The Land, In Most Places,
Lies Indifferent Low, (Except In Chuwon, And High Up The Rivers)
But Bears An Incredible Burden Of Timber; The Low-Grounds Being
Cover'd With Beech; And The High-Land Yielding Lofty Oaks, Walnut-Trees,
And Other Useful Timber.
The Country, in some Plantations,
has yearly produc'd Indian Corn, or some other Grain, ever since
this Country was
First seated, without the Trouble of Manuring or Dressing;
and yet (to all appearance) it seems not to be, in the least,
impoverish'd, neither do the Planters ever miss of a good Crop,
unless a very unnatural Season visits them, which seldom happens.
Of the Corn of Carolina.
{Wheat.}
The Wheat of this Place is very good, seldom yielding less than thirty fold,
provided the Land is good where it is sown; Not but that there has been
Sixty-six Increase for one measure sown in Piny-Land, which we account
the meanest Sort. And I have been inform'd, by People of Credit,
that Wheat which was planted in a very rich Piece of Land,
brought a hundred and odd Pecks, for one. If our Planters,
when they found such great Increase, would be so curious as to make
nice Observations of the Soil, and other remarkable Accidents,
they would soon be acquainted with the Nature of the Earth and Climate,
and be better qualified to manage their Agriculture
to more Certainty, and greater Advantage; whereby they might arrive
to the Crops and Harvests of Babylon, and those other fruitful Countries
so much talk'd of. For I must confess, I never saw one Acre of Land
manag'd as it ought to be in Carolina, since I knew it;
and were they as negligent in their Husbandry in Europe,
as they are in Carolina, their Land would produce nothing
but Weeds and Straw.
{Rye.}
They have try'd Rye, and it thrives very well; but having
such Plenty of Maiz, they do not regard it, because it makes black Bread,
unless very curiously handled.
{Barley.}
Barley has been sowed in small quantities, and does better
than can be expected; because that Grain requires the Ground
to be very well work'd with repeated Ploughings, which our general Way
of breaking the Earth with Hoes, can, by no means, perform,
tho' in several Places we have a light, rich, deep, black Mould,
which is the particular Soil in which Barley best thrives.
{Oats.}
The naked Oats thrive extraordinary well; and the other would prove
a very bold Grain; but the Plenty of other Grains makes them not much coveted.
{Maiz.}
The Indian Corn, or Maiz, proves the most useful Grain in the World;
and had it not been for the Fruitfulness of this Species,
it would have proved very difficult to have settled some of the Plantations
in America. It is very nourishing, whether in Bread, sodden, or otherwise;
And those poor Christian Servants in Virginia, Maryland,
and the other northerly Plantations, that have been forced to live
wholly upon it, do manifestly prove, that it is the most nourishing Grain,
for a Man to subsist on, without any other Victuals. And this Assertion
is made good by the Negro-Slaves, who, in many Places, eat nothing
but this Indian Corn and Salt. Pigs and Poultry fed with this Grain,
eat the sweetest of all others. It refuses no Grounds,
unless the barren Sands, and when planted in good Ground,
will repay the Planter seven or eight hundred fold; besides the Stalks
bruis'd and boil'd, make very pleasant Beer, being sweet like the Sugar-Cane.
{Rice.}
There are several sorts of Rice, some bearded, others not,
besides the red and white; But the white Rice is the best.
Yet there is a sort of perfum'd Rice in the East-Indies,
which gives a curious Flavour, in the Dressing. And with this sort
America is not yet acquainted; neither can I learn, that any of it
has been brought over to Europe; the Rice of Carolina being esteem'd
the best that comes to that Quarter of the World. It is of great Increase,
yielding from eight hundred to a thousand-fold, and thrives best in wild Land,
that has never been broken up before.
{Buck-Wheat.}
Buck-Wheat is of great Increase in Carolina; but we make no other use of it,
than instead of Maiz, to feed Hogs and Poultry: {Guinea-Wheat.}
And Guinea Corn, which thrives well here, serves for the same use.
{Pulse. Bushel-Bean.}
Of the Pulse-kind, we have many sorts. The first is the Bushel-Bean,
which is a spontaneous Product. They are so called, because they bring
a Bushel of Beans for one that is planted. They are set in the Spring,
round Arbours, or at the Feet of Poles, up which they will climb,
and cover the Wattling, making a very pretty Shade to sit under.
They continue flowering, budding, and ripening all the Summer long,
till the Frost approaches, when they forbear their Fruit, and die.
The Stalks they grow on, come to the Thickness of a Man's Thumb;
and the Bean is white and mottled, with a purple Figure on each side it,
like an Ear. They are very flat, and are eaten as the Windsor-Bean is,
being an extraordinary well-relish'd Pulse, either by themselves,
or with Meat.
{Indian Rouncevals.}
We have the Indian Rounceval, or Miraculous Pease, so call'd
from their long Pods, and great Increase. These are latter Pease,
and require a pretty long Summer to ripen in. {Pease and Beans.}
They are very good; and so are the Bonavis, Calavancies, Nanticokes,
and abundance of other Pulse, too tedious here to name,
which we found the Indians possess'd of, when first we settled in America;
some of which sorts afford us two Crops in one Year;
as the Bonavis and Calavancies, besides several others of that kind.
{Eng. Bean.}
Now I am launch'd into a Discourse of the Pulse, I must acquaint you,
that the European Bean planted here, will, in time, degenerate into
a dwarfish sort, if not prevented by a yearly Supply of foreign Seed,
and an extravagant rich Soil; yet these Pigmy-Beans are
the sweetest of that kind I ever met withal.
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