JOURNEY THROUGH JERSEY 45 



is at present 5-6 shillings current, i. e., about three shil- 

 lings sterling. About one bushel is seeded to the acre 

 (43,600 English feet in the square), and people expect 

 10-12 for one on the poorer lands, 15-18 for one on 

 better lands. In Jersey as in the other middle colonies 

 wheat is a considerable article of trade. 



In New England the common barberry is in evil 

 repute. There is laid to its charge that its proximity 

 is injurious to the growth of wheat and other field- 

 crops. Whether it is a positive or a negative injury, 

 that is, whether it works damage actively, corrupting 

 the atmosphere, or merely exhausts the better juices of 

 the soil, nobody has been able or willing to determine. 

 However, a strict law has been passed against the poor 

 barberry, making the inhabitants responsible, with no 

 further judicial process, for the carrying out of the 

 death sentence imposed upon both varieties of this 

 shrub, (elsewhere harmless) whenever it makes its ap- 

 pearance if any man extends protection to the shrub 

 his neighbor has the right to enter and destroy, and 

 can bring action against the slothful or unbelieving 

 condoner for damage and trouble incurred. But the 

 New Englanders are known for other strange beliefs 

 and practices as well, and it was among them that 

 witch trials, at the beginning of the century, were so 

 grimly prosecuted. 



It is said that petroleum is found in or on the Mill- 

 stone River, not far from Princetown. Petroleum 

 occurs in many other parts of America, especially, I am 

 told, in and about the Oneida Lakes. 



By General Lincoln's account a piece of solid copper 

 weighing 2078 pounds was found some years ago on 

 the summit of a mountain near Middlebrook, in the 



