Chap. I.] Climatb, Seasons, &c. 3 



again immediately : yet here and there, especially on 

 the hills, there are ponds, as they call them here ; but 

 in England, they would be called lakes, from their ex- 

 tent as well as from their depth. These, with the various 

 trees which surround them, are very beautiful indeed. 



15. The farms are so many plots originally scooped 

 out of woods ; though in King's and Queen's counties the 

 land is generally pretty much deprived of the woods, 

 which, as in every other part of America that I have 

 seen, are beautiful beyond all description. The Walnut 

 of two or three sorts, the Plane, the Hickory, Chesnut, 

 Tulip Tree, Cedar, Sassafras, Wild Cherry (sometimes 

 60 feet high) ; more than fifty sorts of Oaks ; and many 

 other trees, but especially the Flowering Locust, or 

 Acacia, which, in my opinion, surpasses all other trees, 

 and some of which, in this Island, are of a very great 

 height and girt. The Orchards constitute a feature of 

 great beauty. Every farm has its orchard, and, in 

 general, of cherries as well as of apples and pears. Of 

 the cultivation and crops of these, I shall speak in ano- 

 ther part of the work. 



16. There is one great drawback to all these beau- 

 ties, namely, the fences; and, indeed, there is another 

 with us South-of-England people ; namely, the general 

 (for there are many exceptions) slovenliness about the 

 homesteads, and particularly about the dwellings of 

 labourers. Mr. Birkbkck complains of this; and, in- 

 deed, what a contrast with the homesteads and cottages, 

 which he left behind him near that exemplary [spot, 

 Guildford in Surrey ! Both blots are, however, easily 

 accounted for. 



17. The fences are of post and rail. This arose, in 

 the first place, from the abundance of timber that men 

 knew not how to dispose of It is now become an affair 

 of {/r eat expense in the populous parts of the country; 

 and, that it might, with great advantage and perfect 

 ease, be got rid of, I shall clearly show in another part 

 of my work. 



18. The dwellings and gardens, and little mit-houset 

 of labourers, which form so striking a feature of beauty 

 in England, and especially in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, 



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