1836." 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



679 



and natural detail even more than the strange events 

 elsewhere related, which constitutes the great charm of 

 Robinson Crusoe,that universal favorite of both children 

 and men — and if such is the case in a work of fiction, 

 how much greater would be the interest in similar 

 statements of facts. Though possessing poor lands in 

 abundance, we have no heaths in Virginia, or exten- 

 sive tracts rendered unproductive by such growth as 

 covers the wastes of France and England, as well as by 

 actual sterilitj'— nor have we the rocky and wet soils to 

 contend with, that engaged the care and labor of Bar- 

 clay, of Ury, in Scotland, whose operations we will pre- 

 sent some account of hereafter. Nor would such labors 

 as those of a Barclay or a Turbilly be advisable here, 

 even if circumstances were similar. Perhaps their la- 

 bors were carried too far to be profitable to themselves — 

 for men seldom zealously undertake the best works, 

 without going beyond the point where correct judge- 

 ment would have directed them to stop. A schemer 

 may impoverish himself, and yet not less deserve to be 

 considered a benefactor of his country.] 



"Upon the death of my lather, which happen- 

 ed in the year 1737, I inherited the lands of An- 

 jou, of which I am now going to speak. They 

 lie contiguous, and form a pretty considerable ex- 

 tent. 



"Hills and vales render the country uneven in 

 many places; though in others, there are spacious 

 plains, with several brooks, and a small river. 

 The soil is of three kinds, bad, middling, and 

 good: but this last is least frequent. Mosfof the 

 lands being of a middling quality, are fertilized 

 only by dint of care and manure: wheat (jrows on 

 one spot, meslin on another, rye on a third; and 

 sometimes it is necessary to sow these three dif- 

 ferent sorts of grain in the same field; so much 

 does the soil vary: but, in general, we sow more 

 ground with rye, than with any other corn. Buck- 

 wheat, barley, oats, hemp, flax, and other equally 

 useful productions, are likewise cultivated in these 

 parts. The vine prospers here very well, espe- 

 cially on the sunny side of banks and higher 

 grounds: our wine, both red and white, is good; 

 our fruit trees thrive well; and so does the white 

 mulberry, of which I made larixe plantations some 

 years ago. The oak, the elm, the beech, and 

 other forest trees, grow extremely well in these 

 lands. Such is the soil of this district: the cli- 

 mate is mild and temperate, as is the rest of An- 



J ou - 



"Three sides of this estate border upon im- 

 mense tracts of uncultivated healhs which spread 

 through the greatest part of the province, and be- 

 long, some of them to the king, and others to dif- 

 ferent lords, ecclesiastical and temporal. How- 

 ever, the situation of my house, and of the. chief 

 village, is advantageous, being nearly in the cen 

 tre ot the whole, and within about six miles of 

 three pretty towns. 



"Such was my estate, when I took possession 

 of it: not a quarter part of the land was cultivat- 

 ed, and even that very badly: the rest was either 

 abandoned by the husbandmen, or had not been 

 cultivated at all. Most of the meadows along 

 the brooks and rivulets were become marshes, 

 productive of scarce any thing but rushes. The 

 vineyards were ruined, and the woods destroyed. 

 A third part of the farms belonging to the princi- 



pal parish where my seat is, were un-tenanted, lor 

 want of farmers to rent them. The inhabitants of 

 this place were very poor, and did not, in general, 

 raise corn enough of any kind to subsist them 

 half the year: nay, such was their indolence, 

 that they chose rather to stroll about and beg du- 

 ring the other half than be at the pains of bestow- 

 ing proper culture upon their land, which, with 

 that culture, would have maintained them decent- 

 ly. 



"This deplorable condition of my estate, which 

 [ have here represented fairly, without exaggera- 

 ting any one particular, determined me, early in 

 life, to read attentively all the most aproved wri- 

 ters upon agriculture, and to observe carefully 

 every improvement I met with in my travels. 

 Even the campaigns in which I served did 

 not interrupt these inquiries; for agriculture, and 

 arms never were by any means incompatible. 

 Under these circumstances, I resolved to execute 

 upon my own property, designs, which my know- 

 ledge of the place, concern lor the unhappy situa- 

 tion of its inhabitants, and regret to see what small 

 returns were made by so large an extent of 

 ground, naturally suggested. 



"I plainly foresaw that this undertaking must 

 be a work of time; neither my fortune, nor the 

 number of hands I could procure in the country, 

 allowing me to go beyond the clearing and impro- 

 ving of a certain space every year. Some gen- 

 tlemen of knowledge, judgement, and public spi- 

 rit, to whom I communicated my thoughts, ap- 

 proved of them, commended my design, and ex- 

 horted me strongly to carry it into execution; rep- 

 resenting, besides the advantages which would ne- 

 cessarily accrue to me, the general benefit which 

 such an example might be of to my country, filled 

 as it is with numerous tracts of uncultivated land. 

 This last reflection animated me more and more. 



" My first care was, to endeavor to extirpate the 

 spirit of indolence, and consequent love of beg- 

 ging, which prevailed among my peasants in ge- 

 neral. To this end, I gave public notice of my 

 intended improvements, with a declaration, that I 

 would constantly employ every man, women, or 

 child above eight years of age, who might not 

 have business of their own to do, on condition of 

 their leaving off' begging. At the same time 1 

 ordered an account to be taken of such as were 

 not able to work. These 1 afterwards examined 

 more particularly myself and found among them 

 several who, though they were not fit. for hard 

 labor, were capable, of doing many useful things, 

 in which I accordingly employed them. By this 

 means, my list of real helpless people, was reduced 

 to a small number, which I provided for, till their 

 relations should be able to keep them by means of 

 what they earned from me. A tew, and only a few, 

 of these poor objects, who either bad no relations, 

 or such as in truth could not help them, became a 

 dead charge; though this soon lessened, and is 

 now inconsiderable. 



"An innumerable multitude of rabbits infested 

 my land. Against these I declared open war; being 

 determined absolutely to destroy them. This has 

 already been several years a-doing, and is not yet 

 entirely completed. Some of them still remain, 

 sheltered in their burrows at the foot of rising 

 grounds, and others make incursions from the 

 neighboring woods and warrens. However, they 

 do me no great mischief now; and even then 1 



