489 



these soils in two ways : the one, by exha- 

 lation ; the other, by the very great sudden 

 falls of rain, and the severe frosts in winter, 

 which make that poor soil so light, that the 

 manure gets quickly to the top, and the 

 rain carries it away. I have seen in my 

 own drill crops as much as a peck of pota- 

 toes together, and lumps of dung along 

 with them, in a few days after they were 

 planted : I have taken them up, and given 

 them to the pigs by basket-fulls : they 

 were washed out by quick falls of rain. 



Upon the whole, America appears to me 

 to be a most proper place for the use to 

 which it was first appropriated, namely, 

 the reception of convicts. 



