 barrels of
meal; in 184647, 16,326,050 bushels of corn and 948,060 barrels of
meal;* in 1850-’51, 3,426,811 bushels of corn and 203,622 barrels of
meal. More than eleven, millions of bushels of Indian corn were con-
sumed in 1850 in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors.

According to the Census of 1840, the corn crop of the United States
was 377,531,875 bushels; of 1850, 592,326,612 bushels.

Oats—The oat, when considered in connexion with the artificial
grasses and the nourishment and improvement it aflords to live stock,
may be regarded as one of the most important crops we produce. Its
history is highly interesting, from the circumstance, that, while in many
portions of Europe, when ground into meal, it forms an important aliment
for man, one sort at least, has been cultivated from the days of Pliny,
on account of its superior fitness as an article of diet for the sick, The
country of its origin is somewhat uncertain, though the most common
variety is said to be indigenous to the island of Juan Fernandez. An-
other oat, resembling the cultivated variety, is also found growing wild
in California. ,

This plant was introduced into the North American colonies soon
after their settlement by the English. It was sown by Gosnold, on the
Elizabeth islands, in 1602; cultivated in Newfoundland in 1622, and
in Virginia, by Berkeley, prior to 1648.

The oat is a hardy grain, and is suited to climates too hot and too
cold either for wheat or rye. Indeed, its flexibility is so great, that it
is cultivated with success in Bengal, as low as latitude 25 degrees
north, but refuses to yield profitable crops as we approach the equator.
It flourishes remarkably well when due regard is paid to the selection
of varieties, throughout the inhabited parts of Europe, the northern
and central portions of Asia, Australia, southern and northern Africa,
the cultivated regions of nearly all North America, and a large portion
of South America.

In this country the growth of the oat is confined principally to the
middle, western, and northern States. ‘The varieties cultivated are
the common white, the black, the gray, the imperial, the Hopetown,
the Polish, the Egyptian, and the potato oat. ‘The yield of the com-
mon varieties varies from forty to ninety bushels and upwards Re
acre, weighing from twenty-five to filty pounds to the bushel. The
Egyptian oat is cultivated south of Tennessee, which, after being sown
in autumn and fed off by stock in winter and spring, yields from ten
to twenty bushels per acre. In the manufacture of malt and spirituous
liquors, oats enter but lightly, and their consumption for this purpose
does not exceed sixty thousand bushels annually in the United States.

* The fluctuations in the amounts exported in 1845~'46-'47 of this, as well as the other
kinds of grain cultivated in this country, were occasioned by the great famine in Ireland,
caused by the failure of the potato rope of thoso years,



63

Its culture was introduced into Louisiana in 1718, by the “Company
of the West.”

. The Present culture of rice in the United States is chiefly confined
to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Texas. The yield per acre varies from twenty to sixty bushels,
weighing from forty-five to forty-eight pounds when cleaned. Under
favorable circumstances, as many as ninety bushels to an acre have
been raised.

Another variety is cultivated in this country, to a limited extent,
called Cochin-China, dry or mountain rice, from its adaptation toadry
soil without irrigation. ‘It will grow several degrees further north or
south than the Carolina rice, and has been cultivated with success
in the northern provinces of China, Hungary, Westphalia, Virginia,
and Maryland; but the yield is much less than that of the preceding,
being only fifteen to twenty bushels to an acre. It was first introduced
into Charleston from Canton, by John Bradby Blake, in 1772.

The amount of rice exported from South Carolina in 1724 was
18,000 barrels; in 1781, 41,957 barrels; in 1740, 90,110 barrels; in
1747-48, 55,000 barrels; in 1754, 104,682 barrels; in 1760-61, 100,000
barrels; from Savannah in 1755, 2,299 barrels, besides 237 bushels of
paddy, or rough rice; in 1760, 3,288 barrels, besides 208 bushels of
paddy; in 1770, 22,120 barrels, besides. 7,064 bushels of paddy;
rom Philadelphia in 1771, 258,375 pounds. The amount ex-
ported from this country, in 1770, was 150,529 barrels; in 1791,
96,980 tierces; in 1800, 112,056 tierces; in 1810, 181,341 tierces; in
1820-21, 88,221 tierces; in 1830-31, 116,517 tierces; in 1840-41,
101,617 tierces; in 1845-46, 124,007 tierces; in 1846-47, 144,427
tierces; in 1850-51, 105,590 tierces.

According to the Census of 1840, the rice crop of the United States
amounted to 80,841,422 pounds; of 1850, 218,312,710 pounds.

Tobacco.—Tobacco, from the extent to which it is cultivated, its im-
portance in commerce, and the modes of employing it to gratify the
senses, exhibits one of the most remarkable features in the history of
man. From the solace only of the wild Indian of America, it has be-
come one of the luxuries of the rich, and gives pleasure to the poor
throughout the habitable globe, from the burning desert to the froze.
zone. In short, its use for snuff, for chewing, or for smoking, is almost
universal, and for no other reason than a sort of convulsion, (sneezing),
produced by the first, and a degree of intoxication by the last two
modes of usage. This plant is indigenous to tropical America, and
was cultivated by the aborigines in various parts of the continent pre-
vious to its discovery by Europeans. Columbus found it on the island
of Cuba, in 1492, where he was invited by a chief to partake of a cigar.

, In 1496, Romanus Pane published the first account of it as growing in St.
Domingo, calling it cohoba, cohobla, and givia. Sir Richard Grenville
found it in Virginia, in 1585, when the English, for the first time, saw
it smoked by the natives in pipes made of clay. It is believed to have
been introduced into England by Raleigh’s colonists on their return
from Virginia, in 1686. Soon after the settlement of Jamestown, from
the increased demand in Europe, and the peculiar adaptation of the

_ Soil to its culture, considerable quantities were raised, and numerous



49

Statement showing the number of acres of improved and wnimproved land, in
farms, the cash value thereof, and the average cash value per acre, in each
Stute and Territory.

States and Territories, | Acres of im-|Acresofunim-| Total. [Cash value of| Averago *

provedland. | proved lund] + [Jand, improved leash val.
in farms. and unimp'd. {per acre.

Maine .. 2,039, 596 | 2,515,797 | 4,555, 993 | $54,861, 748 | $12 04
New Hampshire | 2,251,488 | 1, 140,926 | 3,302,414 | 55,245,907 | “16 28.
Vermont... | 2,601,409 | 1,524,413 | 4,195,622] 63,967,227] 15 36
Massachusetts "| 2,183,436 | 1,922,576 | 3,356,012 | 109,076,847 | 32 60
Rhode Ieland 356,487 | "197,451 | 553,938 | 17,070,802 | 30 82
Connecticut 1,768,178 | _ 615,701 | 2,383,879 | 72,726,422 | 30
New York . 12, 408, 968 | 6,710, 120 | 19,119,088 | 654,546,642 | 29
New Jersey 1,767, 991'| "984,955 | 2,752,946 | 120,937,511 | 43
Pennsylvania - 8, 628, 619 | 6,294, 728 | 14,923, 347 | 407,876,009 | 27
Delaware 580,802 | 375,282 | ‘956,144 | 18,880,031) 19
Maryland 2,797,985 | 1,836,445 | 4,634,350 |” 87,178,545 | 18
District of 16, 267 11, 187 97,454 | 1,730,460 | 6:
Virginian. 10, 360, 135 | 18, 792, 176 | 26,152, 311 | 216, 401, 441

North Carolina -
South Carolina. 4,072,651 | 12,145, 049 | 16,217,700 | 82, 431, 684
6,878, 479 | 16, 442, 900 | 22,821,379 | 95,753, 445
1,585, 289 6, 328, 109

4,435, 614 | 7,702, 067 | 12,137,681 | 64, 323, 224
3,444, 368 | 7,046, 001 | 10,490,419 | 54,738, 634
1,590,025 | 3,939,018 | 5,529,043 | 75, 814, 398
639, 107 | 14, 454, 669 | 15,093,776 | 16, 398,747
781, 581 | 1,816,684 | 2,598,215 | 15, 265, 245

‘Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana .

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2,938, 495 | 6,794,245 | 9,732,670 | 63,225, 543
ged; 682 | 1,911,982 | 2,736,064 | 16,657,507
1,045, 499 | 1,931, 159 | 9,976,658} 28,528, 563
62,324 | 3,831,571 | 3,803,895 | 3,874, 041
8, 085 23, B46 28, 881 161,948] 5
132,857 | 299,951 | 432,808} 2,849,170 | 6
16, 333 30, 516 46, 849 311,799 | 6
166,201}. 124,370] 290,571 | 1,653,952] 5
0

Aggregate... ----[118, 457, 622 |184, 621, 848 |803, 078, 970 |3, 270,783, 093 Jay. 1

Value of Farming Implements and Machinery.—For no stronger proof
of the ingenuity and activity of the American mind need we search
than that developed in the readiness with which labor-saving expe-
dients for carrying on the commonest operations in agricultare are
discovered and applied. One hundred and fifty-one millions of dollars
would appear to be at this time invested in implements and machines
for aiding and abridging the work of the hands in cultivating the earth
and in preparing its produce for consumption. In most civilized coun-
tries of the Ole World, so great is the density of the population, and
so low the prices of labor, that less necessity is created for such ma-
chines ; and nowhere does the same amount of ingenuity appear to

4



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72

“was used in England as a delicacy long before the introduction of
our potatoes; it was imported in considerable quantities from Spain
and the Canaries, and was supposed to possess the power of restoring
decayed vigor.” It is related that the common potato was accident-
ally introduced into England from Ireland at a period somewhat earlier
than that noticed, by Gerard, in consequence of the wrecking of a vessel
on-the coast of Lancashire, which had a quantity on board. In. 1663,
the Royal Society of England took measures for encouraging the culti-
vation of this vegetable, with the view of preventing famine. Notwith-
standing its utility as a food became better known, no high character
‘was attached to it; and the writers on gardening towards the end of
the seventeenth century, a hundred years or more after its introduction,
treated of it rather indifferently. “ They are much used in Ireland and
America as bread,” says one author, “and may be propagated with
advantage to poor people.” The famous nurserymen, London and
Wise, did not consider it worthy of notice in their Complete Gardener,

ublished in 1719. But its use gradually spread, as its excellencics

ecame better understood. I was near the middle of the last century
before it was generally known either in Britain or North America, since
which it has been most extensively cultivated.

The period of the introduction of the common potato into the British
North American colonies is not precisely known. It is mentioned
among the products of Carolina and Virginia in 1749, and among those
growing in New York and New England the same year.

The culture of this plant extends through the whole of Europe, a
large portion of Asia, Australia, the southern and northern parts of Af
rica, and the adjacent islands. On the American Continent, with the
exception of some sections of the torrid zone, the culture of this root
extends from Labrador on the east, and Nootka Sound on the west, to
Cape Horn. It resists more effectually than the cereals the frosts of
the north. In this country it is principally confined to the northern,
middle and western States, where, from the coolness of the climate, it
acquires a farinaceous consistence, highly conducive to the support of
animal life. It has never been extensively cultivated in Florida, Ala-
bama, Mississippi, nor Louisiana—perhaps from the greater facility of
raising the sweet potato, its more tropical rival. Its perfection, how-
ever, depends as much upon the soil as on the climate in which it
rows; for in the red loam on the banks of Bayou Boeuf, in Louisiana,
where the land is new, it is stated that tubers are produced as large,
savory, and as free from water, as any raised in other parts of the
world. The same may be said of those grown at Bermuda, Madeira,
the Canaries, and numerous other ocean isles.

The chief varieties cultivated in te northern States are the Carter,
the kidneys, the pink-eyes, the Mercer, the orange, the Sault St. Marie,
the Merino, and the western red; in the middle and western States,
the Mercer, the long red, or Merino, the orange, and the western red.
The yield varies from 50 to 400 bushels and upwards per acre, but
generally. it is below 200 bushels.

Within the last ten years an alarming disease, or “rot,” has attacked

the tubers of this plant about the time they are fully grown. It has not



48

roved land to be assigned to each person occupying or working it may
fe assumed as not less than twelve acres. In the New England States,
the average ‘tor the whole population is a little more than four acres to
éach person; in New York and Pennsylvania, 3.9 acres; in the other
middle States, the same. In Virginia, the proportion is about seven
acres; in South Carolina, six acres; in Kentucky, twelve acres ; and
in Tennessee, five acres. The value of the farms in the United States
is returned at $3,270,733,098,

Onimproved land.—This return is to be understood ag including the
unimproved land connected with, or belonging to, those farms from
which productions are returned. In the present unsettled state of laige
portions of the country, this classification is of less practical utility
than it will become at a future day, when similar returns will enabl
us to form calculations respecting the quantity of land brought into
requisition annually for agricultural purposes. The following table
will exhibit the quantity and value of the improved and unimproved
Jand belonging to the farms and plantations of the several States, and,
of course, includes the value of the buildings thereon :



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80

st plantations in Spain were at Valencia, but they were extended to
Gade Murcia, Portugal, Madeira, and the Canary islands, as early
as the beginning of the fifteenth century. From Gomera, one of these
islands, the sugar cane was introduced into the West Indies by Colum-
bus, in his second voyage to America, in 1493. It was cultivated to’
some extent in St. Domingo, in 1506, where it succeeded better than
in any of the other islands, In 1618, there were twenty-eight
plantations in that colony, established by the Spaniards, where an abun-
dance ot sugar was made, which, for a long period formed the princi-
pal part of the European supplies. Barbadves, the oldest English set-
tlement in the West Indies, began to export sugar in 1646, and in the
year 1676, the trade required four hundred vessels, averaging 160
tons burden. .

The introduction of sugar cane into Florida, Texas, California, and
Louisiana, probably dates back to their earliest settlement, by the
Spaniards or French. It was not cultivated in the latter, however, as
a staple product, before the year 1751, when it was introduced with:
several negroes, by the Jesuits, from St. Domingo. They commenced
a small plantation on the banks of the Mississippi, just above the old
city of New Orleans. The year following, others cultivated the plant,
and made some rude attempts at the manufacture of sugar. ‘In 1758,
M. Dubreuil established a sugar estate, on a large scale, and erected
the first sugar mill in Louisiana, in what is now the lower part of New
Orleans. His success was followed by other plantations, and in the
year 1765, there was sugar enough manufactured for home consu: mption;
and in 1770, it had become one of the staple products of the colony.
Soon after the Revolution, a large number of enterprising adventurers
emigrated from the United States to Lower Louisiana, where, amon;
other objects of industry, they engaged in the cultivation of cane, an
by the year 1803, there were no less than eighty-one sugar estates on
the Delta alone. Since that period, while the production of cane sugar
has been annually increasing at the South, the manufacture of maple
sugar has been extending in the North and West.

‘The common sugar cane is a perennial plant, very sensitive to cold,
and is therefore restricted in its cultivation to regions bordering on. the
tropics, where there is little or no frost. In the Eastern hemisphere its
production is principally confined to situations favorable to its growth,
being between the fortieth parallel of north latitude and a correspond-
ing degree south. On the Atlantic side of the Western Continent it
will not thrive beyond the thirty-third degree of north latitude and the
thirty-fifth parallel south. On the Pacific side it will perfect its growth
some five degrees further north or south. From the flexi lity of this
plant, it is highly probable that it is gradually becoming more hardy,
and will eventually endure an exposure, and yield a profitable return,
much farther north, along the borders of the Mississi pi, and some of
its tributaries, than it has hitherto been produced. tn most parts of
Louisiana the canes yield three crops from one planting. The first
season it is denominated “plant cane,” and each of the subsequent
growths “ratoons.” But sometimes, as on the prairies of Attakapas
and Opelousas, and the higher northern range of its cultivation, it re-



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75

a gallon for each person, and in value only ten cents. ‘Phe coinci-

dence is somewhat remarkable, that this is almost precisely the rate of
consumption of imported wine among the people of Great Britain.
But in France, according to official returns, there is produced and re-
tained for consumption 900,000,000 gallons of wine, allowing 25$ gal-
Jons to each person in the population.

It appears, from other tables in our Census returns, that the quantity
of ale and spirituous liquors produced in the United States, in 1860,
exceeded 86,000,000 gallons. The amount exported was balanced by
the imports, and the quantity rejected, in forming the above estimate,
for the sake of preserving round numbers; the consumption of malt
and spirituous liquors for manufacturing purposes, and as a beverage,
appears to have been at the rate of nearly four gallons per head. It
is the opinion of many, whose inquiries upon the subject entitle them
to respect, that among what are called ‘ civilized” nations, the vice ot
inebriation has always been found to prevail most extensively where
the vine is not cultivated; while, on the other hand, where this species
of culture is widely disseminated, the temperance of the people is pro-
yerbial. Ifsuch be the case, we may proudly hope that the day is not
far distant when America will fully establish and claim a rivalry with
the most favored land of the vine and the olive, and exultingly disclain:
being tributary to any foreign clime.

Pounds of Hops produced.—A. gratifying increase has taken place in
the culture of this useful article. The gain has been nearly 200 per
cent. Almost the whole of the increment, however, has been in the
State of New York, which, from less than half a million of pounds in,
1840, now produces more than two and a half millions, which exceeds
five-sevenths of the whole crop of the United States.

In connexion with this circumstance, it may be mentioned that New
York also stands foremost in the production of ale, beer, and porter,
in the manufacture of which the larger part of the hops raised is con-
sumed. The breweries of this State produced 645,000 barrels of ale,
&c., in 1850, being more than a third of the quantity returned for the
whole Union.

Flax and Hemp—Duing the last half century great efforts have
been made in Europe, and to some extent, of late, in the United States,
to increase and improve the production and manufacture of flax and
hemp. Formerly they were considered as indispensable crops among
our planters and farmers; but their use has been superseded, in a meas-
ure, by the cotton of the South.

Common flax is a native of Britain, where it has been cultivated
from time immemorial, and, from its hardihood and adaptation to a
wide range of temperature, it has been grown in almost every countr
on'the Eastern Continent, from Egypt to the polar circle, and in Nor
America, from Texas to Newfoundland.

Hemp—which is supposed to be a native of India, but long since ac-
climatized and extensively cultivated in Spain, Italy, and several other
countries in Europe, particularly in Poland and Russia, as well as in
different parts of America—also forms an article of primary importance
in commerce, and is of extensive utility.

Both of these products were introduced into the North American


59

This grain has never entered largely into our foreign commerce, as
the home consumption for a long period nearly kept pace with the sup-
ply. The amount exported from the United States, in 1801, was
392,276 bushels; in 1812, 82,705 bushels; in 1818, 240,186 bushels.
In 1820-’21, there were exported 28,523 barrels of rye flour; in 1830—
°81, 19,100 barrels; in 184041, 44,081 barrels; in 1845-46, 38,530
barrels; in 1846-47, 48,892 barrels, in 185061, 44,152 barrels.

During the year ending June 1, 1850, there were consumed, of rye;
sbout 2,144,000 bushels in the manufacture of malt and spirituous

iquors, a

According to the Census returns of 1840, the product of the country
was 18,645,567 bushels; in 1850, 14,188,637 bushels.

Maize, or Indian Corn—Among the objects of culture in the United
States, maize, or Indian corn, takes precedence in the scale of crops,
as it is best adapted to.the soil and climate, and furnishes the largest
amount of nutritive food. Where due regard is paid to the selection
of varieties, and cultivated in a proper soil, it may be accounted as a
sure crop in almost every portion of the habitable globe between the
44th degree of north latitude and a corresponding parallel south. Be-
sides its production in this country, its principal culture is limited to
Mexico, the West Indies, most of the States of South America, France,
Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, and southern and central Europe gener-
ally. It is also cultivated with success in northern, southern, and
western Africa, India, China, Japan, Australia, and the Sandwich
Islands, the groups of the Azores, the Madeiras, the Canaries, and nu-
merous other ocean isles. . :

Although there has been much written on the Eastern origin of this
grain, it did not grow in that part of Asia watered by the Indus at the
time of Alexander the Great’s expedition, as it is not among the pro-
ductions of that country mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of
the fleet. Neither is itnoticed by Arrian, Diodorus, Columella, nor any
other ancient author. And even as late as 1491, the year before Co-
lumbus discovered America, Joan: di Cuba, in his ‘ Ortus Sanitatis,”
makes no mention of it. It has never been found in any ancient tumu-
lus, sarcophagus, or pyramid; nor has it ever been represented in any
ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America. But in
this country, according to Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the earliest
Peruvian historians, the palace gardens‘of the Incas were orma-
mented with maize in gold and silver, with all the grains, spikes, stalks,
and leaves; and in one instance, in the “Garden of Gold and Silver,”
there was an entire corn field of considerable size, representing the
maize in its exact and natural shape, a proof no less of the wealth of
the Incas, than of their veneration for this important grain.

In further proof of the American origin of this plant, it may be stated
that itis still found growing in a wild state, from the Rocky mountains,
in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay, where, instead of
having each grain naked, as is always the case after long cultivation,
it is completely covered with gluies, or husks. It is, moreover, a well
authenticated fact that maize was found in a state of cultivation by the
aborigines, on the island of Cuba at the time of its discovery by Co-



97

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62

The oat, like rye, never has entered much into our foreign commerce;
as the domestic consumption has always been nearly equal to the
quantity produced. The annual average exports, for several years
preceding 1817, were 70,000 bushels. *

By the Census returns of 1840, it will be seen that the total produce
of the United States was 128.071,341 bushels; of 1850, 146,678,879.
oushels,

Rice—the chief food, pernaps, of one-third of the human race~pos-
sesses the advantage attending. wheat, maize, and other grains, of pre-
serving plenty during the fluctuations of trade, and is also susceptible
of cultivation on land too low and moist for the production of most
other useful plants. Although cultivated principally within the tropics,
it flourishes well beyond, producing even heavier and better filled

rain. Like many other plants in common use, it is never found wild,
tt is to be understood that the wild rice, or water oat, Zizania aquatica,
which grows along the muddy. shores of our tide-waters, is a distinct
plant from the common rice, and should not be confounded with it,)
nor is its native country known. Linus considers it as a native
of Ethiopia, while others regard it of Asiatic origin.

At the Industrial Exhibition in London, last year, there were dis-
played many curious samples and varieties of rice, grown without irri-

tion, at elevations of 3,000 to 6,000 feet on the Himala ras, where
the dampness of the summer months compensates for the want of
artificial moisture. At the exhibition above alluded to, American rice
received not only honorable mention for its very superior quality, but
the Carolina rice, exhibited by E. J. Heriot, was pronounced by the
jury “magnificent in size, color, and clearness,” and to it was awarded
a prize medal. The jury were fiee to admit that the American rice,

: though originally brought from the Old World, is now much the

inest_in quality.

‘The common variety iscultivated throughout the torrid zone, wherever
there is a plentiful supply of water, and will mature, under favorable
circumstances, in the Hastern Continent as high as the forty-fifth paral-
lel of north latitude, and as far south as the thirty-eighth, On the
Atlantic side of the Western Continent it will flourish as far north as
latitude thirty-eight degrees, and to a corresponding parallel south.
On the western coast of America it will grow as far north as forty or
more degrees. Its culture is principally confined to India, China,
Japan, Ceylon, Madagascar, Eastern Africa, the south of Europe, the
southern portions of the United States, the Spanish Main, Brazil, and
the valley of Parana and Uruguay.

This grain was first introduced into Virginia by Sir William Berke-
ley, in 1647, who received half a bushel of seed, from which he raised
sixteen bushels of excellent rice, most or all of which was sown the
following year. It is also stated that a Dutch brig from Madagascar,
came to Charleston in 1694, and left about a peck of paddy (rice in
the husk) with Governor Thomas Smith, who distributed it among
his friends for cultivation. Another account of its introduction into
Carolina is that Ashby was encouraged to send a bag of seed rice to
that province, ftom the crops of which sixty tons were shipped to
England in 1698, Jt soon after became the chief staple of the colony:

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