﻿AGRICULTURE. 
  129 
  

  

  varied 
  unci 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  subsistence 
  ample. 
  Al- 
  

   most 
  every 
  article 
  of 
  prime 
  necessity, 
  which 
  the 
  soil 
  

   could 
  yield, 
  was 
  produced 
  by 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  their 
  

   wants.* 
  Cattle 
  and 
  swine 
  required 
  little 
  other 
  attention 
  

   than 
  protection 
  from 
  the 
  bear 
  and 
  wolf 
  of 
  the 
  forest, 
  

   and 
  were 
  raised 
  abundantly; 
  whilst 
  the 
  small 
  farms, 
  

   frequently 
  confined 
  to 
  a 
  few 
  acres, 
  exhibited 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  

   productions 
  that 
  is 
  now 
  rarely 
  found 
  together 
  in 
  the 
  

   country, 
  Indian 
  corn, 
  wheat, 
  oats, 
  rye, 
  rice 
  and 
  pota- 
  

   toes, 
  cotton, 
  flax, 
  tobacco 
  and 
  indigo, 
  were 
  almost 
  uni- 
  

   versally 
  cultivated, 
  but 
  rarely, 
  if 
  at 
  all, 
  for 
  exportation. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  early 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  the 
  colony, 
  

   many 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  conveniences 
  of 
  life 
  were 
  neces- 
  

   sarily 
  dispensed 
  with, 
  or 
  supplied 
  with 
  such 
  substitutes 
  

   as 
  ingenuity 
  or 
  skill 
  could 
  devise 
  and 
  fabricate 
  from 
  the 
  

   productions 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Not 
  many 
  years 
  since, 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  the 
  moulds 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  respectable 
  and 
  

   wealthy 
  fixmilies 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  was 
  wont 
  to 
  cast 
  

   the 
  pewter 
  platters 
  and 
  spoons 
  which 
  constituted 
  the 
  

   only 
  'plate 
  of 
  himself 
  and 
  neighbors. 
  The 
  inventories 
  of 
  

   the 
  confiscated 
  eflects 
  of 
  some 
  prominent, 
  and 
  as 
  then 
  

   regarded, 
  opulent 
  persons, 
  yet 
  preserved 
  among 
  the 
  

   Spanish 
  archives, 
  exhibit 
  a 
  simplicity 
  of 
  attire 
  and 
  fur- 
  

   niture 
  in 
  strong 
  contrast 
  with 
  that 
  which 
  would 
  now 
  

   satisfy 
  those 
  of 
  very 
  contracted 
  means 
  or 
  humble 
  

   station. 
  

  

  The 
  scarcity 
  and 
  high 
  price 
  of 
  iron, 
  and 
  the 
  con- 
  

   sequent 
  imperfection 
  of 
  agricultural 
  implements, 
  was 
  

   perhaps 
  most 
  felt 
  and 
  least 
  easily 
  remedied. 
  At 
  that 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  17t5, 
  Mr. 
  Dunbar 
  enumerates 
  among 
  the 
  productions 
  of 
  his 
  

   plantation, 
  rice, 
  tobacco, 
  flaxseed, 
  indigo 
  seed, 
  corn, 
  buckwheat, 
  

   barley, 
  peas, 
  besides 
  many 
  other 
  things. 
  

  

  9 
  

  

  