History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of VirginiaCampbell, Charles
History
History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia
Campbell, Charles
Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Virginia -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
was in high esteem, yet the crop raised was so large that the price was
only about three pence, or six cents, a pound. A man could plant enough
to make two thousand pounds, and also sufficient corn and vegetables for
his own support. The culture of hemp and flax had been commenced. Good
iron-ore was found, and there were sanguine anticipations of the profits
to be derived from that source. There were wind-mills and water-mills,
horse-mills and hand-mills: a saw-mill was greatly needed, it being
considered equivalent to the labor of twenty men. There came yearly to
trade above thirty vessels, navigated by seven or eight hundred men.
They brought linens, woollens, stockings, shoes, etc. They cleared in
March, with return cargoes of tobacco, staves, and lumber. Many of the
masters and chief mariners of these vessels had plantations, houses, and
servants, in the colony. Pinnaces, boats, and barges were numerous, the
most of the plantations being situated on the banks of the rivers. Pitch
and tar were made. Mulberry-trees abounded, and it was confidently
believed that silk could be raised in Virginia as well as in France.
Hopeful anticipations of making wine from the native grape were
entertained, but have never been realized. Virginia was now considered
healthy; the colonists being so amply provided with the necessaries and
comforts of life, the number of deaths was believed to be less,
proportionally, than in England. The voyage from England to Virginia
occupied about six weeks; the outward-bound voyage averaging about
twenty-five days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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