200 TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c. 



extensively ; not by the costly mode of breaking up a great part 

 of the land, and clearing it of rocks and stones, but merely by 

 digging holes two or three feet in diameter, and filling them with 

 good mould and manure. This method, with occasional water- 

 ing, and particularly in situations sheltered from the south-east 

 wind, would promote the growth of many sorts of vegetables ; 

 and by thus having water, passing through this, at present desert 

 tract, there might be many places selected, suitable to the pur- 

 poses of cultivation, and of rearing hogs, poultry, &c. 



To form some idea of the immense quantities of pumpkins that 

 might be raised in the manner I have suggested, and which would 

 not only be a valuable acquisition to shipping, but a cheap food 

 for hogs, it will be sufficient to state, that from a dry bank at 

 Plantation-house, of light soil, measuring 360 feet by 12,* in 

 which holes were dug, and a few seeds sown in October, 1810, 

 there was, from the first crop, a return of 3583 pounds of excel- 

 lent pumpkins : several of which weighed 70 pounds each. I 

 have been informed that this produce is even inferior to that 

 which has been obtained in other places of this island. 



* This being 4300 square feet, is about the tenth part of an acre; the produce would 

 therefore be about 35,000 pounds of pumpkins per acre. The seeds were sown on tjie 

 27th of October, 1810, and the last of the crop was gathered on the 9th of July, 1811. 

 Mr. Henry Alexander, Colonial Secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, informed me that 

 the Dutch farmers there sow pumpkin seed amongst their corn, and by this meansobtaina 

 double crop. This practice is deserving attention on this island. 



