23 
their own use, and much less would they sell it to others. But 
they leave the trees for times to come, expecting that wood 
will become much more scarce. However, they sell it to 
joiners, coach-makers, and other artists, who pay exorbitantly 
for it. For a quantity of hiccory of eight foot in length and 
four in depth, and the pieces being likewise four foot long, 
they paid at present eighteen shillings of Pennsylvania cur- 
rency. But the same quantity of oak only came to twelve 
shillings. The people who came at present to sell wood in 
the market were peasants, who lived at a great distance from 
the town. Everybody complained that fuel in the space of a 
few years was risen in price to many times as much again as 
it had been, and to account for this, the following reasons 
were given : 
"The town is increased to such a degree as to be four or 
six times bigger and more populous than what some old 
people have known it to be, when they were young. Many 
brick kilns have been made hereabouts which require a great 
quantity of wood. The country is likewise more cultivated 
than it used to be, and consequently great woods have been 
cut down for that purpose, and the farms built in those places 
likewise consume a quantity of wood. Lastly they melt iron 
out of the ore in several places about the town, and this work 
always goes on without interruption. For these reasons, it 
is concluded in future times Philadelphia will be obliged to 
pay a great price for wood. 
"The wine of blackberries, which has a very fine taste, 
is made in the following manner: The juice of the black- 
berries is pressed out and put in a vessel, with half a gallon 
of this juice, an equal quantity of water is well mixed. Three 
pounds of brown sugar are added to this mixture, which 
must then stand for a while, and after that it is fit to use. 
Cherry wine is made in the same manner, but care must be 
taken that when the juice is pressed out, the stones be not 
crushed, for they give the wine a bad taste. They make 
brandy from peaches here, after the following method. The 
fruit is cut asunder and the stones are taken out. The pieces 
