1838] 



F A R M E R S ' REGISTER 



215 



apprentice to a principal merchant in Charlos- 

 Town, who was appointed public tronsiirer ; and 

 he well rcnienihors ihat a hounly (<;rantO(l by the 

 Assembly) was tlien paid to a ca|)tain, vvlio 

 broujiiit in (he first car^o ol" rice, after the bonnty 

 was ordered: this carjro came from the Straits, 

 probably from Etrvpt, or the JNliianese. 



In the year 1713, another ship arrived, and the 

 captain made the like demand, and received tlie 

 bounty for bringing a cargo ofrice and slaves from 

 JMadaiiascar. 



From these particulars it appears, that the pro- 

 gress of raising rice in any considerable quantity, 

 was very slow ; and I can find no account of any 

 being exported for the first fifteen years. But it is 

 reasonable to conclude, that after the arrival of 

 these two cargoes of rice, for sowing, the planters 

 were amply furnished, to extend its culture; and 

 being a yearly production, it soon became a staple 

 commodity ; it is therefore very probable, that in 

 the years 1715 or 1716, a quantity was raised suf- 

 ficient for exportation, which continued to increase 

 till the year 1726, and then it became a fxreat arti- 

 cle of commerce. For my correspondent, Sam. 

 Eveligh, a merchant residing in Charles-Town, 

 writes to me that, from the year 



Barrels ofrice. 



1726 to 1727 were exported 40,000 



1729 to 1730 exported 41,957 



1740 to 1741 exported 80,000 



1755 to 1756 exported 60,000 



1757 to 1758 exported 67,040 



1760 to 1761 exported 100,024 



*1761 to 1762 5 exported 34,972 



I half barrels 3,600 



The Carolina Gazette of June 12, 1762, says, 

 the crops of rice are so great that we expect to 

 make 150,000 barrels. 



I cannot express the satisfaction I feel, in reflect- 

 ing on the wonderful increase of so valuable a 

 commodity, from so small a beginning, in about, 

 or little more than, half a century. 



May 26, 1766. P. Collinson. 



After havintr given all the intelligence I could 

 collect relating to the culture ofrice, it may not be 

 unacceptable to give some hght into the original 

 of tar and pitch in our colonies. 



Before this, we were beholden to the northern 

 powers for all the tar and pitch consumed in Eng- 

 land, which were imported from Sweden and Nor- 

 way, and for which vast sums were annually paid. 

 I was long acquainted with Captain Coram, in- 

 etilutor of the Foundling Hospital, and from him 

 I had the following relation : That he was master 

 of a vessel in the Baltic trade ; that great part of 

 his lading was tar and pitch, by which he became 

 acquainted with the value of those commodities. 

 He was much incensed at the extortion of the 

 Swedes and Danes, in raising a barrel of tar to 

 the exhorbifant price of fifty shillings ; but as we 

 had then no other markets to go to ("for Russia had 

 no ports in the Baltic) we were oblifjed to give it: 

 but the next voyage he made to Sweden, he took 

 an opportunity to observe their method of making 

 tar and pitch. 



He concluded; that there was no way so effec- 

 tual to bring down the price of those commodities, 

 as by the making them in our own colonies ; and 



* Probably this year they turned their hands to 

 making indigo, of which they made 239,629 pounds. 



as he was fully persuaded of the praclicability orit, 

 he determined, next voyage t.o New England, to 

 tnnke the experiment ; it succeeded ; and he nuide 

 the first barrel of tar in the year 1698, and brought 

 it over, to show that it had all the qualities of tho- 

 Swcdisli tar. After proper examination of it, its 

 goodness was allowed, and he tlien petitioned the 

 parliament to promote the making tar and [titch in 

 our colonies, by giving a bounty on their importa- 

 tion. 



With this encouragement, tar-making soon 

 spread over the colonics ; for my friend Lamboi, 

 of South Carolina, writes, that in the year 1704, 

 he well remembers hearing some planters felicitat- 

 ing each other on the easy raising of tar and pitch, 

 instead of indigo, whicli they had attempted un- 

 successfully. 



This public-spirited man. Captain Coram, hap- 

 pily lived to see his single barrel of tar the original 

 of many thousands annually imported ; as well as 

 my benevolent friend, Charles Dubois, who often 

 expressed the pleasure it gave him, that he first 

 advised the culture of rice in Carolina, and that 

 his little bag Avas the original of manj' thousand.^ 

 that he saw broufrht over before he died, which 

 happened in 1740. It is remarkable, that these 

 two valuable articles of commerce were introduced 

 much about the same time. If I am rightly in- 

 formed the making of indigo was revived very 

 successfully in South Carolina in the year 1740. 

 It is an article of such importance, that it deserves 

 the greatest diligence and attention to make it of 

 the best quality, that we and our colonists may 

 have the benefit, and not our rivals, the French 

 and Spaniards, to whom such great sums were 

 yearly paid, for a commodity that may be so easi- 

 ly raised in our southern provinces ; the consump- 

 tion is so great, that we do not at present import 

 sufficient to supply our wants. As rice seems to 

 be overdone, ii is to be hoped, that the planters in 

 Carolina and Georgia will turn their hands more to 

 making indigo, as the demand is so great, and the 

 bounty so encouraging. 



After many fruitless attempts, the making pot- 

 ash in our colonies hiis at last happily succeeded 

 in New England ; the first fruits of its produce 

 were sent over in the years 1764 and 1765, which 

 proves so good, that it is said to excel the Russian 

 pot-ash ; it will therefore prove a very great ad- 

 vantage to that colony, where returns of their own 

 raising are so much wanted. 



AGRICULTURAL PAPER IN WISCONSIIV. 



We received lately the first numbers of a new agri- 

 cultural paper, pubhshed at the unheard-of town of 

 Milwaukee, which is farther north-west (as it would 

 seem from the title,) than the art of spelling has yet 

 travelled. It is called the 'Wisconsin Culturist, and 

 Gardner's Magazine.' The No. of April 17, con- 

 tains the list of prices-current which is copied below 

 entire, as a curiosity. It appears, from this list, 

 that every thing to eat in Milwaukee bears a very 

 high price; but on the other hand, agricultural infor- 

 mation rates as low in the market there, as if the edi- 

 tor's and pubhsher's profits were lower than the wages 

 of common laborers; which, however, is often the 



