PREFACE. 



T- ^T 



ihc drought and fcorching Sun in May and Jmiej does not grow 

 "Well, and hemp requires ib rich a foil, that few pieces of ground will 

 produce it. There is a plant, a native of this country, which grows 

 an raany places, but delights more particularly in light fandy foils, 

 known commonly by the name of Indian hemp; its bark is fo flrong 

 that the Indiajis make ufe of it for bow-ftrings. Could we but find 

 a method of feparating and fofteinngits fibres, fo as to render it fit 

 to be fpun Into fine thread, It might ferve as a fubfi:itute for flax and 

 liemp. This plant deferves to be cultivated on another account. 

 The pod it bears contains a fubfi:ancc tliat, from its fofcncfs and elaf- 

 ucity, might be ufed infi-ead of the finefi: down. Its culture is eafy, 

 anafmuch as its root, which penetrates deep into the earth, furvives 

 the winter, and flioots out frefli ftalks every fpring. Five or ii:L 

 years after being fown, it is in its greatcfi perfedlion. With tlie roots 

 of planes, unknown to white people, the Indians ftain wood, hair 

 and flcins of a beautiful colour, that preferves its Iufi;rc for years, 

 though expofcd to the weather. With the juice of herbs they relieve 

 many difeafes, heal wounds, and cure the bite of the mofi: venomous 

 fnakes. A pcrfe£l knowledge of thefc fimples, and of many others, 

 with which our country abounds, might be of great ufe to mankind. 

 The bowels of our earth are but little explored, notwiiliftanding 

 the encouragement received from the experiments that have ah-eady 

 been made. There is a great variety of clays, many of them valuable. 



Of fome, good crucibles have been made, and fire bricks, equal to 

 any in the world. Others have anfwered fo well in burning, as to 

 induce one to hope, that in time, a porcelain, equal to that brought 

 from Chinay may be made here. Near Nevocajlle on Dclaivare^ a 

 chy is found, which, ufed as a paint, retains its colour for years, 

 even when expofed to the weather, without any mixture of oil. In 

 fOaany places is found a kind of earth, which has been ufed infl:ead 

 ^of Spanifi brown, and anfwered the end. In other places there is 

 an ochre, which dyes a wainfcot colour. May not fome of tliefe 

 clays have medicinal qualities? About eighteen miles from this city, 



on the banks o£ Ncjljamcnyi is a large bed of black lead. The lauds; 

 to the fouthward are fo replete with nitre, arc fo favourable for pro- 

 ducing it, that, infundry places, it appears like a hoarfroft, on the fur- 

 face of the ground. We are inforn^d that a gentleman in Virginia 

 made a large quantity of faltpetre from the fweepings of his tobacco- 

 houfe, for which he received a medal from the Society of Arts: And, 

 to evince the importance of this difcovcry, the fame gentleman afi"erts 

 that, from the floor of a tobacco-houfe, fixty by forty feet, maybe 

 coUcfled by a very fimple procefs, fixteen hundred weight of nitre 

 In a year. Nay, it is faid there are, if the exprefilon may be allowed, 

 mines of faltpetre in the mountains. Of 



