THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



711 



house. Two small trees are al ihis lime slanding 

 vviihir\ ihe area of ihe walls. 



What were the purposes ol" ihe erection ol" this 

 building ? Was it built lor concealment, lor de- 

 lence, or Ibr a iradin<^ post with the Indians? Ii 

 is too inaccessible lor the last. The wide door- 

 way would seem to militate against (he second 

 supposition, though the port-holes, if euch, would 

 seem to warrant such a conclusion. It was no 

 doubt erected by some one as a permanent place 

 of secret retreat and probably of defence: but 

 why such care \n its construction 1 Conjecture is 

 now vain. It may be connected wiih some 

 interesting passages in the lives of some ol' the 

 first settlers of the country, or may have been the 

 haunt of some of the followers of Bacon at a Inter 

 date. It IS to be feared that the mystery will 

 never be revealed, for the oldest inhabiianis have 

 descended to their graves without knowing iis 

 history and scarcely its existence. K. 



[The most plausible supposition is, that "the 

 stone house" was one of the places of defence of 

 the unconquered followers of Nathaniel Bacon, 

 who still held out long afierihedeaih oftheir chief 

 had destroyed all hope of success for the rebellion. 

 -The interesting old account ol the rebellion, pub- 

 lished in the ' Virginia Gazette,' (and of which 

 we have but the part in the number of February 

 23, 1769,) has the Ibllowing passages, vvliich seem 

 to confirm this opinion. It is true that they do 

 not refer directly to any other fortification than 

 the main one at West Point, (the point of junc- 

 tion of the Pamunky and Mattaponi rivers,) but 

 that place is only seven or eight miles above " the 

 stone house," and the latter could be soon and 

 easily reached from the former. " The stone 

 house" might have been constructed as a place ol 

 last refuge and concealment, and also for despe- 

 rate defence. The wide door might have been 

 used for a small piece of field artillery. The very 

 broken face of the land thereabout makes the site 

 not only very diflicult of access, but even of dis- 

 covery. The land for miles in extent was, and 

 must ever remain, a forest waste, and scarcely of- 

 fers an inducement, saving this ancient structure, 

 to any one to encounter the labor of passing over 

 the continually occurring high and steep hills and 

 Ihe many ravines which separate theift. The ex- 

 tracts bearing on this point, and showing the ef- 

 fective resistance made to the royal government, 

 are as follow. It should be observed that the 

 narrator is unfavorable to the rebels.] 



"Bacon's death, who was the life and soul of 

 the party, struck the rebels with the greatest con- 

 sternation; but Joseph Ingram, Bacon's lieute- 

 nant general, George Walklate, his major gene- 

 ral, and Richard Lawrence, the incendiary, reani- 

 mated them, and persuaded them to persevere in 

 their opposition to the governor. They now be- 

 came banditti rather than soldiers, carried spod 

 and devastation wherever they v/ent, and com- 



mitted every kind of violence ujion the estates ol" 

 the loyalists, and that they might have a place 

 to secure their retreat in case of opposiijon, ihey 

 look possession of Wes-t Point, liiriified it very 

 strongly, and made it their place of arms." 



After staling succeeding military operations 

 elsewhere, favorable first to the rebels and after- 

 wards to the royalisis, the narrative proceeds thus : 



" While these thintzs were transactins on 

 Jiuiips liver. Col. Ludwell was very aciive upon 

 his side, and reduced all the coiinirv upon Yoik 

 river, except West Point, where Walklaie. In- 

 gram and Langston [Lawrence 7J definded iliem- 

 selves with a great deal of valor. These hanpy 

 incidents put the Governor in a situation to be- 

 siege that fortress," &c;. 



"From that time all James river suhn)i:ted to 

 the governor, and he suon re-esiablished his au- 

 ihority through the cfluutry, except at Wtei Poiiii, 

 where ihe rebels madi\ a resolute defence, which 

 saved them. 



"The governor, 'iro.l nut with filigne, wrote 

 a complaisant letter to Walklate, which he sent 

 by Cnpi. Gram ham, with orders to ofler him and 

 all the rebels in ihe fort a geneial pardon, upon 

 condition that they delivered up iheir arms and 

 ammunition, with every thing in their possession 

 which they had plundered from the loyalists and 

 the Indians. Walklate knew his case to be des- 

 perate, and cheerfully accepted the governour's 

 oflTer. The leriiis were kept on both sides, and as 

 a reward to Walklate lor his ready submission, 

 the governor presented him with the plunder be- 

 longing to the Indians." 



From tlie Ediubingh Qiiaiterty Journal of Agriculture, for De 

 cembtr, 1841. 



ON SAW-DUST AS MANURE. 



By Henry H. Drummond, esq. of Blair- Drum- 

 niond, M. P. 



The observations on saw dust as a manure, in 

 the March number of the Transactions of the 

 HigliL^nd Society, induce me to mention, that I 

 have for a number of 3 ears been in the practice 

 of using saw-dust in agriculiure. 1 have not, 

 however, used it with dung in the manner men- 

 tioned by Mr. Sim, but have kept it in composts 

 lor about tliree years, which time has appeared 

 to me necessary /or its proper decomposition. 

 This process is greatly facilitated by mixing the 

 saw-dust with lime in the proportion of about one- 

 lemh part of lime, and the compost is much im- 

 proved by the addition of road scrapings, or earth 

 of any sort that can be procured. The saw-dust 

 heap is a convenient place of deposite lor dead 

 animals, which are thus disposed of to ijreat ad- ^ 

 vantage. A compost of this kind, which has 

 teen well mixed and decomposed, and turned over 

 by the spade at proper times, will produce an ex- 

 cellent crop of turiiii 1^. 



