TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c. 85 



price, which can be raised on the farms, is an evil which operates 

 against their best interests. The labonr of their slaves and 

 servants is never fully exerted : much of their time is squandered 

 between the farms and James's Valley, where they acquire habits 

 of vice and idleness ; and the attention of the master has been, 

 from the causes above stated, unwarily withdrawn from those 

 pursuits which could alone improve his condition : and particularly 

 in a place where there is neither commerce nor manufacture. 



The extent of cultivation has hitherto been barely sufficient for 

 a scanty supply of refreshments to the shipping ; and this has 

 been far less than in former times. In 1789, the quantity of 

 fresh provisions and vegetables furnished to the shipping, was 

 about three times more than in 1809, because the prices were 

 moderate, and not more than about one-third of those of the 

 present time.* The total value of exported produce to the ship- 

 ping, in 1789,was^6569..1..11 and in 1809, £6346..10..6. Hence 

 it is proved that the Planters receive less than they did twenty 

 years ago ; whilst the rest of the community and the shipping are 

 exposed to great inconvenience and expence, proceeding from 

 this limited scale of cultivation, and from the decline of industry 

 at tlie farms. 



It is not in the nature of things, that if the value of the annual 

 produce of the farms be less than that of provisions purchased by 



* Comparative Prices of the folloiving Articles, sold from the Farms in 17S3, 



